Prep – Term 2 Curriculum News

Grade Prep Curriculum News - Term 2

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

General
Hello Families! Welcome back to Term 2!

Students should be proud of the way they have conducted themselves during the return to school period. The teachers are so pleased to see how many routines have been remembered from Term 1, and the way all students continue to meet our school-wide high expectations.

This term we will continue to focus on helping your child build their independence and self-management skills. We encourage you to support your child in this area by giving them the opportunity to complete tasks independently, such as walk to and enter their classroom by themselves of a morning, carry their own school bag and belongings, know how to tie their shoelaces if wearing lace up shoes, and take on/off their jumper.

We look forward to sharing another exciting term of learning with your child, as well as continuing to work in partnership with you to support your child’s growth and development during their Prep year.

KEY DATES:
Wednesday 25^th May – Bravehearts Incursion (please provide consent for your child to attend via Compass)
Thursday 26^th May – Friday 3^rd June – School Nurse Visits
Wednesday 1^st June – Whole School Professional Practice Day (pupil free)
Monday 13^th June – Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday (pupil free)
Friday 24^th June – LAST DAY of SCHOOL before holidays. Early finish time TBC

Communication:
Your child’s classroom teacher if your first port of call if you have any questions or concerns you would like to discuss.

Compass email is the most effective way to contact your child’s teacher, as the beginning and end of the school day involve preparation, organisation and meetings for all staff and your child’s teacher may not always be available at these times. Teachers will respond to emails within three working days, between the hours of 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. If you would like to talk privately to your child’s teacher about any issues, we welcome you to arrange a time to do so by emailing them on Compass or phoning the school office and leaving a message.

If you require support with accessing or using Compass in any way, please stop by the office and our admin team will be more than happy to help you.

Literacy
In Reading, students have begun the term by organising their classroom libraries and sorting the books into categories. This will help students with their selection of books for their individual ‘Desktop Libraries’, as they will be able to easily see different themes and find books that interest them. We will also continue to explore what makes a book a ‘Just Right’ book, so that students have a balance of instructional and intertest based books to read. Students will continue to explore our ‘Reader’s Toolbelt’ of strategies to support us to solve unknown words. We will reinforce our strategies from Term 1, such as pointing under the words as we read, looking at the first sound of a word and stretching out the sounds in the word, as well as introduce new strategies including looking through the whole word, noticing the last sound and continually monitoring our reading by thinking if the attempt looks right, sounds right, and makes sense.

In Writing students will continue to be authors by creating their own texts that they will then get to share with others. We will begin to explore the Writing Cycle, and how authors develop ‘Seed Ideas’ to help them write. This will involve students decorating their own Writer’s Notebook which will be the place they collect and sketch their ideas before writing about them. We will continue to build on the skills we have learnt in Term 1, such as drawing detailed pictures to share a message, labelling parts of that picture, and writing words to match the picture. We will extend this learning by exploring how to add detail and description to the words we write to match our pictures and continue reinforcing that we write from the left to the right of the page, just like when we read.

Across both Reading and Writing, students will continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of letter/sound relationships, so that they can draw on this skill as a strategy for both reading and writing words.

Numeracy
In Term 2, students will continue to build on and consolidate their number knowledge to 12. They will engage in a range of hands on and open activities to ensure they are confident in their ‘Number Sense’ around these numbers. Students will explore different ways to make these numbers using a range of different materials, continue to develop their counting fluency from 0 to 12 from any starting point, and explore simple addition by combing two small groups to make a whole collection.

In the area of Measurement and Geometry, students will explore the length of different objects and will compare objects to determine which is longer or shorter.

In Statistics and Probability, we will look at answering questions to gather information and organising the answers we get into an easy to read picture display. Students will then be able to look at the picture display to interpret the answers.

Inquiry
Our Term 2 Inquiry focus is ‘Healthy Bodies’, where students will focus on the different ways they can stay healthy and safe and look after their bodies. We will explore ways we can be healthy through the food we eat, the amount of sleep we get, by practising good personal hygiene, and exercising regularly. We will then move into exploring how we can stay safe in our environment, by looking at ways we can be safe when outside, near water, on the roads and online. To support our learning in this area, students will engage in an incursion from Bravehearts. Consent is required for students to attend this incursion and can be given via Compass.

In addition to this, we will continue to focus on Play Is The Way and the ‘Respectful Relationships’ social and emotional curriculum, by engaging in weekly lessons around different Life Raft topics, learning to make strong choices and build resilience through different games and activities, and use our Play Is The Way language in everyday conversations.
During Play Is The Way, students will focus on making ‘Strong Choices’ so they can ‘Be Their Own Boss’. They will also practise ‘Being Brave’ when trying new or challenging things, by always making sure they ‘Pursue Their Personal Best’.
During Respectful Relationships, students will continue their work from Term 1 on ‘Personal Strengths’ before exploring the topic ‘Positive Coping’.

Reminders
Home Reading: Students are expected to read for 10 minutes per night, 4 nights per week and record a short comment in their reading diary about the book they have read. Teachers will check reading diaries regularly. Students need to bring their satchel to school each day, so that they can swap their home readers.

Canteen and Food Sharing: We encourage Prep students to only bring a GOLD COIN to spend at the canteen for over the counter sales. Students are NOT permitted to buy food for other students, have other students purchase food for them, or share food of any kind.

Label Clothes and Belongings: Please ensure ALL items (jumpers, hats, lunch containers, water bottles, etc) are clearly labelled with your child’s name and grade. If these items are misplaced, they are easier to return if they are named. Any unnamed items will be taken to lost property.

Classroom Donations: We would appreciate any donations of tissues, hand sanitiser, and paper towel.

Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.

Grade 1 Term 2 Newsletter 2022

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

General
The Grade 1 team would like to send a warm welcome back as we get underway with new learning in Term 2. The students have settled back into routines well after the Easter break and it was fantastic to hear that many of the students continued to read at home during the holidays. We would like to emphasise the importance of maintaining this strong home reading structure as it compliments the work that students are completing during class time.
This term, we will be attending three separate excursions to support our Inquiry learning program of ‘Our Place in Australia and Indigenous Culture’. The first excursion is a visit to the Lara Community Library, the next will be held at the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre to learn about Aboriginal culture and the final excursion is a trip to explore the You Yangs. We are really excited to be able to attend excursions again this year and look forward to providing the students with educational experiences to support their learning.

Literacy
In Reading this term, we will continue to demonstrate our love for reading in the Grade 1 Department by reading and discussing a variety of picture story books along with big books to support the students understanding of both the Lara Lake Primary School decoding and comprehension strategies. Again, the students will have access to our wonderful classroom libraries and each grade will visit the whole school library once a week to exchange books. Please check with your child’s classroom teacher if you are unsure which day this occurs. Borrowed books need to be returned before new ones can be borrowed.

In Writing, the students will continue to follow the Writing Cycle and will be encouraged to choose an idea, talk about their idea, rehearse their idea, write a first draft, make it better by revising, editing their mistakes, and publishing a good copy. The teachers have immersed the students in ideas and are continuously modelling the Writing Cycle by writing about different topics using different genres such as information reports, recounts, expositions and narratives. The students will be supported to pay close attention to their use of sentence fluency and punctuation, ensuring the correct use of capital letters, full stops as well as experimenting with question marks and exclamation marks.

Numeracy
The Grade 1 students have just completed an excellent unit of work on Counting, Place Value and Number Sense and these concepts will be revisited throughout this term to ensure the concepts remain embedded. This term, students have the opportunity to discuss outcomes of familiar events involving chance and describe them using everyday language such as ‘will happen’, ‘won’t happen’ or ‘might happen’. Money, Time, Location and Measurement (involving Length, Mass and Capacity) will be covered this term allowing children to have some hands-on opportunities during the Maths curriculum. We are looking forward to another positive term across all of the subject areas, making sure we have opportunity to revisit concepts and teach new ones thoroughly.

Reminders

Parent Helpers on Excursions
Just a reminder that if you are wishing to volunteer to assist on Grade 1 excursions, parents are now required to have a Working with Children Check. If unsure, check with the office to see what this entails.
Library books and Take Home Readers
Please support your child to bring their Book Pouch and reading material to school.
Drink Bottles
Please ensure your child has a water bottle each day with their name clearly labelled.
Label all Clothes and Belongings
Please ensure that all items belonging to your child are clearly labeled with their full name and grade.
Class donations
We would appreciate any donations of tissues, paper towel and hand sanitiser.
Attendance
Please write a note via Compass, to your child’s teacher to explain your child’s absence.

Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.

Grade 2 Term 2 Curriculum News 2022

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

General

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE! We hope you have all enjoyed a safe and happy Easter over the holidays! With our children engaged in new and exciting learning throughout Term One, time has simply flown by! The Grade Two team has enjoyed getting to know your children over the past eleven weeks and watching them grow! With Term Two upon us, we are ready for another fantastic term of learning!

With so many new and exciting things to learn in Term Two, it can be understandable that some children can feel a little overwhelmed at times. To counter this, the students and teachers at Lara Lake follow the six ‘Life Raft’ ideals of our Play is the Way program. In particular, when students feel overwhelmed by new learning, we ask them to “Be brave! Participate to progress.” School is about stepping bravely into the unknown. The unknown is often uncomfortable. Nobody expects you to know everything. That is why we are at school. But the braver you are, the more you learn! We also complete weekly lessons about Respectful Relationships, where students discuss emotions, getting along and role playing scenarios which require problem solving in real life.

Reading

Students have been relishing the opportunity to enjoy a range of exciting and engaging books from our classroom libraries. An ongoing focus for students in Term Two will be our development of using ‘fix-up’ and comprehension strategies to make meaning in texts. Independent Reading will occur daily and involve students engaging with texts for at least 30 minutes per day. Conferences and reading group lessons will continue across the term, allowing students to build on their knowledge and application of the strategies and their own personal goals. The homework expectation for Grade Two students is for them to read at least 10 minutes per night for at least 4 nights a week. Their reading should be recorded in their yellow reader diary. We ask that students remember to bring their reading satchels from home to school each day.

Writing

In Writing, it has been wonderful watching our students establish clear writing routines and develop into enthusiastic authors. In Term Two, students will continue to work through the ‘Writing Cycle’ which includes: generating seed ideas, choosing an idea, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. Students will continue to use their Writer’s Notebook to collect ‘Seed Ideas’ which are designed to stimulate their imaginations and inspire them to write. This term, we are working to develop more detailed picture plans to assist with adding detail to each piece we draft. We will also explore a variety of different text types as well as investigate new vocabulary and spelling strategies. Of course, students will also have daily opportunities to engage in Independent Writing. We are looking forward to celebrating the wonderful writing that will be produced throughout the term!

Maths

For Mathematics in Term Two, students will continue to recognise, model, represent and order numbers up to 1000. Students will explore the connection between addition and subtraction. They will solve simple addition and subtraction problems using a range of efficient mental and written strategies. They will tell time to the quarter-hour, using the language of 'past' and 'to', as well as use a calendar to identify the date and determine the number of days in each month. They will also learn to count and order small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value. Students will count collections of coins or notes to make up a particular value, such as that shown on a price tag.

Inquiry and Science

This term’s Inquiry unit is called ‘Then and Now’. In order to develop their knowledge and understanding of how ‘family life’ has changed over the years, students will be comparing the past to the present. They will explore how changing social norms, technology and exposure to other cultures has influenced their everyday lives. Students will be exploring the history of Lara and its surrounding areas, and reflecting on why these histories are important to our identity. Students will also be given the opportunity to explore their personal and family histories with a focus on family structures and how these may have changed, or remained the same over time. This term we will be investigating the Physical Science involved with the Push and Pull forces. Students will complete hands-on investigations to test predictions and record observations.

Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.

Grade 3 Term 2 Curriculum News 2022

Can you believe it is Term Two already? The Grade 3s have been working hard in Term One and are doing a fantastic job at developing their independence and resilience. We have appreciated the support parents & guardians have given students in order to encourage this with their children as well. We greatly appreciate the donation of tissues to our classrooms and if your child is yet to bring in a box, we would appreciate this donation.

LITERACY
This term, we will be developing the student’s comprehension strategies. We will be focusing on re-reading and monitoring our understanding, activating our prior knowledge and inferring in both fiction and nonfiction texts. We will continue to emphasise the importance of selecting ‘Just Right’ books to enable students to practice these strategies. The students Reading Journals will continue to serve as a tool to track their individual goals and their daily reading,

In Writing, the students will continue to explore the Writer’s Workshop. We will continue to emphasise the importance of using our Writer’s Notebooks to develop and stretch our ideas. Students will also begin to explore the 6+1 Traits of Writing which includes organisation, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, ideas and presentation. We will explore how authors use these to ensure their writing makes sense and interests their target audience. We encourage students to find authentic purposes for their writing and would appreciate parents supporting these endeavours at home as well.
A reminder that the following resources are available for home reading support:
Epic: https://www.getepic.com/ Your child’s teacher will have sent home your class Epic code.
Sunshine online – Username: LLPS3212 Password: LLPS3212

NUMERACY
In Mathematics this term, the children will learn about a range of concepts, skills and strategies. These include repeated addition linking multiplication and multiplication facts. The students will use centimetres, square centimetres and metres to measure, order and compare with a focus on area and perimeter. The students will identify angles and compare angle sizes in everyday situations. They will work towards an understanding of location with a view to create and interpret simple grid maps to show position and pathways. They will identify and describe key features of three-dimensional objects. They will also continue an emphasis on recalling basic number facts quickly and accurately (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). It would be appreciated if you could help your child to learn these facts at home in addition to their homework. Families can also support at home by encouraging your child to play games involving counting and number facts.

INQUIRY
During Term 2, students in Grade 3 will be working collaboratively on our topic, ‘The Arrival’. As part of this unit, students will:

• Identify and explain the causes and effects of European settlement and exploration
• Investigate stories of the First Fleet, including causes and reasons for the journey, who travelled to Australia, and their experiences and perspectives following arrival.
• The nature of contact between Aboriginal peoples, and the effects of these interactions

We look forward to continuing the connection between school and home in Term Two. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Compass continues to be our main form of communication. Alternatively, you can contact the office directly for more urgent matters. We ask that if you need to speak with your child’s teacher, that you organise a phone call at a mutually appropriate time. The team will endeavour to reply to any queries as soon as possible.

The Grade Three Team

Grade 4 Term 2 Curriculum News

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

General
Well done on a fabulous start to the year, Grade 4. What a fabulous Term 1 the children had! All the teachers are so very proud of how the children have settled into Year 4. Children have settled in quickly to the rhythm and routines of the day and are working hard. We hope you enjoyed the term break and that you and your child are recharged and ready to start a new school term. The Year 4 team are ready and excited about the upcoming learning opportunities planned for Term 2.

Literacy
During Term 1, students worked together and did a fantastic job of setting up their classroom libraries. Teachers are highly impressed with the way the Grade 4 students are utilising their classroom libraries to ensure they are reading exciting texts that are ‘Just Right’ for them. In Term 2, students will be practising a range of reading comprehension skills including predicting, clarifying, questioning, inferring, visualising and summarising. Alongside their regular Independent Reading, students will be partaking in Guided Reading sessions to better target their areas of need.

The children have been very proud and excited about their writing so far! In Writing, teachers have been pleased to see the wonderful way in which students are using their Writers’ Notebooks to write in a range of genres, and the way they are taking risks to experiment using new vocabulary. This term, students will be writing narratives, biographies, information reports and scripts to support their Inquiry topic of ‘Early Explorers’.

Mathematics
Students have a higher chance of being engaged and successful in Mathematics if the content we teach is linked to real-life problems. In Term 2, students will continue to develop their understanding of the Four Processes (+, -, x, ÷). Students will be encouraged to use a variety of problem solving strategies to efficiently and effectively solve a wide range of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems through engaging hands-on tasks, games and real-world written problems. This term, students will also be focusing on money, measurement as well as 2D and 3D shapes. We encourage you to show your child how you use maths in your everyday activities at home too, such as adding and subtracting amounts, walking or riding distances, measuring ingredients, timing how long it takes to do different activities and recognising number patterns in the environment.

Inquiry
The children have been developing their skills as inquirers! They have been practising asking questions and discovering the different ways that we can find out information about themselves and those inside our classrooms. In Term 2, our Inquiry unit is ‘Early Explorers’. It involves students researching and presenting historical information based on ‘the journeys of a significant world navigator, explorer or trader up to the late eighteenth century, including their contacts with and effects on other societies’ (Victorian Curriculum). The Grade 4 students will be involved in developing their research skills, writing a biography on a world explorer, developing their geographical knowledge of the major continents and bodies of water in the world and creating a script to teach others about their explorer.

Homework
Homework slips were sent home in Term 1 and described the requirements for Grade 4. It has been so pleasing to see so many children completing their minimum 4 nights of home reading, recorded in green Reading Journals, and completing Maths tasks over a minimum of 2 nights for at least 20 minutes each session.
A friendly reminder that your child needs to hand in their green Reading Journal each week to ensure teachers are able to keep a record of homework history to report to parents and future teachers. Should you be experiencing any difficulties, please do not hesitate to send a handwritten note through to the classroom teacher or send an email via the Compass app.

Reminders
*Clothing: A reminder that students are to be in full school uniform every day. As the colder weather approaches, please ensure your child has enough clothing to keep them warm at school.

*Communication: If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to email or make an appointment with us if there is anything you wish to discuss.

Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.

Grade 5 Term 2 Curriculum News 2022

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your children’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in Term 2. There is also additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN assessment will be taking place in Week 3, on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of May. Catch up assessments for students that are absent will take place in Week 4, on the 16th through to the 20th of May.

“On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for and students are not expected to do so.

You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is just one part of their school program, and by reminding them on the day to simply do their best.

Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance.

ACARA does not recommend excessive preparation for NAPLAN or the use of services by coaching providers.” NAPLAN Information of Parents and Carers 2022

READING

In Term 2, students will continue to focus on strengthening their use of comprehension strategies to interpret and understand texts as well as participate in reciprocal reading sessions. They will continue to set personal reading goals and be supported through independent conferencing and focus groups. Students will be guided to read and interpret narrative and persuasive texts, describing the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on a particular audience.Some students will participate in literature circles. This will allow them to read and discuss a book with their peers each week.

WRITING

In Term 2, students will continue to participate in daily Writing Workshops, ensuring they are challenging themselves to write across the different genres. They will continue to celebrate their writing through classroom Author’s Chair and read alouds, as well as give and receive quality feedback. There will be a focus on the writing traits of ‘Word Choice’ and ‘Sentence Fluency’.Reading and Writing content will also be explored through our Inquiry topic, Exploration of Asia and students will explore and create their own travel guide and itinerary of an Asian country of their choice.

MATHS

The focus area for the beginning of Term 2 will be on consolidating problem-solving strategies and the steps involved in solving problems involving all four processes. Students will be encouraged to solve open ended questions involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and problem solve using a variety of strategies. They will then explore length, perimeter, area and volume, with a focus on choosing the appropriate unit of measurement. Students will learn efficient ways to solve measurement problems by engaging in open ended activities and through project based learning.

Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.

Warm Regards

Mr Joustra, Mr Leggett, Mr Robinson and Ms Clarke Hinch

Grade 6 Term 2 Curriculum News, 2022

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your child’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the new term. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

Welcome back to another exciting term! We hope everyone had a happy and safe Easter break with their families, friends and loved ones. The Grade 6 Teachers are proud of the way students settled in during Term 1 to make a great start to the year, in both a social and academic setting. This was further encouraged by a fantastic camp at Kangaroobie where students had an opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zones, develop their resilience and organisation skills, and support their peers in a range of activities.

We would like to congratulate the student representatives that were elected as House and Arts Captains, Environmental Leaders and Student Representative Council members. We would also like to acknowledge those students who have volunteered to assist with additional extra-curricular leadership roles, including buddy reading programs and speaking at assemblies. It has also been brilliant to see the vast majority of our students wearing their brand new, bright red t-shirts with excitement and pride! We hope to have updates about the Grade 6 jumpers in the near future.

LITERACY
In Reading, the students will continue to refine their ability to use a range of reading strategies independently. This term, we will continue to explore a range of texts to enhance students’ understanding, whilst maintaining a love for reading by making use of our classroom libraries. We will be working towards students further developing their ability to identify and articulate the skills they are using while they read, including inferring, analysing, critiquing and summarising. At home, you can continue to support your child by engaging in rich discussions around the texts they are reading. At the senior level, we place significant importance on the discussions about texts, and not simply listening to your child read aloud.

In Writing, students will continue to develop their passion for writing as part of the Writer’s Workshop. Students will be encouraged to experiment with different text structures and language features they have come across in their reading and include it in their own writing. A spelling focus will also be included as part of the literacy program. Should you wish to support your child at home, you may like to focus on supporting them to correctly select and use various forms of punctuation, particularly when editing their writing. We would also love to see students focusing on quality over quantity – short, sharp, well written pieces are a great start.

NUMERACY
In Numeracy this term, there will be a focus on problem solving strategies and real-life problems involving the four operations (+-x÷), measurement and time. This will include using a wide variety of strategies which will be discussed and applied in differentiated groups and whole class activities. Students will have the opportunity to learn through project-based tasks and open ended questions, which will cater for and extend the diverse range of learners in the classroom.

At this level we expect that most students know their times tables (1-12) and can recall these quickly.
We ask that families assist learning at home by encouraging children to play games involving counting, money, time and number facts. Please ensure your child has access to Essential Assessment on a regular basis as this supports the learning in our classroom.

INQUIRY
Throughout Term 2, as part of our Inquiry Unit - ‘Australia- Government, Law and Democracy,’ students will explore what it means to be an Australian Citizen and how laws are made. Students will spend time researching the fundamentals of government and law making through a range of inquiry based tasks, including classroom role plays. At the completion of this unit, students will then investigate how energy from a variety of sources can be used to generate electricity. To develop student’s curiosity in Science for Semester Two, we will be attending an optional excursion to Science Works.

The iPads will continue to be used daily, therefore it is imperative that these are at school and fully charged every day.

HOMEWORK
We ask you to continue your support in ensuring that homework is completed regularly and handed in on the due dates. It is expected that students read at home (minimum of 4 days for at least 20 minutes) and complete at least 40 minutes of Essential Assessment or approved math's specific tasks on a weekly basis. This is in line with the LLPS homework policy.

Each year level team has provided their families with a detailed newsletter such as this. If you are interested in reading about all the exciting things happening across the rest of the school, these can be accessed online at our school website from early next week.

We are proud of the students’ attitudes and successes from Term 1 and look forward to the students continuing to push themselves whilst maintaining high behavioural expectations in Term 2.

Grade 6 Team

Specialist Department Term 2, 2022 Newsletter

This Term Newsletter will provide you with information about your children’s upcoming teaching and learning experiences in the Specialists Department for Term 2. There is also plenty of additional information provided via Compass throughout the school year, so please make a point of touching base regularly.

Bahasa Indonesia

Here is an overview of what students will be learning in Term Two:

In Prep, students will continue to practise basic greetings (Selamat pagi / Selamat siang) and respond to classroom instructions. They will learn a range of animal names, numbers and colours using the text “Beruang coklat” (Brown bear, brown bear). Students will also learn about the Indonesian celebration, Eid, as well as the Indonesian animal, Komodo dragons.

In Grade One, students will revise numbers and learn animal names using an Indonesian text called “SAYA LAPAR” (I’m hungry) as well as create their own shared book based on this text. Students will consolidate counting to 10 through a range of songs, games and activities and learn about the celebration “Eid”.

In Grade Two, students will develop their listening, reading and writing skills as they read a text called “BINATANG KESAYANGAN” (Pets). Through games, surveys and activities, students will be able to identify different pets and describe them in terms of their appearance, colour and size and say what they like to eat. Students will also learn about an Indonesian holiday, “Hari Kartini”.

In Grade Three and Four, students will identify different places in their community. They will be able to create a labelled map and develop short dialogues in which they use conversational Indonesian to ask where each other is going. Students will read a text called “Mau ke mana” (Where are you going?) and complete literacy stations in order to produce a shared text based upon the text. Students will also learn about an Indonesian holiday, “Hari Kartini”.

In Grade Five and Six, students will continue to learn vobaulary related to themselves with a focus upon hobbies and passtimes in order to create simple and informative texts. Students will look at the impact pollution is having upon marine life and traditional life in Indonesia and create posters and texts to encourage people to recycle. Students will also learn about an Indonesian holiday, “Hari Kartini”.

Bu Da Silva, Pak Hill, Pak Turner & Bu Canning.

Music

In Prep and Junior Music this term we are learning how to read musical notes using the solfa scale. Each note in the scale has a character name and story to help us remember it. We have been concentrating on singing and listening and we have been playing games which practise these skills. In term 2 we will continue this learning and start to play instruments using our music reading skills.

Grades 3 and 4 will be focussing on singing and basic keyboard skills. In term 2 we will be playing more “live instruments” and composing our own “four chord” songs.

Grades 5 and 6 have been practising playing music together whilst working in groups, looking at different musical genres, and learning basic keyboard skills. They have displayed skills of communication, cooperation and organisation in their rehearsal and are developing processes which they will use in term 2 in their band and performance work.

This term there will be 2 new singing groups:

-Junior group (grades 1-3) ALL WELCOME. TUESDAY recess in the HALL with a "try out" singing session for the first week

-Senior Singing Group (grades 4- 6) FRIDAY lunchtime in Music Room to be run with input from Grade 6 Arts leaders.

We will be having a lot of fun singing and developing our lovely voices and participating in rehearsal and performance during assemblies and special events this year.

Mrs. McKenzie & Mr. Turner

Visual Art

In Art this term, classes are extremely busy with collaging and painting. Have you taken a walk down our gallery and the main corridor with your child lately? Take a look, we have many creative students in our school and I am very proud of them all.

Parents, please it is imperative your child has an art smock at school please (everyone from 1 to grade 6)—many students do not have one and since we are working with paint, it is unlikely they will stay clean, so make sure a named Art smock gets to your child’s teacher.

This term, Grade Prep – 2 students are learning painting techniques like mixing secondary colours from primary colours, fabric painting and changing the way we can use paper by tearing, curling, folding and fringing.

Grade 1 and 2 students are focusing on paper techniques such as concertina, fringing, folding, curling and tearing along with using different joining techniques. There will be many sculptures this term all finishing off with creating a 3D paper bag house. I look forward to seeing some fantastic houses on display.

Grades 3 -4 are focusing on value, creating different tints in colour and using different textural effects in paint. They will also be learning the print making skills of etching and monotone printing.

Grade 5 students will be creating Asian art, more specifically in the style of Japanese Notan. They will also explore Melbourne artist, Tai Snaith, and her use of collage techniques to tell a story.

Grade 6 will be creating their own painted papers to make a bird just like a famous local artist Pete Cromer who lives in Colac. Just wait for how these look – they will be amazing.

Please do not hesitate to come and see your child’s teacher if you have any questions, we are very happy to help.

Please bring in a box of tissues for the specialist programs – coming onto the colder season children need tissues and the specialist areas are often forgotten about. Just drop them into the Art room and I will distribute them around to all the specialist areas.

Hope to see you around.

Ms. Torriero, Mr. Turner, Mr. Hill, Mrs. Canning and Ms. Grattidge

P.E

Term 2 is certainly jam packed full of numerous sporting events and skill-based lessons and activities for our Lara Lake students.

On Thursday May 31st the Grade 3-6 students will be travelling by bus to Goldsworthy Reserve which is in Corio, to participate in the school’s House Athletics.

The children are extremely excited about having the opportunity to represent their House Colour, as they spent Term 1 in preparation for this major event.

Please ensure your child’s permission note and bus money have been completed on Compass by the due date. The event was posted in the last week of Term 1. If you are able to assist with marshalling duties for the school’s Athletics Day, please notify Mrs Dowling or the office.

The PE curriculum for all grade areas will continue to focus on participation and catering to each individual’s ability while having fun in their weekly PE lesson.

In the Prep area, the students will participate in skill-based stations, such as throwing, catching, skipping, kicking and in the second half of the term they will have the opportunity to participate in the school’s Perceptual Motor Program (PMP). PMP is a movement-based program which helps younger students improve their eye/hand and eye/foot coordination, fitness, balance, locomotion and eye-tracking skills.

The Grade 1 and Grade 2 students will continue to develop their sporting skills in catching, throwing and kicking while displaying positive sportsmanship and enthusiasm.

The Grade 3 - 6 students will continue to further develop their sporting skills so they are able to confidently participate in invasion games during their weekly lesson. An invasion game is any game where the aim is to attack an opponent’s territory to score a goal or point. There are usually two teams with an equal number of players. These are fast paced games focusing on teamwork, keeping possession of the ball, scoring and defending.

The Grade 6 students are looking forward to putting their sporting skills into practise when they participate in the Winter Lightening Premiership competition against other schools at Geelong Grammar School, on Tuesday May 31st.

As in Term 1, a number of extra skill-based sporting clinics will be organised throughout Term 2 for various year levels at no cost.

If you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs. Dowling.

Looking forward to working with your child in Term 2.

Mrs. Dowling & Mr. Turner