Read more to hear about how our Kindergarten students are settling in to Primary school, as well as news from our Year 2 and Year 3 classes, and an update on Primary Sport and Primary Science & Technology.
Kindergarten Recess
Every day at recess time it is a beautiful sight to see all our Kindergarten students playing and having fun together.
Our staff have been introducing them to classic games including ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘What’s the time, Mr Wolf?’, and there is always delight as students climb onto the low branches of our trees.
It is so important for our young students to investigate God’s creation, use their imagination and have lots of time to build strong relationships with their peers through play. We are very grateful for our beautiful grounds and the opportunity to see our kids develop, have fun and make memories here at the College.
Kindergarten Music
This term, our Kindy students are enjoying learning how to play on the beat during music class.
Students have progressed from clapping to using percussion instruments, which is making music class even more fun!
Year 2 - Learning about Emotions with Miss Dikha in 2D
This term, 2D has been investigating different emotions and how to regulate them when we are in tricky situations on the playground or in class time. We have been learning how our emotions are God-given and even our hard or negative emotions can help keep us safe, warn us about danger, or let us know when something happens that isn’t right.
The important thing is knowing how to identify, manage and regulate our emotions so that we are making safe, respectful, courageous, encouraging and Christ-like decisions that uphold each other's rights while we are at school.
We explored various strategies for doing this such as taking five deep breaths in and out, walking away from the situation for five minutes, going to the bubbler for a drink and asking a teacher for help. 2D also considered various solutions for resolving conflicts including using ‘I feel…..when you…’ statements, calmly talking it out, compromising and (where appropriate) ignoring the behaviour and focusing on their own activity.
Year 3 and Year 9 PE Coaching
Our Year 3 students have had the opportunity to be coached by one of our Year 9 PE classes. The Year 9's, as part of their assessment, need to coach a class and teach them a sport skill. This week our Year 3 and 4 students have enjoyed their training and learnt Tunnel Ball and OzTag.
The Year 9 classes will be working with all students in Stage 2 and Stage 3 over the next three weeks. We value the richness of a K-12 school and the wonderful benefits that the Secondary school students can bring, and the ways they can bless our Primary students. Remember to ask your child if they have been coached by our year 9 PDHPE classes and what they enjoyed about this opportunity.
Primary Sport Update - Mr Parsonage
Gymnastics
Our 2023 gymnastics program has been a huge success again this year. We have been blessed to be able to access the amazing facilities and staff at SGAC again in 2023, which has provided our students with some fantastic opportunities to improve their coordination, strength and self-confidence to embrace new challenges.
From mini-trampolines and balance beams, to parallel bars, dismounts and floor routines, our students have learned a variety of new skills and have been having tremendous fun doing it at the same time.
CSSA Super 8 Cricket Gala Day
On Wed Feb 15, a team of 10 students from Year 6 participated in the CSSA Super 8 cricket gala. This was the first time these students had played together as a team, and for some, their first time playing cricket in this format. They played 3 games across the day, displaying skill, enthusiasm and excellent sportsmanship in every game.
There were a number of highlights, but perhaps the most notable was that the team successfully made it through to the semi final round, where they were unfortunately defeated by Norwest CC. A terrific day was had by all, and every student should be commended for the way they represented ACC.
Primary Swimming Carnival
After some soggy weather the previous day, we were greeted with clear skies and great weather for our first ever 3-6 Primary swimming carnival. For the majority of our Primary students this was their first opportunity to take part in a swimming carnival after all of the disruptions over the past few years.
Along with a group of our Year 2 students who joined us on the day, our students had a fantastic day, swimming, cheering and enjoying the atmosphere.
Our students had the opportunity to race in 25m, 50m and 100m events across the day. Perhaps the most enjoyable part was seeing the looks on our students' faces after completing ‘a whole lap’ for the first time. What a great day!
K-2 Swimming Fun Day
Not to be outdone by the ‘big kids’ in 3-6, our K-2 students also had their first K-2 swim/fun day in week 5. After a short bus ride over to Richmond Swimming Centre, we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine, which was just perfect.
Our students were amazing! Each grade spent the morning rotating through a number of water based activities, and had a fantastic time! From sponge throwing relays, sprinkler limbo, and musical statues, to pool noodle games in the mini pools and dancing with their new high school buddies, there was fun and excitement everywhere you looked.
The highlight of the whole fun day was undoubtedly the enthusiasm and joy on the faces of all of the students. Whether they were working together to complete challenges, or simply enjoying being outside and getting wet on a hot day, they all had a blast whilst doing it!
CSSA State Swimming Event
What an exciting evening was had when our Primary swimmers attended the CSSA State Swimming Carnival at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre in Homebush last night!
They proudly represented both themselves and our College community well. The camaraderie, cheer squad made up of family, friends and teammates, and the effort of our swimmers was to be highly commended.
Please see below for a list of our students who represented the school at a State level in Swimming:
Sophia Notley
Adelaide Biermann
Edwina Biermann
Tahn Branes (DE)
Owen Haider
Xavier Eason
Braxton King
Edward Kruijer
Thomas Kruijer
Thank you to our students, as well as Mr Parsonage and Mrs Tranter for all your hard work!
Primary Science and Technology with Mr Michael Alldis
Primary Science and Technology is off to a fantastic start this year as students make use of the new dedicated Science & STEM classroom. Everyone is excited to be in the new building: completing experiments and investigations in our new space.
This term, students in Year 3 are learning about living things. They have learned that all living things have four common traits:
They grow and change.
They need energy to survive.
They reproduce.
They respond to their environment.
In particular, students have learned to observe and identify the physical features of living things. They discovered that those features can be used to organise and classify living things into categories that help us to understand them better. Here you can see students sorting out many animals into their scientific classification categories. They can tell you the differences between mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians.
Year 3 are using these new skills to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills. They are shown an animal, or a partial photo of one, and asked to identify its scientific classification based on the observable physical features.
