Read more to hear an update from our Head of Primary on Creative Writing, Orientation events and our Primary Swim School, as well as a spotlight on Year 1 and Year 4 writing exercises and our Stage 1 Geography Excursion.
Kindy Creative Writing, Orientation Events and Primary Swimming - Mel Woods (Head of Primary)
Kindy Creative Writing
In Kindy the teachers have been seeing encouraging work from their students' writing sessions.
The students have had three terms of learning and have been concentrating on the sounds that words make, how to write words and how to use words. The students were telling me how they love to describe their artwork and that they like to use “adjectives” (describing words) when they write.
Here is a small example of some of the students that came to showcase their work about their shiny, silver and bumpy trees. There was even a sentence that mentioned that tree branches were weeping. Such magnificent vocabulary and the students were certainly proud of their work. We certainly have budding writers!
Kindy 2023 Orientation
What an amazing bunch of kids we have! We have been enjoying our visits from the new 2023 Kindergarten students and their families who have been coming for Orientation visits.
Our current 2022 Kindergarten students have been role modelling what it's like in 'Big School' and have shown our new little ones what it's like to be at school and 'this is how we do it'. Alongside this have been the fine examples of kindness and understanding from our Grade 4 students who have been blessing our new families as they welcome, play, encourage, share, dance & sing. They are fine examples of a lovely young person.
This is what we want to nurture, foster, cherish, note and cultivate where there is genuine care showcased amongst the whole student body, no matter what age. We are very proud of their efforts and how they are being fantastic leaders of our school and showing our community that they care.
Primary Swim School 2022
We are so excited to send every child in our Primary to our 2022 Swim School programme which will be running throughout this term.
There has been so much chatter, talking and preparing the students about how to keep all their uniforms together, and how to have their swimwear, towels and goggles at the ready. Lots of upskilling and training! It is all worth it as we see their faces when they arrive and their pure joy completing this activity.
I trust you have been updated as to how they went as they jumped into the car at the end of the day or walked home from the bus sharing tales of how they enjoyed their swimming. We will be having a Parent Viewing Day in Week 5, where parents and carers are welcome to come and watch their child(ren) during their swimming lesson in Week 5 either on Thursday or Friday. More information to come!
Year 1 Writing Exercises with Miss Kwong
It’s our first week back in our classrooms and 1K are already so excited to learn! This week we have been revising the trigraphs ‘eer’ and ‘ear’ and we wrote a letter to our friends using the sentence starter ‘Dear ________,’.
We told our friends all the exciting events that are happening this week, including our Geography Excursion and the Swimming Program. After we wrote our letter, we published our work using the iPad application called Notes. Some of our students even worked out how to draw pictures in the Notes app. How clever!
Year 4 Writing Exercises with Mrs Mitton
Personification is when you attribute personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human. 4M have been exploring how personification can be used to bring our writing to life. We have used an image of our favourite natural landmark as a stimulus for our writing. Sophia Mabambe has captured personification beautifully saying:
‘As I am under the cry of the gleaming waterfall, I catch its tears upon mine. I see why it’s crying, the tears seem sweet not salty, it’s happy, it’s so thankful to God that the sunset above it is screaming with joy. The marine blue of the waterfall is making the trees dance. The stomp of the water is beating like a heart, and the trees dance wildly like a child wanting ice cream but doesn’t get it. This setting feels so sparse yet so full, I feel so light-hearted. Why watch TV when you can come here where the sunrays dance with you? The sweet yet salty water crawls up my nostrils. No, I can’t go back now.’
What a privilege it was to be taken on a grand tour of ACC’s new building by Mr Corr. Students in 4M had the opportunity to evaluate the new building, describing how they felt as they walked through the first floor with Mr Corr.
Abigail Pagobo wrote:
‘I stand upon the shadows of the staggering-sized building, a vast, fashionable white building. And as I walk through the automatic glistening doors, the fresh smell of plywood crawls up my nostrils. I peek beside my shoulder and see the miniature kindy students working in the extensive concrete wall room. And as we walk past the dark corridor with the polished bathroom, we enter the VOID! Dun Dun Dun!!’
Lydia Batarseh wrote:
‘Whoosh, I watch as the clear doors of the staggering, big building slide open. Seeing the three-story building, I think, WOW! This is outstanding. Amazed, I look side to side, up and down, astonished. I watch as our beloved kindergartens watch, learn, sing and dance with pride. Slowly lifting my eyes above me, I see the beautiful golden, swirly, vital chandelier above me. I walk slowly down the path seeing the toilets. I’ve got to say, it does look incredibly modern, stating the fact that there’s a..a shower! UNBELIEVABLE! Automatic door, elevators, do I even need to explain? Staggering.’
Year 1 and 2 Geography Excursion
Our Year 1 and Year 2 students enjoyed gorgeous weather for their excursion yesterday to The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.
Students enjoyed learning about the culture of the local Aboriginal people: the Cadigal people. They participated in a program that examined a wide variety of native plants and learned about how the Indigenous people of Sydney used plants for food, medicine, tools and weapons. The students also had an opportunity to explore some iconic Sydney landmarks including The Rocks, The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Sydney Opera House.
It was a beautiful day and we were so impressed with the wonderful behaviour of our students! Well done Year 1 and 2!
