Primary School Update - 6 November 2026
Updated: 14 hours ago
PRIMARY SCHOOL UPDATE Mrs Katy Brierley (Head of Primary)
What a wonderful fortnight it has been in our Primary School community! There has been so much to celebrate, and I am continually thankful for the many ways our students and staff seek to honour Jesus in all that they do.
A huge thank you to our Year 6 Ministry Leaders and Miss Lee for their fantastic Year 6 Takeover of Chapel! We were encouraged by the students’ heartfelt testimonies and the way they shared their faith with such confidence. I am sure our students will not soon forget the cornball competition or the memorable catchphrase, “God Keeps His Promises!” What a wonderful reminder of God’s faithfulness in our lives.
It was also a joy to welcome our new Kindy families for their second orientation this week. We loved having you with us and are so excited to welcome your children into our Primary community next year. We are also thankful for the opportunity to gather so many students to worship God at Encounter, where students explored what it means to have Jesus as their friend. What a precious truth to carry with us each day!
Congratulations to the 16 Year 5 students who presented their speeches for the Captain and Vice Captain roles and are now undertaking their interviews. Each student has worked incredibly hard to present themselves with confidence and humility, looking to Jesus as their greatest example of a servant leader. We are so proud of the courage, preparation and character they have demonstrated throughout this process.
Finally, it was wonderful to celebrate our amazing Primary teachers for World Teachers’ Day! We are incredibly grateful for the dedication, care and commitment they bring to our students every single day. A special thank you to our School Captains for their thoughtful speech and prayer, recognising the incredible impact teachers have on the lives of our students.
As we reflect on this fortnight, may we continue to be encouraged by the many ways God is at work in our community. May we keep growing in faith, serving one another with love and remembering that God always keeps His promises!
MARSDEN BEAR’S ADVENTURES WITH 4M Mrs Kellie Mitton
We have had a wonderful time learning with Marsden Bear in 4M! Over the past two weeks, Marsden has been joining us while we practiced our songs for the nativity play. We have been remembering Jesus' birth and his saving work on the cross.
One of our favourite activities was playing shops with Marsden Bear. This was the perfect way to celebrate the completion of our Money unit in Mathematics. The students put their learning into practice by buying and selling items, rounding amounts to the nearest 5 cents or 10 cents and calculating the correct change.
There were lots of enthusiastic shopkeepers and clever customers as everyone put their money skills to the test. Marsden was certainly kept busy with all the shopping! Students even brought in items from home to make their shops extra special. Joseph, for example, worked with his dad to create a tiered display shelf especially for his shop. Other creative shop ideas included fidgets, origami and squishies.
It has been fantastic to see the students building confidence with their mathematical skills while having so much fun along the way. Thank you, Marsden Bear, for being such a wonderful learning companion in 4M!
MARSDEN BEAR’S ADVENTURES WITH 2K Mrs Deborah Kwok
This term, our Year 2 students have been excited to be learning the skill of writing poetry. We began our unit with studying the fun and lively poems of Ken Nesbitt, which inspired us to engage in ‘word play’ activities. We took our ordinary sentences, swapped words around and then noticed the playful effect it had to make our writing more interesting. In the next week, we studied personification. Our ordinary water bottles came to life, and together as a whole class, we brainstormed what things would make our water bottles feel excited, proud, embarrassed as well as a range of other emotions. In the following lesson, we studied poems and stories that incorporated repetition. In pairs, the students embedded repetition in a poetic description of a variety of land environments. Our latest lesson introduced the use of similes. With great delight, the students individually chose family members to depict with their colourful descriptions. In the coming weeks, we will be incorporating Christmas as we study other poetic forms and skills. It has been a joy to see the students using their creativity throughout this unit. As we engage in these writing activities, our class has been able to reflect on our creative Author Jesus and how His world and Word greatly inspire us to also become engaging writers and communicators.
CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS IN 3M Mrs Ashleigh McGowan
This year, six students in our class have been completing extension projects based on topics they are passionate about. It has been wonderful to watch their ideas develop and their knowledge, independence and confidence grow along the way.
In recent weeks, these students presented their projects to the class. 3M loved learning from their classmates and seeing the creative ways they shared their work.
Miriam explored why the guitar is so popular, even bringing her guitars along to demonstrate her learning.
Sophie investigated Australian animals and showed us her sketching skills with a beautiful drawing.
Olivia took us under the sea to learn about the Great Barrier Reef, bringing in a model and guiding 3M to create their own mini reefs.
Ian explored animal intelligence and taught us the fascinating ways they learn and solve problems.
Harrison took us far beyond Earth teaching us about galaxies and showing us just how big and creative God is.
Iliana taught us about the brain and dementia, using a model to demonstrate her learning before guiding 3M to create our own ‘brain’ hats.
A huge congratulations to all six students! I am incredibly proud of the commitment, creativity and curiosity they have shown throughout the year. God has gifted each of them with unique talents and abilities, and it has been wonderful to see these gifts grow as they have challenged themselves and pursued their learning.