Auslan This week for Auslan classes, we relocated to the Performing Arts building as our room has been receiving some repairs. Thanks to Ms Craggill for hosting us in her lovely building!
Foundation - Students have been learning about ‘Weather’ signs. Foundation parents can ask their children to demonstrate signs such as Rainy, Sunny, Windy, Thunder, Lightning and Hot/Warm/Cold!
Grade 1 - We have been revisiting H.O.L.M (Handshapes, Orientation, Location and Movement). Students have discovered how we can slightly change a handshape to reveal a totally different handshape and meaning. This was very technical learning and students grasped the concepts very well.
Grades 2 to 6 - This week, our focus has been on learning about deaf artist, Daniel McDonald. We have followed his story as an Indigenous artist and learnt about how he developed his style. We discussed his favourite art piece, ‘Inclusion’ and students had the opportunity to try out his indigenous artistic methods and design their own ‘inclusion’ art pieces.
This week, students from grades 2 to 6 have been learning about the topic ‘My Australian Holiday - Sydney.’ Their learning intention was to practise a variety of Auslan signs connected to tourist destinations in Sydney (For example, The Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Sydney Opera House) and communicate these to others in the classroom. Students were taught to sign their own and read other’s short sentences about their Sydney experiences.
Grade 1 students focused on reading the ‘fingerspelling’ of others, at both a fast and slow pace. This lesson taught students the importance of communicating their signs in a moderate, clear and accurate way for others to understand.
This week, Foundation students have been learning about ‘Things around the house.’ Examples of their new signs included kitchen, loungeroom, T.V, cupboards, window and door. Each week, Foundation students also have fun in Auslan warm-up activities to revise previous lessons and expand their Auslan vocabulary.
Foundation students have been learning about everyday signs and family signs. Students have been very enthusiastic in sharing who their family members are and learning how to sign their names, including mum, dad, brother and sister.
Grade 1 students have discovered how to sign about shops and things outside the house. We have had a lot of fun learning about where we like to go shopping and what types of objects are located around our own homes!
Students from Grades 2 to 6 were introduced to the topic of a morning routine. Everyone had an opportunity to learn the Auslan signs connected to a regular morning routine and share the many different examples that each student experiences, from waking up to walking into the classroom. We also focused on the correct Auslan language structure and how to translate this back into the English language.
It’s been a great start for ALL Auslan classes this year! Our Foundation students have been very keen to show off some of the Auslan signs that either their older siblings have taught them, or other signs they had learnt throughout their Pre-school sessions. This week, Foundation students have been introduced to what Auslan is about and how to use their hands and facial expressions to communicate to others. Students from Grades 1 to 6 have been revising their basic signing skills from last year, with alphabet games and quick activities to ‘switch on’ their Auslan brains for 2026! We look forward to many exciting and new topics in Auslan classes this year.
In Auslan this week, students from grade 2 to 6 have been revising the technical parts of Auslan signing by rediscovering H.O.L.M (Handshapes, Orientation, Location and Movement). The location of where you place a hand sign is important, and students have been learning about the similarities and differences of where certain signs belong. Grade 1 students have learnt signs about the different types of transport we regularly use (e.g. bus, car, train, tram, bicycle) and Foundation students have discovered the wonderful world of Colours! Each week, we revise the previously taught signs so that students can retain their Auslan signs knowledge.
In Foundation, students have been learning how mixtures are made from a combination of materials. We recently went out to the sandpit to mix sand and water to build stable sandcastles. This week the students used a combination of materials to make a stable house for the Three Little Pigs and tested whether they could blow it over.
Grade 1 and 2 students have continued their investigations on changing materials for different purposes. They recently made super hero characters out of clay. They also melted frozen vegetables and heated bread to observe the changes to the materials properties. This week they changed and strengthened paper to create a book stand to support the weight of books. It was a lot of fun and students had great success. The gardening club has continued to grow and thanks to our small and dedicated team of students we have our first harvest of peas. A special shout out to Georgia in 2B for organising and sharing out the jobs each lunch time.
Over the past two weeks, students across all year levels have been engaged in hands-on Science learning, exploring the properties of materials and how they change.
Foundation students investigated how to select materials based on their properties. They explored suitable materials for a raincoat and designed their own waterproof capes, applying their understanding in a creative and practical way.
In Grades 1 and 2, students explored how temperature changes affect materials. Using frozen and thawed fruit, they observed and discussed how objects respond to heating and cooling.
Grades 3 and 4 students focused on absorbency and how material properties influence their use. They designed tested materials such as Chux cloths, tissues, baking paper, and paper towels to determine which of these materials was most absorbent. They used pipets, measuring jugs and hypothesised and reported on their results.
In Grades 5 and 6, students explored reversible and irreversible changes through hands-on investigations. They examined water filtration to clean dirty water and investigated how popcorn pops as an example of an irreversible change.
It has been wonderful to see students across all year levels engaged and developing their scientific inquiry skills.
In Science, our Foundation students have enthusiastically started their new topic, Observable Properties and Materials. They explored tools that help us see more clearly, such as, telescopes, binoculars and magnifying glasses, before investigating a range of everyday materials and identifying objects with similar properties.
Students in Grades 1 and 2 have commenced their unit on Physically Changing Materials. They described and compared different objects using descriptive language, with a strong focus on developing their scientific vocabulary. Across Grades 3 -6, students have been engaging in pre-assessment tasks to activate their prior knowledge.
Year 3/4 students are exploring the Properties and Uses of Materials, conducting investigations to determine whether materials are absorbent or waterproof. They tested a variety of items, including baking paper, foil, cloth, paper towel and sponges, using water droppers.
Meanwhile, Grade 5/6 students have started their unit on Reversible and Irreversible Changes. They worked collaboratively to identify key glossary terms through an interactive Kahoot quiz, providing a fun and engaging way to assess their prior knowledge.
This week also marked the beginning of our Gardening Club. A big thank you to the students who joined Peter and Mrs Fitcher in the veggie patch to help plant peas. We look forward to watching them grow!
Our Foundation students are learning about the seasons and the different symbols that represent each season. They continue to make observations about the weather and fill in our class weather chart.
The Grade 1 and 2 students are continuing to learn about the important resource water and have completed their water wise posters. We will display these posters in Learning Community 4.
The Grade 3/4 students have enjoyed researching minerals and understanding their uses. The have also been able to identify the properties of rocks and identify the three categories of rocks: Igneous rocks, Sedimentary Rocks and Metamorphic Rocks.
The Grade 5/6s have enjoyed researching natural disasters these last few weeks. The have identified the way these disasters are measured, e.g. Earthquakes are measured by their magnitude using the Ritcher Scale, the impact of volcanoes is categorised using the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). Students have researched, in detail, a specific disaster on each topic.
Over the last two weeks in Science, the Foundation Students have been exploring clouds, weather and seasons. The students enjoyed the chance to go outside and look up into the sky with their cloud windows. We have been discussing how clouds tell us if it is likely to rain and how the environment around us changes during the different seasons. Come see our beautiful Season collages in Learning Community 4.
In Grade 1 and 2 the students have been busy learning about our precious resource water. We have conducted water filtration experiments. The students explored different materials to see how best we could clean dirty water. The students made predictions, observations and drew conclusions about the best materials and ways to use laying to produce the cleanest water.
The Grade 3 and 4 classes have been learning about how rocks are formed and identifying the different types of rocks. They have also been learning about the soil and how important soil is for all life, including plants, animals and humans.
The Grade 5 and 6 classes have been learning about how volcanoes form and erupt. They have been researching earthquakes and looking back through history and investigating significant earthquakes.
It has been a busy and exciting start to Science this term! All students completed pre-assessments to help identify their prior knowledge and inform our planning. Foundation students explored weather and seasons, learning how different conditions affect us and what clothing protects us from the sun, wind, rain and snow. Grade 1 and 2 students investigated where water is found around our school and how it is used, developing an understanding of its importance in everyday life. Grade 3 and 4 students began their unit on rocks, minerals, soil and crystals. They built scientific vocabulary and discovered that soil is a complex mixture of rock fragments, organic matter, air, water and living organisms - not just “dirt.” Grade 5 and 6 students explored the Earth’s layers - crust, mantle and core and investigated tectonic plates, modelling plate movement on the school oval. It has been a fantastic fortnight of curiosity, investigation and hands-on learning across all year levels.
It has been a wonderful start to Science for 2026! Our Foundation students have been learning their way to and from the Science room and how to sit on the big chairs. They are all eager to start their topic next week. Grade 1 and 2 students have been revisiting the routines and expectations in Science and also learning about our Australian of the year.
Our 3-6 students have been refreshing their memories on the expectations we have in place for Science, ensuring that we maintain a safe environment and respect each other's learning needs. We also accessed our prior learning by completing Scientific Alphabetic tasks where students recalled vocabulary words for each letter of the alphabet. It has been wonderful witnessing the consolidation of knowledge from prior learning! Keep it up, we are looking forward to a jammed-packed year of learning!
