Over the past two weeks, students have been further developing their Auslan knowledge through focusing on a variety of handshapes. These handshapes (the spoon, the OK, the rabbit and fist) are the basis of many different Auslan signs and help the students develop accuracy and an overall understanding of how the language works. Students have also been learning about storytelling and how the use of depicting signs and constructed action can create a more interesting way of signing an Auslan story.
During week 1, the focus in Auslan was communicating ‘people signs’ (e.g. boy, girl, man, woman, people, children). Students took part in various activities focusing on discussing family members and signing/fingerspelling names to describe their own families. In week 2, students have been learning the Auslan signs for different sports (e.g. football, soccer, tennis, athletics). They took part in some fun games and activities to communicate their favourite sports, using signing and fingerspelling.
In Auslan, students have been exploring ‘feelings’ signs and learning the importance of using facial expressions (non manual features of signing) to communicate. Everyone had the opportunity to demonstrate their own versions of how they could communicate signs such as hungry, thirsty, sick, worried, smiley and upset (amongst others!) We used emojis to assist students in showing their emotions as well!
In the LOTE room, we have been revising the four ‘Zones of Regulation’ and have discussed some of the emotions connected to each of the coloured zones. Students have explored many of the different Auslan signs within each zone, and have been able to recognise how others are feeling and how their own emotions are connected too.
This week, students entered the Auslan room with great excitement, eager to begin learning a variety of new
hand signs and demonstrating some of what they had discovered during the holiday break. All of the grades have
been introduced to the topics to be covered throughout each semester and taught a list of basic hand signs to
engage in short conversations. We also discussed the Auslan classroom expectations, and took part in some fun
getting to know each other activities. The student’s enthusiasm towards learning Auslan this week has been
amazing!
This week students discussed the SWPBS, respectful behaviours and learning routines in the Science Room. They
also had the opportunity to list their own expectations and preferences for learning activities.
Students have been enjoying a wide range of sports and activities to finish off the term. They have had the opportunity to revisit sports and reflect on their understanding and learning throughout the year. Students have also participated in a range of indoor activities due to wet weather where they had the opportunity to focus on their teamwork skills and enhance their fitness.
Avondale P.S. would like to send a big congratulations to the following students who qualified and participated at this year’s Regional Athletics: Josephine Anagnos - Discus Natasha Angus - 200m Shaylee Beeck - 1500m Isabel Slobada - High Jump Tessa Stevens - 100m, 200m. All students represented the school highly and we are super proud of their efforts.
We would like to send a big congratulations to Tessa Stevens from Grade 6 who came 3rd in her 200m event at the Regional Athletics Carnival. This is an amazing achievement and something that we are all very proud of.
On Wednesday 23rd October, Grade 3 and Grade 4 students had the opportunity to participate in a range of cricket activities hosted at Fairbairn Park. Renegades and Cricket Victoria were also involved on the day supplying fruit during snack break, prizes for students, as well as inflatable activities for students to participate in. Students enjoyed the experience and loved having the opportunity to develop their cricket skills and knowledge.
Avondale would like to send a big congratulations and good luck to the following students who have qualified for Regional Athletics: Josephine A – Discus Natasha A - 200m Shaylee B - 1500m Isabel S - High Jump Tessa S - 100m, 200m We also send a big congratulations to all the students who participated in the last event - Divisional Athletics. This is a huge achievement and the whole Avondale community are very proud. Grade 3 and Grade 4 students have the opportunity to participate in a Cricket Fun Day held on the 23rd of October. Students have begun learning the skills and rules of cricket and are excited to be involved in a range of different cricket activities.
This term we were successful in gaining a schools sporting grant. As a result Grade 1 & 2 students are having the opportunity to participate in 4 weeks of taekwondo sessions run by a Taekwondo Coach from Halls Taekwondo. We were also able to purchase more equipment for the school for all students to utilize within PE. The Grade 1 and Grade 2 students have been having lots of fun learning new skills so far.
Congratulations to the following students who competed at divisional athletics day: Tessa S - 100m, 200m, Relay Natasha A - 100m, 200m Jed K - 200m Shaylee B - 800m, 1500m Josephine A - Discus, High Jump Fia C - Long Jump Quinn P - Triple Jump Elijah H - High Jump Isabel S - High Jump, 100m Salina M – Relay Willow M - Relay India L - Relay A big congratulations to the following students who placed top 2 in their event and are moving on to Regional Athletics. We wish them all the best of luck and are all very proud of their efforts. Tessa S - 100m, 200m Shaylee B - 1500m Josephine A – Discus Isabel S - High Jump.
Congratulations to all students who participated at our District Athletics Carnival. All students represented the
school well, showing our school values and trying their best throughout the day. A big congratulations to our
students who placed in the top 2 and will move on to the next level.
Congratulations to our 2024 Cross Country Champions. Well done to both Shaylee and Henry for their placings at
multiple cross country events. The Avondale community is super proud of your efforts.
Unfortunately, on this year's Athletics Day, students ran out of time to compete in the 400m event. However, last Friday students selected had the opportunity to compete in the 400m at school. All students did an amazing job and special congratulations to those who received a ribbon for their placing.
Grade 5 and 6 students have been participating in the Winter Gala Days. Students had the opportunity to participate in sports including Tee Ball, Netball and AFL. Students did an awesome job at representing Avondale highly displaying our school values throughout the two days.
Physical Education Congratulations to the following students who were our 2024 Athletics Champions. Students were selected based off the total points received from their placings on the day. U8 GIRLS – Lilly R U8 BOYS – Senay T U9 GIRLS – Anouk M U9 BOYS – Aiden B U10 GIRLS – Joesphine A U10 BOYS – Josiah A U11 GIRLS – Quinn P U11 BOYS – Lucas K U12/13 GIRLS – Tessa S and Salina M U12/13 BOYS – Jed K
Grade 3-6 students participated in this year's school athletics carnival. Students had the opportunity to participate in a range of events and displayed great leadership and determination when participating. Congratulations to all students on participating throughout the day.
Foundation students are currently participating in PE sessions ran my mini soccer coaches, practising their fundamental movement skills and developing their kicking skills.
Grade 1 and 2 students have been prasticing their ball skills across the term including throwing and catching as well as developing their ball bounce and dribbling skills. Students have enjoyed practising dribbling in a range of basketball games both individually and in teams.
Grade 5 and 6 students had the opportunity to participate in two summer gala days. They participated in one of the sports for the two days including Soccer, Hot Shot Tennis and Cricket. Avondale students showed great leadership and respect whilst participating in the gala days and had lots of fun across the days. Those students who did not have the opportunity to participate this time around, will be able to engage in the upcoming winter gala days.
Selected students participated in this years Swimming carnival. Congratulations to all students who participated for their amazing efforts on the day.
This week students discussed rules and expectations that will be reinforced during PE. We explored the
importance of being a ‘good sport’ whilst identifying the exciting events coming up in Term 1 for different grades
and the different focus topics that will be participated in. Students in Grade 3-6 will begin to practice and prepare
themselves for the upcoming Athletics Day in Term 2 whilst the junior school will consistently explore and refine
their fundamental movement and motor skills.
Over the past fortnight, the Art Room has been buzzing with activity as students put the finishing touches on their artworks in preparation for the 2024 Art Show. We are thrilled to invite everyone to join us on Thursday, 5 December at 5:00 pm for an evening of creativity and expression. The event will showcase a vibrant collection of art pieces from Foundation to Grade 6 students. Come and enjoy a range of colourful, imaginative works that will surely inspire. Here’s a sneak preview of what you can expect to see!
In Visual Arts, Grade 1 students have been creating their own unique robot using shapes. Students first had to draw a plan of a robot and colours they wished to use. Next was sketching their robot to A3 size. This week, some grades got to use glossy paper to cut the shapes of their robot. It was important to use a ruler to rule and measure the shapes and use circular items in the classroom to trace, before cutting and pasting their shapes onto cartridge paper. Next week we will be cutting smaller shapes on corrugated paper to layer and make our robot come to life.
This fortnight in Foundation, students listened to two fairytale stories which tied in nicely with their Inquiry unit ‘Topsy Turvy Tales.’ For the first art piece, students created an interesting background using acrylic paint, rollers, and scrapers to make interesting patterns. Next, we added tall tree trunks made from paper, along with Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf hiding in the forest. This week we read ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ which the children have enjoyed listening to. Students are in the middle of making their own pair of shoes and will decorate them next week. I can’t wait to see the sparkling shoes. Some grades also listened to the story ‘The Princess and the Pea.’ For this art piece we discussed different lines we could make such as, wavy, straight, curved, curly and decorated each mattress with a different line pattern, before adding the princess or prince on the top. And yes, we added the pea on the bottom mattress.
In Visual Arts, the Grade 1s have been working on creating a hospital and ambulance collage. Students used a mix of materials and techniques such as paint, cling wrap or aluminium foil to add texture to the background and coloured card. Other materials like cotton wool for clouds, fabric or nylon for the windows and polystyrene to make the ambulance pop out. We are proud of our creations, and we hope you like them too
Visual Arts This week in Visual Arts, Grade 1 and 2 students listened to the picture story book ‘My Dad’ by Anthony Browne and Foundation students listened to the story ‘Dads’ by David Bedford. Students were quick to work out that Father’s Day/Special Person’s Day was soon approaching. This was a great opportunity to make a card for this event. The Grade 2 students were excited to begin their shirt and tie card, while Grade 1s were mesmerised by the BBQ card and Foundation students began making a heart card. We can’t wait to see them finished.
Visual Arts this term has started with a bang, as I was welcomed back by students in the junior school.
We started the term looking at Aboriginal art, with Foundation students listening to the Dreamtime story ‘The
Rainbow Serpent’ and made a colourful snake. Grade 1 students dot painted a native animal and painted around
their animal with watercolour paints. The focus for this activity was to produce patterns. Grade 2 students are
looking at bush medicine. So far, they have used watercolour paints to make their gum leaves and used acrylic
paints and sponges to their backgrounds
This fortnight in Visual Arts, students in grades 5/6 have been studying the illustrations of Bruce Whately’s pictures in the storybook ‘Flood’ by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. Students first discussed how he made the illustrations before attempting to re-create the front cover of this book. Students first started with sketching the dog and then painted the background. Once the background was dry, we added another coat to paint, where students had to problem-solve and explore colours and tones to replicate the shades and tones used in the book.
This fortnight in Visual Arts, students in grades 3 to 6 made Mother’s/ Special Person’s Day cards. Each year level enjoyed making their card and were so excited to get them finished. Grade 3 students made beautiful flower fans with a special message attached, while grade 4s made cards using different materials like coiled pipe cleaners for flowers and a pop-up vase. Students in grade 5/6 made flower pot cards. They all look so colourful and beautiful, we hope you like it. Wishing you all a happy and wonderful Mother’s/Special Person’s Day this Sunday.
This week in Visual Arts the grade 5/6s finished making their Nobel Prize medal. This project has been in the making since last term when students were asked to research a Nobel Prize peace winner or an International Children’s Peace winner. The next step was to sketch a portrait of this person before transferring it to air drying clay. Next came the fun part using carving tools, a little water and fingers to help shape and smooth the clay. We painted our medal with metallic gold to make it look realistic. The results are amazing.
This fortnight in Visual Arts, students in Grade 5/6 have worked on designing, sketching and shading a drawing in one-point perspective. One-point perspective is when all lines of perspective meet one central point, called the vanishing point and this is usually found directly in front of the viewer’s eye. Students first started with sketching a grid and some general tips to keep their drawing realistic and in perspective. We hope you like them.
This fortnight, students in Grade 3 coloured a sunflower which formed part of a collaborative piece of artwork, Sunflowers in a Vase. The artist Vincent Van Gogh was the inspiration of this art piece.
Did you know that Vincent painted a total of five large canvases with sunflowers in a vase, with three shades of yellow ‘and nothing else’? In this way, he demonstrated that it was possible to create an image with many variations of a single colour. The sunflower paintings had a special significance for Van Gogh: meaning ‘gratitude’.
Here is what some of our students had to say-
· It was fun and relaxing. By Jacob
· It was relaxing because I didn’t have to think about how it would turn out. By Aliana
· It looked amazing when we put all the sunflowers together. The vase looks very realistic. By Olivia
· This colouring activity gave me joy. By Hayden
· I liked making the patterns green and blue on my sunflower. By Arvin
· I was relaxing when I was colouring and I used cool colours for my sunflower. By Zahra
This fortnight in Visual Arts, students were excited to be back in the Art room for another semester. We have
started the year with developing classroom expectations, including cleaning up after each session, using and
cleaning the sink, walking to and from the classroom and revised the safety poster.
Students have had such fun this week reading and writing scripts for various plays which will be performed over the coming weeks. We are learning how to rehearse and memorise lines from a script whilst remaining in character. It is great to see the characters come together to create a story and what a challenge it is to remember all of the lines! Soon the students will be exposed to the experience of writing their own script to known stories as well as creating a story of their own.
In Performing Arts, students have continued their journey with dance and have been choreographing their own routines. This week we have been learning to dance in a partnership which has seen much fun and enjoyment in performing the Heel and Toe Polka. It is great stepping back in time to discover the history of dance and the sheer joy it still brings to us today.
This fortnight the students have been working on their dance skills by creating their own choreography. Small groups have got their creative skills together to create dances demonstrating the three elements of dance: body, space and time. Lots of joy has been had rehearsing and performing the various routines. Simultaneously, some performing arts informal assessments have begun with the students putting their best foot forward and highlighting what they have learned through the experiences of drama, song, music and dance.
This term we are focusing on dance and music and we have been having a lot of fun as we put together some of our own dance routines as well as rehearse some old favourites. Zorba, a traditional Greek dance, has been the highlight this week as we apply the true meaning behind the dance and its origins to our performing arts class. “To live each day with passion” is the meaning behind Zorba and we love what this music and culture brings to us in our study of dance.
The students have been polishing their performance skills whilst singing a selection of songs from “The Greatest Showman.” We have been investigating the myriad of songs behind many of our favourite movies and games and focusing on music scores in popular movies. The challenge has been the Disney quiz testing the student’s knowledge on naming the movie behind the song and then further clarifying that by acting out a character from a movie scene.
Performing Arts In keeping with Book Week, the students have been studying “The Greatest Showman” by P.T. Barnum. The messages, showmanship and entertainment created by this musical legend have allowed us to enjoy the history and journey of music from the past to present. The students have experienced an array of songs from the musical and each grade level has focused on a particular song such as “A Million Dreams” and “This is Me.” Some wonderful singing has brought joy to us all.
The students are loving the challenge of creating a performance piece to a known song using various formations,
musical instruments and dance moves to create their routine. In amongst the rehearsal and performance time, we
have also been demonstrating our pride and respect in adding finesse to singing the Australian National Anthem,
which is a great fit with Australia’s current success in the Paris Olympic games. Well done to all of our students.
The students have been consolidating their acting experience with a series of performances in mime, music, play and dance. The themes have been around some long standing nursery rhymes and favourite fairy tales. There has been such a growth in confidence as the term has progressed.
What a wonderful harmonious week it has been in the Performing Arts room.
The students have been listening to 111 instruments and then grouping together the “String Family” to learn about the harmony and relationship between similar instruments. We have studied the names of various instruments in the string family, how they are played and how they sound.
The Performing Arts room has been full of joy as the students experience music as an expression of emotion and discovering that music is what feeling sound like. Song, musicianship and dance has been incorporated to generate emotion and become an integral part of our performance style.
The students have been having a wonderful time learning the origins of the ukulele and exploring the wonderful music and songs which have evolved over the years. Many of the performances have included song, dance and learning to play the ukulele as an accompaniment to their performance.
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