FOUNDATION – YEAR 2
We have almost reached the holidays another wonderful term of learning – although many students seem just as excited about our planned pizza lunch on the last day of Term!
Foundation students have been refining their drawing skills while learning about birds and reptiles as their Animals unit draws to a close. Through careful observation and creativity, they have enjoyed exploring the unique features of different animals and representing them in their artwork.
We are all eagerly anticipating our upcoming excursion to Myuna Farm, where students will have the opportunity to get up close to animals and further extend their learning through practical experiences.
Our Year 1 students recently became budding entomologists during an exciting minibeast incursion. They explored insects under microscopes, caught crickets with their bare hands, met Lisa the spiny leaf insect, surrounded themselves with beautiful monarch butterflies and even had the opportunity to hold a live yabby.
It was wonderful to see students embrace these fascinating creatures with such enthusiasm, curiosity, care and bravery. The experience provided a memorable learning opportunity and sparked a greater appreciation for the world of minibeasts.
Year 2 students have been very busy learning about money by using real catalogues to purchase items and apply their addition and subtraction skills in meaningful, everyday contexts.
Students are also expanding their vocabulary by adding new words to the classroom word wall, helping to strengthen their language development and comprehension skills. As part of their Humanities unit, Places We Live, students have been sharing photos of places that are significant to them, fostering connections between their personal experiences and their learning.
Deanne Williams
Foundation – Year 2 Coordinator
We were delighted to welcome Felici’s dad into the Foundation A classroom to read the beautiful story The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be.
The story follows a group of young people who work together to create their own unique hot air balloons, celebrating the way individual talents and ideas can contribute to something special.
Felici invited her dad to be our guest reader because she loves listening to him read to her in the evenings and wanted to share this special experience with her classmates. This lovely book is one of their favourites from home.
We thoroughly enjoyed hearing the story read aloud and were captivated by its inspiring message about creativity and individuality.
In Foundation B, students have been learning all about reptiles. They discovered that chameleons are reptiles, which means they have dry, scaly skin, are cold blooded, and most of them lay eggs.
Students enjoyed listening to The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle, then used their creative skills to design their own mixed up chameleons. To finish their learning, they had great fun dancing to Karma Chameleon by Culture Club.
Using their growing knowledge of sounds, they are writing imaginative stories filled with adjectives, verbs and nouns to create exciting, funny and sometimes scary narratives that entertain their classmates.
It is wonderful to see the effort students put into their work and the enthusiasm shown when sharing and presenting their writing to their peers.
Over the past few weeks, our Year 1B students have been having a wonderful time taking our class pets home for a special week of adventures. Each student has enjoyed caring for their furry friend and creating special memories along the way.
One of the highlights has been gathering together to share photos and hear about the exciting adventures and fun activities the class pets have experienced at home. Students have loved telling their stories and celebrating each other’s special moments, bringing plenty of smiles and laughter to our classroom.
In Humanities, Year 2 students have been exploring the places that are important to them, including personal, local, regional and national places.
Through discussions and class activities, they have developed an understanding of how people are connected to different places and why these places hold meaning in our lives.
Students collected pictures and created colourful posters to represent these important places, showcasing their learning and personal connections. They are very excited to share their work with their families and can confidently explain the places they chose, why they are significant and what they have learned throughout this unit.
YEARS 3 – 6
How are we already approaching the halfway point of the school year? Term 2 is always a busy time, and our students have been fully engaged in learning across Years 3 to 6.
Year 3 students have thoroughly enjoyed investigating probability and data, including using Smarties for a Mathematics activity. Year 4 students participated in a memorable Wattletree Beekeeping incursion, where they discovered the important role bees play in our environment. They also had the opportunity to taste fresh honey.
We would like to congratulate all Year 5 and Year 6 students who represented Clyde Grammar so magnificently at the recent Winter Gala Sports Day. Their enthusiasm, teamwork, sportsmanship and determination were outstanding, and they were superb ambassadors for our school.
We are incredibly proud of all students, with special congratulations to the Badminton team, who finished runners up on the day.
We wish all families a wonderful and restful holiday break. For those following the football, we will also be hoping for an exciting and successful tournament ahead.
Have a great break!
Greg Newham
Years 3-6 Coordinator
This term, one of our Year 3A students, Maja, along with her dad, John, kindly brought in their incredible spiny leaf stick insects for her classmates to observe.
Maja confidently taught the class about her unique pets, sharing many interesting facts and helping everyone learn more about these fascinating creatures. Students showed great bravery and curiosity as they had the opportunity to hold the stick insects.
They also investigated 3D shapes, while identifying and describing their properties. It was a fun and practical way to apply mathematical skills in a meaningful context.
This year, the whole school took part in National Simultaneous Storytime by listening to Luna Roo – a story that connected beautifully with the excitement of the World Cup.
Year 4 students responded by creating colourful crepe paper artworks that reflected the range of emotions Luna Roo experienced throughout the story.
Recently, Year 4 students enjoyed a hands on beekeeping experience with Wattletree Beekeeping. They spun honey from beeswax frames, explored products made from beeswax and observed a live beehive.
They also examined the anatomy of a bee through a microscope, made their own beeswax candle to take home and finished the session by tasting fresh honey.
This term, students in 5A have been exploring the fascinating history of the Gold Rush through a range of learning experiences across History, Literacy and Art.
Students investigated the lives of significant people from the Gold Rush era and showcased their learning through creative art projects. They created textured foil gold nuggets inspired by famous finds, designed coffee stained letters from the goldfields to bring history to life and constructed 3D figures of important Gold Rush individuals, with their information reports hidden inside.
It has been wonderful to see students combine creativity with historical understanding, producing thoughtful and impressive pieces that reflect their learning throughout the term.
During their Measurement unit, the students of 5B further developed their understanding of mass and length. In the classroom, they used digital scales to measure and compare the mass of various objects; recording and analysing their findings.
Next, they took their learning outdoors, where they estimated and measured features of the playground using tape measures. Students measured items such as the tram, slide, garden beds and other playground structures, comparing their estimates to the actual measurements.
Students also converted measurements between metres and centimetres and calculated the difference between their estimates and the recorded measurements. These practical activities helped them build confidence in using metric units while developing their estimation and problem solving skills.
They have also continued to develop their mathematical skills through learning about pie charts and converting fractions. We are incredibly proud of all they have achieved this term.
Students in 6B had a great time carrying out practical science experiments linked to their Chemical Sciences unit. Activities included blowing up balloons with carbon dioxide, making lava lamps, racing ice cubes, separating soil and exploring the very messy properties of Oobleck.
We congratulate students on approaching each experiment with curiosity and care. They behaved in a very sensible manner as they discovered more about the way different solids, liquids and gases behave under various conditions.