Nerae Preece Principal

From the Principal

There have been some questions asked about helping our kids pick books to read. Believe it or not there is a fairly simple way to support your child in being independent in choosing books to read.

I guess it all starts with Goldilocks and the 3 bears. Remember how the papa bears chair was too hard, mamma bears chair was too soft and the baby bears chair was just right? The Goldilocks principle is one that our teachers are forever trying to work out for each child in their class for all subject areas (Yes. I think that this is a pretty amazing superpower to possess). They always ask is the work too hard, too easy or just right?

When the book is “Just write” we call this a “Good Fit Book”. We use the I Pick Method

(Source: Handmade in Third Grade Teacher Pay Teacher)

Using the IPICK method means that our kids are getting the books they are interested in. Now there is one more critical trick for the K part of the acronym and that is the finger count method. When a child starts reading 1 page of the book they have chosen you can count how many errors they are making, if it is more than 5 words read incorrectly on a page the book is a bit hard. In that case suggest that you might read that book together, I share read these books and ask lots of questions about what is happening (when you read to your child make sure you ask questions and talk about the characters or text features if it is a non-fiction text this really helps with comprehension).

The aim of teaching is to help our children to become self-reliant. We want them to be able to do this by themselves. So providing opportunities to support your child to choose good fit books by following these strategies at the library or book shop will really help them. Even talking about your own reading choices in relation to this is lots of fun for your children to see. You can even say why books are not a good fit for you! I always mention to students that sometimes there are books that have lots of words that I don’t understand, and I know that these books I will have to work harder at to understand.

I’d love to hear your Good Fit Book journeys. Let me know how it’s going!

Steph Eagleton’s Special Day

Our prep teacher, Miss Stephanie Eagleton is about to marry her long time partner Sydney. Miss Eagleton and Sydney are getting married in a secret location in the Yarra Valley, and I believe their main witness will be attending Pickles Miss Eagleton’s beloved puppy. We wish Steph and Sydney all the very best for their future together.

School Council Members for 2021

We have collated the nominations and we were not required to go to a ballot. I’m pleased to announce that your School Council for 2021 are:

Christian Clarke

Steve Smith

Carl deWacht

Eloise Wallace

Sharon Sheals

Jackie Matters

Mark Morris

These people are a great connection if you have questions, concerns and ideas for the school. Please reach out to them as they are representing families on the school council.

Learning Walks

Our leadership team and 2020 school council have been going on some learning walks over the past few weeks to see what is happening in our classrooms. The purpose of the learning walks is to make observations and ask the students about their learning. For example we may be wondering if all classes are doing the same writing lessons, a learning walk would help us see if that is occurring, or we might be wondering if a strategy that is being taught is evident in all rooms, by asking the students questions we can find out what they understand to help with changing our practice. On March 17^th our DSSI school’s will be coming to visit to do a learning walk. We are really looking forward to getting feedback from our critical friends.

Well that’s it for this week. Please have a safe long weekend.

Nerae Preece

IMPORTANT SCHOOL DATES

Whole school dates to remember:

Thursday March 18th – 3 Way interviews (Students finish at 12.30pm)

Friday March 26th – Curriculum Day

Thursday April 1st – Last day of Term 1

In Art this week…

Wow! What a busy week we have had in the art room. Our students have been experimenting with a range of new techniques and have become experts at cleaning up paint!

Our Preps have been looking at the artist Paul Klee and using his technique of taking a line for a walk. Using black PVA glue they created an abstract artwork with a focus on the art element Line. They then explored how to recognise warm and cool colours and painted both foreground and backgrounds in their paintings.

Grade 1 and 2 made Matisse inspired backgrounds for their underwater artworks. They used liquid watercolour paint and black cut out shapes to create a type of sun-print known as a Helioprint through the scientific process of diffusion.

The grade 3 and 4 cohort completed the second layer of their Van Gogh inspired monoprints this week. They used cut-out cypress trees to mask part of their print, creating contrast between the foreground and the background. Taking inspiration from ‘Starry Night’ students focused on the art element Line to create the feeling of wind and movement in their artwork.

This week the grade 5 and 6 students worked diligently on cutting their lino prints. Some students really enjoyed the process while others found the tools difficult to work with. Although a challenging activity, I think when they print their work next week, they will be surprised by the result of all their hard work. I look forward to sharing their prints.

Enjoy your week everyone.

Vanessa Imberger

Art Teacher

Exciting events in P.E…

Badger Creek Primary School would like to pass on a huge congratulations to Archie, who at the District Swimming has finished 1st in the backstroke event.

Keep up the amazing work Archie, we cannot wait to see you progress further in the swimming events.

We wish you all the luck.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

This week in Prep…

On our first full week at school, our Preps have been amazing.

Can you believe that we have been at school for 21 days already!

We had so much fun doing science this week. We are looking at how things change.

Our Preps had so much fun predicting what would happen when milk, food dye and detergent reacted together… Ask your child what happened?

In Maths we have learning about the days of the week. What order they go in and things that happen on each day of the week.

In reading, we are making connections. When reading, ask your child to make a connection (something they know or remember) to the pictures in the stories you are reading together. This is a text-to-self connection.

And, of course, we have been doing lots of writing. Our letter sounds for this week were; o, c, k. We looked at, smelled, tasted and wrote about oranges. We made crocodiles and wrote about ‘My cool croc can…’ and today we completed a directed drawing of a kangaroo and wrote about it.

Enjoy the long weekend, See you next Tuesday!

This week in Grade 1 / 2…

Did you know that there is a King and Queen that live in Mrs Riley’s storeroom? Well, the students in 1/2AB will be able to tell you all about them. Which prompted the selection of our mentor text this week ‘The Royal Dinner’. Our students have been practising retelling the story this week and are looking forward to making connections with text in week seven.

We have been using objects to prompt ideas for writing. We made foil people as part of our learning about Change. Students have engaged in writing about their foil people this week. We are loving the writing stamina that we are seeing throughout the grades at the moment.

In Maths, students have been using tens frames to help solve simple addition problems. We are really looking for students with automatic recall of number facts especially friends of ten. We have been playing games with cards to help with our maths this week. Perhaps your child could teach you at home over this long weekend what they have been doing in class.

Have a lovely and safe long weekend.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

We are currently taking applications for CSEF.

Please find below information in regards to the funding and if you could be eligible.

If you do have any queries or questions if you may be eligible please do not hesitate to contact the office.

Bake Sale

Bake sale

You are invited to join in the great Badger Creek Bake Sale.

When: Friday 5th March (After the whole school assembly)

Where: Badger Creek Primary School

What to bring: A donation of bakes goods

Please note: All ingredients must be clearly labelled on the packaging/container

We look forward to the yummy baked goods.

Healesville High School Visit

We are opening Healesville High School for a brief visit on Tuesday the 16^th of March from 3.45pm until 5pm. This is not our official Open Night, just an informal chance for families to have a look at the school and ask questions.

If you feel like visiting, it would be great if you could let us know by emailing:

Scott.fisher@education.vic.gov.au

This will help us to ensure that we have enough staff on site to answer any questions.

If you are happy to wait, we will be having our official Open Night on Wednesday the 28^th of April.