Nerae Preece Principal

From the principal

Today is the last day of a 9 week term, and I am not sure that we could have squeezed anymore into it. Our community is a really resilient one.

Top 5 celebrations for term 2

It is always good to think about the wins for our school, particularly in our annual implementation plan (AIP). Over the past week I have had a chance to reflect on how we are travelling with our 2022 goals. Here is what we have discovered…

We have response to intervention being planned and taught in our cohorts (that’s the Badger version of tutoring). This is helping with our learning catch up.
We have started the Berry Street training, and worked through improving consistency and predictability in our classrooms.
We have updated our maths scope and sequence to ensure that it follows a developmental lens which we will be using in term 3.
Major work completed around inclusion in our ½ space with the support from Marissa Rizzo from the Eastern Special Development School, who is our regional inclusion coach. This work has been pivotal in preparing for moving into a brand new learning space.
Learning growth. Every child made learning growth in most or all areas of learning this semester, as it should be. There may be areas that students need to work on in semester 2, and an IEP will support them if they are 12 months behind or 12 months ahead.

For next term our relentless focus will still remain on learning growth, and to support this we are working on creating a learning environment that is inclusive and supportive of learning, in other words a clean, tidy and organised learning environments. When you walk into your child’s classroom, we want both of you to feel a sense of pride for the space they work in. We will be encouraging feedback, if you see a space that does look clean, tidy and organised share that with us, if you’re not seeing it, come and have a chat to us about it, we really want to improve!

The Capital Works project

As you may have gathered, the school probably won’t be demolished these holidays. Since the last time I shared information a few things have changed. To begin with the tender process to find a builder is completed. Circon will be joining Musk in building the new school, they are a local commercial builder who have completed a number of developments in schools in the local area, and are currently working with Upper Yarra SC. Their schedule is due to start in August, this will be where we have a few things prepared for the demolition, such as new toilet redevelopment in the balit space, and our server room moved to the durn durn space. When this is completed the demolition will start in the September holidays. The whole project will be completed by September next year, with students predicted to move into the new space by mid July.

Currently with where all of our students are placed there will be very little disruption for our learning, just a portion of our yard unavailable to be used. Our ½’s have been making great progress in learning in our balit space. Thank goodness they have moved into the space for winter, as the new heating system in the balit space is working far more consistently than the old heating system in the old building. We are so proud of our ½’s for showing great responsibility and adaptability in the learning area. I know they will really enjoy being in the new moondani space when it is completed.

Parent support in term 3

Finally I wanted to share a few things we are putting in place to help you in term 3.

As you may be aware, we have had a group gather every Tuesday afternoon. These parents gather to talk about their neurodivergent children and offer support and share ideas. You may have heard the term neurodivergent being thrown round quite a bit by me, and I use it to describe students that have a different way of thinking, this can include people living with Autism, ADHD, and ODD this is a few of many. In the past these people may have been seen as “naughty” and it doesn’t really help the parents who are trying to raise them, that’s why this group is so important. It helps to know that others are going through similar experiences as you. It is also important for neurotypical people to understand that typical isn’t really typical for everyone!

If you have a child that is diagnosed or in the process of being diagnosed for ASD, ADHD and/or ODD as well as other neuro atypical ways of thinking, come and join these parents from 2:45 in the staffroom on Tuesdays. You will be more than welcome!

In term 3 we have also secured Friday’s with Gwen Shand. Gwen is a therapist/teacher and author of books about resilience. This term she has already been working with a range of students across the school on strategies around bullying. It has been fantastic to hear and see some of the strategies being used in different situations across the school.

Gwen will continue to work with a different group of students in term 3. She will also be offering a 1 hour drop in session from 9-10 in the morning in the library. Come in and bring your parenting questions with you, and she will try and work through it with you. She is a wealth of knowledge and a great listener!

In the famous words of Porky Pig… That’s all folks!

Have a great break with your lovely children, we will miss you and them. We will see you all back in term 3.

Stay curious,

Nerae Preece

IMPORTANT SCHOOL DATES

Important school dates to remember:

11/7 – First day of term 3

PFA…

This week in Grade Prep…

What a fabulous week in Prep!

In Maths, we were ordering the duration of events from our day using the everyday language of time. We then compared the different events by looking closely at how long each one takes in time. Did it take one second? One minute? One hour? Or even one week?

In SMART Spelling, our sentence of the week was ‘Mum and Dad said yes’, ‘yes’ was our focus word.

In Reading, we continued with our strategy of ‘questioning’ to evoke our thinking and help us better understand texts. This week, we listened to audio documentaries discussing endangered Australian animals. The preps were able to form insightful questions that extended class discussions, supported our understanding, and provided us with further insight.

How do they know how many Eastern Barred Bandicoots are left in the wild?

Where did the Helmeted Honey Eaters get their name from?

What is making the Helmeted Honey Eaters extinct?

How do the Tasmanian Devils communicate?

What do the endangered animals need in their habitat to survive?

We carried our focus of questioning, and endangered animals into our Writing this week. Our picture prompt was of endangered animals. The preps brainstormed key words early in the week, and later used these key words to form valuable questions for their published pieces. We were so proud to see the children show such passion in this space, advocating for change and fighting against extinction!

How lucky are we to have the Healesville Sanctuary right next door!? What a great success our visit was! We were able to witness the preps use their prior knowledge and make connections between their learning in the classroom and their time spent at the sanctuary.

“This is such a nice habitat for a Tasmanian Devil”

“No foxes will be able to get in here to hurt the animals”

And that is a wrap for term 2!

What a wonderful term full of learning, discoveries, and friendship. We hope our prep community have a well-deserved break. We look forward to diving straight into term 3 after the holidays.

Love,

Mrs C and Miss H 😊

This week in Grade 1 / 2…

The Term is quickly creeping up quickly and the holidays are upon us. The learning hasn’t stopped in the ½’s though with a busy last week.

In Reading we have continued our author study with each end of the balit space switching authors. There were plenty of laughs coming from the C/D end as they read the hilarious Aaron Blabey, and plenty of interesting characters being created at the A/B end. There has also been a real focus on choosing good fit books once again and students are settling into reading independently in the classroom whilst guided reading groups are happening.

In writing, we have been extending the knowledge of our Author Study by writing in the style of Mem Fox and Aaron Blabey. A focus on the adjectives in the author’s writing has been our goal and the students have been expanding their vocabulary from this task.

Of course, the main event from the week was our big excursion to Healesville Sanctuary. There was plenty of excitement as we immersed ourselves in the magic of the sanctuary and studied our beautiful Australian flora and fauna. This outing linked in with our work in Maths by developing the ability to read maps, and then apply that to the classroom where we have been studying grid references. Battleships certainly was a big hit at the beginning of the week.

We wish everyone all the best over the holidays and look forward to seeing everyone in Term 3 for another wonderful term of learning!

This week in Grade 3 / 4…

To Our Incredible 3/4s,

This Term you have shown us that you are all TRUE LEADERS. Through your deep dive into the information reports, your researching skills and your AMAZING never give up attitude you should be truly proud of all of your efforts this Term.

For the last week we have been watching all of these skills come together in an incredible showcase of learning. It was great to see so many parents celebrate these achievements.

In Maths this week we made GIANT clocks on the basketball court, practised how to tell the time to the minute and (shhh…… don’t tell anyone) we may have had a Mathletics competition in the classroom.

Sit back and rest for the winter break, be kind to your loved ones and we look forward to seeing you next term, a little bit taller and excited for learning.

Your teachers,

David, Kat and Andy.

This week in Grade 5 / 6…

Wow! What an end to the term! Yesterday, our Inquiry unit culminated in an amazing open afternoon celebrating our learning. The 5/6 cohort happily accepted the invitation from the 3/4s to come and view the result of their hard work and we enjoyed the posters and dioramas about disasters, animals and space related topics. Thank you, Grade 3/4s! It’s clear you strived for your personal best! The 3/4s then came to view our dioramas and representations of natural disasters and sudden geological changes. They were awed by creative and interactive displays. We loved hearing the explanations, knowledge sharing, questions and feedback. Well done everyone!

In maths this week, we have been consolidating subtraction skills. Practising subtraction strategies and renaming was key, and some students were upskilling in understanding and converting fractions to apply their subtraction knowledge. Some were even undertaking an investigation for ‘Café Fractions’! There’s so much maths in business and baking – how fun!

Next term, we move into a new Inquiry unit – one with a Geography focus. Students have already given us input into their current understandings and we will use this information to design our next learnings. In this unit, we will be exploring continents, countries, oceans, resources, demographics, factors that shape places and influence interconnections. We’ll be exploring maps, data, diversity and culture. Integrated through literacy and maths, we’ll be making learning contextual. We’ll be busy! We’ll be having another community occasion later in the term with another special interactive event – more on this in the coming months.

We’ve also got sporting events, Tournament of the Minds and High-Ability Programs running.

Let’s go!!