Parent Info Meeting

Parent Information Session
There will
be a Parent Information Session on Wednesday 7th March 4:00 – 5:00pm.
You will be able to find out about the
learning within our neighbourhoods and answers to any particular questions
regarding Year 5/6. We hope to see you there!
We will be starting our presentation in the gymnasium.

Spelling: Word Study

During word study sessions, students will be inquiring into the relationship between sounds and their letter patterns. In the word study students collect words with a particular sound, sort the words into groups that will make sense, analyse the data for patterns that will help them with their spelling,and learn how to apply this knowledge when attempting to spell unknown words. Students are also learning about the inquiry process as well as building their understanding of the graphophonic system. Segmenting words into their sound parts will also be a strong focus during spelling investigations.

Workshops Tuesday 20 February

Each Tuesday skills workshops are held for students from both 5/6 neighbourhood classrooms. The following are reports on the four sessions held this week.

Maths Workshop
"In this class we had to create a record of our timetable of all our activity over a period of five days (120 hours). Our table had to consist of time spent on physical activity, sleep, movement, sedentary activity, TV/electronic games, and reading. This task was very enjoyable and a little bit hard". Emily.
Michael notes: a consolidated table showing many student's activity was created from the numerous Excel spreadsheets used by students to record their information. This will be used for a follow-up activity that forms part of next week's learning agreement.

Teamwork Skills Workshop
"On Tuesday one of the rotations that all of the 5/6s did was with Mike. Mike was teaching us about teamwork. He showed us a few games that help us improve our team work skills. One game was called helum stick; in this game you had to ower a metre ruler to the ground. But the catch is that the whole group had to be touching the stick the wholetime, and there were also other rules that it harder. It was a great workshop and we learned a lot". Maggie

Personal Learning Skills Workshop
"In Meredith's class we went on the Ultranet and added our neighbourhood blog to our home page. Then we joined the group called 'Healthly & Alive' and added an answer to the question "what do you like to do to keep fit?" After that we made two folders with the headings 'Learning Goals' and 'Learning Reflection'. We can add something in each of these folders once a week". Olivia

Working in Groups Workshop
We discussed what we need to do to work effecgively in a group. we need to:
- combine ideas together - taking turns
- use positive body language - speak clearly
- listen to each other
- make sure everone has a role
- encourage all group members
- make sure everyone understands the task
- participate
- cooperate.
Simon

Parent Reps

We are looking for 2-4 parents from each neighbourhood to volunteer as a parent rep for 2012. The role of parent reps is to encourage and co-ordinate parent involvement in the educational and social activities of the school in collaboration with the neighbourhood teachers.

If you are interested, please speak to the teachers in your child's neighbourhood by Thursday 1 March.

Angela Palombo, on behalf of the Community Relations Sub-Committee

Maths scavenger hunt

Here are some photos of our neighbourhood enjoying a lesson where we had to locate a lot of items around the school from a list of things such as something with a perimeter of 20cms or something that holds more than a litre.

Independent schools' scholarship exam

There will be two exam preparation sessions for students intending to sit scholarship exams for independant schools.

8:30 am

Wednesday 15th & Friday 17th February

in the library.

Please note this is for students intending to sit scholarships only.

Bazaar- We need your help!

We are in real need of some extra helpers for the Bazaar. "Burly blokes" are needed for set-up and pack-up. We are also asking for soft drink cans to be dropped off in the neighbourhood. If you think you can help, please see the green sheet sent home last week or contact one of our parent reps; Marianne, Louise, Debra and Deb.