Over the Hump - Week 6 Update

 Good afternoon parents,

What a weekend...the cold and wet weather I have been craving and I am beyond excited to be sitting on my couch watching Collingwood lose whilst the rain belts down! Devo the Eagles lost but the other purple guys had a win so that means WA wins!

I had a great weekend with Tobes playing in a Derby against the Whites on Friday night, happy about that as I avoided being out in the rain yesterday. Another win...sorry Mr Torrese but how good are the sporting opportunities for our kids...super lucky! 

Not feeling as lucky about it on Sunday though as I spent some of the day at Busselton Hospital getting Ella's ankle checked after a nasty whack on Friday night...I didn't want to be that parent that made her walk on it for a week OR the parent who just wasted time...the dilemma! Thankfully it wasn't broken just bone bruising so she should be right for the Bunbury Carnival on the long weekend which is the one of the highlights of her year!

Focus Value - This week are looking at the Character Strength of Bravery...we started a great activity last week in which we looked at the cross section of strengths that exist within our class and I am hoping to encourage the students to spot their classmates using their strengths when they can!

REMINDERS - WEEK 6

We have a busy back end of the term, so brace yourselves!

Eucharist Parent Workshop - Is on this Tuesday 25th May beginning at 5.30pm in the Hall. ALL candidates that will be receiving the sacrament are expected to attend.

Please note our Commitment Mass for the Sacrament is on Saturday 12th June at 6pm at OLOTSC Church. ALL families are expected to attend as a gesture of support and it is also our Year 4 family mass.

National Sorry Day - Is on Wednesday 26th May, we will be having lots conversation about this really important day and a reminder that students are asked to wear a t-shirt in red, black or yellow with their sports bottoms.

I will be on site but out of the classroom on Wednesday as I will be attending my third day of my Leading Wellbeing program. I was supposed to head up to Perth but with our workshop the night before and the amazing technology that we have...I can call in for the day via Teams!

Excursion - We will be off on excursion to Eagle Heritage Wildlife Centre down in Margaret River on Thursday 3rd June. A permission slip with additional details will be sent home with your child tomorrow.

Stationery - Time for another check in please...glue sticks are the ones that grow legs and walk off as well as rulers, red pens and pencils. Please check with your child if they need anything.

Teams & Laptop Behaviour - There is a number of students that are not using the Teams space appropriately, can you please take some time to look at your child's activity and chat with them about the appropriate use of this learning space. It is not a place for silly comments or gibberish, this is where I post links needed for learning or where students can ask questions related to the classroom or learning tasks.

If students continue to misuse this space, they will be removed from Teams. 

Additionally, there has been a large number of students that are coming without laptops or they go flat through the day...if I had a dollar for every time I have been told "but I plugged it in...". 

Our laptops are used multiple times through the day/week by us and specialist teachers, whilst we can function without them, at times learning experiences are affected.

Students will be given a Technology Infringement Notice if they:

• forget their laptop.
• it goes flat through the day.
• or is not charged at all.

This notice will be taken to Mr Lee for discussion and then brought home to be signed and then returned. We are over halfway through Term 2 and the students are familiar with their laptops and they need to be held accountable for their coming to school and care.

A WORD FROM MISS T...

Hello parents!  

  

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself as Miss Tickner. I am currently studying a master’s degree in Primary Education at Notre Dame University in Fremantle. I consider myself very lucky to have been given the opportunity to complete my final practicum placement here at Our Lady of the Cape. The last five weeks have flown by and I’ve enjoyed every minute!  

  

So far, I have really enjoyed teaching the new writing unit on information reports. This week we have focused our learning on identifying the difference between facts and opinions along with the text structure of informative writing. The learning has been a balance of engaging warm up activities and explicit teaching. The students really loved participating in the ‘True or False’ game! It also helped them to solidify their understanding on what facts are.  

  

In maths we have been looking at a new learning area – identifying the perimeter of a given shape. Here, students have explored the definition of perimeter and how to calculate the perimeter of 2D shapes through both addition and multiplication strategies.  

  

Moving on to science, students have been learning about the features of flowers which are used to attract pollinators. Students had a great time exploring the school grounds making observations and drawing diagrams of various different flowers, along with recording information around their specific features used to attract the pollinators.  

  

As for my favourite teaching subject, art, students have been exploring ‘colour’ and how they can use colour to express or convey their feeling and emotions. Using the medium watercolour, students really seemed to enjoy the process and I was amazed at some of the artworks created.

The watercolour paintings will form the base of their final artworks, in which students will have the chance to incorporate some of the techniques they’ve learned in previous lessons (mark-making, line and symbols). I am really looking forward to seeing the final product of this unit and displaying the artworks around the classroom.  

HOMEWORK - 

Again, sorry for the grumble but this week was a hot mess...we have had a big chat about expectation for completion, to an appropriate written standard and brought into class on a Friday. I would appreciate your support in helping your child to complete all tasks, including sentences, have it signed and brought into class on Friday.

This week students will have the additional task of finishing typing up their narratives or completing their cover pages as there is still a large number that are incomplete.

Thanks for a great 5 weeks...looking forward to the remainder of the term!

Caitlin Delane