Specialists                        

Term 1

Term 1

Physical Education

  • This term, our Foundation students will focus on Minor Games, Running and Dodging, and building key movement skills while learning important concepts like sportsmanship, following instructions, and understanding boundaries.

    Students will participate in games that develop their personal space and safety awareness. They will learn to follow whistle and multi-step instructions, develop an understanding of game boundaries, and use equipment safely while engaging in fun, active play. They will also explore cultural games and movement activities while learning how to be a good sport—whether winning or losing.

  • This term, our Grade 1/2 students will focus on Indigenous Games and Game Creation, developing their fundamental movement skills while learning about teamwork, fair play, and creativity in sports.

    Students from different Indigenous cultures will participate in various games, learning to follow rules, take turns, and demonstrate good sportsmanship. They will explore the key elements that make up a game and work collaboratively to create and teach their original games. Through these activities, they will develop problem-solving skills, leadership, and an understanding of fairness in physical activities.

  • This term, our Grades 3/4 and 5/6 students will participate in a Sports Education in Physical Education Program (SEPEP), where they will take on different roles in a sporting competition. The program is designed to develop teamwork, leadership, and decision-making skills while fostering a deeper understanding of fair play and sportsmanship.

    Students will collaborate to create game rules, apply scoring systems, and take on various roles such as coach, umpire, statistician, and timekeeper. Through these experiences, they will refine their fundamental movement skills and learn about the responsibilities that contribute to community sport.

Visual Arts

Welcome to a new year in the Art Room. Mrs Munro and Mrs Borg are excited to be the Visual Art teachers for 2025. 

All students require an art smock to protect their school uniform. Please ensure your child’s art smock is marked with their full name and grade.

Throughout the year, all students from Prep to Grade 6 will have opportunities to express themselves through art, creating pieces using various techniques, materials and processes. 

We are excited to explore these art processes with the students and provide opportunities for the children to build on their ideas, creativity and imagination in the Art Room.  

This year, we are very excited to announce that our annual art show will have the theme “Under the Sea!” All students will contribute to the art show by producing a range of 2D and 3D art pieces. Students will also have the chance to participate in collaborative art projects within their grade and lunch time clubs that will run during some terms of the year.

Preps

During Term 1, the Prep students will become familiar with the Art Room, its rules and safety protocols when using the art room equipment. Students will explore how to draw a self-portrait, including our facial features and creating an under the sea collage background using tissue paper and decorative objects. For the remainder of the term, students will explore how to make a paper plate rainbow fish, where we will explore the text and practise scrunching and overlapping paper. 

Grade 3/4

During Term 1, the 3/4 students will begin by reviewing the Art Room rules, acceptable behaviour standards, safety protocols, and appropriate use of equipment within the Art Room. Students will begin the term with a self-portrait of themselves swimming, floating or diving into a pool of water. Students will explore the use of oil pastel and watercolour and how they resist each other when combined for their background, which will resemble a glistening pool of water. Later in the term, the 3/4 students will explore how to create a mixed media jellyfish by combining different mediums.

Grade 1/2

Term 1 will begin with reviewing with the Art Room rules, acceptable behaviour standards, safety protocols and using equipment. Students will explore the process of a guided drawing lesson where they will complete an underwater snorkeling self-portrait to display in the art show. Guided drawing allows the students to create art by following explicit step-by-step instructions to obtain a finished piece. Later in the term, the 1/2 students will use bubble wrap to explore a textured art piece by making a puffer fish, turtle or octopus. Students will experiment with painting and construction using various materials to complete this artwork.

Grade 5/6

Term 1 will begin with reviewing the Art Room rules, acceptable behaviour standards, safety protocols and the appropriate equipment usage within the Art Room. The Grade 5 students will focus on how to create a swimming self-portrait with a focus on them holding their breath underwater and creating the illusion of their hair floating up. The grade 6s will be completing a silhouette self-portrait using a photograph of themselves, where they will use a window tracing technique that involves using natural light to project an image onto a tracing surface. The students will strategically position the image against a window and create a translucent projection that will be traced directly onto paper. The students will finalise their self-portrait by creating a patterned background and finding words in magazines to describe themselves. These portraits will be displayed at the Grade 6 graduation celebration at the end of the year. Later in the term, the 5/6s will create an underwater collage using magazines and other textured paper.

Science

Chemistry

  • In Term 1, Grade 3/4 students will start the year by completing a Chemistry unit called “Mysterious Materials.” In this unit, students will explore how the unique properties of various materials determine their suitability for different purposes, including testing the effectiveness of different soap solutions in producing bubbles and exploring various sunscreens and their ability to protect us from the sun.  They will engage in hands-on investigations with unidentified materials to discover which uses they are best suited for. Key focus areas will include testing material absorbency, tensile strength, and biodegrading ability. Throughout these investigations, students will also learn the importance of conducting fair tests, including identifying the variables in an experiment and ensuring testing only one variable at a time.

  • The Grade 5/6 students will also be studying Chemistry in Term 1, completing a unit called “Change Detectives.”  They will start by learning to identify reversible and irreversible changes in various everyday items and explore possible ways to undo a reversible change.  Students will also prepare a variety of mixtures and determine if a chemical change has occurred by observing signs such as the formation of bubbles, colour changes, or the creation of a solid. They will explore the solubility of various substances in water and how evaporation can be used to reclaim substances, often leading to the formation of crystals.  Additionally, students will examine how heat influences the solubility of substances and the rusting process. The concepts covered in this unit will be linked to real-life applications, such as the recycling of household items and transformations that occur during the cooking process.

During Term 4, Grade 3/4 and Grade 5/6 students will learn about the Physical Sciences. The Grade 3/4 and Grade 5/6 classes will also complete STEM tasks using the littleBit and Ozbot kits to develop their coding skills and understand how robotics is used in everyday life.

Italian

  • Foundation students will begin the year learning basic greetings in Italian, such as "Ciao" (Hello), "Buongiorno" (Good morning), and "Come ti chiami?" (What is your name?). They will practice introducing themselves to their teacher and classmates. We will then explore colours, learning to name and identify them in Italian through songs, games, and interactive activities.

    Students will continue developing their understanding of Italian culture and language foundations as the term progresses. Learning colours will be incorporated into creative activities such as art and sorting exercises. Songs and movement-based games will reinforce vocabulary and pronunciation in a fun, engaging way.

    Students will also learn about a famous landmark in Rome each week, exploring its history and interesting facts. Some landmarks they will explore include the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon.

    Students will demonstrate their learning through engaging activities, including sing-alongs, role-playing, and responding to visual and verbal prompts.

    Some of the key phrases and responses students will learn or respond to include:

    • "Ciao, mi chiamo..." (Hello, my name is...)

    • "Rosso" (Red)

    • "Blu" (Blue)

    • "Giallo" (Yellow)

    • "Di che colore è?" (What colour is it?)

  • Grade 1 and 2 students will start the year by learning the names of different body parts in Italian. Using songs and interactive games, they will reinforce vocabulary such as "la testa" (head), "le mani" (hands), and "i piedi" (feet). Movement-based activities will help them recall words and associate them with actions.

    Following this, students will transition to learning the names of different rooms and objects within a typical home. They will explore words such as "la cucina" (the kitchen), "il bagno" (the bathroom), and "la camera da letto" (the bedroom). They will also learn common household items, such as "il tavolo" (the table) and "la sedia" (the chair).

    Students will also explore a famous landmark in Rome each week, learning about its history and significance. Some landmarks they will learn about include the Colosseum, the Fountain of Trevi, and the Spanish Steps.

    Students will demonstrate their understanding through games, sing-alongs, role-playing, and labelling activities.

    Some of the key phrases and responses students will learn or respond to include:

    • "Mettiti le mani sulla testa" (Put your hands on your head)

    • "Dove è la cucina?" (Where is the kitchen?)

    • "Questo è il mio bagno" (This is my bathroom)

    • "La sedia è marrone" (The chair is brown)

  • Grade 3 and 4 students will begin the term by expanding their vocabulary related to the body. They will learn to describe body parts using adjectives, forming sentences such as "La mano è grande" (The hand is big) and "Il naso è piccolo" (The nose is small). Songs, games, and interactive activities will help reinforce these concepts.

    In the second part of the term, students will transition to learning vocabulary related to the home, identifying and describing different rooms and furniture. They will also learn to use simple sentences to describe the location of objects, such as "Il divano è nel salotto" (The sofa is in the living room).

    Students will also study a famous landmark in Rome each week, diving into its history, cultural importance, and fun facts. Landmarks will include the Vatican, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Colosseum, the Fountain of Trevi, and the Spanish Steps.

    Students will demonstrate their learning through role-playing, sing-alongs, labelling diagrams, and using technology for pronunciation practice.

    Some of the key phrases and responses students will learn or respond to include:

    • "Mettiti le mani sulle ginocchia" (Put your hands on your knees)

    • "Dov'è la sedia?" (Where is the chair?)

    • "Il tavolo è grande" (The table is big)

    • "Il bagno è accanto alla camera da letto" (The bathroom is next to the bedroom)

  • Grade 5 and 6 students will start the year by deepening their understanding of vocabulary related to the body. They will learn to describe physical appearances and sensations in greater detail, forming sentences such as "Ho le gambe stanche" (My legs are tired) and "Le mani sono fredde" (My hands are cold). They will also learn to express simple symptoms and feelings.

    Students will transition to learning about the home in the second half of the term. They will describe rooms and furniture in more detail, using adjectives and prepositions. For example, "La cucina è luminosa e spaziosa" (The kitchen is bright and spacious) and "Il letto è vicino alla finestra" (The bed is near the window).

    Students will also study a famous landmark in Rome each week, diving into its history, cultural importance, and fun facts. Landmarks will include the Vatican, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Colosseum, the Fountain of Trevi, and the Spanish Steps.

    Students will demonstrate their learning through role-playing, dialogue creation, storytelling, and digital tools for pronunciation and comprehension activities.

    Some of the key phrases and responses students will learn or respond to include:

    • "Mettiti le mani sulla testa" (Put your hands on your head)

    • "Descrivi la tua casa" (Describe your house)

    • "Mi fa male la testa" (My head hurts)

    • "Il divano è comodo e morbido" (The sofa is comfortable and soft)

    • "Il bagno è accanto alla cucina" (The bathroom is next to the kitchen)

Performing Arts

The Semester 1 Performing Arts Program will allow Prep students to express themselves creatively within a safe and supportive environment. As an introduction to Performing Arts, the students participated in music, dance and drama games and activities to understand some simple Performing Arts practices and concepts. In Music, the students used their aural skills and listened and analysed various musical pieces to identify if Music was loud/ soft, fast/ slow and high/low. The Dance unit developed the students’ body awareness and improved their rhythm and coordination by using fundamental locomotor (travelling) and non-locomotor (non-travelling) movements. Additionally, students improved their ability to focus their attention as audience members and have started developing the skills needed for giving and receiving constructive feedback.

Grade 1/2

In Semester 1, students will explore the world of music and dance through a hands-on and creative approach. They will begin by learning about the orchestra's instruments, identifying the different families (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion), and experimenting with these instruments' sounds. Through listening activities and simple classroom instruments, students will develop an understanding of how these instruments contribute to creating music. In addition, students will explore a variety of dance styles, such as contemporary, traditional, and folk dances from different cultures, while also learning about the fundamental elements of dance, including space, time, dynamics, and relationships. They will have opportunities to create and perform their dance movements, expressing ideas and emotions through movement. Engaging students in music and dance activities fosters their understanding of artistic expression, cultural diversity, and personal creativity. Through music and dance, students will respond to, perform, and create, building essential skills in  Music and Dance.

Prep