Year 3 Grade Sharing Assembly

In Week 5, Year 3 presented a fabulous Grade Sharing Assembly.  Students shared of their learning when reading Charlotte’s Web and The 27^th Annual African Hippopotamus Race.  They presented diamante poems, examples of these are below. 

In Science and Technology, students explained how light is reflected from a mirror to other objects and how the temperature of water changes liquids to a gas.  In Creative Art, Year 3 shared how they have been learning about the artist, Ken Done.  Children created and displayed their own Ken Done inspired artworks.  To end with, children entertained the audience by dancing to the Waka Waka and it was great to see everyone joining in, even the parents.  Year 3 loved sharing all the wonderful learning they have enjoyed so far this year!

St Joseph's Read-A-Thon

You know the feeling: You grab your book, sit down, and suddenly you’re lost, traveling through a new world with a whole set of unfamiliar characters. For each of us, this is an escape from the daily grind, but, as you know, for your children it’s more than that. 

Read-a-Thons are more than just a fundraising opportunity for the school. They encourage students to get lost in a good book, where they’re free to explore their dreams and learn from the characters they read about.

Read-a-Thons give children in schools a purpose to read, combined with freedom to choose what they read, on their own terms, free from assessment or evaluation. Children who have participate in Readathon:

• Enjoy reading more and develop a greater self confidence in their reading abilities.
• Are more likely to read something in their free time daily. This leads to increased vocabulary and comprehension as well as improved writing ability.
• Read a wider variety of materials, such as poems, non-fiction, fiction, lyrics, magazines and websites.
• Have more positive attitudes towards reading, for example they are more likely to agree that reading is cool; more likely to agree that they carry on reading even when they find it difficult; and more likely to agree that there are lots of things they want to read.
• Are more likely to use the school library.

We ask that children and families continue to support our P&F organised Read-a-Thon this year!  It is great to know that the two class who raise the most amount of money will receive a visit from illustrators Gwynneth Jones or Lillian Webb.  How exciting!  So children, keep busy gathering sponsors and logging your reading and illustrations because we only have until the 19^th June.  Please visit the link below to continue your fabulous fundraising efforts!

Seven Steps for Writing Success

In writing lessons across the school, students and teachers have definitely enjoyed focusing on writing Sizzling Starters.  In their learning students have identified critical concepts required to create dynamic and engaging story starts that immediately engage the reader.  Students have been given short situational prompts with only 60 seconds to write.  They have been instructed to begin their writing right where the action is. 

Below are some wonderful examples of Sizzling Starters from children in Year 4 Gold.

That smells amazing! Crack. Mhmm. YUM! This chocolate biscuit tastes amazing.  I was so tempted to get them early out of the oven, but that would have spoilt them. Ding Dong.  “Who is it?” Oh no, it’s my sister Ali and all her friends.  Now I have to share.

Cate Hayes

That smells amazing!  I was running like lightening towards a delicious scrumptious smell.  I was following the note I found on my door when I woke, ‘FOLLOW THE SMELL’. Now I’m here running towards it.  Wait, what’s that?

Zachary McGready

That smells amazing! I ran down the stairs and pushed my older brother out of the way.  I could smell something amazing!  I ran into the kitchen and a double-decker ice cream sundae with juicy red cherries and finely chopped bananas was sitting on the kitchen table.  It was like heaven!  I didn’t want my brother to notice, so I ate almost all of it! Don’t blow my cover, so SHHH!

Abbie Hartnett

Canberra Excursion

In Week 5, excited Year 6 students attended an excursion to Canberra.  This was a great opportunity for them to consolidate their learning in this semester’s History unit: Australia as a Nation.  The children bravely endured very cold early mornings and evenings.  It was a pleasure to watch new friendships formed and others strengthened.  Below is a recount of the excursion by Jack Webber and Molly Boyle.

Last week Year 6 had the privilege of going to Canberra. We had to be at school for a 6:30 am bus trip. After a 6-hour trip, we finally arrived at Canberra. We got off the bus and had lunch in the beautiful Rose Gardens of Old Parliament House. We then split into class groups and went to explore the Australian Museum of Democracy and the Australian Electoral Commission. At the Australian Museum of Democracy, we could sit in the seats where senators once sat.  Meanwhile, in the AEC we held our own vote, so we knew what to do when we're allowed to vote. After dinner we then went the AIS where we had a tour of the sporting areas and played in Sportex. The next day we woke up ready for a day of fun. After breakfast we rushed off to the Royal Australian Mint where, we learned how coins were made and some kids pressed coins of their own. We all thought it was so cool. We then got to have a tour around New Parliament House which was very cool because we got even got to run our own Parliament. We thought Parliament House was very exciting. We were all starving after, so we had lunch on top of Mount Ainslie. After we went to the Australian War Memorial, we learned a lot. We stayed for the Last Post Ceremony and placed a wreath. We went to our accommodation and had a good sleep ready for tomorrow - Jack Webber

After a good night’s rest, we were all excited for our last day of activities in Canberra! After quickly packing and cleaning our rooms, we boarded the bus, bound for Questacon. On arriving at Questacon, we shopped at the gift shop and then split into four groups to explore the interactive museum. My group went to the Drop Slide first. After this, we went to the ‘experimenting with light’ exhibit where we were able to make our own light puppets. The next exhibit we visited was the ‘natural earth’ exhibit and we learnt about earthquakes and lightning. The group continued through to the ‘Built or Born’ exhibit learning about technology and robots. We enjoyed the rest of the exhibits, and before we knew it, our time in Questacon was up.

At the conclusion of our activities, the groups met up on the grass field beside Questacon for us to enjoy our final lunch in Canberra! We had a quick run around on the grass before boarding the bus waving goodbye to Canberra! - Molly Boyle

Pacer Rebate

In Week 5, students from our school attended an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families and schools in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $20.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

ICAS

Please refer to the PDF below regarding 2019 ICAS. Online payment will close on 31st July and NO late entries can be accepted