Head of Primary - Term 2 Reflection

Term 2 has been long, and action packed! Our most recent Music Festival was a beautiful celebration of music in all its forms. From programming music tracks with various sounds to music art, playing xylophones, singing songs and dancing our hearts out -we all had the time of our life and were reminded that “to sing a joyful noise unto the Lord” (Psalm 98:4) is what we are designed to do, and it pleases Him when we worship!

It is with thankfulness that we can look to all that has been accomplished this term. Students and teachers should be very proud of their efforts.

Our Primary Swimming Program at Aquanation ran smoothly with great participation and skill development. We were proud of our students who received glowing reports from the pool staff about their engagement and behaviour. Our parent support with the younger students was a blessing and ensured the program ran smoothly.

The Year 5 students enjoyed their camp to Phillip Island at the CYC Adventure Resort. Staff were impressed with the personal challenges that were faced. For some it was climbing the ladder to get to the flying fox or attempting the giant swing and going really high. For others it was getting out of their comfort zone to perform at the Entertainment Evening. The high energy and support of staff to ensure each student achieved success is testament to the great Primary Team at St Andrews.

Primary staff have been busy preparing Semester 1 reports, and these were emailed home on the last day of term. These reports provide families with feedback against achievement standards set in the Australian Curriculum and results from assessment tasks. We hope you have also enjoyed the feedback pieces throughout this semester which gave insight into your child’s progress. In the coming week we will be sending out a survey for you to provide feedback on this new initiative. We would love to hear from you.

As we conclude Term 2, may I take this opportunity to wish you and your families a restful midterm break filled with refreshment and time spent with family.

Many blessings,

Prep Reflections

Well done to our Preps who have finished Term 2! Lots of first times and new experiences to be had. We have come so far and have had many highlights to celebrate and look back on..

Celebrations

Preps were very excited to celebrate and make things for our Mothers including making cards, crafts and gingerbread mums for the Mothers Day morning Tea. We learnt all about remembering ANZAC day and stories such as Simpsons donkey and the significance of the poppy, making a poppy wreath. When Sorry Day came around, we discussed why we say sorry and when we say sorry.

Literacy

We celebrated learning all our single phonograms and are learning the 2^nd sounds (or long sounds) of the phonograms. We are enjoying our take-home readers and are making marvellous progress, while remembering each of us learn at different paces. We have also been introduced to PM readers and have loved the challenges of logging in with a password and exploring online books!

Mathematics

We have learnt our numbers 1-20 and many amazing mathematical concepts such as long and short, heavy and light, positional language and many more!

Swimming

Lots of life skills learnt in this time, not just swimming! We boarded the bus, put seatbelts on, walked to the Swimming Centre and learnt to organise our bags and get changed. Thanks to our wonderful parent helpers who assisted us and helped us be independent by the end of the Swimming Program.

Above all, we have been learning lots of bible stories, song and verses, which teach us about God and his amazing love for us.

We pray for restful and relaxing holidays. Bring on Term 3!

From the Prep Team

Year 1 Reflections

This term was packed with lots of learning and lots of fun! We explored lots of wonderful habitats, had swimming lessons, went to the Melbourne Zoo for an excursion and even learnt to memorise the whole of Psalm 23!

We praise God for such a fun-filled term in Year 1. Check out a few of our highlights below!

Year 2 Reflections

This term our highlights included our swimming program, learning about sound in science and celebrating our mums on Mother’s Day.

At the start of the term, we loved celebrating our mums, by creating hand-decorated cookies.

During swimming, we developed our swimming skills, learnt about water safety and enjoyed a fun day going down the slide and running through the inflatable.

In science, we have explored how sound is made through vibrations. The highlight was planning, developing and sharing about our homemade instrument. We even played them all together in our 2P band.

Year 3 Geodes

Students discovered how God's creation can sometimes look boring on the outside and then totally surprise us when we look at the beauty that lies inside. 

This is especially the case with rocks known as geodes. These ordinary-on-the-outside rocks are hollow and lined on the inside with stunning crystals. Everyone then got to make their own geode. We are definitely made like our Creator, because we love creating too!

We are in awe of God’s beautiful creation.

Year 4 Reflections

Reflecting on the splendid term we’ve had in Year 4, it’s been a journey filled with many enriching experiences. We kicked off the term with the engaging History Box Incursion, took pride in hosting the Year 4 assembly, improved our swimming skills through participating in the swimming sessions, and wrapped up with playing the fantastic homemade First Fleet Boardgames with one another, a testament to the creativity of our students. Truly, it’s been a term to remember

Year 5 Reflections

It's been a busy term filled with lots of exciting happenings in Year 5: Author Mark Wilson visit, Winter Sport, Swimming Program, Camp, Primary Music Festival, Cultural Day and Cross Country! Most importantly we've had loads of amazing classroom learning. 

Students worked on and applied writing feedback, maths topics for a trip around Australia, and investigated the behaviour of light when it's refracted. As we wrapped up Term 2 we all enjoyed visiting the Year 6 Market Day, completed a 'Race around Australia' project involving flights and total travel time, explored Fact Families and Mathdoku in Maths, set new Reading and Writing SMART goals for next term, and students created questions about Light for a class Kahoot, which we then played.

Camp was a major highlight of Term 2 for all students who enjoyed participating in a range of activities including the big swing, low ropes, nature spotto, flying fox and raft building.

Well done to our wonderful children who have excelled in every aspect of learning - and more this term. 

Year 6 Reflections

This term has been packed with exciting and enriching activities for our Year 6 students. Highlights include:

• Brett Ryan Sessions: Entertaining and educational, these sessions were a valuable addition to our Health curriculum.
• Science Taster Session: The Year 6’s loved their first experience in the Secondary science labs.
• Swimming Program: Students enjoyed plenty of fun in the water and learned valuable water safety lessons.
• Primary Music Festival: A joyful celebration of all things musical.
• SSV Sports Competition Days: Our students displayed wonderful sportsmanship throughout the events. We look forward to seeing how our boys T-ball and mixed Netball teams fare in the next round of competition.
• Cross Country: There was spirited cheering for house members, showcasing great team spirit. Congratulations to Barton House for winning this year!
• Cultural Day: Students brightened up the day with colourful dress-ups, celebrating diverse cultures.

The term culminated in the highly anticipated Year 6 Market Day held on Tuesday, 25th June. This event was a key part of their Year 6 Business subject, which covered important concepts such as profit and loss, production lines, ethical choices, and consumer needs and wants. 

Market Day was a resounding success! Our amazing Year 6 students worked diligently in their groups to create and sell homemade treats and handmade crafts to fellow students and teachers. They should be congratulated on raising over $3500 for the St Andrews Cambodian Mission Trip.

The most successful group in terms of profit was Gabriel, Jordan, Ansh, and Alex. They sold fairy floss, popcorn and soft drinks, spending $70 and making a profit of $665, achieving an impressive record-breaking profit of 956%!

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the Year 6 parents for all your support and help this term and look forward to another semester with your wonderful children