Special Visitors morning

So often, we speak about the importance and influence of positive and caring adult relationships surrounding our learners. Connections with family and friends and a genuine sense of care, love and belonging are powerful agents when children are growing up.

On Friday 12 May, our Junior School hosted a ‘Special Visitors’ event which was such a wonderful demonstration of how very important grandparents, godparents, relatives and friends are to young people.

The observable demonstration of the power that love, care and genuine interest have on young children was amply available.

Our visitors were treated to a wonderful concert led and organised by Mrs Melissa Dods which involved all Prep-Year 2 students. A highlight was an item involving just Year 2, which saw Mrs Lisa Cook showcase the Strings Program beautifully. Following this, visitors were invited to enjoy the classrooms.

The atmosphere was lovely. There was an abundance of delicious food provided by parents and the sharing of stories and samples of school work, saw the visitors and students all fully engaged and enjoying themselves. In fact, as the day came to a close, it appeared that no one wanted to leave!

Visitors commented generously upon the deep enjoyment such events bring.

All staff involved are thanked for ensuring the event was especially memorable and rich with laughter, love and care.

Maths in Year 1

Place value, counting, adding, taking away and 2D shapes are just some of the fun topics we are learning in Year 1 Maths at the moment.

We are learning to add using different strategies and talking about the best strategy used. It is very important that students develop efficient methods for adding and subtracting to develop fluency. Just like we need to develop fluency with our reading, we require students to develop fluency with their mental maths.

There are many strategies we can employ. We are now trying to move away from using our fingers and counting on from the biggest number, to looking at some other clever strategies.

One effective strategy is called ‘Making a Ten’. After lots of practise using tens frames and counters, we are now using an app on our iPads called Explain Everything where we are recording our choice of method.

Tara Pattison: 

In the sum 9 + 5, I am going to split my 5 into a 1 and 4. My strategy is ‘Make a Ten’. I will circle one and nine because that makes 10. So 10 and 4 equals 14. So now, we know that 9 + 5 = 14.

Alexia Chatfield: 

7 + 9 –  I am going to use Make a Ten. I am going to use one from the 7 to make a 10. If you want to you can circle 9 and 1 and write 10. Then there is 6 left from the 7. So 10 plus 6 equals 16.

Another effective strategy we can use is called ‘Near Doubles’. After the girls became really quick at answering double facts, they are now using this strategy too!

India Vasilopoulos: 

In the sum 8 + 7, I am going to use near doubles. I am going to break up the 8 into 7 and 1 more. Now 7 + 7 equals 14 and one more it equals 15. My answer is 15.

Arabella Foote: 

With 9 + 8 I will be doing the strategy near doubles. So I will be doubling 8. So 8 + 8 = 16 and one more will equal 17.

We have also been learning about 2D shapes. Again, lots of conversations are happening when we are describing each shape. We have enjoyed playing a game in pairs. We all have a turn at describing the shape we have chosen. We need to be very specific on the amount of straight sides and corners because the other person needs to draw the shape in their book. We also used the Geoboard app on the iPad to replicate the shape.

We are very busy girls in Year 1!

Anzac Day Higgins poetry Competition

Congratulations to the Year 6 students listed below who were selected as finalists in the Higgins Anzac Day Poetry competition organised by Kelly O’ Dwyer’s office for Stonnington Schools:

Eloise Burdett, Phoebe Hogan and Mia Scillio.

Road Safety

Parents and staff are extremely concerned about two recent sightings of potential tragedies in Heyington Place due to careless use of the road:

1. Drivers are asked to be mindful of the pedestrian crossing and not contravene road laws by parking illegally near the crossing. Sight lines for pedestrians are obstructed if cars are illegally parked.
2. Drivers are urged to refrain from calling children to join then from across the road. It is very likely that when called to get in a car from across the road, that children will focus on doing just that and not watch for other traffic.

We ask parents and all drivers to be highly mindful that safety on and around the roads is of paramount importance.