Hello to the community of St Monica’s!

For the last newsletter of this term, the Student Voice members were asked by the school leadership to be the editors and publishers of this informative and interesting piece of writing for the community.  Please enjoy reading all about the highlights for this term from each class.

This term learnt about numbers and we played games for Maths. We have activity time once a week and we have fun tasks like drawing or flip times or playing with our toys and playing dress ups. It is one of our favourite activities.

We loved making new friends and we always tried to be kind to others. Our teacher Mrs Jolly is very nice and she helps us so much with our learning.

In our class we had fun drawing a colour monster who was lovely and friendly. Our monster friend helped us to learn about feelings such as being happy, calmness, sadness and being scared and what strategies we can use to handle these big feelings. In our Maths we have been learning about pattern making and how we can repeat the pattern. This helped us with our counting too.

This term we made some very interesting helmets that were made from cardboard. We did this because we have been learning about road safety. We know that if we wear helmets, we can help keep ourselves safe when we are riding our bikes or skateboards on the footpath or road. We also used learning rotations groups to help us learn our sounds and improve our reading and writing. Our handwriting is getting better because we practice this every day. We have had lots of fun this term and can’t wait until next term.

In our class we have been doing Maths and learning about technology. In technology we have been focussing on Maths, Science and enjoying Reading Eggs. In Science we have been learning about sound waves. Did you know that our voices come in sound waves? We used an app called Voice Memo to test this information and then we printed our voice’s sound waves. They looked amazing! We love art lessons with Mrs Gentile and have been exploring the technique of collage. In HASS, we have been learning about places in Australia with Mrs Barber. Our favourites are Adelaide and Melbourne.

In our room we have been very creative in Art and we used sound waves to create our Art pieces. We watched and listened to the sound waves of different pieces of music and then we created a piece of Art by using our iPads. In English we wrote recounts about a lot of things we have done this term. We also created some very special pieces of artwork to be sent to our friends at Calvary Hospital. In Maths we focussed on number and patterning. In PE we have been developing our ball skills and improving our catching and throwing. Our class pet caterpillar has now turned into a chrysalis but our pet fish, OJ isn’t feeling too well at the moment. We are looking after him and hoping he gets better soon.

In 3V we have been learning about more than and less than in Maths. In RE we have been learning about the story of Zacchaeus and we loved doing Art. Everybody drew a picture of an animal. Some of these animals included a dragon, parrot and a squid. We used the technique of tracing our animal numerous times on a piece of paper and then coloured just one of the images of the animal.  The work is displayed in our Art Room and really looks amazing.  

During our English writing we have been recounting the Last Supper from our perspective. To help us learn number facts we use an interesting program called Prodigy. We have also been learning about nouns, verbs and adjectives on Prodigy. This makes learning lots of fun.

We have been learning about healthy eating and have now been challenged to design and create a board game that is educational and informative and is also lots of fun. We are developing this with a partner and when we have finished, we will be sharing this with our friends in Year 2. Did you know that we have the world’s best turtle in our class? Her name is Shelley and we think she is awesome.

One of our favourite learning areas is Maths. We have explored measurement, times tables and arrays. We have also been learning algorithms. We love doing Art with Mrs Pitt. We have created mandalas, names patterns and made an Easter basket for the Easter Bunny to drop some surprises into. During our PE lessons we have been looking at Football, soccer and Lacrosse. The Writer’s Workshops we undertook with Miss Parisotto are very interesting. We use our iPad to help us identify the different parts of speech such as nouns, verbs and adjectives. It’s been a great term and we look forward to lots more fun and learning.

We have been making presentations about Aboriginal people such as how Aboriginal people lived on their traditional lands, what they ate and other important cultural aspects such as art works, dances. The Year 4 students are looking forward to their camp at the Adelaide Zoo during Term 2. In RE we have been studying Holy Week and doing research on the key elements of this important week. Finally, we are making board games to promote knowledge and interest in eating a healthy diet. We have enjoyed this and we are looking forward to sharing this with our friends in Year 2.

This term we began enquiry projects on human rights. You could choose from a variety of focus provocations such as Women’s right, children’s rights and rights of the marginalised. We learnt so much from these enquiries and enjoyed sharing our learning with our peers. In Art each student had to create 3 unique pieces of artwork – one from our cultural background, one from a country of our own choice and one with an indigenous perspective. This was a bit of a challenge, but we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In Science we closely examined plants, food, and mould through experiments. One of our favourite activities was making healthy meals in the hall using sustainable ingredients. Our leadership roles were assigned for this year and these include house leaders, liturgy leaders and members of the Student Voice. We are all very proud to lead the St Monica’s community in 2023.

 We would like to congratulate Megan P for her recent outstanding results in her first AMEB Classical Guitar exam. Megan received a High Distinction, demonstrating outstanding achievement in her technical work, aural testing and performance pieces. Megan has been learning guitar for the last 4 years and her dedication to her instrument is commendable. Well done Megan!

If your child enrolled for Children's Univeristy this year for the first time, they would have received their new passport and portal log in details this week. All (new and continuing) students are free to start documenting their learning hours. Please remember Bronwyn our CU coordinator fills in their passport. The CU Portal and CU Facebook page are the best place to find ideas to start earning hours.  If you have any questions please contact Bronwyn.

https://cuaustralasia.com/learning-destinations/

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The ‘Challenge’ aims to encourage in children a love of reading for leisure and pleasure, to enable them to experience quality literature and to inspire them to read and foster a love of lifelong reading. The holidays provide a wonderful opportunity to not only borrow from your own School Library but to visit your local Public Libraries and borrow books for the Challenge. Completed Challenge Records can be returned to the Library at any time. Congratulations to the students who have already completed this year’s Challenge.

Over the holidays, please check at home and in school bags for overdue Library books and return them as soon as possible next term.

Dates to remember –

May is National Family Reading Month.

National Simultaneous Storytime takes place on Wednesday 11 am 24^th May with the reading of the book ‘The Speedy Sloth’.

Book Week – 19^th-25^th August – This year’s theme ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’.  

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St Monica’s acknowledge the Kaurna People as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live, learn and work. We acknowledge the continued deep spiritual connection and relationship of Aboriginal peoples to this country and commit to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation.