TEACHER UPDATES | Chrissy's Class

8/12 LAST UPDATE FOR THE YEAR

Hi all, The year is drawing to a close but there are a lot of exciting things happening in our last week and a bit.

Library Books

Notes have gone home about library books that need to be returned. Please speak to Chris if you have misplaced the book.

Cooking

On Monday 12^th December we are making chicken dumplings. Thanks so much to the parents who are helping make these with us on Monday. The ingredients we will use are:

Celery, Carrots, Ginger, Garlic, Soy sauce, Cabbage, Spring onions and Halal chicken

Games Day

On Thursday 15^th we are having a games day. Could all students bring a game or puzzle that they can share and play with on that day. We had such fun last time everyone brought in games we thought we would do it again!

Performing Arts

The performing arts concert is being held on Friday 16^thDecember at 2:30pm in the hall. It would be wonderful if you could attend.

End of Year Picnic

Anya and Chrissy’s class will be having an end of year picnic at Wylie Reserve on Monday 19^th December straight after Assembly. We will be bringing our lunchboxes to the park and playing a few games. Families are welcome to join us! Expect an invitation from your child next week.

2:30pm finish

On Tuesday 20^th December it is our last day of school for the year. School finishes at 2:30pm on that day.

If anyone is intending to finish school before the 20^th could you please let us know.

Thanks so much! Nearly there….

Chrissy and Anya

1/12 UPDATE

Hi all,

Now that it is December and Summer, the children are getting very excited as they can feel the end of year fast approaching! We have lots of reminders this week as so much is happening!

RETURNING ALL SCHOOL BOOKS

Please start searching through book shelves at home for ANY BSWPS books – Library books or Home Reading Books. They need to be returned to school before the end of the year. Next week, we will be returning all the books to the Library. Please bring any books in that you find as we can return them to our Library tub in the classroom each day.

READING FOLDERS

School Home reading finishes next Tuesday. Just a reminder to please keep your child’s Home Reading Folder somewhere safe as they will be re-using these each year they are in the Junior School. We will ask you to bring them in at the start of 2017 to your child’s new grade.

READING OVER SUMMER

As our Home reading program is finishing up, don’t let this stop you from enjoying a wide range of books with your child. We encourage you all to sign up to Moreland library and visit often! We love this Dr Seuss quote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

CHARLOTTE’S WEB

We intend to watch Charlotte’s Web NEXT FRIDAY 9/12. We have loved reading the novel and think most students enjoyed hearing this wonderful book. We thought that BYO treat worked well last time, so it would be great if students could bring in a small treat on this day.

THANKS TO PARENT HELPERS

Many thanks to our parent helpers who have come in to support the classroom program this year. Due to the fact that home reading has finished, we no longer require you to come in. THANKS again!

PENNY FARTHING

Ruby’s neighbour owns a penny farthing and he is coming in to visit next Thursday 8/12 in the morning. You’ll have to check out our DLJ afterwards for photos and it’ll be something good to ask your child about.

COOKING

Many thanks to those who said they could help with cooking. The timetable has changed and may even change again (hopefully not!) We would like to make dumplings with the students on Monday 12/12 straight after assembly, until break 1. Please let us know if this time still suits you and we will get your help to get it all organised.

We have some more fun ideas planned for the last full week of school, stay tuned!

Thanks, Chrissy and Anya

24/11 UPDATE

We are so excited to be heading on the Chinese Excursion tomorrow. There is a little rain forecast so if students could bring a rain jacket that would be great. Children should bring their bags as normal and their reading folders as we do have time in the morning for reading before we leave. We will then collect and carry student lunchboxes to the excursion in lunch tubs. We depart school at 10:15am.

In the mornings please don’t arrive too early. This is important planning time for the teachers. Children are not supervised until 8:45am and should have an adult with them if they arrive earlier than this time.

Some final exciting activities!

We are wanting to do some cooking in week 10. Our cooking session will be Monday 12^th December at 12:50. It would be a great help if we had some parents who could help with this. Please email us if you can assist.

If you are planning a family holiday and intend to leave before the last day of the year (20^th December) could you please let us know.

Regards,

Anya and Chrissy

17/11/16 TEACHER UPDATE

Hi all,

What a beautiful day. Just a few reminders about this coming week:

As the weather is getting warmer, please ensure your child brings a water bottle to school every day. Hats of course are a necessity.

Next week is very busy for us! We have a timetable change: Monday 2:30 will be Chrissy’s class Art Lesson- please note you will need to collect your child from the Art Room (This lesson is instead of Thursday)

Transition begins next week for one morning each week and goes for the following three weeks (It is held on Wednesday, then Thursday, then Tuesday morning from 9:00 – 10:45am) All students will practice being in their 2017 year levels. Grade 2 students head up to the Grade 3/4 classrooms & our P/1 students support the Kinder-Prep transition in our classrooms.

EXCURSION – NEXT WEEK – to the Chinese Museum / China Town. We don’t leave until 10am, so please send your child dressed appropriately for the weather. Please send your child to school with their normal school bag and lunchbox – we will collect all the lunchboxes in a tub and take them with us. We would like students to also bring their reading folders, as we will have time for reading before we head off.

Thanks! Chrissy & Anya

11/11/16 UPDATE

Hi Everyone,

INQUIRY

We all had a wonderful time at the Railway Museum and we are now wanting to find out more about old transport. Today we have sent home a sheet with questions that your child can ask a grandparent or an elderly relative. We will be sharing the interviews in class next Friday.

If you know anyone who owns an old piece of transport that they could share or talk about please contact us. Check out the DLJ for our Railway Museum post!

CHINESE

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to assist on the excursion to Chinatown. We are only able to take 2 parents each on the bus so we will let you know who we are taking.

MATHS

In maths at the moment we are focusing on sharing (division). We are discussing equal groups and remainders. We have been asking students to predict whether the collection of things will share evenly between 2 people, 3 people and 4 people.

GRADES FOR 2017

In the next couple of weeks we will be asking each student to choose 4 students who they would like to be in a class with next year. It would be good if you started discussing this with your child. Think about who you get along well with and who you work well with in the classroom.

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Chrissy

3/11/16 TEACHER UPDATE

Hello families,

We hope you all enjoyed your long weekends / Melbourne Cup day holiday. We have begun our assessments and report writing and are quite busy at the moment.

Here are a couple of updates for you:

MONDAY – EXCURSION – Our class is off to the Newport Train Museum on MONDAY. We will be leaving at 9:15am, so please be prompt!

Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather – please bring a raincoat if there is a chance of rain, we will still be going! Lunches can be brought in their normal lunchbox – we will collect all lunchboxes in a tub to take with us. Don’t forget to bring a hat and drink bottle too.

Thanks to the many parents who offered to come along as a parent helper. We can only take 1 parent helper each and we have asked that person. There is another excursion in a few weeks, so those who missed out may come along then perhaps!

PERFORMING ARTS – We have been working with Kate on Performing Arts and wanted to inform you of the end of year performance date – lock in Friday 16^th December 2:30 – 3:30 in your calendars!

CLASS NOVEL – In case you haven’t heard about it, we have been reading Charlotte’s Web to our class! It’s such a classic. Have you asked your child about it?

Have a super week ahead!

Chrissy and Anya

Week 3 Update 20/10/16

This week has been all about SWIMMING! The students have been great at remembering to wear their bathers and slip on thongs/crocs. Students have settled into their swimming groups and are enjoying learning about torpedoes, dolphin dives and chicken, aeroplane, soldier (survival backstroke).

There are two excursions coming up this term so keep an eye out for notices coming home in the next couple of weeks.

The first excursion will be to the Newport Railway Museum on the 7th November. The second excursion is to Chinatown on the 25th November.

INQUIRY – This term we are focusing on the history of transport. By the end of the term students will understand that transport has changed over time, technology has changed the way people travel and the ways in which we travel affect the environment. Expect a worksheet coming home where your child needs to interview an older adult about the transport they used when they were young.

At the moment we are collecting non-perishable food for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. There is a tub in our classroom for you to put your donated goods.

Just a reminder that Tuesday 1st November is Melbourne Cup Day and there is no school on that day.

13/10/16 UPDATE

Hi all, We start swimming next week – this is EVERYDAY for the next 2 weeks.

Our swimming time is 10:30am school departure, lesson time is 11-11.43am and we should arrive back to school by around 12:20pm. You are more than welcome to come along to watch your child’s swimming lessons at the pool. However, you will need to make your own way there as there won’t be room on the bus!

A few important reminders for getting ready for the swimming program:

– Please send your child to school in their bathers (underneath clothes) There will not be time to change at school.

– Girls, take bathers straps off shoulders – to make going to the toilet easier

– Bring along a separate swimming bag that has: goggles, towel, underwear, plastic bag, hairbrush (optional) swimming cap (optional)

– Students must wear shoes to school and will change before we leave school into crocs/thongs/shoes with no socks to make changing at the pool easier

– Please consider what clothes your child wears each day so they are easy to put on and take off independently

– Do not put food in your child’s swimming bag – we will have 1 snack before we leave around 10.15am and then will eat again as soon as we get back to school.

Thanks to the many parents who have volunteered to come along on the bus with us.

We have these parents helping us on these days:

Monday 17^th – Victoria (Zaac), Jen (Kai)

Tuesday 18^th – Victoria (Mia), Nicole (Sam)

Wednesday 19^th – Ross (Levi), Philip (Isabella)

Thursday 20^th – Michelle (Sophia), Deepa (Gauri)

Friday 21^st – Lucinda (Eleanor), Selina (Ruby)

Monday 24^th – Carla (Elodie), Jen (Kai)

Tuesday 25^th – Kate (Lily), Victoria (Mia)

Wednesday 26^th – Ross (Levi), Philip (Isabella)

Thursday 27^th – Jessica (Wolfgang), Michelle (Sophia)

Friday 28^th – Marnie (Sonny), Selina (Ruby)

Our timetable has changed quite a lot, so for the next two weeks this is when we have our specialist classes:

CHRISSY’S CLASS:

Library – Tuesday

Performing Arts – Tuesday

Art – Wednesday

P.E – Thursday

We will begin our usual parent helper timetable after the swimming program.

Many Thanks,
Chrissy and Anya

WELCOME BACK TO TERM 4 – 9th October 2016

Here we are in Term 4! I have enjoyed an extra week off and enjoyed my holidays immensely – I spent 9 days in Fraser Island and 3 days in Tassie. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow 🙂

SHOW AND TELL

We will be having show and tell on Friday. We are leaving the topic of show and tell open so students can bring in anything that they would like to share.

SCHOOL SWIMMING PROGRAM

Swimming starts in week 3 for 10 days and I will need one parent each day to help with the organising and changing of all the students. I will set up a roster sheet next week and if you have the time it would be fantastic if you could help out. We depart the school at 10:30am each day and arrive back around 12:20pm.

HATS

Just a reminder to please make sure your child comes with a hat to wear at break times. We do have some spare hats but we would prefer if students can bring their own as it will stop the spread of nits.

LITERACY

In term 4 we will be focusing on how we connect with the books we are reading. At the moment we are talking about how the ideas in the books we read connect to our own experiences. When you are reading at home try and initiate conversations that allow children to talk about their own experiences of the book’s themes.

MATHS

In maths we will be starting on multiplication and division. In the early years this refers to students being able to skip count, take a quantity of items and divide them into equal groups, and see quicker ways of counting arrays of items rather than counting by 1s. We will be talking about the multiplication and division symbols but most of the work will be done by drawing items or using materials.

Chrissy

END OF TERM 3 UPDATE – 8/9/2016

Hi everyone, a few reminders as the end of term is fast approaching!

BRING A BOOK – Can students bring along a book to share with their reading partner on the last day of school.

PARENT HELPERS – Thank you so much to all our parent helpers! As our timetable is always a little different, we request no parent helpers for the last week of term and the first week back. We will re-start parent helpers in Week 2 of Term 4.

FOOTY DRESS UP – To celebrate the end of term and AFL footy final season, BSW is having a footy dress up on the last day of school! You could simply wear your team colours.

MOVIE – We will watch a movie on Wednesday 14th September. If you would like, you can send along a little ‘movie treat’ (just for your child) on this day.

CHRISSY: LEAVE – I am taking 1 week of Long Service Leave at the first week of Term 4. At this stage, I’m unsure of what teacher will be me for this time. I’ll be back, fresh, at the start of Week 2.

SWIMMING NOTES– Please return your notes ASAP. This will run daily for two weeks from 17th Oct – 28th Oct.

LAST DAY OF TERM 3– Friday 16th September – Don’t forget, it’s a 2:30pm finish.

Have a great holiday with your families. Anya and Chrissy

WEEK 8 UPDATE – 31/8/2016

Hi all,
We have been so busy at school making and preparing for our party next Friday (As part of our “Materials” Inquiry Unit, we have been making many things for an End of Term party – which secretly is a party for our student teacher Millie! (SHHH!) This isn’t the end of term, but will allow us to reflect and review what we made in the last week of term)
**We will ask everyone to bring along a SMALL plate of food to share on this day – Friday 9th September**

Thanks so much to the parents / grandparents who have been in to support the class during this busy ‘making’ time.
We are hoping to finish all the products by this Friday.
If you have a sewing machine and can come along and help sew some material (table cloths) for us this Friday (2/9) from 10-11am, please let Anya or I know.

Fathers Day Stall – there is a stall being held this Friday 2^nd September where students can buy a small gift. Please send along a dollar or two!

Premiers Reading Challenge – FINISHES on the 9th September. Make sure you log on and complete it if you can! Congratulations to these students have already finished: Mysha, Ruby, Isabella, Finn, Faras, Abby, Moumin, Marta, Jayden, Meg, Eleanor, Eliza, Max, Gauri and Joshua

BSWPS is a Sunsmart school and from tomorrow hats will be compulsory for break time play! Don’t forget your hats!

In Maths, we are beginning a unit on Money. You could help your child identify coins at home, count a collection of coins, work out change and use and discuss money this week and next!

Have a super week ahead!
Chrissy

18/8/16

We have a few important reminders about next week:

MONDAY is a dress up day and the beginning of Book Week. Students have been asked to bring along an Australian story to share with their big buddies after Assembly.

SAVE THE DATE – Grade 1 Students – “Bedtime Story Night” is on Tues Sep 6th. Information will come home today.

CAN YOU HELP? We need a couple of extra Parent helpers NEXT Wed morning (24th Aug) from 10-11am to help with paper mache (tearing up paper) Please email Anya or Chrissy if you can help.

We are all looking forward to Tuesday’s excursion to see the play based on Elizabeth Honey’s book “That’s not a daffodil” It was exciting to meet her this week.

PERFORMING ARTS classes begin next week – Anya’s class will have sessions Tuesday 9-10 and Chrissy’s class will have a session Tuesday 10-11am. This is a 10 week program and the teacher is Kate Fryer (mother of Marta in Chrissy’s Class)

We are half way through this terms novel, Rowan of Rin – maybe you could ask your child about it.

WELCOME BACK MILLIE – Millie will begin working with us again next Monday for the next 3 weeks, her final placement before she becomes a qualified teacher!

15/8/16

Hi All,

Show and Tell for Friday is a bit of homework this week. We would like the students to draw a picture of a time when they felt angry and then talk about the things they did to help them feel better again.

A letter written by your child will be coming home tomorrow. It is regarding the party we will be having at the end of the term. We are making the party decorations and plates and cups out of recycled materials. If you have any newspaper, plastic bottles and bottle tops and old clothes that can be cut up please start collecting them. We will need them for the next two weeks.

A reminder that next Monday is book week dress up (dress up as a book character) There will be having a parade after a short assembly so all the students can show off their wonderful costumes. Please bring in an Australian picture book that can be shared with their buddies.

This week the author, Elizabeth Honey is visiting our school to talk to the students. This will be happening on Wednesday from 10-11.

We are discussing probability and the chance of events happening or not happening. Using words such as possible, impossible, unlikely, likely and certain at home with your child will support the learning we are doing at school.

Remember, we are trying to keep our school RUBBISH FREE! Try and keep as much packaging at home and just put the food straight into the lunch box.

Have a lovely week. Chrissy

4/8/16

Hello everybody,

Please note: TOMORROW is the BOOK SWAP! Children can bring up to 5 books to be swapped. A gold coin donation is appreciated with money raised going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

No show and tell tomorrow as we have planned something special to do with their re-designed recycled item. They’ll be coming home with their products tomorrow too.

Coming home tonight is an excursion notice for “That’s not a Daffodil” If you can’t find your child’s copy, scroll down to download one.

If you get any opportunities at home to practise subtraction / take away that would be super! Students need lots of practice to become efficient.

Have a good week ahead,

Chrissy

CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THAT’S NOT A DAFFODIL EXCURSION: 2016T3_ThatsnotaDaffodil.doc-1

28/7/2016 Term 3 – heading in to Week 4

Dear Parents,

We all had a wonderful time at the excursion this week looking at the materials we recycle and what happens to them after they are collected. Check out our DLJ for photos from the excursion!

We will continue to look at materials we recycle and how we can repurpose them and make them into something new. Next week we are going to each use a recyclable material and make it into something new in class. Could you please send in a material that your child could use. It could be an old sock, glove or piece of clothing. It could be a plastic bottle, bag or container. We will be starting this project on Monday so please bring in the item as soon as possible.

Do you use a particular material in your work? Would you be interested in talking to the class about that material? If so, please let Anya or Chrissy know.

In maths, we have been working on telling the time. This can be an extremely difficult concept for many children. Talking about what we do at different times of the day and referring to an analogue clock on a regular basis will help to consolidate their understanding of time.

Literacy and Numeracy week is towards the end of the term. As part of the celebration, Anya, Chrissy and Carly’s class are wanting to make a video. If you have any editing skills and time to assist us it would be greatly appreciated.

Just a reminder, the Working Bee is on Saturday. It is so helpful if you can come for any period of time to help out and make our school beautiful.

Book swap day is August 5^th so please bring in any books that you would like to swap.

21/7/2016 – Term 3 – heading in to Week 3

Hi everyone, hope you’ve all had a good start to the term. From now on, my usual emails will be going here, so you can access this information all in one place & refer back if you’re looking for information. I will send you a link and reminder each time I post something new.

Excursion reminder for Monday 25th – This Monday our class will be going on our excursion to the Banyule Rethink Education Centre. Please arrive at school on time (from 8:45) to ensure we leave on time. Students must wear closed-toe shoes to the excursion. Also, please bring a reusable, labelled container or snaplock bag with a small snack (e.g. fruit) to bring on the bus. Students will eat lunch at school at 12:30pm, so their lunchboxes will remain at school.
Show and Tell TOMORROW– We have asked students to bring in a recyclable item that you have or could make into something else (e.g. a container that they could turn into something)
Preps – The firefighters came today and will visit us again next Thursday 28th with the firetruck. You have some homework to do with your child between now and then – an information pack will come home tonight.
On Friday 29th We will be watching the movie, ‘Inside Out’ with our grade 5/6 buddies. Thanks for returning the permission notes.
Millie, our teaching candidate is back next week will us, until mid September
We have been looking at clocks for maths. It would be great if you could support this at home by looking at the clocks you have at home and talking about time with your child.
BOOK SWAP – On Friday 5th August our school will have a book swap. Information about this is in this week’s newsletter. We are happy to start receiving books now.
There is a school Working bee on the 30th July.

Thanks all & have a great week ahead.

14/7/2016 – TERM 3 OVERVIEW

Welcome back to the start of Term 3, the second semester of school. Half way – can you believe it!

Our Class has 3 specialist classes:
Library at 9-10am Tuesday,
Art at 11:50am Thursday and
P.E at 12:50pm Thursday.

Click here to view our timetable: OVERVEW OF CT AND AL 2016

This term is already looking packed full of fun!
Some of the main topics we’ll be covering in maths include: addition and subtraction, multiplication and division. We will have a stronger focus on problem solving in small groups this term.

Our Term 3 Inquiry Unit is based on Design, Creativity and Technology. Our understandings are:
● A material is something that is used to make a product
● Different materials behave differently and can therefore be used for different purposes.
● There are a variety of materials which can be classified according to characteristics
● Materials can be changed
● Designs can be improved upon

In English, we will be having a term focus on reading and writing non-fiction books. We will begin our new novel, “Rowan of Rin” by Emily Rodda.

We will celebrate the 100th day of school on Monday 25th July.
We have a few special events happening this term too – an excursion to “Rethink Education Centre” a visit by author Elizabeth Honey and a visit to watch a play “That’s not a daffodil”
Preps will have a couple of visits by the MFB – Metropolitan Fire Brigade for Fire Education.
Grade 1s will have “Bedtime Story Night” late in the term
Grade 2s will have a Sleepover at Urban Camp in Royal Park.

Don’t forget to wear lots of layers / coats / good shoes in this cold weather. Label coats /jumpers with your child’s name/surname. There was a LOT of lost property sent to the op shop at the end of term.

SHOW AND TELL – this Friday. You child can bring along something from the school holidays – something they made, a photo of somewhere they went, a new toy. Anything really that reminds them of the holidays.

Looking forward to a fantastic term of learning ahead.

Chrissy and Anya

26/6/2016

I will send you links to this page to access my weekly emails. They will be stored here so you can go back and re-read or find information you may have missed!

Always happy to receive feedback!

Thanks, Chrissy