Prep

What a weekend of glorious weather.  We hope you have been enjoying the lovely days.  With the cooler mornings now upon us please ensure that all items of clothing are clearly labelled so if they are misplaced they can be returned to their rightful owner.   It does tend to warm up throughout the day.

Great progress has been made with students who consistently practise and reinforce the sight words learnt at school, at home.   Remember to try and spot words in library books, home readers and other texts.  Reading is about meaning and context.  The more students see these words in text, greater connections and understandings are made.   We are also concentrating on the reading strategy of Chunky Monkey.  Looking for smaller words and word families in larger words helps decode.   Don’t forget about the other strategies though, Lips the Fish, Stretchy Snake and Eagle Eyes. 

Each week we are borrowing readers from the library.  Please ensure these are read nightly.  By the end of the week, students should be reading these books independently and fluently. 

Revision is the key to success.  Please remember to revise previously taught/learnt sight words, letters, sounds and numbers.  This allows learning to move from short term memory to long term memory.  Remember the more we practise the better we get. 

In Maths we are concentrating on cementing our number knowledge to 10.  This week we look at positional language.   Try and use the words of above, between, under, beside, behind etc in everyday conversations. 

The prep program beings at 8:30am daily.  This is an important part of our day, helping to establish routines and settle and prepare for the day.  Students that are consistently late miss out on these learning opportunities and it can make settling into morning routines harder.   

This Friday we are off to the Dinosaur Festival at the Toowoomba Showgrounds.  Thankyou for your returning all permission notes promptly.  We are all very excited to travel on the bus.  The bus is departing at 8:40am as our session begins at 9am.  Please ensure you are on time.

Next Thursday we have our Athletics Carnival on the school oval.  We are all practising during our Morning Fitness sessions on running on our toes, pumping our arms and starting correctly.  Thanks to Mrs Salisbury and her band of helpers for running the trainings after school over the last two weeks. 

Thanks, 

Liz and Melita

Year 1

Last week, all children completed running records to gauge how their reading is progressing. It is so important that children are read to and read themselves as often as possible. Remembering to work with and practice the year one sight words each week helps build reading fluency. Last week, the children also completed their writing task which was writing a retell of the text "Too Many Pears". All the children worked hard to complete this task. 

This week, we start a new cycle in both Maths and English. In Maths we will investigate fractions and the idea that half is one part of two equal parts. The children will explore what this means using both objects and collections. 

In English, we will discover poetry and learn some of the elements that make up a poem: rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration. The children will read several poems to identify those three elements. They will then write their own poem. 

In Geography, we have started making a map of the school and in Religion, we are discussing the gift of creation that God gave us and what this means for us. 

Jen and Ange

Year 2

Welcome to Week 6! What a wonderful term it has been so far!  The Year 2s are hard at work, producing some super writing about fairy tale characters. We are enjoying creating different personalities for characters, which we have found that sometimes can be quite challenging.   

The date has been set for our Mad Hatter’s Tea Party! How exciting!  It is Wednesday the 16th of June (Week 9). Children are asked to come dressed as a fairy tale character. The following day is the footy colours free dress day, so it will be an exciting week.  We will be asking families to bring in a small plate of food to share.  So that we don’t have too much sweet food, 2V students are to bring in desserts and 2D and 2TJ bring in savoury food. Our tea party will commence at around 12.30pm.  Parents are welcome to drop the food in just before this time, already heated, or alternatively we are can heat it for you. The day will be filled with fun fairy tale activities and the tea party is just one part of an awesome day!  

Reading testing is going well and we have seen great improvement across the year level.  Our comprehension skills are improving, and we are getting better at finding answers in the text as well as making inferences about what the author is trying to tell us. Sometimes the answer isn’t right there, and we are asked to look beyond the text, at times giving our personal opinion based on what we have read. A great way of refining these skills to is to reflect with your child about what they have read at home. Get them to answer questions about what is directly in the text but also asking them ‘why’ questions, what caused…… In your opinion how….. What is the author’s purpose?  What was the author’s opinion on this topic? These questions require them to think more deeply and gain more understanding of written text which is a great skill for the years ahead.     

Enjoy the beautiful weather! Any questions or queries don’t hesitate to contact us! 

Dennielle, Allyson, Sarah, Aleisha and Megan

Year 3

We enjoyed listening to ‘Give Me Some Space’ as part of National Simultaneous Storytime last week – it was amazing to watch the book being read from the International Space Station! The Year 3 students created two murals based on the book – these can be seen on our stairwell.  

We also had a great time visiting the Empire Theatre to watch ‘The Midnight Gang’ last Tuesday – it was very interesting to see how the book was adapted for the stage and some of the changes that were made to the story and characters. 

This week, we continue to look at the power of the Sun and the relationship between Earth and the Sun in Science. In HASS, we continue to look at the changes to our local community over time and some of the many groups that are a part of our community. In English, we have started investigating poetry and various language devices while in Maths we are looking at collecting data and displaying it as column and picture graphs.   

Please note the information about next week’s Athletics Carnivals in the PE section of the newsletter. 

Have a great week! 

Angela, Sarah, Damian and Janice

Year 4

Second half of the Term already!  The cold weather has certainly come with a vengeance- please ensure that all jackets and jumpers are clearly named.  If past years have been a true indicator of Athletics Carnival weather – it will be cold next week! ?  Students can wear coloured sporting house clothes on Monday next week and need to be dropped off at the O’Quinn Street Oval.  Please ensure that if your child is allergic to school sunscreen, that they have plenty of their own.  Many thanks to Mrs Salisbury for her organisation of this big carnival. 

Congratulations to all students that made their Confirmation and First Eucharist last week and this week.  We are very lucky to have Mrs Moore organise these sacraments for the children – Thank you, Moore! As we are in Week 6 and life continues to remain busy with assessment, please be mindful that being absent from school can impact on learning.  Having said that, if you are unwell, please do not share it with us! A reminder for homework, that reading needs to be signed off by a parent and spelling words need to be written accurately each night to enhance learning. 

We had a wonderful experience at the Empire Theatre last week and we are grateful to have such opportunities. Just letting you that in Week 10 on the last day of Term, all of Year 4 will be presenting the NAIDOC Assembly.  

Suzanne, Toni and Garry

Year 5

Week 6 marks the downhill run to the school holidays, however there is no rest until we reach that finish line. We would again like to acknowledge all the wonderful work students did completing NAPLAN.  Their focus, use of strategies, positive mindset, and support of each other has set them up for success. We were so impressed that through so cleverly attained pizza data we shouted all the students a slice.  

Shortly our focus will be moving from HASS to Science. In science we will be exploring Earth's place in the solar system. Coincidentally a full Lunar Eclipse is set to take place tonight. Beginning at 6.46pm, with the total eclipse starting at approximately 9.14pm and lasting for 14minutes. I know that it is later in the evening but thought it may be an interesting phenomenon to observe.  

Camp will be going ahead next term in week 6 from Wednesday 18th – Friday 20th August. Online forms will be sent out shortly for initial permission, with further camp details at the end of the term. As mentioned at the beginning of the year we strongly encourage all students to attend camp. If your child has not stayed away from home, we recommend students attend some sleepovers in the holidays. Camp is a wonderful bonding and growing experience for the students. We absolutely love seeing them face challenges, strengthen friendships, and grow in independence during this time.  

Athletics carnival is next week. Monday is our first full day event, with throws happening Tuesday. O’Quinn street is often cold with the wind whipping across the oval. Please remember jumpers, hats, lunches and water bottles. Please see Mrs Salisbury’s PE section for more detailed information.  

A reminder that homework expectations have changed. Students are encouraged to read 30 minutes per night, but no reading log is expected to be handed in. Students also have tasks given in Maths Online, Vocabulary A-Z and Reading Eggspress. Please refer back to the email sent for further information.

Finally, tomorrow we say goodbye to Miss K.  Miss K has been doing a sensational job in 5M building her knowledge and skills of teaching.  We wish her all the best as she finishes her studies.  

Tim, Jess and Emily

A note from Natalya Kajewski

I’ve really enjoyed my time in 5M over the past 5 weeks. During this time, I have also had the opportunity to work with all Year 5 classes and everyone has been very welcoming.  

In Maths, we have had the opportunity to collect data on our Tuckshop preferences and construct column graphs. Last week, we had the opportunity to apply our skills and calculate the perimeter and area of rectangles and squares to design a new garden bed for the school. In HASS, we have built upon our knowledge of the Eureka Stockade and how this influenced the formation of our Australian electoral processes. We had a go at correcting completing a ballot paper and getting to complete a vote at our 5M polling booth!

Finally, tomorrow we say goodbye to Miss K.  Miss K has been doing a sensational job in 5M building her knowledge and skills of teaching.  We wish her all the best as she finishes her studies.    

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Our Lady of Lourdes! Thankyou so much to Mrs McKay for welcoming me into your classroom, as well as Miss Packer and Mr Franzmann, for embracing me as part of the Year 5 team!

Natalya Kajewski

Pre-service Teacher

Masters of Teaching (Primary)

Year 6

Being Lourdes learners who listen is our theme up in Yr 6 for this fortnight.  We joined together as a cohort last week to discuss how we can show we’re listening at school and this week we concentrated on how we can show we’re listening as global citizens.  Students at Lourdes are encouraged to listen to the teacher, listen to each other and to value listening and learning from others. This is what it means to ‘Listen as a Learner.’ 

Well done to our wonderful cohort of students who organised a Get Active morning for our school last Wednesday.  Students organised and participated on some fun activities with students from Prep – Year 6 before school.  Rob the Nest, shooting hoops, an obstacle course and parachute games were lots of fun and proved to be a very popular way to start the school day.

Our school captains, Xavier and Sophie, accompanied Mr Golightly and Mrs Moore to St Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday as part of our diocesan celebrations for 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia.  Students also celebrated attending a Mass here at Our Lady of Lourdes today.

Congratulations to Addi on her selection in the Darling Downs Cross Country team, and to Xavier and Matthew on their selection in the Darling Downs Soccer Team - fantastic.  We’re looking forward to our athletics carnival next week.  House captains and leaders are reminded that they are required to assist with set up for the carnival at O’Quinn Street Oval from 7.00 am on Monday 31^st May.  All students are also required to be dropped off and picked up from the oval on this day.  Students will be transported to and from O’Quinn Street Oval on Tuesday 1st June for the throws events.

We’ve completed our first novel for this term.  “Boy Overboard” was certainly a fabulous read.  We completed a journal entry last week pretending to be on of the main characters – Bibi.  Be sure to check in with your son or daughter and ask them if they know some Bibi bombs!!!!  Students concentrated on including three different sentence starters with this piece of writing – red, white, and blue, adverb starts and preposition starts. We began reading “The Arrival” this week – a completely different read, as this one is a picture book!

Fractions, decimals and percentages will be our main focus for the next three weeks in Mathematics.  Making connections with everyday life would be very advantageous for all students.  Remember to talk about the Mathematics that we see all around us – percentage discounts at shops, money and decimals, fractions and pizzas!

Students completed Mazes during Technology lessons last week – the Mazes were  A-MAZE-ing!!! Great thought was put into making each maze more difficult to conquer.  We were very impressed with the number of students who requested feedback on how to achieve a higher grade and then took the time to add on the extras.  Well done students.

Significant contributions made by refugees is our focus in HASS.  Students are researching a refugee who has made a significant contribution to Australia.  All work on this assessment will be completed at school.

On our assessment calendar for this fortnight, we have a pre-test in Mathematics (fractions and number lines), opening page to Girll Underground, Part C of Health, an art piece due at the end of Week 7, a formative test in Science and an image of Jesus in Religion.  Remember to take home pads and revise before assessments.

Enjoy your fortnight.

Larry, Kylie and Shauna

German

This week and next week we are looking at houses, rooms and furniture and position in preparation for this term’s test. 

Christine Fisher