Welcome to the first newsletter of the year! We cannot believe it is week 5 already! The students have settled into their routines so well and each day show us what great learners they are. We have a lot of great activities planned for this year.

Literacy

Students have been immersed in communication, using PODD to respond to questions and requests. Each week we focus on a new book and using that book, students compose sentences to recall information. Modelled reading has also been a key focus, allowing students to independently navigate through readers with the support to assist reading using pictures to make meaning. Students have also been increasing their knowledge on different types of informative writing. So far we have discussed information reports, recipes and magazine and newspaper articles.

Numeracy

Our focus has been on numbers in the environment and what these numbers mean to us, including, number plates, numbers on a microwave, speed signs, lift number, key card numbers, just to mention a few. Students have also been busy creating presentations to demonstrate their understanding. Students have been learning time and one of our favourite games to play together is Day of the Week Snap.

Crafting success

Students who have chosen this subject as an elective have been concentrating on organising a school event- Mother’s Day Stall. We have been understanding and learning the process of how to purchase items as well as creating Mother’s Day advertising and rosters for the school to attend. Our stall will be happening in Term 2, Thursday 9^th May.

Students have also elected to hold another stall at the Duck Pond markets, date to be advised. This means a lot of brain storming of what we can create to sell at a market. Last week students prepared some of the school’s garden beds to grow succulents to create teacup succulent gardens. We are all very excited of things to come.

Adulthood

After attending Compass and Endeavour on a Tuesday, students are learning how to conduct themselves out in the community. This has included, students understanding the induction processes in the work place, how we present ourselves, including the style of communication we need to be a successful employee/volunteer.

Compass and Endeavour

The students have started their work sampling programs at Compass and Endeavour. The students are participating in a variety of programs such as cooking, art, woodwork and VR Digital Technology. They have really enjoyed themselves so far and look forward to swapping programs in term 2 to gain awareness of what the other centre offers for post school options.

Travel

The students have been learning about different types of travel and looking at creating a travel goal for the future. Students created posters to highlight the behaviour rules to follow when catching transport. We created a chart to highlight all of the types of transport we have all accessed in our lives. Next week we are catching the local bus service from school and going downtown to the park. We are all very excited for this trip!

Drama News

Drama has been a huge success over the past month in Seniors! From analysing performances to creating skits for our PBL rule of the week, the students have taken on new roles and learnt new vocabulary very quickly in the dramatic world. Our favourite drama game so far is Bus Stop which always has everyone in fits of laughter. We have analysed famous skits including The Lion King, Matilda and Beauty in the Beast where the students have needed to think deeply about character development, dramatic tension, costumes, acting skills and messages that are portrayed throughout the performances. We look forward to taking on a variety of different roles throughout the term as well as rehearsing scripts and building our confidence to continue performing on parade. At this stage, the students would love to do an end of year performance of Lilo and Stitch or Shrek which is very exciting!

Sport News

In HPE, the students have been working on catching and throwing skills as well as agility and moving their bodies in different ways for a variety of purposes. Whilst it’s still quite hot and wet, we have been utilising the gym space which has been great. Some new group games have included Rob the Nest, Cut the Cake, Captain Ball and Heads Down, Heads Up. These games have given the students an opportunity to learn new rules and socially interact through active participation, fairness and compromise. We have also been learning and practicing new stretches during our warm ups and drills for performing fundamental movement skills. The students have identified sports that they are interested in trying and learning so we will try to incorporate these into our weekly Sport lesson!

Stop-Go Animation.

Our Stop-Go Animation students have been very busy designing back drops for their short movies, and exploring ways to move a variety of classroom items across the screen.  Glue sticks have had a starring role in action movies, plastic insects have appeared in plague proportions and there has also been a guest appearance by a playdoh man who was the ability to change shape to escape danger. It is great to see the students enjoying their work and having fun while learning and attempting new challenges.