Emma’s Class Week 3 Term 4

Posted on October 21, 2021 by emmab

Dear Parents,

After all the excited anticipation and nervous energy around our return to school, the children just got straight to business once they arrived and didn’t look back. I was delighted to see how much they enjoyed seeing each other again and how natural it was to launch straight into their favourite games and activities. It was also wonderful to welcome Remarius to our ‘real’ classroom. We have all come to know a him as a member of our ‘virtual’ classroom, but it was very special to finally have him with us at school.

This week we have been focusing on settling back in and we will be having a little ‘Welcome Back’ party in the classrooms this afternoon with games and (individual!) serves of popcorn. We have also dipped our toes into some addition strategies and started to decorate the branches of our new class ‘Poe-tree’ with imaginative poetry creations.

I’ve found getting used to wearing a mask all day in the classroom a little tricky. Although the eyes may be the window to the soul, I’ve realised that I use the rest of my face a great deal to communicate. My eyebrows have been working overtime! A number of the children have chosen to wear masks in the classroom and I have been supporting them in this choice.  I have also been reminding the children about sun safety and to wear a hat when playing outside, however a number of them don’t have hats at school. Please make sure your child has a hat at school with their name clearly labelled on it.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Emma

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Photo of the Week Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Newsletter Editor

Sarah NL 2021 T4W3 Scarlett in Lockdown Term 3

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Julianna Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 21, 2021 by juliannam

Hi Everyone,

Running feet, laughter and lots of chatter really brought Currambena back to life this week! I am so enjoying watching the kids playing from my office window.

Thankyou to Chris for organising and helping with the clean up over the weekend. It seems we were a little skinny on the ground for helpers. There is still lots to do! Please see more information on the school calendar and the list of jobs further in the newsletter.

Have a lovely weekend

Cheers Julianna

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Preschool News Week 3 Term 4

Posted on October 21, 2021 by katrinaa

Hello everyone,

We’re thrilled to have almost everyone back this week. Considering we were in lockdown for 4 months, the children have done remarkably well in their transition back to school, saying goodbye to their people at the gate and independently making their way up to preschool. We know that this can be a daunting experience for both parents and children alike, though everyone seems to be managing this really well thus far.

We’ve been providing lots of opportunities for children to play and once again become familiar with each other, us, and the preschool environment. Next week, we’ll start group times using both the indoor and outdoor play spaces. It’s remarkable to see how enthusiastically the children have been to engage in all things preschool and we’re sure group times won’t be any different.

As teachers, we were thrilled to find that, with the easing of restrictions, we no longer need to wear masks in the outdoor environment at preschool. We’ll still, however, wear them at the gate and are required to wear them when we’re indoors. We’re finding that as the children don’t see our mouths moving as we’re wearing masks it’s tricky for them to follow what we’re saying and even trickier for us to get them to listen to us!

There’s been a huge interest in dramatic play in preschool this week. It seems the children are all picking up exactly where they left off. Dramatic play is leading to lots of opportunities to exchange ideas, look at things from someone else’s perspective by taking on different roles, negotiate, turn take, connect, and build relationships with others. The value of this type of play in preschool is fundamental in children’s learning and development.

It was great to have Carolina live in preschool this week. We had such fun at the pretend restaurant ordering some healthy fruit and veg in Spanish. We plan on extending on this over the coming days with a restaurant set up in preschool.

We’ve continued to sell ice blocks in preschool throughout the lockdown to raise money for a child in Chad that Wendy’s class sponsors, and will continue to do so this Friday. Please bring $1.00 if you’d like your child to buy one.

A huge thank you to everyone that has arrived between the hours of 2:30 pm to 2:45 pm to pick up their child. It’s important that you arrive promptly and don’t linger. Please remember that from 2:30 pm the front of the school is a no-standing zone, so if you are more than 3 metres away from your car you can be booked. The Lane Cove parking officer is assisting our primary school, so we need to make sure that we are well out of the primary’s way to avoid confusion and congestion.

That’s all for this week!

Love

Katrina, Michael, and Lisa

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From Jess Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Jess

Dear Parents,
It has been such a lovely week being back at school with the children. They are clearly delighting in being in each other’s company and have spent their time completely engrossed in a range of play both inside and outside the classroom. There’s a lot of catching up to do and it has been important to give everyone the time they need to do this.

In addition to connecting with one another, getting back into some of our simple routines has been a priority this week. We’ve been spending time remembering to put away belongings, pack away the classroom, put up hands to talk during group time and to eat during break times.

I’ve also been gently assessing how the children managed through the lockdown and where they are at both emotionally and academically.

This week we have reviewed our knowledge of the vowels, practised subitizing, learnt to group in twos, threes and fours, and done a lot of quiet reading.

The children adjusted beautifully back into the classroom for Spanish and craft, and we had a lovely second video lesson from Abi after which the children made up their own nonsense words to match the notes in the C scale. It’s all gobbledygook and codswallop!

Have a lovely weekend,
Jess x

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Sarah’s Class Week 3 Term 4

Posted on October 21, 2021 by sarahm

Gosh, it was gorgeous to be rostered on to open the gate Monday morning and welcome the first groups of children back into school. I was so elated to see some very excited faces ‘chomping at the bit’ to get through (the gates) and begin their day! It was then equally gorgeous to see them inhabit their playground once again and turn what has been a very quiet and lonely school into a place of joy!! To say that I can’t wait for the remaining classes to return next week would be dreadfully silly of me.

So this week we have explored The Moon and its many phases. We also designed our own planets and will create paper mache models of them from next week turning our classroom space into a creative mess – can’t wait!! We explored angles, tangram puzzles, transformation, rotation and symmetry – all for our 2D shape discovery unit. Next week, we will play around with the 2D shapes in their 3D form and look at their properties and nets. We will also be exploring shadows and combining some of our outdoor activities with Leesa’s class to create sundials. Hopefully, the weather will be in our favour for when this is planned.

Thanks again this week to Meggan for another wonderful YOGA start to our week and Abi who taught us more about the note “C”, on the scale, with those absolutely delightful friends (puppets) of hers.

Camp News: As of yet, there are no updates or information about when or even if children will be able to attend school camps before the end of year. So for the Year 3 group’s parents: Leesa and I have made a tentative booking to go to Mowbray Park in Picton from Wednesday, 8th – 10th December which is week 10 of this term. So pen these dates in your diary and start having the conversation – thinking optimistically. If we are able to move forward, then closer to the time myself and Leesa will begin having discussions with the children to get them prepared.

An important reminder for Monday: If your child was given a Chromebook to use at home please make sure it is returned along with its charger. Also, all their books and worksheets they completed throughout the term. I suggested at the beginning of last term they use the Currambena bag as their book box, so if everything is in there they can transfer all their work easily back into their real book box.

I don’t think there’s anything else I need to add apart from: now that this is the end of our online learning experience together, forever I hope, I would just like to say what a journey! One journey I felt grateful to have been on with your children. I kept reminding myself about the already established relationships and how lucky we were to have had those 2 terms together before we parted our – in person – ways. And soon, we will resume where we left off with some changes to the mix. Thankyou to those of you I heard from throughout our time away from each other and the support you gave your child and to me. Sometimes it was the well needed fuel to keep the engine going. I can’t wait to be seeing more of you make appearances albeit briefly (at the gate) over the remainder of our term together and who knows what’s around the next corner??

Take Care!

Love, Sarah  

 

 

 

 

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Leesa’s Class Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 21, 2021 by leesaj

We’re nearly back to school! The final countdown! We are very excited to be back together in person on Monday. The children and I are looking forward to being in the classroom and discussing the activities we will be completing throughout the term. Today we had a meeting to discuss the differences at school that the children need to know before returning. All books will need to be brought back, though if any are full these can remain at home and a new book will be available. If you borrowed a Chromebook, could these please be returned with their chargers. Thankyou for all of your help and support throughout our 13 weeks of online learning. The children have done an amazing job at managing Zoom, the Google Classroom and the range of activities over this time.

This week we have looked at similes and inference during our literacy sessions. The children looked at images and text to answer questions about similes and inferences, and had a go at writing their own simile. We will continue to explore literary devices in texts for the remainder of the year.

During Mathematics sessions, the children completed their Think Mentals Unit 29 and activities on position. They revised the compass points, directional language and followed directions to complete a maze.

Our topic on Earth and Space this week had the children investigating the size of the Earth, Sun and Moon. They also read information about the Moon and answered questions, and researched interesting facts.

Today we have participated in a virtual excursion on mapping presented by Kamay Botany Bay Environmental Education Centre. The children learnt about different kinds of maps, used mapping skills to map the classroom or their home space and looked at how Aboriginal people found their way across their landscape using song lines.

At present, we have 3068 bread tags. However, I know many people have been collecting them during the home learning time and I’m excited to see how many will come in over the next few weeks. We will send these to Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs in the last week of the term.

I have had a number of questions about camp this year. Currently there are no updates or information about when or if children will be able to attend school camps for this year. Sarah and I have made a tentative booking to go to Mowbray Park in Picton, from Wednesday 8th – Friday 10th December (week 10). If we are able to attend, myself and Sarah will begin discussions to get the children prepared.

I think that is it for this week. I cannot wait to see all the children and their smiling faces coming into school on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend!

Leesa x

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Wendy’s Group Week 3 Term 4

Posted on October 21, 2021 by wendyp

It is SO wonderful to see all the children back in our class… and Jess’s and Emma’s too… and this week we even had a face to face staff meeting! So much better than Zoom!

Everyone is delighted to be back with their friends and we’re having a fabulous week, reconnecting, chatting and generally catching up. Needless to say, almost all of the children have grown conspicuously over the months of lockdown! I am seriously recommending that several of them start wearing bricks on their heads so that they can’t get too much taller than me!!

This week we are reviewing “The Hunger Games”, practising handwriting, learning our usual spelling words, revising grammar, talking about possible plots, genres and settings for a class play, starting to choose a new book to share, and discussing the e-safety issues in a short film series put together by the e-Safety Commission. Much discussion about internet safety and the perils of messaging, giving out information in games, and use of photos. Please let me know if anything emerges at home that needs to be followed up at school.

In Maths, we are measuring and constructing angles and also looking at maps and having some fun with barrier activities. We are also revising times tables and completing textbook pages.

We are learning about the Solar System in Science, just finishing up what we began online this term.

We’re also trying to put our portfolios in order…not easy when we weren’t even here for all of Term 3!

Some of the children have not yet brought all their books back to school. Please help them find things if possible so we can continue where we left off. If books are completely lost, please let me know.

Please also help your children remember to bring some warm clothing to school. We have all our windows and doors open each day to increase ventilation and it is a bit cold at times. It would be good for them to have an extra layer they could put on if they need it.

Because everything is opening up so much again, I would like to let the children walk up to the shops to buy lunch on Friday…. as long as you are all OK with this. Please email me if you have any concerns. I will recommend that the children wear masks and, of course, wide brimmed hats will be essential, as usual.

And lastly, an enormous thank you to Sally for organising the tee shirts for the Year 6 group, Class of 2021! They were delighted to receive these on Monday and they look just wonderful. And I love mine too! Thank you all for that! I hope you’ll see some photos here!

I think that’s all for today!

With love,
Wendy

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Photo of the Week Term 4 Week 2

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Newsletter Editor

NL SarahT4W2 2021 Emilie's Day 2

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Julianna Term 4 Week 2

Posted on October 14, 2021 by juliannam

Hi Everyone,

How exciting it is going to be, to see kids back at Currambena next week!

No doubt you have all thoroughly read the documents emailed out from your class teachers with information on your return.

Over the school holidays a few things were happening at Currambena. All the gutters were thoroughly cleaned on all the buildings, the Air Conditioner units in all rooms had a full service and clean, Co2 meters were ordered for all the classrooms with an expected arrival next week, all the gardens and potted plants around the school were fertilized, and Eric our cleaner came in and did a big sweep around the school. The server had a glitch so we managed to get Duncan (our IT guy) in and a few hours were spent getting everything up and running again before school started again. Phew! The usual admin stuff was then kept ticking over.

Thank you to Eric, our cleaner, for the big sweep last week. What a difference, the school was looking very messy!

On Coordination Day, we managed to complete our physical component of the CPR training. All the apparatus was dropped at the gate in the morning. We brought it down to the room and our trainer was able to support us through the exercise via Zoom in two 1-hour sessions of four people each.

Please look out for an email from Chris about the possibility of you coming to do some cleaning around the school this weekend!

Have a lovely weekend

Cheers Julianna

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