Preschool News: Week 5 Term 2

Posted on May 26, 2023 by katrinaa

Hello everyone,

It’s been a gorgeous week in preschool. On Monday we had our first routine excursion to Kimberley Playground. There was great excitement and anticipation in the lead up to our visit and we’re sure it didn’t disappoint the children. On Wednesday we headed up to Lane Cove Library for the first time this year. On both days the children did exceptionally well in walking safely up and back and sticking to the agreements they helped put together. Thank you to all the parents that helped on both occasions.

On Wednesday in Spanish Carolina continued teaching the children words that will be useful in next week’s Spanish puppet show. There is an additional charge of $10 for each child attending on the Wednesday. It would be most appreciated if you could hand the money to Lisa, Michael or myself next week.

On Thursday Crafty Chris came to preschool and spoke to the children about the whole school Currambena movie that he has been busy putting together with everyone. We also started to learn the dance moves that Nate has been choreographing with the children. We’ve finished screen printing the T-shirts everyone will be wearing when they perform next Thursday. Everyone is super excited about performing and, I’m sure, a little nervous. Lane Cove Council has let us know we’ll be performing at 10:43am.

Our new part-time educator Joanna resigned from her position as diploma trained assistant on Tuesday. Her last day was on Friday. We let all the children know last week and spent time drawing her pictures and signing a card. Joanna resigned due to health issues, we wish her all the best in the future.

Our astronomy lessons have been going well. This week we focused on nuclear fusion and the creation of stars and planets. We continue to enjoy heading down to Vinnie’s class on a Thursday to collaborate on our unit of work with them.

That’s it for this week!

Love

Katrina, Michael, Lisa and Joanna.

 

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Vinnie’s Group Week 5 Term 2

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Vincent

Hi everyone,

We have had a fun week at school, Wendy and Caetano’s classes went on an excursion to the writers’ festival on Tuesday. This meant we rearranged our sport for the afternoon; Sarah’s, Jess’s and our class all walked to the Secret Garden (the park behind the Diddy). The children had a great time playing Capture the Flag, swinging on the swing set, climbing the tree, and playing other games.

We continued with our Morning Routine from Monday to Thursday. We have been working on writing a sentence using our Camera words, and segmenting sounds from words like ‘mat’ : /m/a/t/. Our independent sentence this week was “The cat was on the mat.” You are more than welcome to come look at your child’s writing journal in our classroom.

The Rubies and the Hairy Toes are doing a great job with our singing rehearsals; the children are having a ball practising with preschool. As well as singing with preschool, we had our weekly Astronomy activities with them. Our performance is on this Thursday. If you would like to walk with us up to the Canopy, please send me an email – we will walk up in the morning.

Next week we will change to our next sport choice. In our class the children have either chosen Bushwalking, Tennis or Dance. If you are keen to come Bushwalking with us on a Tuesday around 1:30 – let me know.

We have lots of exciting things happening next week. Wednesday, we have a Spanish puppet show coming in. Thursday is the Voices for Reconciliation. On Friday after school we have our AGM and social, I look forward to seeing you there.

As the weather has been quite cold, please pack some spare warm clothes for the children, and if you notice your child has any cold or flu symptoms, please keep them home until they are feeling better.

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From Jess Week 5 Term 2

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Newsletter Ed

It’s been very difficult being away from school since my fall on Monday and I’ve missed the children so much. Thank you to everyone who helped cover me including Meg on Monday afternoon, Hannah who took my class on Tuesday and Thursday, and to Carolina, Olivia, Vinnie and Chris who pulled together on Wednesday to teach the children. Thank you also to Sarah and all the parents who were at the park when I left. Despite being away, I’ve been in close contact by phone and email and all reports are that the week went smoothly.

On Monday, I’m told that the excursion was enjoyed by everyone! There was beachcombing, ball games, bushwalks and lots of time in the playground. There will be some photos in this newsletter and I’m putting together a Google Drive which I’ll share soon. On Tuesday, the children reflected on the excursion in a writing activity with Hannah and then again on Thursday, in an Aboriginal art lesson with Amelia.

Hannah introduced the children to a predictable narrative structure on Tuesday by studying one of my favourite books called “Some Dogs Do” by Jez Alborough. An examination of the book with a focus on the introduction, complication and resolution was undertaken and the children drew scenes from the book, sequencing them along a story mountain. Of course, as we continue to study narratives, the children will recognise that stories are not always that neat and tidy (just like real life!)

On Wednesday, amongst other lessons such as ‘Maths with Vinnie’, ‘Class meeting with Olivia’ and ‘Craft with Chris’, Carolina took the whole class together for her Spanish lesson and continued to prepare them for the upcoming puppet show incursion. It sounds like it was a lot of fun!

On Thursday, Hannah returned and continued concluding some learning we had begun on pronouns and how they can be used to make our spoken and written language more efficient. Work was also completed on our phoneme ay,ai and a_e in the Soundwaves textbooks. For the middle session, Hannah introduced the ‘Swordfish’ to our case study animal, ‘The Octopus’, and led an exploration of how they swim using jet propulsion. By all reports the children loved it! Next week we’ll look deeper into other ways an octopus can move around and learn about their surprising intelligence. Whilst this was happening, ‘The Kittens’ continued working on their PIP’s in which,I believe, they are making great progress. In the next few weeks, I’m sure there will be discussions around presentation timetables.

Friday was ‘Sorry Day’ and Susan was guiding the children through some gentle conversations related to the topic of the stolen generation and the National apology by Kevin Rudd. National Sorry Day flags the beginning of Reconciliation Week with this year’s theme being “Be a Voice for Generations”. I am considering taking the children up to Lane Cove plaza on Thursday next week to watch Preschool and Vinnie’s class and Wendy’s class perform for this occasion, but I will send you an email if it’s confirmed.

I’m a bit short on photos this week due to my absence.

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Sarah and Amelia’s class Week 5 Term 2

Posted on May 26, 2023 by sarahm

Hi Everyone!

On Monday, along with Jess’s class we all went to Berry Island for the day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the kids were primed and parents ready to go! We began our morning with a slide show displaying the indigenous rock engravings which could be found along the Gadyan bush track. Once we arrived and were established on the lawn children scrambled for the playground. After a time had settled we began dispersing: into the bush to walk the track, explore the beach to pick up rubbish and discover shells etc, play soccer across the grass and/or just hang-out!  Those who chose to venture into the bush in search of rock engravings took clipboards and paper with them and came out from their adventure with sketches and outlines of  a sea monster, possibly boomerang and a water/grinding hole. We left the reserve reluctantly, having had a time and experience which gave the children with a place to expand on things already established and (maybe) explore new.

Amelia here! This week we continued on with measurement, but this time the group used 30cm rulers to measure different objects around the classroom. They had the challenge of measuring using millimetres as well to make their measurements as accurate as possible!

We had Meg back in the classroom this week to help with the Year 2 projects. Yay! The group is going really well with such a difficult task and have started to find answers to their questions through Google searches and rewriting the answers into their own words.

In the afternoon with Jess’ group, we did a brief recap of their excursion on Monday at Berry Island. The group then had their own go at creating artworks inspired by the rock art they saw, using oil pastels and watercolours to showcase a place that is important or safe for them.

We had a few sicknesses this week again, so I hope everyone is feeling well and keeping warm!

Love Sarah and Amelia.

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Caetano’s Class in Week 5 Term 2

Posted on May 26, 2023 by caetanol

This week the highlight was, without a doubt, our excursion to the Writers’ Festival in Chatswood. We had the amazing opportunity to hear from a range of talented authors and learn how they write and the thinking behind their success. The speakers made sure that it was very interactive and one author in particular, Cristy Burne, was the star of the show. On stage she made things explode, threw marshmallows at the crowd and inspired students to think big. The students had the unique opportunity to ask all the authors a range of questions and contribute to the creation and ideas of the upcoming books in the series. Our little Yoshi’s were extremely well behaved and soaked it all in. Well done everyone!

Back in class, our prac teachers, Maddie and Elana, taught some writing and maths lessons. They did an excellent job and ensured that the students understood how to relate their reasoning with either health, money or education when persuading their readers. Maddie helped the students understand that in order to be persuasive, these links are extremely important. The students were able to practise linking their reasoning across a multitude of topics and they did a stellar job.

For Maths, Elana put our little Yoshi’s through their paces in relation to Data. The students got to learn that data is information that has been gathered, they learnt how to create tables, read the key in a pictograph and create column graphs. They also were exposed to why graphs are important and what information can be gained from drafting up tables and graphs. Last of all, they even collected their own data about the eye colour of students in the classroom and sorted it into a table. It was very fun and the students have really enjoyed these amazing lessons by both Maddie and Elana.

Last but not least, the students had a super fun and important lesson understanding about Indigenous Australians and Acknowledgement of Country. They first learnt about what Country is and its significance then what acknowledgement means. Next they were able to create their own land/country and place things that are of value to them inside by either drawing it with chalk or by putting real things inside. They then were able to ask permission to enter another person(s) land and had to acknowledge their land/country and the things that were significant to them. It was marvellous to see just how much respect they had for one another and their ability to make the connection to Indigenous Australians.

Bring on Week 6!

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Wendy’s Group Week 5 Term 2

Posted on May 26, 2023 by wendyp

Hi everyone.

We’ve had a terrific week and hope you have, too!

On Monday, our student teachers gave some excellent lessons on different text types and we completed some comprehension questions, looking at model answers for both literal and inferential questions. We revised the states and capital cities, oceans and major landmarks of Australia and then went to Lane Cove Library in the afternoon. We also rehearsed “Solid Rock” for the performance next week.

On Tuesday, we went with Caetano’s group to a day of the Writers’ Festival for Children at The Concourse at Chatswood. It was a brilliant day. We heard from five Australian authors about their characters, their books and their lives, how they became interested in writing, and we had the chance to ask them questions and to purchase some of their books. I hope your children have told you lots about the day… but I hope they didn’t roll around on the dining room table trying to absorb their food through their skin as Cristy Burne told us platypus babies do!

Tuesday was Meg’s last day with us as a prac student so we had a goodbye circle in the afternoon and made some speeches to encourage her on her way!

Back at school on Wednesday we wrote stories, of course! Another lesson from Anna and Faith started us off and the room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. The writers on Tuesday had been even more inspiring than we realised! We also practised times tables, learned our spelling lists, worked on textbooks, had Class Meeting, practised handwriting and had our languages session.

Thursday is our turn in the art room, and (while Wendy recorded a podcast about democratic education with Sarah Levett) Crafty inspired plasticine banana creations for the animated film the whole school is working on. We read silently in ERICS (Everybody Reads In Class Silently) time and revised decimal fractions, some of us meeting thousandths for the first time, and worked on PIPs in the afternoon.

On Friday, we said goodbye to Faith with another goodbye circle and speeches. Faith said how lucky she feels to have been able to complete her prac here at Currambena. I always think it’s a fabulous, mind-broadening experience for potential teachers and, having been there myself a few years ago, I love being able to offer this to student teachers.

Next week our group is performing in the Lane Cove Children’s Voices for Reconciliation event at The Canopy. The event begins at 10:30. Please come along if you can. It’s an annual event which brings many of the local schools together and Currambena participates every year.

Have a great week. I hope to see you all at the AGM on Friday and the social afterwards!

Love,
Wendy

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School Meeting Minutes Week 5

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Vincent

School meeting topics

Acknowledgement of Country by Vinnie’s class and preschool

Sorry Day activities by Susan. There will be activities in Susan’s room learning about Sorry Day.

Upside down screens by Louie and Caetano. Please do not flip the screen on the laptops. To fix it is: Control shift, rotate button.

Nobby Ball by Carry and Louie. Yellow spikey ball found, does it belong to anyone? It will be in the sports shed to pick up if it belongs to you.

Music by Josh. Singing and loud music is disruptive, please keep it quieter if possible.

Rule about excluding by Wendy. Reminder it is a school rule not to exclude people from games. Only reason to exclude is if there are three reserves in handball or three good reasons for excluding which you have to discuss together.

Scootering by Asher and Josh. Can the rule be changed so people can scooter on the deck near the classrooms? The vote was to not change the rules about where people can skate.

Respecting body boundaries by Mabel. Noticed people aren’t respecting body boundaries lately. Please don’t stare at people if they ask you not to. If there are people staring at you and you do not like it you can ask your teacher for help.

Song and dance by Crafty.

Meeting adjourned, preschoolers first.

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Piano Lessons Thursday afternoons

Posted on May 26, 2023 by wendyp

Please email Wendy asap if you are interested in your child having piano lessons at school on Thursday afternoons.
wendyp@currambena.nsw.edu.au

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From Olivia Week 4 Term 2

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Olivia

Why did you become a teacher?

Working with children was always something I was drawn to do. I was steered towards teaching in order to satisfy my need for a career where I would be challenged and could provide opportunity for me to express myself creatively.

What is it about Currambena that you like?

I walked in through the gate many years ago and instantly felt a sense of belonging. The school was quite different then, but it still maintains to be a place that forces you to look at yourself. I also love being part of a community which fosters relationships and connection.

What do you do in your spare time?

I have a dog, so I walk, a lot! When I can, I also enjoy live music, theatre, eating out, learning the drums and playing pool!!

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

The power to be in more than one place at any given time – to see more and get more done.

And the power to end poverty, suffering and war in the world, and the power to save animals from extinction, and the power to reverse the effects of climate change, and the power to end dictatorship, and the power and energy to stand up against inequality.

What do you want the Currambena Families to know?

That you’ve made a brave and life changing decision by sending your child/children to this school. The life lessons taught here are not something that people who leave will ever forget.

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Preschool News: Week 4 Term 2

Posted on May 19, 2023 by katrinaa

Hello everyone,

We’ve got a couple of busy weeks coming up (weather permitting). From next Monday and then hopefully every Monday after that we will begin our routine excursion to Kimberley Playground on Dorritt St in Lane Cove. In preparation for this we need everyone at school as close as possible to 9am so we’ve got time to get organised and are ready to leave as close as possible to 9:30am.

We also plan to begin our visits to Lane Cove Library next week. Again, it would be very much appreciated if everyone can be at preschool at 9am so we can be ready to leave the school grounds by 9:30am. We’ll be visiting the library once a fortnight. Each child will be able to borrow a book under our preschool library remain at school. On the alternate Wednesdays we’ll have the option of visiting Kimberley Playground.

This week we’ve begun a unit of work on Astronomy. We’ve been looking at stars and how they need hydrogen to live and when they run out of hydrogen they die. We went down to Vinnie’s class on Thursday, and they participated in on one of our lessons. We’ll continue to work with Vinnie’s class each week. This is particularly beneficial for children making the transition to primary at Currambena next year by allowing them to become familiar with the kindergarten  space.

At morning meeting last Thursday, the topic of a pyjama day was brought up. Most of the children voted they would like to have one, so next Thursday it will be pyjama day at preschool. This is of course an option for children.

Lastly a Thank you to Sophia R for the donation of an Astronomy book for preschool. A great resource for the class during our exploration of space.

That’s it for this week!

Love,

Katrina, Michael, Lisa & Joanna`

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