Class News

Physical Education News

What an extremely busy term it has been in Physical Education! The Year Four to Year Six children commenced the term with Swimming Carnival trials. The children were able to practise their stroke development and take part in 50m time trials at Bayswater Waves.

The Year One to Year Three children have been taking part in a Locomotor Tabloid Program. They have been enjoying rotating between activities practising their skipping, dodging, two-feet jumping and hopping. On Thursday the Year Two and Year Three children will taking part in the ‘Let’s Go Freo Program’. The children will be heading to the Fremantle Dockers Football Club for a fun clinic and a tour of the facilities. We can’t wait to hear all about the day!

To finish off, our Year Five and Year Six children have been amazing in their tee-ball skills. The Year Five children have been learning the fundamental skills of tee-ball and applying those skills in modified games. The Year Six children are coming to the end of a fantastic mini tee-ball competition at Friday Sports. From scoring to umpiring, the children have been actively involved in the running of this competition. This Friday will be the final round of tee-ball finals, it will be a close finish!

Year One Incursion

On Monday, the Year One classes participated in a Loose Parts incursion provided by Nature Play Solutions. Loose parts play is a type of play that supports invention, divergent thinking, problem solving and offers a sense of wonder to children. There are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. There are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials. The children enjoyed being creative thinkers as they explored the loose parts in a variety of ways.

We have included some short recounts from the children:

‘I liked playing cooking with my friends. We used cups, pans and plates to make jelly cupcakes, pancakes and milkshakes.’ – Angel

‘We played in the garbage bin. People were taking me places. Jay, Gianluca and I made a junk house with two wheelchairs, big yellow heavy pipes and big yellow slinkies. We used wheels for the windows and we used a clock to tell the time.’ – Luigi

‘I pretended I was a knight and I was getting chased by my friends. We used fabrics, electronics and a bit of pipe and rope to dress up’  – Hayden

‘I made a car. I used pillows, nets, bubble wrap and chairs. I pretended to drive with Zavier. He was helping me. He is my best friend.’ – Kian

Health News

Health at Infant Jesus has started off with some very colourful and healthy activities.

In Year One Health, the children contributed to making their classroom a safe and happy learning environment by being fair and respectful to both adults and peers. They began to identify the locations of safe places, recognise the people they can turn to for help and identified the strategies to use in case of an emergency. They also learned how their bodies give early warning signs that they are in an unsafe situation.

In Health this term, the Year Two children looked at ways they can stay healthy and active. They addressed adopting healthy eating habits, exercise, meditation and other areas that promote health and wellbeing. The children learned new terms such as inclusion and exclusion and the feelings associated with these. They explored strategies to deal with incidents that may occur in the playground and classroom using stories, drama and vocabulary that will help them identify and help, not only themselves, but their peers also. Developing empathy is an important step in the children’s development.

The Year Three and Four students have been analysing their own lunches and creating healthy lunches that include all five of the food groups.

The Year Five students have been experimenting with sunscreen and UV changing beads. They used the beads to see and confirm that a high SPF sunscreen is more protective than a lower SPF sunscreen. They also discovered that the sun’s ultraviolet radiation can pierce through the clouds. Around the school, you will see many Year Five shoes alight with colour as they have attached the beads to their shoes as a warning device.

The Year Six students are moving into a physical activity topic. They are creating movement activities so that they can find their daily 60 minutes of exercise, to achieve the many health benefits of movement.

Mrs Mary Ann Limerick & Miss Kate Witkowski

Science News

This term, the Year One children explored Biological Science with a focus on identifying characteristics of living and non-living things. They compared the external features of an ant against themselves and identified the similarities and differences. Through hands on experiments, they observed how plants obtain their nutrients and this led us into discussing what living things need in order to survive. Finally, we discovered what happens to living things when their habitat no longer meets their needs.

Science in Term One, has seen year groups from Year Two to Year Six; Engage, Explore, Explain and Elaborate on new discoveries and concepts in Earth and Space Sciences. From tsunamis and earthquakes, shadows and the Solar System to the use of Earth’s most precious resource, Water – our children have certainly learnt a great about the many questions of science. Over the school holiday break, it will be great to have students finding the answers to questions they still wonder about.  

Mary Ann Limerick & Rocco Capolingua 

Music News

In the Music programme we use the Kodály music methodology across all year levels. The Kodály method is based on singing, with one’s own voice as the original instrument, and slowly expands its teachings to apply to any instrument. Singing without the aid of an instrument is a powerful tool that can lead to a highly developed musical ear. Our Music lessons are highly structured and sequential, student-centred and designed for all – it affirms each student as being innately musical. It gives every child the knowledge and skills for them to participate in music meaningfully.

In our Music classes, we think about all the aspects of musicianship and touch on them in every lesson. By developing things carefully over time, the memorization and the deep knowledge becomes really strong and embedded. We place an emphasis on intuitive, interactive learning. The techniques used engage the students by integrating body movement, singing, music making, games, improvisation, composition and memory activities based on beat, rhythm, pitch and timbre; and listening and moving to music. Solfa syllables and the moveable-do system are used to teach skills in pitch discrimination, intervals, harmony and analysis. These skills are reinforced with a system of hand signs. Through this holistic approach children develop a love of music and are empowered to be creative and confident musicians.

The 2019 Catholic Performing Arts Festival is fast approaching. I would like to invite students who learn an instrument at school with Keyed Up Music, or through private tuition, to enter into the Solo/Duet Instrumental section of the Catholic Performing Arts Festival. If your child and their instrumental teacher feels that they are ready to take on this opportunity and that this would be a beneficial experience for them, please contact me via email or come and see me in the Music Room regarding entering them into the festival. Once they have been entered into the festival, you will be responsible for transporting them to and from their allocated performance venue on the day of their performance. The closing date for entry into the Catholic Performing Arts Festival is Sunday 12 May. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Claire Condipodero
Music Teacher

Technology News

There has been lots happening in the iLab since school started nearly a term ago! Here is a snapshot of what students are currently learning in Technologies:  

• Pre-Primary children have been learning to use different creation apps and exploring the differences between hardware and software.
• Year One students are using their iPads to show their work in Mathematics by using the draw tool and voice over tool in Book Creator.
• Both Year Three and Six classes are coding up a storm using Swift Playgrounds and Scratch. 
• Year Four classes have started their 2019 ‘Screen It’ entries – a young filmmakers competition where they create an animation based around the theme of, ‘Listen’.  
• Year Five, students are creating a Behind the News inspired film clip about either floods or bushfires using a green screen and iMovie. 

Ministry News

Public Relations Ministry
We are the 2019 Public Relations Ministry. For the past few weeks we have been learning about what and how the Public Relations Ministry works. We have been practicing recording ourselves to make us feel more confident in speaking in front of a large audience. It is unfortunate that we can’t speak to a real audience this term, but we are very excited that School Assemblies will be back in our School Hall next term. Mr Colangelo and Miss Moffat have been supporting us throughout our ministry work.

The Sustainability Ministry
We are the Sustainability Ministry for 2019. The aim of the Sustainability Ministry is to care for our school environment and to ensure our playgrounds, verandas and classrooms are clean and tidy. We will continue to make sure that we do everything and anything we can to make our school a cleaner place!

Over the past few weeks, we have spoken about some of the issues in our environment and how we can make our school a better place. During our time in our ministry, we hope to make our whole school community aware about the litter in the playground and encourage them to help keep our school tidy. We also hope to recognise year levels and students that are showing a great example!

The Wellness Ministry 
Hi! We are the Semester One Wellness Ministry and you can #ExpectGreatThings from us this semester. 

As the Wellness Ministry, our roles include promoting a healthy lifestyle to all students and supporting Mrs Jenkins with the equipment at lunch times. We have set up a roster and have been handing out equipment to all students.

Next term, at our Monday morning Assembly we are going to go over the expectations of the equipment being used at recess and lunch and we are busy putting together some expectations at the moment. We are also brainstorming some ideas for lunchtime games we can set up. If you have any good ideas of games to play during lunch or recess and you see us around the school, please share your ideas with us. We are looking forward to a fun-filled and healthy semester!