Jess and Susan’s Class: Week 1 Term 4

Dear Parents,

In the holidays, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the annual ADEC conference in Coolangatta hosted by The Village School. It was so inspiring to meet like-minded educators, discuss classroom goings-on and compare ways of approaching teaching and learning in a democratic environment. A huge thank you to our School Council for supporting the teachers in this very unique professional development opportunity.

It has been gorgeous to see all the children again after the break. Looking around this week, I was struck with how much they have grown and changed since the beginning of the year.  I’m looking forward to a fantastic term ahead as they continue to develop both academically and personally.

Although it has been a short week, we have managed to re-ignite most of our routines including spelling, PIPs and reading. We’ve also done some fun writing about our holidays whilst exploring fact and fiction. Most importantly, we’ve begun to write our play. A basic plot has been developed and most children have a character. There’s still a lot to go, but we’ve certainly made a good start. I hope you have the date marked in the – Friday 21st November.

This week in maths, our measurement focus was on mass. We explored kilograms and touched on grams through a range of hands-on activities. Students experimented, discussed, estimated, and weighed different objects— and we discovered that green apples actually weigh more than red apples! After some lively discussion about this, we decided that Jess might need to take over teaching all maths (I hope you can all see the fun in this!). 

For sport this week, we walked to Pottery Green and had a range of choices. Some students played frisbee, soccer, or jogged laps — and a few even did all three! Others brought along their maths extension books or drawing and reading materials to enjoy in the shade after completing ten minutes of activity.

With this very warm weather we’re experiencing, I know that beginning swimming next Tuesday will be a welcome addition to the schedule. Please make all the usual preparations as we followed in term 1 and reach out if you have any questions.

Also, you’ll notice an upcoming date in the calendar has our class attending a matinee performance of Sydney Dance Company’s ‘Continuum’. I have no doubt this will be a fantastic cultural experience. 

Lastly, I hope to see many of you this weekend at the Currambena Ball. Having been to a few of these over the years, I can attest they are always a fantastic time!

Warm wishes,

Jess and Susan