Class News and Merit Certificates

Year Four Class News

Term Four has been a very busy term for Year Four!

In Religious Education the children have learnt about the forces of nature and how God is Almighty. As part of this unit the children gave thanks to God for all that He has given us and further developed their knowledge of Catholic prayers. The children are now deepening their understandings of Advent and why this is such an important time of year.

During English, the children are continuing to develop their reading, writing and word study skills. Throughout our Reading sessions, our focus is on comprehending a range of texts, be they fiction or non-fiction. Our Guided Reading sessions focus on fully understanding the text and trying to relate it to the children’s life and experiences. In Writing, the text types we have been focusing on this term were; informative texts, narratives and persuasive texts. During writing, the children have used their knowledge of European explorers to create some of these text types.

Our mathematical areas of focus have been Geometry and Statistics and Data. In Geometry the aim was to understand and use simple scales, legends and directions to interpret information contained in basic maps. This was integrated in with the children’s learning of explorers and the routes they travelled. In Statistics and Chance, the children looked at data representation and interpretation by conducting their own surveys.

Another mathematical emphasis continues to be the consolidation of the times tables.  The children are expected to know the times tables by the end of Year Four. They should know and understand the times tables as well as being able to recall them mentally with speed and accuracy as this will support their learning with deeper mathematical concepts.

The HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) program for this semester has enabled the children to further explore and discover different environments around the world. The children have been fascinated by the way people lived and how European Explorers would journey for months to discover new places in our world. The children have also developed their geographical understandings of the world by researching the locations of major countries in Africa and Europe. Technologies has also been integrated into our learning as we explored robotics and followed in the European Explorers’ footsteps!

In Music, we continue to build on our musical knowledge and aural skills, learning through singing, movement, song, rhythm and solfa in stimulating and enjoyable music lessons. We continue to explore tempo and dynamics, and a wide variety of classical music, responding to this music through expressive movement, discovering the form and structure of pieces of music and encouraging imagination, creativity, and a personal connection and appreciation for music.

This term in Physical Education with Miss Witkowski, the Year Four children have participated in a four-week tennis incursion program run by Bayswater Tennis Club. This program developed students racquet skills and net/wall game tactics. Following tennis, Year Four students have been introduced to ultimate frisbee in preparation for the Summer Carnival next year.

Health this term has focused on exploring health information (media and online) that influences decisions and behaviours.  The children investigated ways to keep healthy by making informed choices about such topics as alcohol and other drugs. They also explored strategies that they will be able to call upon if ever they are caught up in situations where others may make demands upon them, such as peer pressure to not follow the school rules as one example.  In addition, the children will investigate ways that they can promote health and wellbeing by participating in regular physical activity in natural environments.

This term in Science we focused on Chemical Sciences. We are looking at the range of physical properties that can influence their use. We have been busy describing a range of common materials, such as metals or plastics. We are looking forward to further investigations and selecting materials for uses based on their properties. Our final task is considering how the properties of materials affect the management of waste or can lead to pollution.

Year Four has been a wonderful year full of learning and we are looking forward to moving upstairs to Year Five!

Excursion to Kings Park Education Centre
On 8 November Year Four went on an excursion to Kings Park. We took part in environmental investigations and orienteering which were lots of fun and we learnt a lot about our native environment. We couldn’t have gone without the help of our parent volunteers, who did an excellent job of leading our groups. Here are some posters we made to show how  great our excursion was!

Merit Certificates

At Infant Jesus School we are proud to celebrate the achievements of our children and all their hard work. Congratulations to the following students who will receive an Honour Certificate at our assembly next Thursday morning, 29 November.

We congratulate the following students:

PPB     Jace Joison, Orlando Santella, Luigi Mammone, Bao Luong, Jacob Fuda, Bridgette Lampropoulos
PPW    Adam Han, Lachlan Johnson, Gianluca Papalia, Myah Scriva, Zavier Richardson
1B        Aaron Dattilo, Aimy Jobin, Kimberly Canoneo, Oliver Ashton
1W       Bennett Hannah, Sebastian Laughlin, Nicolas Lucano, Addison McCulloch,
Daniel Yates
2B        Anton Di Nella, Mario Ruggiero, Finn McMenemy, Francesco Napoli, Leon Boby
2W       Albert Nguyen, Nate Radacic, Mack Wilson, Julian Panetta, Alexander Wallace,
Luca Ortin-Sieczka, Tiana Taplin
3B        Dylan Vu, Joseph Franceschino, Sophie Tran, Sophie Poat
3W       Jesse Galvin, Jaxon Ramsay, Bianca Roxburgh, Ava Rozario, Mevin Thomas
4B        Lucia Cugola, Maddison Giglia, Antonella Mammone, Kaila Newman,
Estelle Radacic, Austin Tutt
4W       Cate Aguilando, Chloe Andre, Chase Clements, Gabriella Jackamarra, Marcus White
5B        Chloe Gianatti, Emma Huynh, Lilly Middleton, Alissa Miranda, Makala Parker,
Anton Radice, Adam Romeo
5W       Leo Gjini, Lilliana Herrmann, Zac Jacobsen, Don Jimmon, Matilda Meade,
Julian Romeo, Jacob Wilathgamuwa, Emilia Olivieri, Jazmyn Papa
6B        Amara Thaung, Angel Papalazaros, Anthony La Macchia, Jennifer Le,
Joshua Fosberry, Terry Nguyen, Lucas Dattilo
6W       Ruben Dewitt, Mikayla Giglia, Bianca Gulluni, Marcus Petrolo, Oliver Rodrigues,
Royce Paskin

Year Ones Excursion to Kalamunda History Village

On Tuesday, the children from Year One ‘stepped back in time’ as they visited the Kalamunda History Village. The students explored the historical museum to gain an insight into early settlers’ life. The students discovered Kalamunda’s first state school building, the original post office, a settler’s cottage, an orchard shed and a carriage shed housing a range of older transportation vehicles.

We have included some comments from the children about their visit to the Kalamunda History Village:

I liked seeing the old school because they had a cane. – Gilbert

The best part of the excursion was when I got to see the old fashioned games. – Abigail

I liked making the peg people at Kalamunda Village. – Xander

I liked playing at the school. I saw desks from the past. We played hopscotch. I had lots of fun. – Mia U

There was no electricity in the past and the people had to use candles in their houses. – Claudia

I learnt that schools from the past had desks that could lift up and you could put your bag in. We used the slate board and pencils from the past to write our names.  – Stella

Year Five Summer Lightning Carnival

Last Friday all Year Five students took part in a friendly sports competition against other schools in our CPSSA association. A few Year Five students have written about their experience of the day.

Cricket By Mia Adams and Don Jimmon
On Friday the 16th of November some of the Year Five students went to Yokine Reserve to have a fun day playing cricket against other schools. The first school we versed was St Brigid’s College. We had a sad but good loss because we played well as a team. Next, we versed St Brigid’s School. After that we played against St Peter’s Primary School before taking a well needed lunch break. It was relaxing while it lasted. Our last game was against Our Lady of Grace where we managed to take six wickets. We celebrated the victory.

Tennis By Zac Jacobsen and Angelique Clayton
On Friday the 16th of November, a group of Year Five students were sent to Noranda Netball courts to compete against other schools in the largest red ball tennis tournament held in Australia. Every Tuesday for the last five weeks of school, all of the Year Five students have participated in a tennis training program run by Bayswater Tennis Club in preparation for the upcoming tennis tournament. Throughout the day we played in several rounds which consisted of two ten-minute games. It was a fun and enjoyable day. We appreciate all the effort that was put in to making this tournament happen. Participating in this tennis tournament was a joy and a great experience. Speaking on behalf of the Year Five students who participated in the tournament, we would love for it to happen again.

Ultimate Frisbee By Ashlen Pandamanukum and Lydia SammellsOn Friday, we went to the Summer Lightning Carnival at Yokine Reserve to play Ultimate Frisbee. We chose ultimate frisbee as our sport. We were a team of twelve, seven people on the field and five substitutes. When we arrived the weather was cool, but as the day progressed it got a lot hotter. It was fun because all the schools were really nice and all had good sportsmanship which made the games enjoyable. We played six games altogether and we won four of them. In our free time between the games, we spent time together as a team eating, drinking and training. At lunch time we got to talk and laugh with the cricket team who were also at Yokine Reserve. It was a great experience at the Summer Lightning Carnival and we will treasure these memories for a long time.