Volume 17- 15th October 2021
From the Principal
Term 4 is upon us and we only have eight weeks left of the school year. Our aim is to continue to learn hard, play happily and feel safe in our beautiful school. Term 4 is also a time for celebrations – and we have so much to celebrate this year!
Our biggest celebration is the learning our students are engaging with every day and the fantastic results they are achieving. We are focusing on English to try to refine our curriculum delivery and pedagogical approaches which would see us further improve the learning experiences in the classroom.
At the end of Semester 1, 2021, our whole school English data A-C (percentage of students passing) was just over 58%. Our Term 3 data indicates that 66.7% of our students are now passing English. The improvement in English results for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students has been even greater, and this is a testament to the skilful incorporation of indigenous perspectives in our every day teaching and learning practices.
Such achievements are not possible without Teamwork and Perseverance, which are shown by our teachers in every classroom, every day. Our teachers undertake professional development regularly to update their knowledge and skills in how curriculum is provided and what high engagement looks like in the classroom and outside of the classroom. In addition, we learn about mental health and how trauma impacts on the children’s learning. Armed with this understanding, we listen to our children and provide learning experiences that make them feel excited about new worlds.
None of this would be possible without the wonderful support of our parents and caregivers. Your contributions and support is invaluable and I thank you for working with us to provide the best opportunities for your children.
Every once in a while, our school is gifted something special by one of our parents. This week, Danielle, Bailey and Cody Dahm gifted us this beautiful painting highlighting our values and our Leo, the Learner. The picture is now displayed in the Front Office for everyone to enjoy. A huge thank you to our creative artist, Danielle Dahm, and her wonderful work!
This afternoon, we uncovered a creative talent in our student cohort, Dahlia Power, who gifted me a bouquet of flowers from our school gardens. I am sure you will agree that Dahlia is a florist in the making! Thank you, Dahlia, for your kindness and creativity – we are so proud of you!!
Reading @ Leichhardt
Spelling Challenge!
This week all students were provided with a spelling list or lists to work on for the ‘Spelling Challenge’. In Weeks 8 to 10 there will be ‘Spell Off’ to find the champion spellers in Junior (Years P-2), Middle (Years 3-4) and Senior School (Years 5-6). Please support your child as they work on building their spelling knowledge.
Hearing Screening
This week information and consent forms have been sent home to Prep parents/guardians regarding Hearing Screening that is scheduled for Wednesday, 27th October. If you are a Prep parent/guardian and have not received this information or if you have a student in a year level other than Prep and you are concerned about their hearing, please contact Mrs Finlay (Head of Department: Reading) efinl9@eq.edu.au
Reading Eggs
It has been wonderful to see students receiving the monthly Reading Eggs Awards. Students enjoy engaging with this online reading and they love receiving their Gold Award Certificates! In just over two weeks we will be celebrating the October Reading Eggs Awards. Please encourage your student to engage with this online reading resource daily at home so they don’t miss out on receiving an award! If you do not have your child’s Reading Eggs login details, please contact your child’s teachers.
PBL News
PBL
Weekly focus:
In Week 2 students have focused on the expectation ‘Be Safe’ and the value ‘Respect’ in relation to sun safety. Our students are expected to wear a hat when outdoors. Please ensure your child has a hat for school.
Attendance:
It has been wonderful to see our students back after holidays. Congratulations to our winners of the attendance raffle. These 10 students have won a $1 tuckshop voucher for having 100% attendance in week 1!
Junior students - Aurora, Charlotte, Mason, Mia, Utah
Senior students - Kirra, Mia-Rose, Will, Zye, Lucas
Our class winners for the highest percentage of attendance:
Junior:
Prep A - 87.5%
3B - 87.5%
Senior:
6B - 94.59%
5A - 86%
Learning @ Leichhardt
The focus of maths this term in Prep B is numbers and addition. We have been practising adding two numbers together using dice. We roll two dice and decide which dice has the highest number of dots, we then count on the dots on the other die e.g. if we roll a 4 and a 2 we identify that 4 dots is more than 2 dots so from 4 we count on 5, 6 so 4 + 2 = 6. We also draw the dots from the dice in our books and write our number sentence.
Students in 3C have been learning about money. Here they are playing a money exchange game where they make their way through the card by rolling a dice and trading coins
End of Term 3 – EXCURSION to RAAF Amberley
It was a great experience for our Year 4 cohort. They learnt more about Wold War 1, aircrafts, helicopters and much more. They met ‘Smokey’ who actually drove that helicopter and was a machine gun specialist back then. Thank you, RAAF, and the ex-servicemen and women volunteers.
READING IS EVERYWHERRE – Thank you to the Reading Committee for our surprise new readers, which they have not been able to put down since they received them. Thank you
LEARNING IN THE DEADLY ROOM
Learning about our Traditional Owners is part of who we are and we are proud to be able to learn from Aunty Marley a respected Elder in the community and teacher in our school. Sharing the history of the Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul mob. Thank you
SURPRISE FROM MR WOODY AND BABY Thank you
In 4B we have started the term learning about money. This week we have focused on adding amounts to work out the total. In the photos the students are using their book club to go pretend shopping. The students aim was to use their addition skills to calculate the total amount of their purchasing. We had a lot of fun "spending money" and are excited to continue to learn skills including being able to calculate change.
STEAM News at Leichhardt
This term, for science, our students in Year 5 students have begun learning about how First Nations Peoples design shelters to keep cool. They have learnt about the scientific terms: opaque, translucent and transparent and conducted an investigation to determine what happens to a shadow when a light source moves. Our Year 6 students have begun their biology unit on ecosystems and plant physical conditions and how we can learn from traditional ecological knowledge. They have learnt about ecosystems, physical conditions and living things and identified examples of these in our forest area
This week in Art the Grade 6 students started learning a partner dance. Although many of the students felt unsure about this at first, I was very proud that most of them gave it a go. Grade 3 students learnt about colour theory in their art lessons. This included primary and secondary colours, warm and cool colours and colour mixing. They will use this knowledge to create art pieces in the future.
For Technology in Year 5 and 6, the students have continued their Oz Harvest food technology lessons. They prepared delicious ham and salad sandwiches, berry smoothies and fried eggs.
Leichhardt Science Week
Next week, we will be holding our Science Week as part of the National Science Week 2021. This year’s theme ‘Food Different by Design’ will involve the students learning about how science is involved in the preparation and cooking of food. The teachers have been busy planning for a range of scientific food activities for the students to learn and enjoy. The students in Prep to Year 3 will be visited by the Bush Tucker Man, who will teach them about native foods and next Friday there will be a science show hosted by Street Science. At lunch time there will be a number of activities taking place in the school’s library and STEAM hub. The students will get the opportunity to make edible slime, sherbet as well as conduct science investigations.
Mission Australia Play and Learn
This term we car celebrating the cultural diversity of the families we have coming along to our group by investigating & exploring different countries.
We will learn about:
- What celebrations & festivals they have each year
- Information about the size of the country & its population compared to Australia.
- What foods they eat
- Types of traditional music & dances
- There will be photos of jobs people have & popular places where people holiday
Community News
We have now completed the updated Emergency Relief guide for the Leichhardt area
Lifeline's Book and Gift Fair
