The Fabulous 5s @ Menzies Creek

Yesterday it was  wonderful to see the enthusiasm displayed by all the girls ready to set of for girls footy!  They were nervous but very keen to take on our neighbouring schools and enjoy a day of competition.

On their return the girls were still very enthusiastic and also very muddy!  By all accounts they had a wonderful day and even enjoyed the muddy conditions. They had lots to share about their day and we hope you get to read some of their comments. WELL DONE GIRLS!

This Friday, at assembly,  the Fab fives are presenting some information about their immigration studies this term. We hope those attending enjoy our presentation.

A Multiple Intelligences homework grid was given out last week and students are required to complete tasks to the value of 20 points. Copies of this homework grid are available in the notice box outside our classroom. Please remember to see me if you need any materials  or are unsure about any aspects of the tasks.

It was an absolute pleasure to take our Chess team to the tournament yesterday. I was so proud of all the students. They were great SCARF students and showed wonderful manners and encouraged each other throughout the day. The competition was very strong and there were some  highly skilled chessplayers ready to test each others moves and strategies. Congratulations to Maramba Primary School who took out the shield for the day. Well done!

Our team included students ranging from year 1 to year 6. I was especially proud of our junior students who maintained focus throughout a  long  day.  They have all come away with some strategies for future games and are keen to participate again! 

CHESSKIDS: Don’t forget we are off to the Chesskids tournament on WEDNESDAY  the 18th August!

SEEKING THE LUCKY COUNTRY: Take a look at our Mutlticulturalism & Immigration page on our blog for many helpful websites.

HOT FOOD -PASTA DAY  YUM!  This Wednesday 18th August

LIGHTNING PREMIERSHIP – FRIDAY 10th September. Please remember to return your permission slip ( new date)

It was a great excursion into the city last Thursday and the weather was very kind, considering the storms that had been around the night before! Thank you to all the students who displayed such wonderful Menzies Creek SCARF values. It was great to hear from many group leaders that you were well behaved and courteous.

The museum had such a wealth of information that I know at times it was a little overwhelming! We will certainly have the opportunity to discuss all that we saw throughout the coming week. The hands on experience of unpacking the various  suitcases gave us a great insight into why many people came to Australia. They also helped us to see how many migrants worked hard to be successful in their new country. I am really looking forward to seeing your follow up work on this excursion.

LIGHTNING PREMIERSHIP

Unfortunately our Lightning Premiership sports were postponed today due to the expected bad weather. There were many disappointed faces this morning when everyone was told the news! We are looking forward to the competition  scheduled for later in the term, perhaps during the second last week. All students have been keenly practising for either volleyball, netball or football.

CHESSKIDS

Places in the  CHESSKIDS tournament  have all been filled but I am looking for another tournament in our area during term 4. If you are interested please let me know.

LITERACY & NUMERACY

We have been busy looking at persuasive writing and it has been fabulous to see all 5T completing some interesting persuasive texts on the issue of homework and the dangers of plastic bags to our marine environment. We have also been focussing on some challenging spelling lists and many students are putting in the effort to improve their spelling results. WELL DONE!

5T students have also become housing developers and are busy creating their own housing subdivisions. They are calculating the cost of each home and working very hard to complete their plans, housing designs and budgets . This activity covers a wide range of Math concepts and has offered a number of challenges.

Immigration Museum Excursion

Our trip into the city to visit the Immigration Museum occurs next week on the 12th of August. Please make sure you have returned your permission form and that you are aware of the timetable, especially when we need to meet at Belgrave Station. This will be a great day!

Are you a chess enthusiast? Would you like to build your ‘mental muscles’ by taking part in a chess competition? We have the opportunity to participate in a fabulous Chess Kids tournament.

Where : Beaconsfield Upper Primary School  40-42 Stoney Creek Rd

When:    18th August.

Time:      9:00—2:00pm    Cost: $15:00

 In the past these Interschool Chess Championships have been a lot of fun and an opportunity for Menzies Creek students to extend their Chess experiences. The “Swiss Format” ensures that all students will play against players of a similar standard. Both beginners and experts can enjoy a fun, learning and social experience. During the tournament  all players play 7 games (regardless if they win or lose.) If a player wins a game, they score 1.0 point. In the subsequent game they play against a harder opponent. If a player draws a game, they score 0.5 points. In the subsequent game they play against a similar opponent. If a player loses a game, they score 0.0 points. In the subsequent game they play against an easier opponent. This format ensures everyone has a fair and fun opportunity.

 Unfortunately we only have a limited number of places available for this tournament. If you are interested in participating in the competition , please make sure you bring back the permission slip, so I can reserve you a place. There are spare forms in the newsletter tray near my office door. PLEASE BE QUICK!

Don’t forget to look on our 2010 homework page for a copy of this week’s spelling. There will be some Math work coming home on Wednesday  too. A copy of this work is available on our homework page.

Please remember to have a discussion with your family about your heritage and try and find out where your ancestors originated from in the past. Did your parents, grandparents, great grandparents arrive here from another country?  You may like to make yourself some notes during your discussons so you don’t forget.

Hi everyone. I hope you have had a fabulous term break and that you are feeling well rested and energised for a busy, yet fun, term 3! We have lots on this term and it will certainly be a term filled with new learning adventures in many areas.

SEEKING THE LUCKY COUNTRY!

During Term 3 we are looking at immigration and multiculturalism. Australia is certainly a unique and amazing country! Its people, landscape, fauna and flora are varied and so interesting. The contributions of people from other countries have helped to make this country a wonderful place. 

We will investigate the history of immigration to Australia and how our nation has become multicultural. We will also investigate the reasons why people immigrated to Australia and discuss issues such as the ‘White Australia Policy”, refugees,  asylum seekers, multiculturalism and how these may be controversial.  By visiting The Immigration Museum we will have the opportunity to further our understanding of why people came to Australia, the journeys they made and the difficulties they encountered. You will have the opportunity to explore your own family heritage and I know that many of your families have very interesting stories to share in regard to migration to Australia.

If you would like further information about our immigration unit please look at our Immigration/ Multiculturalism page. You will find it in the page list on the left hand side. There will be some links that may help you during your research this term. Have fun exploring!

In recent weeks year fives have undertaken some challenging Math tasks, including working on fractions, decimals and percentages. It has been great to see all students persevering to understand some tricky concepts and hear their delight when ‘the penny drops’!

They have also been researching and writing about some Australian scientific achievers and the class have furthered their knowledge of the contributions made by many Australian scientists. Each student has been putting together a biographical report about their chosen scientist and these reports are gradually going up on display after their completion. PLEASE VISIT OUR CLASSROOM and view their work.

The year fives have also begun to further focus on narrative writing and they have created some wonderful scientist portraits and laboratory illustrations. These will be inspiration for their individual narrative writing as they develop some wonderful stories. Who is their scientist? What is their field? What have they created or discovered?  Is their scientist in trouble? Their are many possible scenarios for their writing and I look forward to reading their stories!

Yesterday Naomi from ‘Hands On Science’ came to our school and taught the grade fives and sixes all about forensic science.  Naomi read out to us a crime scene.   We had to solve the crime by doing lots of tests such as dna, fingerprints, foot prints and analysing powders. I think that doing forensic science is really awesome.                 By Erin 

Wow! Forensic science. We had to do lots of tests and investigations. Naomi put baking soda and water into a little container and shut the lid, soon after the lid popped off with a lot of pressure. Today was so fun.         By Jemma!