Junior School Barbeque/Sleepoevr

Hi all, The Junior School Barbeque and The Grade Two Sleepover was a great success. The children were so excited leading up to the event and I don't think we disappointed them. The weather was kind to us so we were able to enjoy the outdoor games and treasure hunt. Honestly it was one of the best groups we have ever had . They all went to bed with ease and most fell asleep straight away (even if they said  they didn't .) Some children were lucky enough to find a golden nugget so they will get an additional icypole later on this week. We have been busy this week writing about our favourite part and when that is finished we will send it home in a book to share. (rotating it one family each night.) The students have been asked to write their friendship lists for next year. They are to choose only people they work well with and they are encouraged to broaden their horizons and not pick the same children year after year as this helps develops their resilience. If you have any questions regarding the process, I will be happy to speak to you. Cheers Michelle Bird

Week 4 Term 4 2010

Well we had an enjoyable day at the excursion last Friday. The students were very tired from all their walking so I trust they slept well on Friday night. (I certainly did) They really enjoyed smelling all the different types of herbs and flowers and they especially liked the herb that smelt like a pizza and the one that smelt like chocolate. This week we have continued to learn about plants and we have also started our writing clinic groups where the students are working on an area in writing which their teacher thinks would benefit the child. Next week will be a short school week for many students as parents nominate to take a four day weekend. School is still on for Monday and I will be at school for the 8 children who said they are coming.

We will take a break from spelling next week and resume our homework the following week due to lack of numbers at school but the students can still practise their individual word lists at home. For those who are going away have an enjoyable but safe break. Cheers Michelle Bird.

P.S. Ms Volodina has given birth to a healthy baby girl called Abigail.

 

Our Excursion Tomorrow:

How exciting, our excursion to the Botanical Gardens is here. Can you believe the forecast is for 29 C!!! So as well as our hats, we will all need to 'Slip, Slop Slap!' The children are asked to be at school at 8:45 am as the buses are hoping to leave at 9am. JSB will be on bus 1 with some of JSC and JSS students.The children have been instructed to bring a small backpack with their drink bottles and play lunch. Their lunch will be put in a lunch crate which we will access at lunchtime. After lunch we will follow our Botanical Garden map and see some of the sites the park has to offer and the students will have a class with the rangers in the morning. Thank you to our three parent helpers. (The boys are very excited!) Get a good night sleep tonight every- one as it will be quite a tiring day tomorrow.

Thank you to the parents who have encouraged their children to bring clippings from their garden. Our Show and Tell has been very engaging and the students have been keen to contribute and ask questions about each other's gardens. Makenzie has brought some seeds from home which we hope to plant along with our other vegetables which have already grown heaps due to the heavy rainfall we have had. The students are very proud of their efforts!
See you tomorrow.

Welcome To Term Four.

Hi everyone. It has been a while since my last post so I apologise for my tardiness. Thankyou for your birthday wishes as I celebrated my 50th birthday overseas. My family enjoyed an exciting 3 weeks in Europe on a cruise and my husband and I took great delight in showing our youngest two children the amazing sites and history Europe has to offer.  Mrs Miller did a wonderful job covering my program and I believe the children has a great day with their 'Push and Pullathon.'  The seeds the children planted at the end of term are growing well. Our new inquiry unit this term is 'How Does Your Garden Grow?' The children have been asked to bring a number of things to school for this unit. ( a soft drink bottle, a pair of panti hose and a collection of seeds and seedpods) Tomorrow we are planting a mystery seed in their bottle and the students will observe and record its growth. Don't forget to go with your child to the garden behind the Upper School building when you have a chance as the students have done an amazing job.
This week we have celebrated Nudie Lunch Day and Science Day and next week we have our excursion to the Botanical Gardens- fingers crossed that the weather will be fine. The parent helpers will be selected tomorrow afternoon and I will contact the parents concerned shortly after. This term is looking to be a busy one with the Junior School sleepover/BBQ coming up. The medical form will be coming home soon as I forgot to attach them to the notice. OOPS!

Michelle Bird

This Week at Yarrambat

Hi guys, I hope you are enjoying your day off. Staff are learning about the Ultranet which I find a little scary at the moment but I am sure will master it eventually.
Our Inquiry Unit has been very engaging for the children. We have finished our rotations and now the children will have to choose one of the topics to further research and create a design brief on.
This week's spelling is J, G, DG, GG. The students have been a bit slow in returning their spelling booklets this term. A good strategy is to keep them in their reader bags and then they don't go missing.
Don't forget Swimming is on Wednesday. The hairdrying is going well and thankyou to those parents who have been helping out in this area. A warm hat would be a good idea for the those children with long hair as some hair is not getting dry until we get back to school.
See you all tomorrow.
Mrs Bird.

Week 3 Term 3 2010

Welcome to Week 3. There has been a change in Library time for this term. It is now on Monday after lunch.  The children have filled out a new timetable and if you haven't received it, it may be still in their reader bag. Spelling this week are words that make the 's' sound from  Thrass and M100 words (group 3 have a few extras thrown in).   Try and encourage the children to practise these each night rather than fill in their homework booklets all in one night. Spellingcity and wordsafari are good interactive websites for the children to have fun with whilst learning their spelling words. I would like the booklets returned to school each Friday so I can correct them and then they are at school for the new words the following Monday.

Swimming is going well and the children are enjoying it. A swimming cap is a good way to keep the hair dry and it reduces the amount of hairdrying time to a minimum.
The children are busy learning about how things work? I have suggested to the children to bring interesting toys or gadgets from home for show and tell ( that are not valuable or fragile) and explain to the class how they work. Edheads is a good website on the blog where children can go to learn more.
I am back on deck full time again so if you have any concerns or just want to touch base please feel free to pop in before or after school. Thankyou to those who have inquired after my injury. I feel a bit embarrassed that a simple fall can cause so much damage -  I must be getting old!!!   Michelle Bird

Welcome to Term 3

Hi everyone. I trust you all had a great holiday and were able to rest, relax and have fun too. I would like to welcome Taine to our class this term. He is in Grade One and the boys are already keen to include him in their games. This term we have a new timetable. We have Art on Mondays and if you haven't yet provided an art smock for your child I encourage you to do this as it really does protect the school uniform. The students will have Phys Ed and Italian on Tuesdays. Swimming starts this week. I encourage students to purchase a swimming cap if parents are concerned about wet hair. We still have vacancies if parents would like to assist with hairdryers when we return back to school. Swimming goes for 8 weeks which is most of the term so we will not be requiring Literacy helpers on that day. Parents are also welcome to come and watch their child during their swimming lessons.

We will be continuing on with our Inquiry unit 'May the Force Be With You' and the children are welcome to bring in any interesting toys for 'Show and Tell' and explain how they work. Cheers.

I trust you all had a lovely break over the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend and that you enjoyed an extra sleep in, I certainly did. The children appeared to enjoy their excursion to the CSIRO on Friday and were exhausted coming home on the bus (a few children falling asleep on the bus). The excursion was totally hands on and the children were made to think about what force was involved to make each toy move. Here are some photos to show you how engaging the program was.

                                                                                     

I hope you enjoy the long weekend this weekend to celebrate the 'Queen's Birthday'. Our CSIRO excursion on Friday is getting closer. The children will need to bring playlunch, lunch and water for the day. Could you please be mindful of nut allergies as we will be eating together as a group? Also it would be a good idea if lunch could be packed in disposable bags then we don't have to bring our lunchboxes back. Our new Inquiry unit is called 'May the Force Be With You' where the children will be looking at how things move. It is a Science based unit and there will be lots of hands on activities. It is getting close to the end of term and the children are extremely tired. They are busily finishing off their portfolio activities and the reports will be coming home with them this term. The children are up to the final publishling stage of their narratives and they look terrific!!  A big thankyou to the parent helpers who have been helping out in class with the editing process as it is often a huge task.
The children have been given a new website to look at to help them with their spelling. It is called Spelling City. http://www.spellingcity.com/ The children can work with their weekly spelling words and play an assortment of interactive games. So far the reviews have been very positive.
Michelle Bird

Inquiry Project Presentations- This Week

This is a taste of what to expect at JSB's Project Presentations on Thursday 3rd June 2010 at 2:30 pm. The children have been working very hard and they are very proud of their finished product. Many parents have said that they will be coming so we look forward to a full house. Next Friday (11th June)we will be going on our CSIRO Excursion and today we drew a name out of a cup for the lucky parent helper chosen to attend. This time it will be Mrs Suzanne Brooker (Jake's Mum). Thankyou to all the parents who responded and hopefully there will be more opportunities for other parents later on in the year. In addition to this we have a special news from one of our classmates. Isabella (Izzie) has been selected to dance in the stage production of 'The Candyman'. We will keep you posted when we have more details about this. Congratulations Izzie!

It's been a while since my last blog comment but with report writing and this flu type virus I haven't been able to get around to it. The cold weather is upon us and I have asked the children to take their hats home so that they can be washed. I am encouraging the children to wear their windcheaters outside but they usually end up on the ground after five minutes or in the basket by the door. Remember to bring a note when the students return from being absent. I apologise to parents who have received a 'please explain' note from the office when they have already written a note. I have marked these on the roll from my end and the office is looking into a possible explanation. There has been a lot going on around the school. The mini golf course has begun works with the help of some dads, Mr Bennetts, Mr Penson and Mr Kendall. It will be great when it is completed. The chunky gravel is to be removed from the Prep area and there will be a surprise in store for the preps very soon.
On Wednesday we will be having a whole school Open Day/ Grandparent's Day. You are welcome to come up and watch your child work and to be a part of their learning. We do have Italian at 10:00 am so the children won't be in the classroom then. We have a special morning tea at 11:00 am for anyone who is at the school at this time.

Cheers Michelle Bird

Hi Guys, we will be having our Mother's Day Stall tomorrow. Could the children please bring their money in an envelop or wallet and bring a plastic bag to place the present in. I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend last week as we remembered Anzac Day . The children enjoyed making Anzac biscuits at school and many went back for seconds.
This week we are looking at 'th' words and we are studying Pattern in numbers. The children are busy working on their inquiry questions at the moment.
Thank you to all the wonderful parents who were able to fill in the gaps for Literacy over the next few days. We still need helpers for next Tuesday and Friday so if anyone is free and feel like filling in it would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Michelle

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our class pre-service teacher Miss Rebecca Looper. Bec will be with us for four weeks and has already developed rapport with the children. It was a sad day yesterday with Finn leaving to move to NSW to live. We gave him a bit of a send off and hopefully we will find time to write to him when he is settled.

This term with Spelling, we are trialling something new. We are introducing Spelling booklets which will be given out each Monday. The children will keep them at home practising until Friday when they will need to return them to school for checking. The children's words will be tested on Friday. It would be a good idea for the children to keep the booklets in their Reading bag so they come back to school for the following week. If this is a cause for concern please contact me so we can chat about it.

See you at the parent fest,
Michelle Bird

Welcome to Term 2. I trust the children had a great break and they are rested and ready to start this term's work. There have been a few changes to the timetable. On Tuesday the children will have Phys Ed and Music and on Wednesday the children will have Italian and Library. I will get them to bring a new timetable home this week so you can all keep track. Spelling homework will begin this term and the children are encouraged to practise these words at home. The words will incorporate both Thrass and M100 words and I will test these words every Friday. Thankyou to all the parents who have signed up to help with the Literacy Program. I still have a few vacancies for anyone who has missed out (especially Fridays).
Don't forget to fill out the Parent Fest form if you are interested in attending next Wednesday night.
Michelle Bird

Jenaya's Story

I would like to share this story with you with Jenaya's permission. We are learning in class that our families have diverse cultural backgrounds and this story is a rich example of this.

My great nana lived in a country called Sri Lanka. She lived on a tea plantation. Tea grows on the side of hills. People pick the top leaves to make tea. My great nan had 12 brothers and sisters. Her Dad was a doctor who looked after everyone there. My great-nan had lots of pets. She had 12 dogs, 6 cats and a monkey. Lots of elephants lived near my great nan's house. By Jenaya

Well, Show Day has come and gone and I predict another successful fundraiser for our school. A huge thank you to those parents and students who worked tirelessly on our very busy drinks stall. The children were very keen to work their rostered duty and the parents were so great that I even had time this year to check out the Haunted House - I didn't stay long because it was very, very ,very, very scary!!!
I would like to make a special thank you to Noah's Mum and Dad Samantha and Craig who donated several boxes of juice to our stall which will assist with our profits immensely. Once again thank you to everyone who assisted in making this a great day!
Michelle Bird

I trust you all had a restful weekend and enjoyed the extra day as I did. We had a jam packed week last week so the extra day came at a good time. We have had a number of guest speakers over the past two weeks talking about the country of their birth so the children were able to compare customs with how they do things here. We have looked at 'What is an Australian?' and the influences of other cultures in our everyday lives. Our mascots will be coming home this week. Each child will have it for one night or over the weekend and they will be required to write about what they did with their mascot for that evening.
Show Day is next Wednesday 17th March and JSB will be selling drinks. If you are able to be rostered on to help could you please let me know ASAP. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you Michelle Bird

We have been busy this week with our Place Value scrolls in Maths and seeing how far we can get up to. Many students have made it to 100 and some students have been counting by 10's to 1000 from a non-zero starting point. Junior School has been continuing to emphasise 5 Star Work and JSB's handwriting is becoming beautiful with correct letter formation and the correct use of lines. We are continuing to strive for correct pen grip and we are practising daily on this.
Next week is a busy week with School Photos on Monday and Junior School is having an incursion on Monday also with Yarn Strong Sista Visit. On Tuesday Danielle Green is visiting Junior School to launch the Premier's Reading Challenge and of course our 3 Way Conferences are on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This Week in JSB

We have been working hard and producing wonderful work. We have been looking at the Rejection of Bullying in Personal Development and we all designed and made badges which we have been wearing every day. They look terrific and are very colourful with a clear message. Today saw us celebrating Mr Bennett's 50th birthday and we assembled as a whole school at recess and sang 'Happy Birthday' to Mr Bennetts whilst he wore a party hat and a flashing badge!!!

Week Two in JSB

This week we have been concentrating on doing 5 Star Work and 5 Star Listening. We have begun our Home Reading Program and I am in the middle of testing the children so we get them on the right reading box. We have named our mascot POLLY and our motto is....
Polly is colourful. She reminds us to do 5 Star Work with neat writing and colourful pictures.

First Week Back

Welcome back to all the students and parents of JSB. I know many of you already as I have taught a number of siblings in the past. If you are new to the school or to my class please introduce yourselves as I am happy to chat. This week we have been focusing on our school values, designing T-shirts that describe us and setting up the room. We have also been making new friends and there have been many happy, smiling faces including mine!! Our class mascot is a parrot and we have been drawing colourful pictures of ourselves for our welcome sign for the classroom door.