School Improvement Works

We have had further delays to the delivery of our new building. The NSW floods have affected the supply chain for materials. The transportable buildings are now scheduled to be delivered on 26 April 2022 and with the works to be done after they arrive, they will be handed over for school use on 16 June 2022.

During the Term 1 break our Preschool playground will be installed. Our school has also received funding for a shade structure over the basketball court. 

National Day of Action Against Bullying

On the 18th of March our classes participated in a range of activities to take action against bullying. Our Positive Behaviours for Learning and Bounce Back programs  ensure our students a mindful of bullying prevention throughout the year.

RAT tests for weeks 9 and 10

From week 9, schools will no longer provide 2 RATs per week to every student. Instead, RATs will be provided to students on an as needed basis. Please use this link to request more RATs and they will be placed in your child's bag.

https://forms.gle/3Ep8hKhMBsyu14zg6

The ACT Government is making some changes to the way rapid antigen tests (RAT) are distributed to ACT school communities for the remainder of term 1.

You can find more information on the Education Directorate website: FAQ on Term 1 2022 school arrangements - Education (act.gov.au)

Harmony Day

On Monday 21 March our school community celebrated Harmony Day. We are lucky to have a culturally diverse school community in which inclusion, respect and belonging are valued every day. The theme this year, everyone belongs was explored by classes through a range of activities. 

Did you know?

• Nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was.
• We identify with over 300 ancestries.
• Since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia.
• 85 per cent of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia.
• Apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi.
• More than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia

These facts are taken from ABS 2016 Census Data. Check out the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

NAPLAN and Base Assessment

Our Kindergarten students have been undertaking Base assessment. Base provides an indicator of beginning and end of year literacy and numeracy skills and the growth that occurs during Kindergarten. Assessment is done with each individual child by the class teacher and will continue through to week 10.

Our Year 3 and 5 students have been participating in NAPLAN practice tests. The practice tests provide an additional opportunity for students to become familiar with the types of questions and platform functionality they will encounter in NAPLAN.

NAPLAN Online for students in Years 3 and 5 will occur in our school between 10 and 20 May 2022.

Recent Changes to Restrictions Schools

• Interstate and overnight excursions involving individual classes, year groups or school sports groups are allowed. Interstate excursions must be within a 4-hour drive of the ACT.
• School sporting teams can train together and participate in community sporting competitions and school sporting competitions. Parents can spectate outdoor events only. 
• Swimming and athletics carnivals to resume from Term 2. Term 2 carnivals will need to take place off school site and parents are encouraged to only attend outdoor events.

Term Break

We thank everyone for all of your hard work this term in keeping everyone safe.

We wish everyone a restful Term 1 break. The first day of Term 2 is Tuesday 26 April.

English

What a great time to be learning about recount writing with so much happening in our community. Students have been exploring the purposes and structure of a recount by identifying features in writing samples. They have incorporated these features in their recount. We have explored sequencing events, compound sentences and the use of past-tense verbs. The students have written a range of recounts with topics including weekends, short films and holidays. We celebrated Harmony Day on Monday 21 March and students had the chance to participate in a range of activities that we used to support the focus of our recounts for the week.

In addition to our rich variety of writing activities, students have been working on their self-monitoring skills in reader’s workshop. Students have been using their rereading skills and noting information they understand and find interesting or identify as important. This has been supported by our lessons on finding good-fit texts and the characteristics of a successful reader. Students are encouraged to use their good-fit books to continually add to their vocabulary in reading. 

Maths

Mathematics this term has seen our students engaged in a range of thrilling number lessons and 2D shape and 3D object activities.

During our number unit, children have been creating number lines and skip counting by 2s, 5s, 10s and 3s using number charts. We have also explored two and three-digit numerals, using manipulatives such as multi-attribute blocks and place value charts. By using a ‘think board’ the students represented a number in a variety of ways. They were able to draw the numeral, think about its position on a 100 chart, as well as discuss other ways to create that particular number.

We have explored properties of 2D shapes and 3D objects by describing and drawing on paper, using paddle pop sticks, drawing by using Chromebooks and constructing models using sticks and blu tack. By identifying shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, kites, rhombuses and ovals which have either straight or curved lines, we were better able to understand where in our environment these shapes are used and why. Students have had many opportunities to count edges, corners and faces by using hands-on resources and building common and less common shapes and objects. Using this knowledge, we were able to design a kite by using a range of materials. We saw many creative constructions as Year 2 explored techniques of construction such as folding, stretching, stacking and balancing as they took a closer look at shapes and lines when creating their kite.

HASS

We live in an incredible world. Our families are influenced and shaped by where they originate. Investigating connections we each have to these places and others were timed perfectly with the Harmony Day celebration. Students have been very enthusiastic about participating in Our Wonderful World Presentations. They have been sharing their unique cultural heritage through presenting artefacts and other resources from their homes. 

We have also investigated and discovered that the streets in Ngunnawal are named after Ngunnawal words or significant Australian individuals. If you want to find out the meaning of your street name or whom it was named after, use this great site from the ACT Government: https://app.actmapi.act.gov.au/actmapi2/index.html?viewer=pn. We have also looked at the world and how it is divided into continents and oceans, and how that and so many other things have changed over time. Exploring photographs and artefacts from the olden days (Ahem... Excuse me. From the teachers’ childhoods!] has been fascinating! Many of the appliances we use today have changed over time as new technology develops, and we have found new, more interesting ways to do things. We have also spent time wondering how life might be different 50-100 years from now!

Digital Technology

Speaking of how things have changed... We have been making use of the Chromebooks at school, for research (like our street names), word processing (to type up our stories), Seesaw posts (learning how to do these ourselves) and touch typing (to help us type quickly and safely). We have also been following Hector's World, an eSafety Commissioner's program, to think about how to be safe online. Some of the biggest take-homes we have come across are the importance of not sharing our personal information online and making sure we check with a trusted adult if we are feeling unsure or unsafe online. The eSafety Commissioner has a great collection of resources for kids and teachers, but for parents too. Follow the link for more information: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents.

Visual Arts

Line. A bunch of dots joined together, and the foundation of all artwork. Apart from giving different types of lines funny names (which we also did), there is so much you can do with lines. Mr Squiggle (yes, that glorious show from ancient times!) gave us some inspiration we used and experimented with line art. Students learnt about geometric and organic shapes and used Matisse's 'drawing with scissors' as their muse. We also explored primary and secondary colours to create warm and cool pallets and thought about the different moods or feelings these can create. We even noticed how illustrators use a range of pallets to emphasise the author’s ideas in picture books during reader's workshop. It is amazing how much you can do with the simplest art elements. We created fantastic artworks and explored those made by known and lesser-known artists.

HARMONY DAY

Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge

Every year, tens of thousands of students across the ACT participate in the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge. The Challenge aspires to allow every young person in the ACT to discover the joy reading can bring. Ngunnawal Primary School is proud to have children Preschool – Year 6 registered in the Challenge.

The 2022 Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge ambassadors are local authors Jack Heath, Tracey Hawkins, Irma Gold, Harry Laing, Stephanie Owen Reeder, Tania McCartney, and Emma Batchelor. CMRC Ambassadors will share their experiences as writers, story tellers and readers. The Challenge is grateful for the support of the event sponsor, Paperchain Bookstore-Manuka.

To find out more about the Challenge ask your teacher, CMRC Coordinator  Mary Aranguiz, or go to: bit.ly/ChiefMinChallenge.