Term 2 is certainly well under way! Below is an overview of some of the opportunities and learning programs students will be involved in this term.

Reading

This term students have begun studying the interactive multimodal text Inanimate Alice. In the coming weeks we will begin work on our class novel Skellig by David Almond.  We will also be starting our Literature Circles this term, guided to begin with. Towards the end of the term, students will have the opportunity to choose a text set for their Literature Group to read.

Our OC Book Club text this term is Endgame by James Frey.

Writing

Each day students participate in D.R.A.W – daily reading and writing. Students will be learning about a variety of concepts and devices to enhance their writing skills and will use these to produce imaginative, informative and persuasive texts. Part of this process involves students sharing their work with peers for critiquing and publishing finished pieces of writing on their individual blogs.

Last term our students demonstrated great skill and flair for writing imaginative texts. This term our focus will move towards producing persuasive texts. I will continue to showcase quality examples on the blog.

Mathematics

During our maths sessions, students will work in group rotations. The maths content we will be covering this term includes: Fractions and Decimals, Volume and Capacity, Patterns and Algebra, Chance and Data, Whole Number and Time.

During this term and next, the OC will be participating the in annual Maths Olympiad. The entry fee is $6 per student. Students are able to access past Olympiad papers as part of the homework options. The Olympiads are quite challenging, but a great way for students to develop their problem solving skills.

Students selected to take part in the AMT Challenge will begin working on their problems this week.

Excursions

The first event for OC students was the Interschool Chess Challenge held last Friday – we came 3rd! Thank you to all the parents who helped out with transport.

We also have our visit to the Civic Theatre this Wednesday for the Combined Schools ANZAC service. The cost is $2.50 to cover the bus.

I am also hoping to organise an excursion to the museum at the end of this term to compliment our HSIE unit. I will send details home once this is finalised.

Homework

Homework for students began last week (Week 2). Again, homework consists of a choice menu, where you can negotiate with your child what activities to complete at home. There is a speaking and listening task for all students to complete – due Week 4. The top 3 speakers will be invited to compete in our Speak Off in Week 5. Parents/carers are invited to attend this event.

Newcastle Herald writing competition

Students have begun generating story ideas and writing for this year’s entry. Thank you to Jarvis’ mum, Jenny, who has kindly offered to help us out with this competition. Our entry – The Tighes Hill Tribune – will be published on the 16th June.

HSIE/History

This term students will be covering the topic Enigmas – Mysteries of History. Students will have the opportunity to investigate a variety of historical and scientific enigmas from around the world including Stone Henge, Ancient Egypt and the Bermuda Triangle.

Aerobics

Congratulations to our school Aerobic team – featuring Elsie, Sia and Sophia! The girls competed in Sydney this weekend and won! They will now compete in the State finals. Well done to the girls, who have been practising non-stop for the last 10 weeks.

NAPLAN

The national assessment program for Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy will be taking place in Week 4 of this term for our Year 5 students. Students will look at some past papers leading up to this to help familiarise themselves with the assessment format.

Writing Buddies

Last term our class worked with 1E for our Reading Buddies program. This term we will be doing Writing Buddies and I am looking forward to seeing them share their amazing writing skills with our younger students.

Events

The UNSW ICAS competitions begin this term starting with Digital Technologies in Week 5, Science in Week 7 and Writing and Spelling in Week 9. Entries for Writing, Spelling, English and Maths are still open if you haven’t yet entered.

Our whole school Athletics Carnival is coming up in Week 5 on Wednesday 20th May. Notes about this event will be sent home soon.

In Week 4, our Stage 3 students will enjoy a Science Show presented by Nathan Burke, as part of our T2 unit Change Detectives.

Our Hall of Fame assemblies will take place on Monday afternoon in  Weeks 6 and 10.

Our SRC will be organising a Disco to take place in Week 6 – Wednesday 27th May. Special guest DJ Mix-a-lot will be back! Tickets on sale soon.

A note was also sent home last week about BYOD. Students may now bring in their devices every day.

Permission notes and information was sent out last week about our Term 3 major excursion to the Great Aussie Bush Camp. Payments can be made at the office or online. *For those considering a nomination for the Creative Arts Camp, please be aware it takes place during the same week as our school camp.

Finally, well done to the students who have had a terrific start to the term. Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding OC learning programs or events.