Students in Year 1 have been learning about procedure texts and how to sequence instructions to complete a task. Students followed a set of steps in creating fantastic drawings of a green frog. Great Job Year 1’s!!
Procedure Drawing In Year 1
Author: sps3041
At Strathmore Primary we provide students with a safe, inclusive learning environment.
Beautiful Art from Strathmore PS
Marvelous Maths in Year 1
This Term, the Year 1 students have been building on their number and place value knowledge. They have been working in a variety of ways by experimenting with many forms of making and naming numbers through hands on and small group activities.
Students have used hands on materials to represent numbers and understand what they physically represent.
Foundation Fun!
Foundation students have been engaging in rich language experiences over the last few weeks to encourage and build confidence in their emerging writing skills. Teachers prepared sensory activities, which allowed students to feel, smell, hear, see and even taste the things they wrote about. So far, we have used bubbles, ice cubes and feathers to stimulate our beginning writers to create fantastic pieces of work. Last week, Mrs Crundall brought in her popcorn machine and students participated in a popcorn language experience! Students even created a paper cone, decorated in patterns (linking to our current unit in Maths) and were able to enjoy a healthy snack while writing.
Last (very short) week in Foundation, our highlight would have to be joining in the whole-school celebration of Multicultural Day.
Students had a lovely time viewing the ‘Dance Around the World’ performance, embracing many cultures of the world as well as the comedy show ‘Ristorante Mangiabene’. The gelato van visiting the school was a favourite for our Foundation students who enjoyed the yummy gelato. Thank you to our families who assisted students with their costumes. Everyone put in a lot of effort and students were very excited to show their costume off… The teachers enjoyed dressing up too! Have a look at Miss Vounoridis representing Vietnam and Mrs Crundall representing Australia.
Term 1 learning fun in Grade 5/6!
We have had a great start to Term 1 in 5/6 with all of the students settling into their new classrooms and routines well.
In literacy students have been building on their skills and abilities. In Reading, the students are focusing on making connections such as connections to problems in society and to themselves. In Writing, we are working on creating Narrative texts and ensuring we Show, Don’t Tell!
During Maths, the students have been completing problem solving activities related to real life situations. We have also been working on using appropriate mental strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems. Our Inquiry unit exploring ‘A Wild World’ has seen us learning about adaptations of animals and plants and why they have these adaptations.
‘Learning is a constant process of discovery – a process without end’ – Bruce Lee
Term 1 Literacy in Year 4
The Year Four students have had a fantastic start to their learning this year!
In Year 4, we have reviewed strategies and skills to support fluent reading and practised a range of strategies to find meaning in new or difficult words when reading. Students have also been exploring the different ways we can make and support accurate predictions when we read. These skills, are supporting the achievement of their personal learning goals in Reading.
The students have also planned, written, edited and published some amazing narratives this term. They have created a number of books and texts with great ideas and they’ve shown their growing understanding of using different language and punctuation to help their stories make sense and engage readers.
On Wednesday 11th March, students participated in activities for Multicultural Day. They saw a performance of dances from countries around the world, had a gelato snack break and watched a comedy show performed in Italian. Some grades also had opportunities to complete some activities with their Year 2 buddy grade.
Grade 3 Maths!
This Term, the Grade 3 students have been developing their understanding on place value of 4 digit numbers. They have been completing problem solving tasks that require them to apply place value to model, partition, rearrange and regroup numbers.
The Grade 3’s created place value flowers, that they used to add and subtract from using a 4 digit number. They utilised a range of mental math strategies while completing their task. The students have also been creating number expanders and using place value arrows and MAB to rename 4 digit numbers.
Below are some pictures of the students’ learning tasks.
Year 2 Melbourne Museum Excursion!
On Thursday the 5th of March the Year 2’s set off on a very exciting trip to… the Melbourne Museum! Leading up to our excursion, we have been working hard in class during Inquiry learning all about toys from around the world! We have studied various toys from the past and compared them to toys of the present.
On the day of the excursion, we participated in an educational program and listened to a story about toys kept through several generations of a family, titled ‘My Grandmother’s Toy Box’. We also visited the Mini Mega Model exhibition, Melbourne Story gallery and Bugs Alive.
We made loads of interesting observations and discoveries! A few things we learnt…
- Clues to identify toys from different periods of time such as, materials used, colours and patterns in clothing, advancements in the way toys operate etc.
- Marn Grook is a traditional Aboriginal ball made long ago from possum skin!
- A small cork model of the Colosseum in Rome, made by Richard Du Bourg around 1775, is the oldest model in the Mini Mega Model Museum.
Interesting fact: Cork was a suitable material for capturing the decayed character of classical architecture!
- Two steam train models were made of different materials- one wooden and the other metal. Some of us made connections to experiencing the historic Puffing Billy.
- We even got to use some of our senses whilst exploring the creepy-crawlies in Bugs Alive! We thoroughly enjoyed seeing, hearing and smelling the world of insects, spiders, snails and other invertebrates.
We had a marvelous time at the Melbourne Museum, and did some fantastic creative writing about it the next day at school!
Clean Up Strathmore PS!
It has been a wonderful start to the year!
Last week, the whole school took part in ‘Clean up the Yard’, where students and teachers worked together to help clean up the school’s outdoor spaces. Students learned the positives aspects about picking up rubbish on their school environment as well as hygiene when doing so. This event will become a common occurrence at Strathmore PS with the promotion of our ‘Waste Warrior’ program.
On behalf of the Environment Team and the Waste Warriors, we would like to thank the great number of parents who support such programs as ‘Gardening Club’ and the ‘Waste Warrior’ program. Without such help we would be unable to keep this going!
Health and Physical Education in Term 1
During Term 1 in Health and Physical Education, the students have had many experiences learning new skills and consolidating already learnt skills.
The Foundation to Grade 2 students have played with a variety of balls and have been consolidating bouncing and throwing. They are learning the fundamentals of running, skipping, jogging and galloping. The Grade 3 and 4 students have been focusing on a netball unit where they have been learning the rules and skills associated with netball. The Grade 5 and 6 students have been learning the skills of basketball and will be beginning a unit on AFL shortly.
The Health component is also a major element of the Program. This includes discussing the health benefits of physical activity and mental health wellbeing. This term we have discussed safety when playing sport, the importance of hydration and best practice in the hot weather.
It is a requirement that the students have a hat during Terms 1 and 4 for outdoor HPE activities. During the year, it is beneficial for them to wear appropriate shoes on their HPE day and also have a drink bottle.
ART News!
Students are continuing to work on their Drawing units this term.
Foundation students have been drawing and painting their self portraits and are about to create the background using lots of coloured paint! This time, they will be painting without using a paint brush! How crazy is that??!! Students have been creating textures in their painted backgrounds using different utensils to carve into the paint. I can’t wait to see their portraits once they are assembled!
Grade One and Two students are continuing to work on their koala faces. Some are painting backgrounds with leaves and branches, some are creating collages using the painted paper created in previous lessons, and some will make 3D koala heads attached to a 3D branch with gum leaves.
Grade Three and Four students have been experimenting with chalk pastels to create a drawing of a koala in its habitat. The results have been absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait for you to see them! Meanwhile here is a sneaky peek…! (refer to photos)
Grade Five and Six students continue to study Australian Flora and Fauna. After a few weeks of experimenting with oil pastels, drawing still life and learning about tertiary colours, students will begin to create their masterpieces inspired by Margaret Preston and Nicola Woodcock.
Also…..don’t forget to try to visit the NGV for the Haring/Basquait exhibition!!
Multicultural Day Fun
What a wonderful day we had on Wednesday 11th March. Strathmore Primary School came together to celebrate Multicultural Day. The entire school dressed up in a variety of costumes, representing numerous countries and cultures from around the world. The costumes were truly amazing!
We started the day with a fantastic dancing show. Students were immersed in performances that took them around the world to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Ireland and Africa with some wonderful traditional dancing. The students had the wonderful opportunity to participate in many of the dances and take part of the show!
The gelato van was once again a hit with students. They thoroughly enjoyed eating their cold gelato on a hot day!
At lunch time, students were able to taste many foods from various countries. We learnt about foods from all over the world which was great to see and taste so many diverse foods. Thank you to the students and families who brought in food to share!!
Our day concluded with an Italian Comedy show that was based in a restaurant. The show had many laughs, songs and wonderful entertainment! The stadium was filled with laughter the entire time and the show was loved by all the students!
What a great day we had at Strathmore Primary School!
A Welcome From Our Grade 5/6 Teachers
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to another exciting school year! The Year Five students have settled in effortlessly into their new learning environment in the BER with guidance from the Year Six students. We started off the Term with a bang and have been busy learning new routines, having fun at 5/6 sport and enjoying our new classes. This Term we are looking forward to 5/6 sport on Fridays, sport Gala Days, school events and more.
Year 5/6 Teachers
5/6A – Mr Portelli
Hi, my name is Ambrose Portelli and I teach the fantastic Grade 5/6A class. It is going to be a fun and exciting year of learning. Outside Strathmore Primary School I enjoy spending time with my family. I have two children (four and a two year old). I am also a keen musician and have been playing cello in the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra for many years.
5/6B – Ms Vasil
Hello, my name is Ms Vasil. I am looking forward to a fantastic year with 5/6B. Outside of school, I enjoy good coffee, shopping and fast cars. I enjoy spending quality time with family and friends.
5/6C – Miss Drew
Hello! My name is Liz Drew and I am looking forward to another year teaching 5/6 . Over the summer holidays I went to Port Douglas where my partner proposed to me, we spent time with family and friends and went wakeboarding. In my spare time I enjoy playing netball, baking, going to the beach and exploring new places. I recently lived and taught in London for 2 years which allowed me to travel to some incredible places!
5/6D – Ms Boyd
Hi, I am Nadene Boyd and this is my fourth year teaching 5/6s. I know some of these students very well as I taught them when they were in Prep! 5/6D have had a smooth start to the year and are really enjoying using Google Classroom to complete their work. We have welcomed two spiny leaf insects into our class and are amazed at how much they have grown in such a short time. Outside of school, I enjoy spending time out in nature – going on a bushwalk or bike riding. Luckily, my husband and I spent the summer break exploring NZ in a campervan, which meant we spent a lot of time outside!
5/6E – Mr Lyons
Hi, I am Matthew Lyons and this year I am looking forward to working with 5/6E. My passion outside of education is sport and we have an exciting year of interschool sport events planned. Outside Strathmore Primary School, I am a member of the Therry Penola Football Club. I hope to make 2020 the best year yet for our Strathmore community.
A Welcome From Our Grade 4 Teachers
Dear Parents and Carers,
The Year 4 students have had a busy start to the year as we settle into new learning spaces. We have begun to set routines and expectations in the classroom and students have made an amazing start in their learning journey this year!
In Term 1, we will explore narrative and biographical writing. In Maths, we are revising and extending our understanding of place value, strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems and collecting, representing and interpreting data on various types of graphs. When reading, students are learning strategies to maintain fluency, find the meaning of unknown words in a text, make detailed predictions with textual evidence and make connections between a text and the world we live in. In Inquiry we are looking at Civics and Citizenship. We have been learning about rules and laws in our communities and have been practising being responsible members of our communities by participating in elections for Junior School Council.
We look forward to many great times this year including; amazing learning activities, school events, excursions, and camp!
Year 4 Teachers
4A Mrs McNiece
Hello everyone. My name is Mrs Rochelle McNiece. I’m really excited to be teaching and coordinating the Year 4 team this year! It has been great to get to know the Year 4 cohort over the last couple of weeks. I look forward to working with the students and families to make 2020 a really positive year for everyone. I have 3 children, a son in Grade 2, a daughter in Grade 4 and a daughter in Year 7. My family love exploring the outdoors and we love caravanning with our German Shepherd, Blitz. Our favourite places to camp are Tocumwal and Echuca on the Murray River where the rest of my family go fishing and I can enjoy my other favourite pastime – reading.
4B Miss Cvek
Hello, I’m Petrina Cvek. I hope everyone had lovely holidays and some time to relax. I’m looking forward to another great year in Grade 4, helping students grow, learn and achieve their best. I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, as well as my many pets (2 dogs, 3 cats – it’s a bit of a petting zoo, I know). I love gardening, travelling and exploring new places, as well as finding somewhere to settle with a cup of tea and a great book.
4C Mr Smith
Hi. I am Gary Smith and have been teaching longer than I care to remember. I have been at SPS for 8 years and have enjoyed my time here working with some wonderful students and families. Apart from teaching, the main passions in my life are The Melbourne Football Club and golf. I am looking forward to continuing to provide an enjoyable educational experience for the students in my care during 2020.
A Welcome From Our Grade 3 Teachers
Grade 3 Term One Overview
Welcome Grade 3 students and parents to 2020! We have had an exciting start to Term 1! Teaching this year in 3A is Marissa Reilly, in 3B is Ashlee Zuvela and in 3C is Jodi MacDonald. We look forward to getting to know all of the Grade 3 students over the coming weeks. Below is an overview outlining what the students will be learning this term and information about the school events that are taking place.
Reading
Throughout the term, students will be continuing to develop fluency, accuracy, decoding and comprehension skills in reading. Students will explore Fountas and Pinnell reading and comprehension strategies to target their individual reading needs. Students will participate in reading activities, including Guided Reading and independent tasks to practise these skills. Students are expected to complete 15 minutes of reading at home at least 5 nights a week.
Writing
This term, students will be students will be writing recounts and narratives. They will continue to develop strategies to engage their readers and develop correct sentence structure and punctuation. Students will complete weekly Home Talk in preparation for their Big Write on Thursdays and will be completing weekly Spellodrome homework.
Numeracy
This term in Maths, students will be continuing to develop their place value number knowledge. The Grade 3s will also be exploring statistics and probability. They will be completing learning tasks that collect data and they will be creating displays using lists, tables, picture graphs and column graphs. Students will complete weekly homework tasks on Mathletics.
Inquiry
Throughout the term, students will be exploring new concepts in Inquiry about Civics and Citizenship. Students will be learning about how and why rules and laws are made and they will be exploring features of government and democracy.
School events
Term 1 has lots of exciting events for the Grade 3 students. On the 11th of March students will participate in Multicultural Day. On the 20th of March students will run in the school’s Cross Country. On the 25th of March the Grade 3s will be watching the performance called ‘Bully Zero’ in the hall.
Kind regards,
Grade 3 Team
Welcome From Our Grade 1 Teachers
Hi Everyone!
In Term 1, the Year 1 students will be focusing on developing learning routines and setting expectations in the Year One learning space.
Year 1 Teachers
1A Ms Brown
Hello everyone, I’m Ms Brown and I’m thrilled to be teaching and coordinating the Year 1 team this year! It has been fantastic to get to know the Year 1 cohort over the last couple of weeks. I look forward to working with the students and families to make 2020 a great year for everyone. Here are a few things about me: I went on a holiday to Brisbane over the summer break and enjoyed watching the Australian Open. I love gardening and growing my own veggies. I am an avid animal lover and I have 2 very naughty poodles called Coco and Chanel.
1B Ms Buckley
Hello everyone, I’m Ms Buckley. I hope you all had a lovely holiday with your family and friends. I am really looking forward to teaching you all this year and I have many great activities planned for you. I enjoy playing netball, shopping, watching TV and fashion. I love spending time with my family especially paw-sitting my brother’s dogs Jersey and Marlo. I barrack for the mighty North Melbourne Kangaroos and look forward to watching both the ladies’ and men’s team win lots of games in 2020.
1C Mrs McKendry
Hello! I am thrilled to be a Year 1 teacher this year! My name is Nadia McKendry. I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable summer break. I am really excited to get to know you and your families this year. In my spare time I enjoy making jewellery, cooking, shopping, going for walks and spending time with friends and family. I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback called Hunter, don’t mind his name, he is a big baby. I also have a cat named Ronnie, she is a rescue cat and loves to live an independent life with a few cuddles here and there.
A Welcome From Our Music Teacher
Hi Strathmore Primary School Community,
It’s been a great start to the year in the music room with all students learning ukulele and playing chords.
The Foundation students, have been introduced to the ukulele and have been strumming chords. The grades 1s and 2s, have been working on changing chords and playing songs with that change between the C, F and G chords. The 3s and 4s, have been learning about Verses, Chorus and Bridges in songs as they try to play and sing at the same time. The grades 5s and 6s, have also been trying to play and sing at the same time with some of the students playing guitar to accompany us while we sing.
The ukulele is a great fun instrument that is a great start for someone wanting to learn guitar. A new feature in our music room is the uke wall which hangs some of our ukuleles and also has lots of interesting vintage ukulele newspaper articles and photos of people playing the ukulele.
If you are interested in buying a Ukulele for your child to play at home, I would recommend the basic Mahalo Uke which can be found on ebay for around $35. I can help with putting the stickers on, if any students would like to have them so their ukulele is the same as the ones at school.
If you are after an app to play along with and to help tune your ukulele, I would recommend ‘Ukeoke’ from the app store. It has 109 free songs and yearly subscription is around $50 which will unlock all of the songs.
I am looking forward to another wonderful year teaching music at Strathmore Primary School.
Mr. Gribben
A Welcome From Our Italian Teacher
Benvenuti! Mi chiamo Signorina Pane. Welcome!
My name is Miss Pane and I am teaching Italian this year! This is my fifth year of teaching Italian and I am excited to be able to teach all the students at Strathmore Primary School.
The Italian program will focus on speaking and listening activities as well as written work. Songs, games and interactive tasks will be included in a fun and interactive way.
I am looking forward to a wonderful Multicultural Day on Wednesday 11th March and have already loved learning and hearing about the students’ backgrounds and cultures. Please make sure permission and payment is made by 2nd March for this wonderful multicultural experience.
Looking forward to another wonderful year in Italian!
Ciao per adesso (bye for now)
A Welcome From Our Art Teacher
Hello! My name is Sandra Damoulakis and I teach Visual Art to every student in the school! I love teaching Art and helping all my students be creative. I love all kinds of Art but my favourite artist is Frida Kahlo.
You might notice that I have lots of Frida Kahlo things like my phone cover, shopping bag, earrings and even my car air freshener is of Frida Kahlo! I love going camping, seeing bands, having meals with friends and hanging out with my husband and two children.
I can’t wait to get messy in the art room with you this year, it’s going to be lots of fun!!
A Welcome From Our PE Teachers
This year, PE will be shared between two teachers, Melissa Gallagher and Rita Di Grazia.
Hi everyone, I’m Mrs Gallagher and I will be teaching Grade Foundation, 4 & 5/6 PE this year! I am excited to be back teaching at Strathmore PS this year after having a year off following the birth of my daughter, Summer last February.
I have two Golden Retrievers, Willow and Piper who love going for walks and going to the beach to play in the waves. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, being outdoors and cooking.
I look forward to having fun learning about new skills and games with you all in 2020.
Hello everyone, my name is Mrs Di Grazia and this year I am teaching Grades 1 – 3 in Health and Physical Education. I have taught PE over many years and enjoy teaching the fundamental skills such as catching, kicking and bouncing and watching the students’ progress and enjoy their sport.
I have three sons who are also very interested in playing sports, especially soccer and we are foundation members of Victory Soccer Club. Two of my sons are now living and working overseas, in Berlin and Toronto.
I enjoy art and crafts and am currently learning how to crochet at a Community House. This is enjoyable as I have the opportunity to be creative with this wool craft. Another one of my passions is gardening and I have a garden with many native species. Being the school’s Environment and Sustainability coordinator relates to my personal interests.
Strathmore Primary School 