On Friday 6th May, we celebrated Grandparents’ Day. Our grandparents, parents and special people in our lives, visited our classroom where we gave them a poem we had written for them and showed them our learning. Then our special visitors went and enjoyed a cup of tea or coffee at ‘Nonna’s Cafe’ before our whole school Prayer Service, hosted by the Preps. Afterwards, we enjoyed a shared lunch outside in the beautiful warm sun. It was such a lovely way to celebrate the important people in our lives.

The Special People in our Lives on PhotoPeach

On Wednesday 4th May, we participated in Bread Making Day; in preparation for the celebration of the Sacrament of First Eucharist. We spent the day at the Coghlan Centre with our Grade 3 friends from St John’s as well as the students from the Wednesday RE program. We had a great time helping Father Mark and Maree make bread and enjoyed designing and making our own place mats, using symbols of Eucharist. We had a shared lunch of salad sandwiches and fruit and then, after a short meditation, we got to have a small piece of the bread we made.  The best part of the day was watching the funny things Father Mark got up to while making the bread. If you were a volunteer, you had to watch out!

In Religion, we have been learning about making right choices. We have discovered that when we hurt others, we need to say, ‘Sorry’, and ask for forgiveness.

The story of The Forgiving Father helps us understand the four stages of forgiveness better. They are: admitting wrong, saying sorry, being forgiven and reconciled.

We also discovered that when we behave in unloving ways, we not only hurt our relationship with that person, but also with God.

We can say sorry to God in our prayers but what sign can God show us that we are forgiven?

The Sacrament of Penance, also known as Reconciliation, gives us the chance to say sorry to God by telling the priest. After we say sorry, he extends his hands over our heads and says a prayer. He also gives us a penance; something to do to show the person we have hurt that we are truly sorry.

Aaron, George and Rose

Over the last 2 weeks we have been learning how to measure the length and perimeter of objects.

First we used informal tools, such as unifix blocks, glue sticks and MABs.

Then we learnt how to use a ruler correctly, measuring the length of objects from end to end and starting at the calibration point. That means, measuring from the first black mark or the 0 on a ruler.

We know: 100 centimetres (cm) = 1 metre (m) and 1 cm = 10 millimetres (mm). 1 cm is about the same size as our fingernail.

Then we learnt about perimeter, which means the distance around the shape of an object. It is like there is an invisible fence around an object.

We measured the length and perimeter of our foot using a variety of tools. To measure the perimeter of our foot, we used blu tac to keep a piece of string in place around the outside of a tracing of our foot. Then we cut the string and used a ruler to measure its length. It was a little tricky to do it but it was a lot of fun!

On Friday 11th March, we had our lapathon to raise money for a shelter at the entrance to our school. We asked families and friends to sponsor us for running or walking laps. All of the students did a great job, with many of us completing 10 – 12 laps. It was a great effort! When we finished, we got to eat a platter of yummy fruit prepared for us by our mums. Thanks to all who donated.

On Monday, Sarah’s mum came to talk about how the RSPCA helps our community by looking after sick, injured and homeless animals.  She is a vet nurse with the RSPCA. Both the vets and nurses care for many different types of sick and injured animals.

We learnt that the RSPCA stands for The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. All animals have freedoms and rights. They are: the right to food, water, shelter, exercise and friends. The RSPCA has inspectors who investigate reports of animal mistreatment. They also help rescue animals who are trapped or in any other type of danger.  Homeless or lost animals handed in to RSPCA shelters can be adopted.

Did you know that you can even take the family dog down to the RSPCA for grooming? Or, you can just go there to visit the animals.

As part of our Inquiry unit, ‘Cooperating Communities’, we are exploring people who assist our community. Today we had a visit from one of our dads who works for the Forest Fire Management Service. This group works closely with the CFA, the SES and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade to put out fires.

The group is also responsible for preventing fires from occurring by clearing land or doing planned and controlled burning. Another important job is to educate the local community about how they can keep their homes, gardens and themselves safe from a fire. It was a really interesting morning. Thanks Dan.

Over the last three weeks we have had been participating in a ‘healthy me’ program hosted by the Hawthorn Football Club. In the first week, we learnt all about keeping ourselves healthy by eating the right foods and drinking plenty of water. In the second week, we explored what it means to have a healthy attitude as well as the importance of having family and friends who support and care for you. This week our session was focused on keeping ourselves physically fit and healthy. We spent time on the oval learning the different skills to kick or mark a footy. We even got to meet the club mascot. It has been fun.