Sometimes it is great to just have fun! At the recent Primary Discos, students certainly enjoyed a dancing frenzy, combining practised routines with some ‘expression sessions’. The aim of the event was to strengthen connections and community among our students, while also raising funds for our Global Opportunities programs. The disco raised a total of $1595, which is a tremendous effort. Congratulations to the Primary Student Leaders who initiated the idea. The laughter, smiles and excited buzz on the night were wonderful to see.

Can you help?

Work commitments often make it difficult for many parents to be involved with school activities during the day. However, for those parents who have the time it can be a very rewarding experience. Students are able to receive extra 1:1 support in key areas such as reading and numeracy, while parents themselves gain a better understanding of the environment their children learn in every day. There is also the added benefit of growing connections with other parents.

A recent quote from a parent helping in the classroom captures some of these sentiments. “I am enjoying the opportunity to be in the classroom with reading groups. It is a privilege to get to know the other parents, teachers and of course my daughter’s classmates.”

If you would like to support our learning programs and have the flexibility in your schedule to do so, please contact your class parent representative or class teacher.

Get Reading Right

Basic skills are fundamental to successful learning and NBCS is committed to developing them in our students. Many of these skills are best learnt in context, through integrated inquiry when students are passionate and curious about a topic and don’t necessarily realise they are growing their skills. At times, however,  more formal instruction is required.

This year, Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 have adopted a new literacy and spelling program called, ‘Get Reading Right’. This program teaches students how to blend letter sounds (phonemes) to construct a word or to read it. We are already seeing the students applying what they are learning with the program to their reading and writing tasks.
 

"A fabulous place of learning – built on relationship ..."

I would like to close with a wonderful comment sent in an email this week:
“ ... my heart was singing on Sunday when my daughter was so keen to get to school on Monday. She said, ‘I feel safe and people respect each other and their feelings. It is so much fun’.”
 

Mr Peter Grimes
Head of Primary

Written by 6S with Mrs Liana Simpson

Last week we talked about worship. We also sang songs like Speak Life and Put Your Hands Up. Also 6S went up on stage and danced to the songs. It was really fun!

- Christopher, 6S
 

As part of their CIA assembly, 6S focused on worship within the church. We introduced the assembly with a video clip made by Grace, Brianne and Emily. The clip showed how passionate worship can alter the feeling within the church and how a wholehearted worship experience can transform people’s perception and experience of what church is. The girls revealed how sporting crowds show their enthusiasm when a team scores by cheering and clapping and how exciting church could be for those who follow ‘Team Jesus’. To support this view we had a few Bible readings by Matthew, Harrison and Jasmine that talk about the importance of worship.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 
1 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

- Jasmine S, 6S

The rest of the class took turns in leading some of our favourite worship songs, including The Rainbow Song which Kindy particularly enjoyed. The Stage 3 students enthusiastically led the way for Put Your Hands Up while the entire Primary joined in singing Jesus Superhero. After talking about worship and why we worship God, Jade closed the assembly with a prayer.

Written by Year 4 students Alexandra, Jackson, Angus C and Clive

Year 4 recently were visited by Mr Chris Woldhuis, who teaches Computing, Mathematics and Programming in Secondary. Mr Woldhuis introduced us to ‘Little Bits’. Here are some reflections using the Harvard University Thinking Routines.

I used to think…
... that atoms were the smallest things,
... that batteries were the only things that could power things,
... that you could just plug things in and they would work,
... that pictures were just like paintings.

Now I think…
... that you can split them to make atomic energy,
... that you can use sound vibrations to create power,
... that switches are really important,
... that all the TV shows and pictures from the printer, on your camera and on any digital screen are all made
    of tiny little dots all joined together,
... that you could actually use sound to charge a light bulb, a battery or a propeller,
... that magnets are made out of different materials including iron and steel, and that you can have one battery
    powering more than one thing at the same time and each of those things can have different uses.

I wonder if…
... people are made of little tiny dots too?
... you can use sand and a big plastic tube to make a static electricity canon? ... I could use this for good?
... ‘Little Bits’ could be used to power a model plane or helicopter?
... you could use the same technology to make something happen, like an explosion?
... as we get closer to the sun, we can create more energy using solar power?
... anyone knows who thought of making ‘Little Bits’?
... anyone knows how many scientists were involved in coming up with ‘Little Bits’?

Written by Miss Chantelle Morrison, Year 3 teacher

Last week, we had the most phenomenal Numeracy session in Year 3 and it was all because of Visible Thinking.

Visible Thinking was developed by Harvard’s Project Zero and aims to assist students in making their cognition (usually invisible) visible. Not only does Visible Thinking develop and grow students’ ability to deepen their thinking about learning and metacognition but it leads students to be more conscious of their thinking.

Prior to the lesson, students had conducted an online “National Testing” style assessment through Mathletics. After analysing the data and identifying a few consistent misunderstandings about Stage 2 Numeracy concepts, I collated a list of questions that could be thought about more thoroughly. I then printed these questions onto A3 paper and spread them around the learning space.

During the lesson, each student (in triplets) was given 3 post-it-notes for each poster.
They were required to write each of the following on each post-it-note in response to the numeracy problem given:

I see…
(What do you see - a graph, a title or an algorithm?)

I think…
(What do I think the answer will be? Why?)

I wonder…
(Thinking beyond the question – ie. I wonder how many students they surveyed?)

Students then arranged each post-it-note into each category and discussed their responses to the problem. If they had different ‘I think…’ responses, students were encouraged to discuss and justify their position.

The A3 poster was then passed to the next triplet. The new triplet discussed the previous responses and added their own.

The process continued until each triplet had responded to each Numeracy problem. We then debriefed as a whole class by focusing on the problems that had the most discrepancies in responses.

All students agreed that although the process was tiring, it was helpful. I’m going to ensure I do it every time.

Written by Mrs Karen Mitchell, Acting Head of Primary Sport

Many of our Primary students have been busy enjoying the many sporting opportunities at NBCS. The following students had successful nominations and went on to trial at CIS:

CIS Basketball - Max Dowling and Annie Walker. Well done on the high standard of play.

CIS Soccer - Benjamin Worthington, Declan Annear, Joshua Newham, Luca Ormaechea, Sean McGee, Tim Jansen and Tom Chidiac. We were very proud of the way that all the boys trialled, especially given the tough competition and difficult wet field. A special congratulations to Tom Chidiac for being selected and making the CSSA team.

CIS Netball - Charlotte Thomas, Charlotte Winston-Booth, Alex Lefevre, Audrey Keating, Hannah Blair, Lara Wilkinson and Faith Sherwood. Special congratulations to Faith Sherwood for being selected and making the CSSA team.

Our AFL Gala Day was an adventurous day for all at Erskine Park. Congratulations to our Girls team who were awarded Premiers on the day and our Boys team who placed second in their pool. It was a fun, hot and muddy day and we were so appreciative of our volunteer coaches Mr Barden, Mr Millsom and Mr Ravesteyn, who did a great job coaching our teams - thank you.

Our NBCS Swimmers are continuing to show tremendous talent in the pool. Last week we had twenty one students compete at State level at Blacktown pool and fourteen students have progressed to CIS level.

Congratulations to all swimmers and special mention to three of our students who were awarded State Age Champions - Holly Saunders AWD, Cayla Phillips and Cooper Phillips.

Team lists and full results can be found on PETE.

Preparation is underway for our Primary Cross Country Carnival for all K-6 students on Tuesday 8 April from approximately 10am to 1pm, at NBCS. Kindergarten and Year 1 will run/jog 600m, Years 2-4 will run/jog 2km and Years 5 and 6 will run/jog 3km. An information sheet will be sent home early next week outlining further details.

Written by the Year 6 Student Leaders

The Cricket Club
The Cricket Club is a place for beginners and experts, so you know you’ll learn some skills. It is run by House Captains (Max Dowling, Brayden Everitt, Declan Annear) and a Student Leader (Marcus Allan) who are all in the cricket team. The clubs activities can differ from training to an actual game. If you are just a beginner in cricket this is a great place to build your ability. You’ll learn batting, bowling, catching and so much more. In this club, you won’t be judged for your ability.
By Marcus Allan

The Minecraft Club
Minecraft Club is based on a highly popular player/multiplayer game known as Minecraft. The purpose of this club is to build social online friendships with others in a safe, secure NBCS world, whilst having fun and learning about this 3D modelling tool. Students can build whatever they want ranging from bunkers, castles, towers, homes and other amazing 3D buildings. Students can then walk around inside their building and invite friends to decorate the interior. Currently over fifty students from Years 4-6 get together on Tuesday lunchtimes under the direction of Year 6 Minecraft ‘moderators’, Mr Stanwell, Mr Collis and Mr Thompson.
By Joshua Stanwell (Yr 6 Moderator)

Stories for the Young at Heart Club
Being a leader holds many opportunities. One opportunity is to organise and run a Student Opportunity Club for Primary on a weekly basis. The club we hold is called 'Stories for the Young at Heart' for Stage 1. Our club is run by Stephanie Daly, Jade Daly and Faith Sherwood. We are also helped by Amelia King and Jordan Lefevre. In the club we have activities that will help students to learn about God. Leaders read students a story and consolidate what they have read with fun activities. An example of this is the when we read a story from the Bible about, ‘The Last Supper’. After the story, we decorated cups to bring the story to life. We also read about ‘The Good Samaritan’. Here we performed the story using finger puppets. Then we made puppets with the students. All the leaders enjoy having the responsibility of a club.
By Audrey Keating