The week in 3rd Class
In English we practised reading fluency, focusing on using the tone of our voice to reflect characters’ emotions in dialogue. We also practised strategies to read long and unfamiliar words, including breaking them into syllables, applying our knowledge of affixes (prefixes and suffixes), letters, and sounds. We completed sentences and a quiz using vocabulary words. […]
The week in Second Class
What have we learnt this week? English- We have learning about Persuasive Writing. In pairs and groups students discuss a topic given to them and come up with whether they agree or disagree with the statement and come up with reasons for both. They then complete a persuasive writing piece. They also completed explicit spelling […]
An update from 3rd Class
In English this week 3C read The Peasant Prince several times and learned the meaning of ‘genre’. We discussed the way this autobiographical book also includes elements of narrative to frame Li Cunxin’s life story and that this makes it a ‘hybrid’ text. We began learning vocabulary words, and the children identified similarities and differences […]
Book Week in 2nd Class
English- This week we have started learning about Persuasive Writing. In pairs and groups students discuss a topic given to them and come up with whether they agree or disagree with the statement and come up with reasons for both. They then complete a persuasive writing piece. They also completed explicit spelling lessons learning about […]
Senior Public Speaking competition winner 2025
Climate change. It’s the topic that I’ve heard and I’m sure you’ve heard, many times before. But finding out that some people believe that climate change is caused naturally was … a genuine surprise. Today I’ll be talking about what I believe, based on the research I’ve done. Good morning, teachers, staff, students etc.. Now […]
Junior Speech Competition Winning Speech 2025
Respect is the most important value in the world The Dalai Lama once said: The quality of everything we do; our physical actions, our verbal actions, and even our mental actions, depends on our motivation. Imagine a world without Respect: dark, cruel and meaningless. Now, a world like today would be much better. I will […]
And update from 3rd Class for Term 2, Week 2
This week 3rd class wrote their persuasive speeches for the Public Speaking Competition. The topic was ‘Why is Respect an Important Value for the World’. I was very impressed with the well-written speeches and after some practice and reviewing the criteria of good public speaking, the children delivered their speeches in class yesterday. I am […]
A recap of Term 2, Week 2 in Upper 1st
English: We are reading Are We There Yet, and we focused on the section about ‘The Top End’. To complement this we read the picture book, To the Top End by Roland Harvey. We focused on visual literacy and reading the pictures. The children wrote about a waterhole and a lake in writing this week. […]
This week in 3rd Class
Third class thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s History excursion to West Head. We couldn’t have asked for better weather to spend a day outdoors enjoying the bush and learning about Aboriginal connections to Country. The children participated in a number of hands-on activities and learned many interesting facts about Aboriginal culture and traditions. The excursion also informed […]
Week 7 in 3rd Class
Yesterday we completed our final NAPLAN test and so we spent yesterday afternoon relaxing with a movie. In Maths this week, we revised Time by looking at half past, quarter to and quarter past. We also discussed analog and digital time. Next week we will extend our skills by working with five-minute and one-minute intervals. […]
Week 8 in Upper 1st
English: This week was our revision and assessment week of all of the phonemes that we have been focusing on this term: ai, ay, ie, igh, –y, -y, ee, ea, oa. We also read the story of The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. We used this as inspiration for both our short burst and extended […]
This week in Year 1 (Upper 1st)
Our spelling and reading focus this week has been “oa”. We also learned about the “shwa” sound and how common it is in Australian accents. In short burst writing the children wrote about a ‘Staircase to the Moon’ and with the help of our wonderful parents, we wrote an informative description of a Thorny Devil. […]
They’ve only been in school 6 weeks!
We have had a busy and exciting week in Lower 1st, filled with hands-on learning and creative activities. In Mathematics, we explored addition by working on number bonds to 5. In English, the children went on a ‘Caterpillar Walk’ around the playground, stopping at different locations. Along the way, we took photos and used them […]
Beautiful application
This beautiful Sanskrit writing by four children in 2nd class was selected for its neatness and clarity. Work of this standard calls for amazing focus, which is developed through the regular practice of Stillness. Well done to Arnavi, Jet, Gail and Gabriel.
Term 1 Writing update from 3rd Class
In English this week we completed studying the structure of narratives by looking at complications and resolutions. We looked at ‘okay’ endings and ‘super’ endings before children were given a complication and asked to write a resolution. At the same time, we have developed knowledge of narrative features by practising making noun groups using adjectives. […]
Week 4: Just a normal busy week in Upper 1st (Year 1)
English: This week in spelling and reading, we have looked at two syllable words ending in y. The y makes a long e sound in these words. In grammar, we looked at the differencesbetween questions and statements. In short burst writing, the children wrote about camping. In parent writing we focused on using adjectives to […]
Spelling and Writing in 3rd Class in Week 3, Term 1
This week in Spelling we learned about open and closed syllables. We looked at two-syllable words with an open syllable ending in the long ‘a’ phoneme (sound). Please note the Spelling homework will not start until later this term as we are still building foundational skills required for completing the homework successfully. In English we […]
End of 2024 Debating season
Today for the final round of IPSHA Friday Afternoon Debating, we hosted Oxford Falls Grammar. Our debate topic was That we should stop selling bottled water. We held one debate on the topic, with Oxford Falls Grammar debating in the affirmative and John Colet School debating in the negative. Our adjudicator from Masters Academy awarded […]
This week in 4N
In English this week we reviewed last week’s descriptions of setting and edited them. We continued reading Storm Boy and discussed vocabulary. Next week we will look at Characterisation and how writers invite emotional engagement with literature. In Maths we reviewed 2D shapes and their properties before investigating tessellations. We also looked at how we […]
Learning about the use of dialect in an Australian classic
In English last week 4th Class continued reading Storm Boy. They discussed the dialect known as Aboriginal English used by one of the characters of Aboriginal heritage, Fingerbone Bill. This is a form of English governed by a unique set of rules and is spoken by a large proportion of First Nation people in Australia. […]
The Reptile Park – a group recount by 2CC
On Friday 20th of October, Year 2 went on a bus to the Australian Reptile Park at Somersby on the Central Coast. We went there to learn about living things such as crocodiles, alligators, snakes, pythons, frogs, echidnas, quokkas, wombats, dingoes, koalas, Tasmanian devils, cassowaries, bats, spiders, lizards, Komodo dragons, parrots, wallabies, turtles and tortoises. […]
Lunch with the stars
On Tuesday eight avid writers and readers from 6th Class, decked in shining accessories and various costumes from their favourite books, along with librarian Miss Bower, pulled up on the coach at the Dee Why RSL for Lunch with the Stars. Lunch with the Stars is a Children’s Book Council of Australia run program which […]
Strong finish to the end of IPSHA debating season
JCS hosted Oxford Falls Grammar School for IPSHA Debating today – the topic was That we should ban school assemblies. Oxford Fall’s negative team narrowly won the first debate, with the adjudicator saying they had made the points that assemblies unified the community and were a more powerful way of getting out information to students. […]
Town Hall meeting
In English this week 4th Class read in Storm Boy about how the hunters and the tourists were treating the bird sanctuary poorly by destroying birds’ nests and shooting the birds. The children were placed in one of five groups: hunters, tourists, rangers, local people (Storm Boy) and the Ngarrindjeri people. Each group had to […]
Into the IPSHA debating season
On Friday last week we hosted a debate against Newington College. The topic for the debate was that ‘staying in the shade is better than using sunscreen in the sun’. We won both debates and the adjudicator commented on the interesting and unique points raised in both our Negative and Affirmative debates. As feedback, she […]