Reddam House Primary School Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 30

Primary

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back to the final school term of 2022! I trust that it will be a happy and productive one for all our students and that the year will end in the best possible way, especially as they reflect on their successes and memorable moments.

Although the holiday was brief, I hope that it allowed everyone to catch their collective breath, as the past term was certainly a full one. It ended on an incredibly positive note, with the spectacular production of The Lion King Jr, which I’m sure is still fresh in the minds of all the Year 3-6 students, their teachers and everyone else who played a role in its success.

The Year K-2 students now have their own production of Annie KIDS to look forward to. I have no doubt that it will be just as amazing and that they will enjoy the whole process of rehearsals and getting ready for the big production. I know that the effort will be immense and will involve an enormous team of individuals, so I wish them all everything of the best for the coming weeks.

Events such as this, along with the other mass -participation occasions on the school calendar, such as dance shows, the choir eisteddfod, and the various sports carnivals, are wonderful opportunities for the school community to come together. They really do epitomise what it is to be part of a larger whole, and they allow the students to be swept up in the excitement of the moment.

In addition, they provide scope to involve the broader school community as spectators, audience members and invaluable costume makers, set builders and make-up artists. They are another reminder that schools are all about people and relationships, and we celebrate this in the Primary School.

While schools might be primarily focused on academic rigour, success in this field depends entirely on the students in the school feeling affirmed and supported. Learning happens best when there is no fear of ridicule or of giving things a go. This is the kind of atmosphere we strive for at Reddam and we trust that as the school year winds down all our students will be able to reflect on a year in which their voices were heard and their efforts applauded.

The term social-emotional learning has gained traction in recent years, as it has become clear that it is just as critical as any knowledge-based or skillsbased learning. As such, we hope that this final term is one in which the students continue to develop meaningful relationships and that they feel happy and excited to arrive at school each day. We all look forward to a fantastic final term!

We are very proud to announce that a number of our students won their sections in the international Inspired Schools competition, the Concours D'Arts. Hundreds of entries were sent from Reddam Sydney, and the students below did exceptionally well to be the overall winners for their categories. In addition, our students won a huge number of Diploma and Gold awards, for which we congratulate each one of them.

The full Gala Evening video can be enjoyed at the following link: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk8sSJGvios

The Primary School students who did so well were:

Barry Yu (Kindergarten) – Visual Art & Design, Drawing

Jayden Cao (Year 3) – Music: Classical Instrumental – Classical Brianna Chen (Grade 4) – Dance – Classical Ballet solo

Alon Olovitz (Grade 5) – Visual Art and Design – Sculpture and Installation

Thomas Scicluna (Grade – Visual Art and Design – Digital Media Animation and Photography

Amber Charles (Grade 6) – Visual Art and Design – Drawing

Thomas Hui (Grade 6) – Music Classical Instrumental – Romantic

Ruby Levitt (Grade 6) – Visual Art and Design – Painting

IN TH IS SU

In addition to the fine showing by our artists in the Concours D’Arts, they also impressed in the Little Things Art Prize, which this year was based on the theme of 'gratitude'. The awards ceremony took place at the Saint Cloche Art Gallery in Paddington during the holidays. A number of students who were selected as finalists had their works displayed in the gallery space. Well done to all our artists who entered and special congratulations to Ruby Levitt (Year 6) who attained first place.

Over the next fortnight, many of our students will commence their respective summer sports. Good luck to our touch football, water polo, cricket and tennis players –enjoy the season and do us proud!

Have a great weekend.

Dee Pitcairn Principal

IN TH IS SU

SPORT FIXTURES

Sports Fixtures 15th October 2022 Basketball

Comets Competition – Friday

Un16s – Reddam Knicks v SGHS Beef Pride 5pm Court 2

Un18s – Reddam Suns v BYE

Un18s – Reddam 1st V v SGHS Beef Ballers 5pm Court 1

Perry Park Courts & Comets Stadium Saturday

Girls

Un12s Reddam Storm v Inner City Sapphires

8am Perry Ct 4

Un14s – Reddam Timberwolves v Reddam

Mystics 9:40am Perry Ct 3

Un14s – Reddam Sparks v Newtown Storm 1pm Comets Ct 2

Un 14s – Reddam Mystics v Reddam Timberwolves 9:40am Perry Ct 3

Boys Alexandria (Perry Park Courts)

Un10s – Reddam Lakers v BYE

Un12s – Reddam Raptors v Reddam Bucks 11:20am Perry Ct 3

Un12s – Reddam Bucks v Reddam Raptors 11:20am Perry Ct 3

Un14s – Reddam Bulls v Newtown Lions 9:40am Perry Ct 4

Un14s – Reddam Cavaliers v Sydney HoopStars Kingsnakes 11:20am Perry Ct 4

Un14s – Reddam Mavericks v Inner City Celtics 3:30pm Perry Ct 1

Un14s – Reddam Pistons v Newtown Supersonics 12:10pm Perry Ct 4

Un14s – Reddam Nuggets v Accelerate Warriors 2:40pm Comets Ct 1

Un16s – Reddam Rockets v Newtown Tigers 3:30pm Perry Ct 4

Un16s – Reddam Jazz v Inner City Mustangs 1:50pm Perry Ct 4

Boys MPCYC

Un16s – Reddam Warriors v Big Dream 3:45pm Ct 2

Un16s – Reddam Nets v Inner City Eagles 4:30pm Ct1

Un18s – Reddam Heat v Reddam Grizzlies 2:15pm Ct1

Un18s – Reddam Grizzlies v Reddam Heat 2:15pm Ct 1

Un18s – Reddam 1st V v MVP Cheetahs 6pm Ct 2 Water Polo

BOYS

Reddam 14s v Scots, Cranbrook Pool 9:40am

Reddam Seniors v Scots, Cranbrook Pool 10.20am

Reddam Primary v Scots/St Augustines, Scots Pool 10.15am

GIRLS

Reddam 1 v Reddam 2, UNSW Pool 9.45am

Reddam 2 v Reddam 1, UNSW Pool 9.45am

Reddam 3 v Reddam 4, UNSW Pool 11.00am

Reddam 4 v Reddam 3, UNSW Pool 11.00am

Touch Football

Boys:

Reddam 1 (Year 9) v Waverley 2, Queens Park No. 7 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 9:40 am

Reddam 2 (Year 9) v Waverley 1, Queens Park No. 7 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 8:50 am

Reddam 3 (Year 8) v Waverley 1, Trinity Grammar, 8:50 am. The bus will leave at 7:45 am.

Reddam 4 (Year 8) v Trinity 2, Trinity Grammar, 9:40 am. The bus will leave at 7:45 am.

Reddam 5 (Year 7) v Waverley 1, Riverview 1B, 9:30 am. The bus will leave at 8:20 am.

Girls:

Reddam 1 v KRB 2, Queens Park No. 3 (Baronga Avenue), 9:10 am

Reddam 2 v SVC 8, Queens Park No. 4 (Baronga Avenue), 11:30 am

Reddam 3 v KRB 13, Queens Park No. 3 (Baronga Avenue), 12:40 pm

Reddam 4 v Sceggs 15, Queens Park No. 1 (Baronga Avenue), 10:20am

Primary – Monday 16th October

Reddam Eagles (Year 5 and 6 Boys) v Reddam Lions, Rowland Park 7, 4.50pm

Reddam Lions (Year 5 and 6 Boys) v Redddam Eagles, Rowland Park 7, 4.50pm

Reddam Sharks (Year 5 and 6 Girls) v Reddam Cheetahs, Rowland Park 8, 4.50pm

Reddam Cheetahs (Year 5 Girls) v Reddam Sharks, Rowland Park 8, 4.50pm Reddam Taipans (Year 3 and 4) v Dashing Divas, Rowland Park 3B, 4.50pm

Reddam House

Would like to wish a very happy birthday to Benjamin Vo, Thomas Hui, Brandon Bova, Hillary Huang, Capri Reynolds, Ariana Hronis, Flynn Cheng, Regina Muhlmann, Emily Petersen and Michael Sun

Who celebrated their special day this week and over the weekend

Principal & Principal Honour Awards

Kogan & Avaleen Paffas

Principal & Principal Honour Awards

What a wonderful start to Term 4 we have had! We are so proud of the growth we have seen across Kindergarten so far this year and cannot believe that the end of the year is already upon us. It is a jampacked term ahead that is going to absolutely fly by, and we can’t wait to share it with you all!

This week during our English lessons we set our goals for Term 4 and reflected on how far we have come over the last three terms. We also spent time revising some of the key learning areas from last term, including blends, High Frequency Words, and our very first digraph (sh). Our book study this week was ‘The Proudest Blue’ by Ibtihaj Muhammad & S.K. Ali. We explored context and how we can connect the ideas in this story to our own experiences.

In Topic this week we introduced our inquiry for the term, ‘Living Things’. To kick off our learning we explored the difference between living and non-living things. We discussed the knowledge we already have about living things, and brainstormed what we would like to learn using our KWL charts. To begin to further our knowledge we took our learning outside to observe living and non-living things around the school environment.

As the weather warms up (hopefully!) and we head to the beach/pool, our understanding of water and sun safety is more important than ever. This term in Personal Development and Health we will be studying ways to stay safe in these environments.

In Mathematics we spent the week consolidating our learning from Term 3. We revised our counting strategies, exploring the idea that there are multiple ways to find the solution. We also looked at number patterns and how finding the pattern in a series of numbers can help us when we are counting, adding and subtracting.

All of the Year 1 students were excited to return to their classes this week. They shared stories of their holidays, and their family time, which was so magnificent to hear! We extended upon this by encouraging more details using prompts such as ‘who, what, where, why and when?’ in their holiday recounts in English.

This week, the students were introduced to their new integrated topic: ‘Food’. This is an exciting and broad subject that encompasses many skills across Science, and History and Geography. We shall be following food from farm to table, and exploring the history of food in Western cultures, and for the First Nations people of Australia. We will also explore the link between food and culture. The children were very excited to begin these discussions, as food is something that they all have experience with, and love!

In Mathematics we delved into place value and challenged our brains with word problems and recorded our working out correctly. In English, the students were introduced to their new text type: poetry. We defined rhyming and challenged ourselves by matching rhyming pictures. We identified the rhythmical and patterned language of storybooks and songs to be a place in which we are exposed to rhyming most often. The children were delighted to hear that our author focus this term will be Julia Donaldson. Every child in the class was familiar with at least one of her books, and many could actually recite the rhymes that they knew off by heart from some of her books. Such a great way to bring the home environment into the classroom through literacy!

In PDH we learned about bones. We discussed our skeletal system and what it does to help us. We did the ‘skeleton dance’ to get our bones up and moving, we put skeleton puzzles together in the wrong order to see what our bodies could look like, then fixed them up to connect properly. We also explored the topic through craft, by all making our own skeleton out of cotton tips! Many children connected this craft with Halloween, which is coming up, and spoke about the different types of skeletons that they have at home such as bat skeletons, which reminded us that a lot of different creatures have an internal skeleton like we do!

What an engaging first week back!

The Year Two classrooms were a hive of activity as the students returned brimming with enthusiasm for the term ahead. We were delighted to hear about the student’s adventures over the holiday break as many had ventured to places we have discussed in Geography and were keen to share their personal connections with these places.

Mathematics topics this week involved solving simple addition and subtraction problems using a range of efficient mental and written strategies, activities to describe patterns with numbers and identifying missing elements were challenging and fun. The students also showed their creative skills by describing and drawing two-dimensional shapes and making these into symmetrical patterns.

English grammar lessons this week reviewed the use of commas in lists. This term we will focus on consolidating the structure of a narrative. This will be supported by utilising elements from the seven steps for writing success.

The focus for Geography lessons involved identifying numerous significant sites throughout Australia and indicating if they were natural or man-made as well as locating the state where they are situated. The students were very keen to embark on their learning journey in Science this term. We will observe the features of living things as well as discuss various cycles in our world. We are particularly looking forward to the “Annie” production which provides opportunities to collaborate with our peers across the Year 2 cohort.

Welcome back, Year 3!

There was a buzz of renewed energy and excitement in every classroom this week, with the students sharing many tales of grand adventures that had occurred during the school holidays and a curiosity about what the term ahead held in store.

Year 3 jumped straight back into the swing of things, exploring the importance of sleep, a healthy diet and an active lifestyle while discussi ng what ‘A Healthy Me’ looks like in PDH. Students were able to share some stories from their holidays, which demonstrated the importance of gaining a balance between physical, emotional, and social health.

In English, the students were introduced to their Term 4 text type, ‘Diary Writing’. They explored how a diary is a written record of how someone feels on a daily basis, including their feelings, thoughts, hopes and fears. The Year 3s had the opportunity to study an example piece called ‘The Soccer Match’ and identified figurative, descriptive and emotive language.

In Geography and Science, the students were eager to pick up from where they left off last term, completing an Australian Tourism brochure on a place of their choice and continuing their understanding of living and non-living things. Finally, in Maths, Year 3 were introduced to their new unit: Decimals. The students were able to relate decimals to their everyday experiences of using money, weight and time. They labelled the place values of ‘tenths’ and ‘hundredths’ and eagerly shared their Term 3 knowledge on Fractions to help explain parts of a whole.

The Year 4 teachers would like to extend a huge welcome back to all students for our final term of year. It was brilliant to witness the enthusiasm of the students as we delved straight into our learning units for this term.

In Science, students began to investigate ‘Fabulous Forces’. Did you know that forces are all around us? They help us interact and navigate the world. The reason why we can push, pull and twist our bodies is because of forces. For example, if you dropped a hammer and feather from the exact same height, at the exact same time, which would fall to the ground first? Do you think the result would be the same in a place with limited forces (for example – on the moon)? This is what Year 4 will investigate throughout our unit.

To commence our Geography unit, Year 4 looked at “The Earth’s Environment”. In this unit of study, Year 4 will use geographical tools such as infographics and charts to understand how we can better care for our world. This unit will allow us to investigate and explore how we can leave a better world for the next generation.

Finally, in P.D.H. students will look at “Making Friends”. This unit of study will encourage students to ask, “what makes a good friend?”. They will also have to look inward and see how they can improve their friendship skills, to ensure the interactions they share with one another are as amiable as possible.

YEAR 5 ENGLISH

Year 5

This week, Year 5 continued to explore themes of family, responsibility, leadership, captivity and freedom, through reading and examining Katherine Applegate’s “The One and Only Ivan”. Students analysed the way language is used to create and develop characters, particularly through descriptive and figurative language devices. They applied this knowledge, along with spelling and language conventions learnt during the year, to produce their own extended analytical responses.

Well done, Year 5, on a successful week.

YEAR 6 ENGLISH

Year 6

This term, students in Year 6 are analysing the much-loved Australian film, "Red Dog". Firstly, they studied the social and historical context of the film. Next, they watched it and analysed the themes that were developed. Finally, they began to identify, explain and analyse the cinematic techniques that "Red Dog" uses to manipulate meaning.

The students learned that Red Dog was unarguably part of the community, and that community spirit is vital. Well done, Year 6, for engaging with the film.

YEAR 5 & 6 PUBLIC SPEAKING

Welcome back to Public Speaking, to all Year 5. This term’s work will be swift and exciting as students continue work on their film pitch presentations, begun in the final weeks of Term 3. Students have paired up and are developing ideas for turning a book or story into a feature film. In Week 3, they will begin presenting to the class, trying to convince the Reddam Film Production Executive (that’s me…) to give them bucket loads of money to develop their ideas to the next stage. I am certain they will come up with some great film possibilities…. And one day perhaps will take their magnificent cinematic imaginations into the real world of film finance and production.

Year 5 had an exciting start to the term, with a recap of three-dimensional solids. They proved Euler’s Theory, connecting the numbers of faces, edges, and vertices of polyhedrons. Mathematicians investigated the 5 Platonic Solids to discover what makes them so special. They learned that these five geometric solids have faces that are all identical, regular polygons meeting at the same threedimensional angles. Students looked at the nets of the Platonic Solids and spent time constructing them. They proved Euler’s Theory as every time they added the total amount of faces to the total amount of vertices and subtracted two, they found the number of edges. Thomas Mawer cleverly folded paper to form a tetrahedron and an octahedron. Mark Bradburn adeptly constructed an icosahedron while Eva Herson skilfully formed a dodecahedron.

Year 6s spent time drawing three dimensional solids and their nets. They were challenged to find all the different nets that fold to form a cube. Furthermore, students calculated the surface area of cuboids and triangular prisms. They drew on their previous understanding of the area of rectangles and triangles. Once this was completed, students drew the front side and top views of a variety of solids and expertly copied 3D solids on isometric dot paper.

In Science this week, Year 5 began their new topic of Earth and Space. Year 5 will be focusing on the solar system particularly this term. To begin this topic students watched a short video which gave a comparison of how small Earth really is when compared to the rest of the universe. Students then proceeded to study planet Earth, learning a range of facts and different qualities about it.

In Science this week, Year 6 students also began their new topic of Earth and Space. Year 6 students will be focusing on natural disasters this term and began their first lesson by watching a video on some of the biggest natural disasters around the world. Following this, students discovered what is really beneath their feet. Students studied the different layers of planet Earth, learning multiple facts about each layer, why each layer operates as it does and how the layers impact Earth.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE

We are very excited for the term ahead in the Music Department. Our individual lessons and ensembles resumed this week, and we have some very full assemblies planned to feature a number of our performing ensembles. In Week 4, we hold this term's major recital, the Spring Recital (see below for entry information), and many of our musicians are looking forward to the K-2 production of Annie KIDS and the full-school Holiday Celebration in Week 7.

Spring Recital

Entries for submissions are now open for our Term 4 Spring Recital and close on Monday. If you have a chamber work, band performance or similar collaborative piece that is of a high standard that you'd like to include, please make a submission via the form linked here. We will endeavour to find alternate performances such as assemblies for those submissions that we do not manage to fit on the Spring Recital evening.

Year 3-4 String Ensemble

The Year 3-4 String Ensemble started the term with aplomb, sight reading through the new piece of the term 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'. This traditional piece has beautiful harmonies and needs a warm and full tone from the string players to bring out its colour. Students worked hard on listening carefully to their individual sections in order to keep in time and in tune. The Year 3 and 4 students also revised 'My Favourite Things' from last term, and worked on keeping half an eye on their music, as well as half on eye on the conductor in order to stay in time as an ensemble. They look forward to their upcoming assembly performance during Term 4!

Primary School Musicianship

The Primary musicianship tutorial, which runs on a Monday afternoon from 3:30pm, has grown into a large class of dedicated students learning the fine mechanics that underscore the playing skills they learn in their instrumental lessons. Last term saw two students complete their First Grade studies, which we are so proud of! We also have someone very near to completing their Second Grade studies. I’m happy to report that everyone that attends this tutorial is very confident with the term "anacrusis," as whenever it comes up, it stirs up a rousing rendition of our national anthem, which starts with, of course, an anacrusis. At such a young age, to be this musically advanced, is not only impressive but it allows for a deeper musical understanding, provides confidence to read music and play more accurately in the first few attempts, and hopefully to listen with a more discerning ear. The class also gives a small performance opportunity towards the end of the session. We usually hear in-progress pieces on various instruments. Unexpectedly, but not unwelcome, there is a small tradition emerging for improvised pieces as well, which are entertaining but also showing increased complexity, making a very proud teacher of Mr Barton.

MUSIC

In Music, we jumped straight back into some really fun activities this week. In Kindergarten the students learned about beat and used a range of movement activities to help them feel a consistent beat that remains the same even while pitch or rhythm changes. The students also continued to develop their understanding of the solfa pitches Mi, So and La through the Orff melody ‘Mill Song’. First, the students used their heads, shoulders and waists to show the three different pitches. Then, they used the Curwen hand signs for each pitch and finally the students learned to play the melody on the xylophone.

In Year 4 the students began learning the song ‘Zumba Zumba’, which they sang and then learned on the xylophone.

ANNIE KIDS REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

Date Time

Monday 17/10 3:00 –5.00pm

Who (Characters)

Molly, Pepper, Duffy, July, Tessie, Annie, Kate, Bundles & Miss Hannigan

What Where

Script Pages 113 Adelaide Hall

Tuesday 18/10 3:00 –5.00pm

Apple Seller, Annie, LT. Ward, Tessie, Miss Hannigan, Grace, Rooster & Lily

Wednesday 19/10 3:00 –5.00pm

Thursday 20/10

3:00 –5.00pm

Annie, Mis Hannigan, Rooster, Lily & Warbucks

Script Pages 1324 Adelaide Hall

All Music Adelaide Hall

Healy, Warbucks, Annie, Duffy, Pepper, Tessie, Grace, Rooster, Lily, Roosevelt, Drake,

Script Pages 3243 Adelaide Hall

Friday 21/10 2:15 –4.00pm

Saturday 22/10

Sunday 23/10

No Rehearsal

No Rehearsal

Drake, Grace, Annie, Warbucks, Usherette & Grumpy Man

Script Pages 2432 Adelaide Hall