Reddam House Primary School Newsletter Vol 23 Issue 5

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The Swimming Carnival yesterday perfectly epitomised the busy week, as the Primary school came together to have a whole lot of fun. The noise levels soared, as the students cheered on their peers, and the bright colours added to the exuberance of the event. The Year 6 leaders exhorted their Houses to everlouder cheering, which spurred on the swimmers to give their all.

It really was a very special time of coming together for a common purpose – for each competitor to do their very best, and to contribute to their House’s points tally. The competition was fierce, as the swimmers pushed themselves, although sometimes it seemed that the competition for who could cheer the loudest was even more intense! All in all, it was a wonderful day and a reminder of why such

mass participation events play such an important role on the school calendar. We look forward to the Cross Country Carnival later in the term, and then the Athletics Carnival further on in the year.

While such events inevitably cause us to notice the whole – a mass of similarly coloured supporters of one House, or the combination of all who make up the Primary School – one of the most special aspects of Reddam House is the focus on the individual. Each student matters, and we are constantly reminded that each student arrives at school every day with his or her own perspective on the world, a unique family environment, and very special talents, abilities and interests.

As such, I am always on the lookout for articles which refocus our attention on the individual. One such article recently caught my eye, as it was a reminder of how special the ‘tween’ years are, and how we should make the most of the opportunities which present themselves during these years to engage with our children. So much attention is paid to the teen years, with countless articles being written about the challenges of being a teenager and how best parents and teachers can help teens to cope with the over-overwhelming changes taking place during those years.

However, as the above-mentioned article reminds us, the tween years – those years between early childhood and adolescence – are a time rich in possibility, especially for parents and teachers to interact with and guide children. Research has shown that during these years, significant adults in a child’s life play an incredibly important role, as children look to them for direction far more than they might rely on their friends and other individuals.

This is thus the best time for establishing practices which will run over into the teen years.

Having a solid foundation, based on open dialogue, trust and belief in the child, is an incredibly important part of ensuring that the teen years are as smooth as possible. As the article mentions, “Maintaining strong, open and twoway communication with your tween is vital. Your ability to model cool negotiation and constructive conflict management will be pivotal in helping your tween and future young adult do the same.”

Krishna Inder had a very successful weekend at the NSW State Surf Life Saving Championships. He won gold in both the U12 male beach sprint and beach flags, and a silver in U12 male beach relay. The dual golds on the beach were an especial highlight and this was his fourth consecutive gold in the beach flags. Congratulations on these fantastic results, Krishna.

Spencer Jordan-Booth also excelled at the NSW State Nippers Championship over the weekend, taking the bronze in the U13 mixed relay, silver in the U12 mixed relay, with Mimi Tolnay, and gold in the U12 boys relay, for the fourth year in a row.

Ella Jelicic, in Year 6, represented ASISSA at the CIS Tennis Trials. Ella had a fantastic day of matchplay, making it to the Top 10 and into the playoffs. Well done, Ella, on representing Reddam proudly!

Millie Price, in Year 5, had an incredibly exciting Wednesday, as she joined renowned entertainer, Paulini, to do a live performance for The Morning Show on Channel 7. All of this was part of a media promotion for Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, which is on at the Capitol Theatre at the moment.

What an amazing opportunity for Millie and we are sure that she is loving every minute of this very professional and memorable production, which I was thrilled to experience for myself on Wednesday evening.

In addition to the Swimming Carnival, this week also had another highlight for the Year 1s, as they had a thoroughly good time visiting Taronga Zoo for their excursion on Wednesday. As is evident in the Year 1 report below, they learned plenty and came back to school full of amazement regarding the natural environment.

Next week will see the Year 3 and 5 students putting on their thinking caps, as they are challenged during their Allwell testing. These tests focus on abstract reasoning, problem solving, writing and comprehension skills, along with mathematical ability, and are an excellent tool for our students to measure themselves against others of their age across Australia and internationally. They also help us to ensure that

we constantly benchmark ourselves as a school against the best elsewhere. We are confident that they will show off all that they have learned, and we wish our students well. On Sunday next week, the scholarship exams will be written, and we know that all sitting these will also give of their very best to reveal their potential and hard work.

Have a happy weekend!

Dee Pitcairn Principal

Reddam House Swimming Carnival

Principal Awards

Willa Gellert, Amelia Marshall-Jones, Georgia Argyou,Vincent Yu, Michael Rodov, Willem Stewart, Tang Guoer, Lucia Perczuk

Event Description

Date Event

Date Event

Principal Honour Awards

Eli Levin, Luca Aharonson, Ayden Mtanios, Evan Butler

Reddam House

Would like to wish a very

Happy Birthday

to

Lily Bortolotti, Callum Chai, Mana Nagasawa, Coco Tagand, Dominic Miziner, Timothy Wang, Scarlett Karlsson, Hugo Sofair, James Plaskett, Jonathon Kaspar, Scarlett Shapiro, Luca Ip, Jacob Lay, Alon Olovitz, Ava Kay

Who celebrated their special day this week and over the weekend

Swimming Carnival Results

Sport Fixtures

4th March 2023

Friday 3rd March - Comets - Comets | Perry Park | Alexandria - 53 Maddox St Girls

U16s SPARKS vs Inner City Allstars 5:15pm Ct 1

U16s MYSTICS vs KHY Astronauts 4:30pm Ct 1

U18s SUNS vs SGHS Scholar Sportswomen 4:30pm Ct 2

U18s DIAMONDS vs Inner City Ravens 5:15pm Ct 2

Saturday 4th March - Comets | Perry Park | Alexandria - 53 Maddox St

Girls

U12s STORM vs Inner City Sapphires 1pm Comets Ct 2

U14s TIMBERWOLVES vs Inner City Magic 1:50pm Comets Ct 1

U14 FLAMES vs Sydney HoopStars Panthers 1:50pm Comets Ct 2

Boys

U16s WARRIORS vs Newtown Sharks 5:10pm Comets Ct 1

U18s HEAT vs Newtown Pistons 6pm Comets Ct 2

Saturday 4th March PCYC (Marrickville) 531 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville U16s ROCKETS vs Reddam Thunder 5:15pm Ct 3 MPCYC

U16s THUNDER vs Reddam Rockets 5:15pm Ct 3 MPCYC

U18s GRIZZLIES vs MVP Cheetahs 1:30pm Ct 1 MPCYC

U18s MAGIC vs Newtown Greyhounds 6pm MPCYC

Sunday 5th March - Comets | Perry Park | Alexandria - 53 Maddox St

Girls

U10s BOOMERS vs All Blacks 8am Comets Ct 1

Boys

U10s LAKERS vs Newtown Panthers 8:50am Comets Ct 2

U12s BUCKS vs Newtown Power 10:30am Comets Ct 2

U12s RAPTORS vs Sydney HoopStars 10:30am Comets Ct 1

U12s CAVALIERS vs BYE

U12s HORNETS vs Sydney HoopStars Adders 11:20am Comets Ct 1

U14s BULLS vs BYE

U14s MAVERICKS vs Sydney HoopStars 2:40pm Comets Ct 2

U14s PACERS vs Sydney HoopStars Kingsnakes 1:50pm Comets Ct 1

U14s NUGGETS vs BYE

U16s JAZZ vs Newtown Blazers 3:30pm Comets Ct 1

U16s NETS vs Newtown Rhinos 2:40pm Comets Ct 1 BOYS

Opens v Shore, Shore Pool 9:30am

16s v St Augustines, Shore Pool 1:10pm 13s v Shore, Shore Pool 10:15am

Primary v Waverley, Scots Pool 9:30am

GIRLS

Opens v Barker, Pymble Pool, 8:45am

Reddam 1 v Reddam 2, UNSW Pool 9:15am

Reddam 2 v Reddam 1, UNSW Pool 9:15am

Reddam 3 v KRB, UNSW Pool 10:45am

Reddam 4 v KRB, UNSW Pool 11:15am

Touch Football

Boys:

Reddam 1 (Year 10/11) v Trinity 1, Queens Park No. 7 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 8:50 am

Reddam 2 (Year 10/11) v Waverley Opens 2, Queens Park No. 6 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 8:00 am

Reddam 3 (Year 9) v Trinity 1, Queens Park No. 6, adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 10:30 amthis round will be a 3 way rotation

Reddam 4 (Year 8) v Trinity 1, Trinity Grammar, 8:50 am. The bus will leave at 7:40 am.

Reddam 5 (Year 7) v Waverley 3, Riverview 1B, 11:10 am. The bus will leave at 10:00am

Girls:

Reddam 1 v Loreto 3, Queens Park No. 4 (Baronga Avenue), 10:20 am

Reddam 2 v Loreto 5, Queens Park No. 4 (Baronga Avenue), 12:10 pm

Reddam 3 v Schols 4, Queens Park No. 1 (Baronga Avenue), 10:55 am

Reddam 4 v SVC 13, Queens Park No. 14 (Darley Road near playground), 11:35 am

Reddam 5 v Sceggs 14, Reservoir Field No. 4 (Oxford St), 8:35 am

Tennis

Reddam 1 v St Pius, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 10.00am

Reddam 2 v St Pius, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 10.00am

Reddam 3 v Cammeraygal, Roseville Park 10.00am

Reddam 4 v Redlands, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 10.00am

Reddam 5 v Redlands, Cammeray Tennis Club 8.00am

Reddam 6 v St Pius, Talus Street Courts 8.00am

Reddam 7 v Redlands, Cammeray Tennis Club 8.00am

Reddam 8 v St Pius, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 8.00am

Sport Results

Basketball

Friday - Comets 24th Feb - Comets | Perry Park | Alexandria - 53 Maddox St

Girls

U16s SPARKS vs Inner City Gems 18 - 40

U16s MYSTICS vs Inner City Jazz 32 - 26

U18s SUNS vs RBSC Rebels 25 - 29

U18s DIAMONDS vs All Blacks 23 - 34

Saturday 25th - Comets | Perry Park | Alexandria - 53 Maddox St

Girls

U10s BOOMERS vs Inner City Cupcakes 16 - 24

U12s STORM vs Inner City Flames 18 - 4

U14s TIMBERWOLVES vs Sydney HoopStar Panthers 22 - 21

U14 FLAMES vs Inner City Magic 37 - 4

Boys

U10s LAKERS vs Sydney HoopStars 15 - 9

U12s BUCKS vs Reddam Raptors 41 - 7

U12s RAPTORS vs Reddam Bucks 7 - 41

U12s CAVALIERS vs BYE

U12s HORNETS vs Sydney HoopStars Moccasins 14 - 12

U14s BULLS vs Sydney HoopStars Coyotes 7 - 29

U14s MAVERICKS vs BYE

U14s PACERS vs Inner City Thunder 13 - 21

U14s NUGGETS vs Maccabi Grizzlies 20 - 0

U16s JAZZ vs BYE

U16s WARRIORS vs Maccabi Cavaliers 73 - 29

U16s NETS vs Newtown Hawks 69 - 20

U18s HEAT vs White eagles B 22 - 17

PCYC (Marrickville) 531 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville

U16s ROCKETS vs Newtown Jazz 3 - 42

U16s THUNDER vs Maccabi Hornets 4 - 45

U18s GRIZZLIES vs Newtown Giants 41 - 28

U18s MAGIC vs Road Runner Black 36 - 27

Water Polo

BOYS

Opens v St Augustines, 11-4 16s v Newington, 7-4

13s v Waverley, 6-5

Primary v Scots, 2-10

GIRLS

Opens v Pymble, 16-0

Reddam 1 v SACS, 4-7

Reddam 2 v SGHS, 4-2

Reddam 3 v KRB, 10-0

Reddam 4 v KRB 3, 10-1

Sport Results

Netball

Reddam 21 v Rose Bay Secondary 8

Cricket

Reddam Rabbits 11/117 RJCC Sixers 11/117

Reddam Roos 157 SSMCJCC U10 Mixed Taipans 157 Reddam Rhinos 5/180 RJCC Thunder 3/145

Touch Football

Boys:

Reddam 1 (Year 10/11) v Waverley 1, 15 - 2 Reddam 2 (Year 10/11) v Riverview 1, 4 - 9 Reddam 3 (Year 9) v Waverley 1, 5 - 3 Reddam 4 (Year 8) v Trinity 1, 5 - 5

Reddam 5 (Year 7) v Waverley 2, 3 - 4

Girls:

Reddam 1 v Kambala 2, 3 - 7 1bn1Reddam 2 v Ascham 4, 3 - 4

Reddam 3 v St Caths 7, 7 - 4

Reddam 4 v Loreto 15, 3 - 3

Reddam 5 v Loreto 16, 0 - 0 Reddam

Tennis

Kindergarten

Week five of Kindergarten was such a thrill. We were fortunate enough to participate in our very first Reddam House Swimming Carnival this week. It was so exciting to wear our house colours for the first time, cheer for our classmates and race in the 12.5m and 25m competitions.

We introduced three new sounds in English this week, /o/, /c/ and /k/. We learned the sounds these letters make; words that have these sounds as the beginning, middle or end sound; and we worked on learning how to write these letters in our handwriting books. We also introduced our second set of ‘Heart Words’ and took readers home for the first time! We hope you are enjoying reading with us at home.

In Topic this week we discussed where in the world we all come from! We looked at a world map to see where different countries are in relation to us. We explored heritage stories of our own families and others, languages we speak, and traditions we share.

Mathematics was full of adventure this week as we introduced 2D shapes. We went on a shape hunt in the playground, categorised different objects into their shape groups and discussed the properties of circles, ovals, triangles, squares, and rectangles.

Year 1

This week was full of wonderful experiences. On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to enjoy a day at the iconic Taronga Zoo where we encountered a number of wonderful animals up close. The students respect for the land on which the zoo was built, listened to some Dreamtime stories, and learnt some cool facts about how animals use their senses in order to survive and stay safe.

On Thursday, Year 1 ventured to the Swimming Carnival in Drummoyne, where each child was given the opportunity to swim at their own level. Having support from the stands was invigorating for the students as they began to understand the concept of ‘team spirit’.

In English, the students wrote recounts. Due to the wealth of experiences this week, they were able to compose such texts with relative ease. The importance of using time connectives such as first, then, after, finally within their work helped them plan their ideas.

In Mathematics we continued to work on combining and separating within number and algebra. The focus was on separating an amount by subtracting. We used concrete materials, number lines and interactive games to deepen our understanding of the concept.

In History and Geography, we looked at how families functioned and what they looked like in the past by exploring the roles that different family members played, and how they differ now. We shared the duties of household members in our own houses today and were surprised by the differences in just our class, compared to set roles in the past.

Year 2

This week was a busy one for our wonderful Year 2 students, and this is an update on what they have been learning in class.

In English, the students explored the features of information reports, with an emphasis on green sea turtles and kangaroos. We identified the structure of reports and highlighted key features such as separate paragraphs for subheadings and the importance of a topic sentence. Additionally, the students are currently immersed in our novel study, "Lost," and making connections to our History unit. This involves the students comparing homes from the past and present and exploring the effects of technology.

In Science, the students observed the usefulness of particular materials and their properties, and we are looking forward to designing homes and testing structures in the coming weeks.

In Mathematics, the students worked on number bonds and partitioning. They also used the language of chance and probability, as well as improving their multiplication skills.

We are so proud of the students’ participation in the Swimming Carnival, and we were very impressed with their efforts. It was fantastic to observe the children demonstrating the important values of being a good sport, including perseverance, respect, and teamwork. They had such a great time and achieved some fantastic results.

Year 3

In English this term, the students have been getting stuck into their English grammar. They have recapped on different parts of speech, including common nouns, proper nouns, pronouns and all of the crazy collective nouns. Did you know that a group of musicians is called an orchestra and that a group of dolphins is called a pod?

We have also looked at figurative language, such as similes: he was as quiet as a mouse, the teacher was as busy as a bee; and we have made several other comparisons using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. To add to the fun, we have learnt about words that imitate the sounds associated with an object or action. These words are obviously onomatopoeias. Bang, crash, pow!!!

Other descriptive techniques that the Year 3 students have been keenly learning about include the use of adjectives. Adjectives describe nouns, and what fun we had using a description to decorate a gingerbread man. Yummy! In fact, it was so descriptive that it almost made our mouths water. To add to this, we learnt about the power of three. The power of three is when we put three adjectives in a row before a noun to enhance our writing. The yellow, bright, shining sun shone in the blue, cloudless, breezy sky.

To top it all off, the Year 3s worked tirelessly to apply this grammatical knowledge to their persuasive writing, using similes, onomatopoeias and adjectives to interest their reader and argue their point of view. One might even say that our hard-working, eager, motivated students worked like trojans to smash their English work. Way to go Year 3!

Year 4

Sun, smiles and swimming! That was the order of the day for Week 5 at Reddam House. The Year 4 students’ energy and enthusiasm was unstoppable this week, as they totally immersed themselves in their house spirit. Each school house, Bondi, Bronte and Coogee, sang loudly and proudly as they cheered on their team members in the pool, in the hope of being the Swimming Carnival champions.

The Drummoyne Swimming Centre was the perfect destination. Mr Tom Cooper and Phil Cable facilitated a wonderful display of what the Reddam students can do in the pool. Having the whole Primary cohort attend the event, only added to the excitement and enjoyment of the day.

The Year 4 teachers were so very proud of the camaraderie and sportspersonship demonstrated by the talented year group. Congratulations to you all for your successes on the day.

News from the classroom is that the Year 4 students have successfully begun trialling and developing their ICT and publishing skills, using their devices. The devices were used for specific learning purposes during lessons, such as online spelling tests, mathematics tutorials and quizzes and media art projects. The students demonstrated a mature and a sensible approach whilst working on this digital platform. Thank you and keep it up, Year 4.

Year 5/6 English

Year 5

This week, Year 5 students completed their writing assessment, producing highly convincing and compelling arguments about why we should, or should not, colonise the moon! Students then shifted their focus to a more creative outlet, exploring the elements of narratives and descriptive writing. Year 5 practised how to create vivid and entertaining descriptions that would captivate the reader, through sensory, figurative and descriptive language. Year 5 students also continue to develop their understanding of language conventions, further reinforcing their ability to create cohesive written texts.

Year 6

Year 6 has thoroughly enjoyed reading, acting, and analysing the structural and language features of plays and poems so far this term. This week, Year 6 students also read the short story titled, ‘We Live On, In Story’ by Karyn Wyld. The story centres around themes of belonging and connection to land.

Students will use this story, amongst others, to inspire their own creative writing about a place they feel connected to. Year 6 were also busy revising and refining their knowledge of language conventions, focussing on punctuation and spelling.

The following extract is by Angelique HertzDyon, who was inspired to write about a place she felt connected to, following our exploration of belonging to a place.

Bondi

The sand between my toes, The polar water washing over me, The salty breeze brushing my hair, My smile widens.

Inhale. Exhale. I smell the salt and sand in the air, I hear the wish and wash of the endless waves, I feel free, Alive, Home.

Year 5/6 Maths

Year 5 mathematicians used mental strategies to multiply and divide numbers by powers of 10 and their multiples. They also applied estimation and rounding to check the reasonableness of answers to multiplication and division calculations. They questioned whether using mental strategies or calculators to multiply and divide by base ten numbers is more appropriate.

Students also investigated square numbers and discussed that they are called squares. They squared a number by multiplying it by itself and reasoned that they are called "SQUARE NUMBERS" because they model the area of a square. Eli Levin explained, “When you multiply a number times itself, you are calculating the area of a square with a side length equal to that number.”

Year 6 students used the inverse operation of squaring and cubing and found numbers’ square and cube roots. They discussed perfect squares, and some adventurous mathematicians investigated Pythagoras’ Theorem, particularly Pythagorean Triads. Students made good guesses of approximate square roots by comparing two perfect squares. They used their scientific calculators, calculated the square roots of non-perfect squares, and corrected these to 2 decimal places.

Year 5/6 Science

This week in Science, Year 5 and 6 students received feedback on their latest Science cycle test. It is important that students receive this feedback as it highlights to them where they gained and lost marks. It also shows students how to answer exam style questions correctly in order to score full marks in future tests.

In Year 5's second Science lesson of the week, students studied the differences between chemical and physical changes. Students learnt how to identify each type of change from a number of characteristics each change produces. Students also used their knowledge of chemical and physical changes to answer a 3 mark exam style question. This practice will aid students in answering exam style questions in upcoming exams.

In Year 6's second lesson of the week, students studied how to calculate how many protons, electrons and neutrons each of the first 20 elements contains. These differences are what make each element unique, as each element is organised on the periodic table depending on its chemical and physical properties.

In Science Club, students learnt all about air resistance. Students were challenged to design and build a device that could hold a weight and lower it to the floor safely when dropped from a height. Students quickly realised that the larger the surface area the more air resistance that could be generated and the slower the attached weight would travel.

Music Performance

As we reach the halfway point of the term, all ensemble rehearsals are in full swing and students have selected from a wide range of voluntary ensembles to join. Some groups are already preparing for performances at the end of this term, whilst others are preparing repertoire for next term's trips to the Sydney Eisteddfod. Our assemblies for the term are also filled with wonderful performances, with students always welcome to contact the music department if they have pieces that need a performance opportunity!

Year 5-6 Piano Duets

The first few weeks of the term saw the Year 5 and 6 students meeting their duet partners and revising the rules and routines in our class. They quickly learned that duet playing is all about listening to the other pianist and understanding how to work together as a team. This term, we are focusing on the classical repertoire of piano duets, including pieces from renowned composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and more. The students are eagerly diving into the challenging works, with each pair practising hard to perfect their parts. One of the best things about this class is how much fun the students are having! Just imagine two friends sitting down at the piano, their fingers moving over the keys as they play a beautiful piece together. One person is playing the melody, while the other is adding the harmony and creating a rich, full sound. They're smiling and nodding at each other, and you can see that they really enjoy learning new pieces together. We can't wait to see the students shine and show off all their hard work and dedication at the earliest opportunity.

Year 3-4 Concert Band

The Year 3-4 Concert Band has had a great start to the year! There is a mixture of players, including some who are brand new to their instrument, and those who are a little more experienced. This combination is resulting in a great group learning environment where the more experienced players are helping Miss Eckardt and Mr Kempton to give the "newbies" a helping hand in navigating the first hurdles of learning an instrument and playing together as a group. The teachers are very excited to see this band develop throughout the year as well as to watch them perform for their family and friends.

Music

It was a really enjoyable week of Music classes across all of the Primary year groups. In particular, Year 3 and 4 loved performing their songs on the xylophones. After learning their pieces thoroughly through the use of hand signs, solfa and notation, moving onto the xylophones went very smoothly. Both year groups were able to play their songs confidently, which meant that we could focus heavily on using correct mallet technique. Year 3 made ‘Dinah’ sound great and Year 4 even added a bass xylophone accompaniment to their version of ‘Rocky Mountain’.

The K-2 music students also enjoyed their Music classes this week, with Year 2 particularly enjoying playing the ‘Lucy Locket’ game in which selected students had to identify who was holding the ‘locket’ after passing it around the circle