Newsletter 2022 – Term 2

Assalamu Alaikum

This semester the Year 1 students were encouraged to develop their news telling and Oral Language skills. The students presented by preparing their presentation on paper or a PowerPoint. The Oral skills included speaking clearly, using appropriate body language, using complete sentences, and showing confidence when speaking to the teacher and peers.

Thank you to parents who assisted their children by making them practice their talk at home before presenting at school. The children showed photos, drawings, or other relevant materials including PowerPoints to make their presentations more interesting.

The Year 1’s were thrilled to begin an exciting year exploring the amazing world of mathematics through hands-on learning, interactive activities, and engaging discussions. They learned to develop their Number Sense by using a variety of strategies to add and subtract within 20. The Year 1 students enhanced their understanding and knowledge of 2-digit place value and skip counting including 2D/3D shapes.

The Year 1 students explored changes that occurred in the sky and weather patterns. This included identifying the different features of the sky and how they change on a daily, weekly, and with each new season.

This semester, the Year 1 students were encouraged to use strategies to improve and edit their writing to make it more interesting for the reader. They also focused on identifying and spelling digraphs within words.

This term, the Year 1’s were happy to welcome a group of coaches from the SANFL Multicultural Team. The coaches worked with the year 1 students in their different clinics and gave them a taste of what to expect in AUSKICK. Two of the coaches were specifically appointed to work with AIC Adelaide school off the back of the Bachar Houli Cup success.

Year 1 students participate in Social & Emotional Awareness lessons. Social and Emotional Learning is about learning how to manage feelings, manage friendships and solve problems. We continue to focus on strategies that they can draw upon to combat any difficulties that they may experience. We will examine how making positive choices can build positive relationships with others.

We would like to impress the importance of regular reading at home. To gain fluency it is vital that children read every day. We ensure that students have a range of opportunities to read at school, in different group settings, and in different curriculum areas. However, it is still important for children to read aloud at home for 10 – 15 minutes each day. Reading aloud to an audience is different from reading silently to yourself because it requires clear articulation, fluency, comprehension, and expression.

Thank you to the students and parents for the excellent attendance shown this semester. It has been a delight to see the students who are punctual to school by coming at 8:30 am. Regular attendance and punctuality are important for the continuity of our programs and for the student’s learning at school.

We look forward to diving into Term 3’s learning with our students. We encourage parents to speak to us if they have any queries about their child at school. Please make an appointment at the front office.

Wassalam

Mrs. Fernandez and Mrs. Panos
Year 1 Teachers

Assalam Alaikum

I hope your Eid celebrations were fulfilling and joyous. This year’s Eid happened at the beginning of Term 2. Since Ramadan began at the end of Term 1, we started making our classroom decorations then and finished them after the holidays. The children really enjoyed their craft activities. Happily, 2A was awarded the prize for best decorated classroom.

Most of the year 2’s participated in the Quran Competition. It was so good to see young children succeeding in their recitation with such confidence. May Allah bless them for their faithfulness!
This term our projects have ranged from making your own smoothie and fairy bread, to making a tree collage for our classroom and working in the garden. These hands-on activities are big favorites with the students.

During week 6, some interesting visitors came to see us! Sitting in a circle, we were fascinated to be able to hold the animals and pass them around with their trainer supervising. The animals that came were a lizard, a snake, a young crocodile, two possums, a scorpion, a rabbit, and a tawny frogmouth bird. Everyone’s favourite was the soft rabbit. The children were thrilled to be in such close contact with these animals, with the protective guidance of the trainer.

Wishing everyone happy holidays and looking forward to seeing you next term, Inshallah!

Wassalam

Ms Safi, Mrs Gilbert and Mrs Hana

Assalamu Alaikum,

Term 2 started exquisitely with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. The year 3 class did an incredible job decorating the classroom for Ramadan and Eid with their creative and inspiring artwork. Mashallah they did so well that 3B won the award for one of the best decorated classrooms. YAY!

During week 2, the year 3s sat the NAPLAN test for the first time, covering Literacy and Numeracy. It was incredible to see how determined students were to succeed. Well done to the year 3s for successfully completing it! In science, students have been learning about the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. They were very excited to learn that some substances, such as water, can change states depending on temperature. Furthermore, for HASS we have been learning about Australia’s first people; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. Students had a lot of fun researching about the many aspects of Aboriginal culture.

In P.E, students have been learning to play football and we have been lucky enough to have Auskick coaching this term, which the year 3s have been thoroughly enjoying. Among other things, students also participated in the yearly Quran competition. It was incredible to see our students recite the Quran in such a beautiful and heartfelt manner Mashallah! May Allah reward them for their participation and all their efforts.

Wishing you all a safe and happy term break and looking forward to seeing you again in term 3 Inshallah!

Wassalam

Miss Zulfic and Miss Ayah

Assalamu Alaikum Parents/Guardians

It has been a wonderful blessing this term towards a smoother transition into academics Alhamdulillah. Year 4A has shown consistent dedication and a renewed interest to write more in Term 2. I look forward to their consistent effort next term and pray that they benefit from it always.

In grammar this term, our goals were to enhance sentence structure and punctuation. Students focused on differentiating between common nouns and proper nouns and how to accurately use them during writing. A lot of emphasis has been placed on using pronouns and adjectives to add details in writing. We are exploring a lot of adjectives and synonyms using a thesaurus which Year 4A students have identified as part of their learning goals in class. Spelling has also been integrated into these learning goals where students follow rules and patterns to remember how to spell a word and understand its meaning to use in writing.

Using the writing program Seven Steps, students have gained a lot of confidence in enhancing their ideas and vocabulary used to add details required in narrative writing. Students are enjoying the one minute challenges involved in brainstorming ideas for structuring their narrative texts in relation to Sizzling Starts, Tightening Tension using Five Sense + 1 and Exciting Endings.

Various reading strategies have been explored which are now currently utilised in comprehension activities using various texts as well as the book in use for drama. Students are monitoring their progress in inference using Lexile according to which they are borrowing books from the library as well.

Year 4A thoroughly enjoyed Math this term and worked very hard to do various levels of challenging questions related to rounding numbers, subtraction using regrouping (column method), multiplication as well as some aspects of division. Various hands-on activities have been used to make it engaging to increase their speed and accuracy in calculations. Word problems will be our ongoing focus to establish an understanding of the math language to solve more complex problems.

For Design and Technology this term, students had to investigate, plan, design and evaluate to create a robot using recycled materials and meeting a design brief. All students thoroughly enjoyed hands on learning and designing their robot.

Over the term, in Science lessons, students learnt about ‘Natural and Processed’ materials. Students were able to conduct a number of experiments and record their observations and results. They explored various properties of materials and their common uses.

Students investigated the continents of Africa and South America in HASS. They have developed the skills and have been able to name a number of countries, cities and understand what topographical features are on a map. Students have developed a deeper understanding of Africa’s natural environment through the inquiry task conducted this term.

In Arts, students were introduced to the basic concepts in drama involving setting, dialogues, cast, stage directions, acts and scenes. Using these elements, students had to work in teams to demonstrate their skills in freeze framing and thought tracking. We are currently integrating these skills in conjunction with comprehension reading strategies to enact scenes from the book ‘Lost and Found Cat’.

This term in Health, students continued to develop their knowledge and understanding about the importance of respectful relationships. Students learnt about honesty and integrity, appreciating differences and empathy. In one particular activity, students worked in pairs to interview each other by asking questions in order to find out the similarities and differences between them. Through this activity, they learnt to appreciate each other’s differences and uniqueness and learnt that they share similar interests as well. Students also worked in pairs to produce a PowerPoint presentation that represented the topic of honesty and integrity, appreciating differences or empathy. Students needed to answer a set of questions and include pictures to represent the topic. It was fantastic to see the collaboration and teamwork between the students.

For Physical Education this term, students participate in AFL football and had a coach come in to teach them a variety of skills such as bouncing, handballing and kicking. Students thoroughly enjoyed practising and perfecting these skills with their peers and many of the students demonstrated a lot of confidence with their techniques.

Year 4A also won the Ramadan Art Decoration Competition for their fantastic artwork completed as part of their learning which was one of the highlights of our term. They are also enjoying the AFL sessions learning various techniques to further gain skills and modify them with practice.

Rumana Mazhar

Assalamu Alaikum

Term 2 has certainly been eventful for our class.  Our focus throughout the term has been to continue implementing the 4 AIC Core Values daily. As a class, we have also been learning to work together on integrity and empathy.   

The students were fortunate enough to participate in AFL football coaching this term which they thoroughly enjoyed.   

In English we are continuing to develop the students reading comprehension skills using a variety of texts.  It is imperative that all students read at home to improve their reading skills.  We appreciate parent support in this regard.

The students are also developing their writing of narratives using the Seven Steps to Writing Success.  With continued effort and practice, the students are improving their writing skills. 

In Mathematics we have focused on Number throughout the semester.  We will continue with it next term as understanding all facets of Number is critical to all mathematical learning.

For Design and Technology, students had to investigate, plan, create and design a robot using recycled materials. All students thoroughly enjoyed the hands on learning and designing of their robot.

Over the term students learnt about ‘Natural and Processed’ materials in Science. They were able to conduct a number of experiments and record their observations and results.

In HASS, students investigated the continents of Africa and South America. They were able to name a number of countries, cities and have an understanding of what topographical features are on a map. They have developed a deeper understanding of Africa’s natural environment through the inquiry task conducted this term.

Please continue to monitor your child’s homework as this forms part of student revision and reinforcement. For your child to be successful, set a homework schedule that fits in with each week’s activities.

We encourage all parents to ensure they are regularly checking Class Dojo as this forms part of our parent communication. Also, please make sure that if your child is absent, you contact the office or send a message to inform us of your child’s absence. If your child is absent for more than one day, a medical certificate is required.

We hope you all have a restful break and the students come back ready for the exciting learning we have planned in Term 3.

Carolina De Leonardis & Jay Allocca

Mayoral Make A Books were completed and taken to the Charles Sturt Library. We are very hopeful that we have a winner in our class. Students used 7 Steps to complete their narrative stories and the finished products were impressive.

Freeze frames are used in drama to make a visual picture, like a photograph, to show characters in a scene or series of scenes. Students in 5A have thoroughly enjoyed pretending they are in different scenarios, pretending to be different characters. In small groups they have created a series of freeze frames to tell a fairy tale.

This term in science, students have investigated what a solid, liquid and gas are. Students can name the properties for each matter and how different states of matter can be changed. All students achieved pleasing results in the Science Quiz!

During HASS students explored different Australian landmarks, locations of landmarks and the States of Australia. All students actively participated in class discussions and research activities.

Our New Bookshelf is now in use. Our students requested more books for their class library, but we did not have any more shelf space, so they were given the challenge of making one. With two old wooden chairs and wood from a broken shelf, they came up with a very creative and practical solution.

AFLW Crows Cup was brought to our school along with one of the 3 times premiership players from the Adelaide Crows woman’s football team. Our students were given the opportunity to hold the cup and ask questions. I do think we will have future AFLW players in our class.

Imagination Stations occurs on the last lesson Friday if all work tasks have been completed. Our students work on problem solving challenges such as Marble runs, Lego challenges and Stop motion animations. This gives out students a chance to explore their creativity as well as using their problem-solving skills. This has certainly been a great incentive for completing all school and homework tasks.

PAT tests have now been completed. Our strengths have certainly been in Spelling and Grammar so far. I look forward to seeing students build upon their knowledge in all areas and comparing these results to the results in term 4.

We wish you all a happy and safe holiday and don’t forget to start to plan your book week costume for next term. We will also be running a book stall which will give further practical experience for our maths. We would like to say well done to the efforts our students and their families have put in this term. It has certainly been a team effort.

Ms Sutton & Mrs Allocca

Assalamu Alaikum

The students have been working on Informative writing. They have learnt about the various organisational structures used in this way of writing.

This term students have been learning about Football and have enjoyed AFL sessions at school with the coaches from Sports Plus. In Health they have learnt about confidence, and have been learning how to improve their confidence, turn negative thoughts into positive thoughts, and how to identify their own personal skills and qualities.

Students have learnt about adding and subtracting fractions, equivalent fractions, fractions as division, decimal addition and subtraction and decimal multiplication and division.

Students participated in Reader’s Theatre. They have been encouraged to rely on their own narration and dramatic readings to tell a story.

We have been learning about changes in Chemical Sciences. Students have been learning how to spot the difference between chemical and physical changes, and enjoyed doing an experiment on diaper science, where they discovered how Sodium Polyacrylate changes from a white powder to a gel when water is added to it.

The students have been designing their own video game. Students have been very creative, working out a story for their game, their main characters, and various other elements used in a platform game.

Students have been learning about Australia’s connections with the world and in particular Asia. They have analysed the geographical, economic and social features to explain how countries differ. They have also learnt the importance of Indigenous communities especially in Australia.

Rosalie Haese and Tanya Khelwaty

Assalamu alaikum

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

InshaAllah this finds you in the best of health and eman!
The Year 7s have been working diligently this term in both HASS and Islamic.

In HASS, they have been exploring the vitality of water to our everyday life and how it impacts the world we live in. Students have been delving in deep and have been analysing how it shapes our lives beyond agriculture and drinking. We have discussed how Zam Zam water shaped Arabia from a geographical point of view.

In Islamic Studies, we have been looking at the biography of Prophet Muhammad SAW and how the people in his early life impacted his path of life. Students have worked meticulously on their presentations on one of the Prophet SAW family members. I have been pleased with the outcome of their work. Well done, Year 7s!

If you any questions, concerns or just want to have a chat about your child’s progress feel free to contact me via email [email protected].

Kindest regards,

Miss Atakan
English, HASS and Islamic Teacher