St Andrews PS Newsletter

Skye Smith, we are so proud of the amazing effort that you and your family are making during this remote learning period. 

Not only do you attend every meeting and conference, and complete work to the best of your ability, but you reach out with your unique thoughts and ideas and challenge everyone's thinking in our group and class chats. We are so proud of the energy and effort that you're putting into your learning. You should be incredibly proud of yourself. 

The Prep / One class have been learning facts about our oceans as part of National Science Week. Many were surprised to find out that the sea is so salty you cannot drink it. Some other interesting facts were that the Mariana Trench in the Pacific ocean is the deepest part of the ocean. One sad fact was that our oceans are getting more and more polluted and the Prep/One class wondered how we could fix this problem.

This week we are reading books by Australian author Alison Lester. She writes and illustrates beautiful books based on her experiences and many of the illustrations are recognisable places in Gippsland and other places she has travelled. In her book 'Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo', Ernie writes letters from Arnhem Land to his friends back home. The Prep/Ones have had a go at writing their own letters to people they have missed seeing during Stage 4 Lockdown. Some are already in the post and some are getting sent as a photo via email. It is so nice to receive a letter, although I think the email versions will arrive a lot faster at the moment!

To celebrate National Science Week last week, the whole class conducted an eggcellent experiment to test which ingredient, when added to water, would make an egg float. With many varied results it was generally concluded that, when a decent amount of each ingredient was put in the water, the salt was the most successful at making the egg float.  

This week in the grade 4/5/6 classroom we have be presenting our YOP's, that the students have been working on all term. Despite many technological difficulties, the whole class showed great patience and resilience when it came to presenting and viewing each others projects. They also gave excellent constructive feedback to help their peers become better learners. 

Now that the class has completed their YOP's, we will be moving on to our mini inquiry unit which is going to be about Australian history and migration. The students have already expressed many strong opinions about the topic and I can not wait to see them continue to develop their ideas and understandings. 

This week was all about better containers. We looked at what makes containers useful and how reusable containers are the future. To develop our own amazing containers we had to think about good design principles and what makes a container useful for us. This resulted in some really clever and thoughtful designs which we’ve got below. There's also a couple of brilliant videos which you can see on the blog: http://sugarloafstem.global2.vic.edu.au/2020/08/25/week-6-term-3-s-t-e-m-summary-3/

A reminder that we've got a science week competition running too check out the details om the blog: http://sugarloafstem.global2.vic.edu.au/2020/08/11/national-science-week/

Our doors may be closed, but that won't stop us from bringing you and your family on an adventure with Otway Fly!

Online, you will find a range of FREE resources to keep the kids entertained while staying at home.

Check out our videos, become a backyard ranger, and check out the Merlin Education Toolbox! Whether you're looking for things to do with your family or a unique activity, we've got you covered with our Forest Fun!

Want to be kept up-to-date with all the latest news? Join the Otway Fly community: 

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Shine Bright Psychology is now providing convenient and affordable, onsite psychological counselling services for all students at STAPS. These services attract no out of pocket expense, as they are Medicare bulk billed services. 

Children will be able to access this treatment service where they have a referral from a General Practitioner (GP). The referral completed by the GP is known as a mental health treatment plan. 

Our fantastic psychologist, Lili, is now attending school each Thursday. An initial appointment can be scheduled by contacting Hayley or Michelle.