The Early Years boys are delighted with their new playground equipment that was kindly donated by Aquinas Parents and Friends Association. Edmund the Car and our ‘Holy Grounds’ kitchen café have been welcome additions to the Kindy and Pre-Primary outdoor areas. It is wonderful to see the boys using these items in their creative play where they have been cooking, mixing potions and baking cakes, whilst learning to share and take turns.

• “I like making jelly and soup in the kitchen.” Wesley Colgan
• “We are making dirt soup for lunch!” Kiaan Nihalani
• “We are driving to the shops to get milk for dinner.” Harvey Fry
• “I am taking my new caravan to Lancelin.” Ronald Tyler

We eagerly await the arrival of our wooden boat and look forward to setting sail on many new adventures! Thank you Aquinas Parents and Friends.

• Brooke Fraser-Dewar, Assistant Principal K-3

So far this term in Pre-Primary we have been learning all about objects and the materials they are made of. We have been sorting and classifying objects from the classroom and from around our school. The boys have really enjoyed experimenting with objects made out of silly materials (the moon made out of cheese was a clear favourite!)

In Numeracy, we have been exploring two-dimensional shapes. We went on a hunt around the school to find all the different shapes and took photos on our iPads. We have also been learning about teen numbers and have made some paper chains to show the tens and the ones.

Our Character Education lessons with Mr Fris have been focused on Courage. We have been listening to stories about people who are brave and have identified some ways that we can be brave and show courage in our everyday lives. This also linked to our learning about Anzac Day.

There have been lots of special events happening around the College so far this term, including the House Cross Country Carnival, Edmund Rice Day and Mother’s Day celebrations. It has been wonderful for us to be part of these events and the boys have acted like true young Aquinians.

Also, in week five it was National Simultaneous Story Time. We got to watch a real astronaut read a story to us from the actual space station!! The book was called ‘Give me some space!’ by Philip Bunting. Our classroom was transformed into a space station and we participated in lots of space-related activities.

Here is what the boys have to say:

• William – I liked Mother’s Day because I got to spend time with my mum at school.
• Lucas – I enjoyed the book read by the astronaut and the book is actually here (in the classroom).
• Marius – I liked Mother’s Day and spending time with my mummy and giving my mum a hand massage and I liked painting my mum’s nail glittery clear.
• Max – I enjoyed Edmund Rice Day because it was fun.
• James – I liked the cross country because I won it!
• Will – I liked when we had Edmund Rice Day because we played games and we got toys from the games.
• Loke – I liked the cross country because it was very fun, and I helped people up.
• Alfie – I liked Edmund Rice Day because we got to play games.
• Zayn – I loved Mother’s Day because I got to eat a cookie and I got to paint mum’s nails.
• Arlo – I liked Mother’s Day because I got to spend lots of time with my mum, a lot of time! And I made things for my mummy.
• Bradley – I liked the cross country because I won fourth place.

Health: Aussie Optimism

In Term 2 in Aussie Optimism, we have been learning about the Brave Staircase to help us slowly overcome our fears and also that practising relaxation helps you cope. In Year 4, we have also been learning about the thought-feeling connection, and that our thoughts can make us feel bad or good and how to change the way we think to make us feel better. We have also been learning about helpful and unhelpful thoughts. How unhelpful thoughts can make us feel bad and how to change our thoughts to make us feel better.

• Thomas and Owen

Science

In science, our class has been looking at erosion. We have recently been doing lots of experiments. These experiments include: dropping a clay-sand ball into a jar of water and shaking it, for different amounts of times, and pouring water down a miniature sandy slope filled with rocks. These experiments have been very fun and interesting. Through these experiments, we have learnt that erosion can form soft and hard rocks into different landforms over different amounts of time. Our class has covered two different types of erosion. Water erosion, and wind erosion. You will know if it is water erosion if there is a water source nearby such as a river, a lake, or the ocean. You will know if it is wind erosion if the rocks are wavy. But we couldn’t have done any of this without our teacher Mr Wesley!

• Aramis and Hugh

Cross Country

In Term 2 on the 29th of April 2021we had a Cross Country House Carnival including Kindy to year 6. The Kindy and Pre-Primary race was very short and some of the teachers ran with the Kindy boys to motivate them. The Kindy and the Pre-Primary boys' race was 250m. The year 1 boys race was 500m and the year 2 boys ran 750m with Redmond winning. The year 3 boys race was 1km and Egan took the victory almost breaking the record! The year 4 boys race was 1.5km across the school grounds where Luca Z in Redmond came first, just one second away from breaking the course record! The year 5 boys ran 2km with Redmond in the lead beating the record by an amazing few seconds! The year 6 boys were last and ran 2.5km with Quinlan winning. Egan House were the winners and we were thankful for Mr Leeson and everyone else who helped with the carnival.

• Alexander and Owen

Health Month

Throughout the month of May we have had a focus on our physical and mental health. Each week there has been a different focus.

Week 1- Physical Activity week: Our challenge was to complete 30- 60 minutes of moderate to vagarious activity each week. We also participated in ‘staff verses students’ sports matches at recess and lunch. We got to wear our Sports uniform all week, which was awesome!

Week 2 – Mental Health week: The aim was to reduce screen time and take time out of our day to ‘relax’. Some boys chose to read more, try some meditation or listen to music.

Week 3- Nutrition Week: What we eat can affect the way we feel. This week was all about healthy eating, and how we can best fuel our body for sport or school. Mr. Leeson also set us the challenge of helping to cook a meal at home with our family.

Week 4- Sleep week: Our sleep week aim was to slow down and relax. Try and allow our bodies to catch up, and restore energy. We also get to wear pyjamas to school!

• Zayd, Theo, Patrick, Declan, Olaf, Digby and Riley
  

Sport Carnivals

This term we had our Year 4 AFL sports carnival. The footy carnival was Week 1 against Trinity College. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have sports training where we have a focus on skills. On Thursday we do gameplay to prepare for the carnival. The carnival against Trinity was a lot of fun and we thanks Mr Leeson and the parents who assisted in coach and manage the teams. At the moment we are preparing for our hockey carnival in week six.

• Oscar, Luca Z, Ceejay, Isaac and Luca R, Ethan S
  

Edmund Rice Day

On Wednesday 5 March the whole school celebrated Edmund Rice Day. The purpose of the day was to come together as a community to celebrate the life of Edmund and be grateful for the fact we get to come to a wonderful school. We had lots of fun with the stalls and found them really interesting and engaging. We appreciate the effort the Year Sixes and Senior School boys put into making their stalls. The food was very delicious and yummy! On the day all the money raised went to agencies who support people in need in our community, like Wheelchair for Kids.

• Ethan C, Dexter, Luke, Isiah, Duy and Hugh

Compassion

In year five we have been learning about Compassion. Everybody learns differently and some people may be different or act in a different way. We should treat everybody the same as deep down we are all the same. Sometimes there are changes in life and we need to be able to adapt. I show compassion by talking to people and including others. I show compassion by talking to everyone and asking them to join our games even if they are not my friends.

• Christopher Gasmier and Nicholas Masiello

Bucket Fillers

Bucket Filling is when you do a kind act or something for someone else. You can also bucket dip. This is when you do something mean to someone. The people who bucket dip usually have empty buckets. They try to ‘dip’ into buckets to fill theirs, but it never works. We have been doing this in 5Red. It helped us realise how important it is to be kind. Think to yourself and ask yourself how you can fill someone’s bucket.

• Willougby Cacho and Owen Hales

Health Week

In Mental Health week we have had different focuses each week. In Week 1 the focus was Physical Health. We were able to wear our sports uniform every day and do some game against staff. In our class, we also did a ‘Harriette Challenge’ which was different exercises and we had to see how many rounds we could do in six minutes. In Week 2 we focused on Mental Health and how we can look after our mental health. We did random acts of kindness and we made a video about kindness. We also had some crickets players come and talk to us about GRIT. This stands for Gratitude, Resilience, Integrity and Togetherness. This week have focused on Nutrition and how to fuel our bodies and look after ourselves. In the last week, we are looking at Sleep. We will be finishing off our Sleep Week with a Pyjama Day on Friday. Thank you to Mr Leeson for putting together such a great initiative that we could all learn from and enjoy.

• Jack Delic, Nicko Kurmann and Jamie Robinson