Issue 6 - 2026

I am delighted to announce that 2025 Year 12 graduate Lennon Todd has been selected by the Art Gallery of Western Australia to exhibit his work “Shielded in Tradition” in the prestigious The West Australian Pulse 2026 exhibition. This outstanding achievement recognises Lennon among Western Australia’s most talented emerging young artists, with only 63 works selected from Year 12 Visual Arts graduates across the state. The exhibition, which opened on 16 May and runs until 13 September 2026, offers a powerful insight into the perspectives of young people shaping the future. We congratulate Lennon on this remarkable accomplishment.

Pre-Kindergarten children have been busy exploring the fascinating world of bugs! They have created a Very Hungry Caterpillar, woven spiders in their silky webs, and crafted cheerful bees. Along the way, they have been learning fun and interesting facts about each creature, sparking curiosity and excitement about the natural world.

They have also been enjoying playing together, either outdoors or in the café area of our classroom, building social skills and imagination through play. We have also started visiting the library, adding another special part to our weekly routine as we foster a love of books and reading.

Kindergarten students were excited to invite their mothers and ‘mother figures' into their classrooms to celebrate Mother’s Day. The day began with a special song wishing all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day, followed by a day of pampering, including bracelet-making, portrait painting, a photobooth, crown-making, and a beauty salon. The afternoon ended with afternoon tea and a lot of cuddles. The students enjoyed thanking their mothers for all they do for them by sharing this special time together.

Pre-Primary students are learning all about living things. How can we tell if something is living or non-living? What do living things need to survive? What do living things give us? What can milk and eggs turn into? These are some of the inquiries they have been exploring in this unit. The children have enjoyed planting their own grass seeds and peas, which have all begun to grow! They explored the things we need to keep them alive: water, sunlight, nutrients and oxygen. The classes have been discussing the concept of farm-to-table and considering what milk could become. The children have been reading stories about farm life, what farms give us and the habitats in which animals live, in preparation for their excursion to Landsdale Farm! At Landsdale Farm, they fed and held a variety of animals, learned about their habitats and enjoyed a fun cart ride around the farm. Next week, they will begin building habitats for a selected farm animal based on what they have learned.

Year 1 students have been busy becoming animal experts! They have been researching their chosen focus animal and creating informative report booklets to share what they have discovered. Using Britannica on iPads and library books from the resource centre, they explored what their animals look like, what they eat, and where they live. Our classroom has also been full of creativity, with students using plasticine to build animal models and collage materials to design detailed trioramas of their habitats. It has been wonderful to see the excitement, effort, and pride students have put into their work as they combined their research skills with their imagination.

Year 2 – Bringing Life Cycles to Life in Year 2!

This term, our Year 2 students have continued exploring how living things grow and change through our Biological Sciences, learning about life cycles. After investigating the life cycles of different animals and plants, students had the exciting opportunity to bring their learning to life by designing and creating their own life-cycle dioramas.

Students chose either the frog or butterfly life cycle and carefully planned how to represent each stage with a variety of craft materials. Using paper plates as the base, students created detailed 3D scenes featuring labelled stages, thoughtful design, and creative use of colour and texture.

Throughout the project, students were encouraged to reflect on their work, evaluate their designs, and consider how effectively they had represented the changes that occur during a life cycle. It has been wonderful to see the creativity, effort, and scientific understanding shown in these hands-on creations!

Year 3 students have been learning about different types of poetry and exploring how poets use words creatively to express ideas and feelings. This week, they focused on Cinquain poems. Students wrote poems on a variety of topics, including the seasons, weather, favourite animals, and hobbies. As there were so many beautiful autumn leaves around our school, 3L decided to base their poems on Autumn. Students used what they had learnt about the structure and features of Cinquain poems to create their own thoughtful and creative pieces of writing. They thoroughly enjoyed observing the changes in nature and using descriptive language to bring their poems to life.

Year 4 students recently enjoyed an exciting incursion led by Reconciliation WA, which deepened their understanding of Indigenous culture and history. Through engaging stories and discussions, students explored the rich traditions and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, helping to build a greater appreciation of Australia’s First Nations cultures and backgrounds.

Students enthusiastically participated in a range of hands-on activities, including investigating how long Indigenous Australians have lived on this land and exploring the significance of Indigenous symbols and storytelling through art. They also created their own Indigenous-inspired artworks, using traditional symbols as inspiration. It was wonderful to see students actively engaged throughout the experience, expanding their knowledge while demonstrating curiosity, respect, and enthusiasm for learning.

Year 5 students have been stepping into the world of smart shopping in their inquiry lessons this fortnight! Students explored how advertising, trends, price, comfort and quality can influence consumers’ choices. Using a consumer decision-making process, they researched and compared different shoes to determine the best option to buy. To finish the task, students designed creative and persuasive advertisements that convinced others why their shoe was the ultimate choice — while cleverly incorporating the concepts of ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. We were very impressed by the creativity, critical thinking and marketing skills on display!

Year 5 students have also been exploring the rich world of poetry through an engaging English unit focused on imagery and rhyme. They began by reading and analysing a range of poems, identifying how descriptive language and sound patterns create mood and meaning. Students then experimented with their own poetry, carefully selecting vocabulary to engage the reader’s imagination. Alongside this, they planned and wrote imaginative reports about a newly discovered island, describing its geography, wildlife, and unique features with vivid language. Finally, students edited their work to improve clarity and effectiveness, celebrating their creativity.

Year 6 - The Year 6 students had fantastic weather for their two-night camp at Forest Edge Recreation Camp in Waroona. While it did get a bit cool in the afternoons, they were bathed in sunshine for the most part. It was a new location for staff and students, and we were blessed with amazing sunsets and views across the valley. Forest Edge’s motto is Learning Through Adventure, and the students certainly got to do just that. There were a number of activities to challenge them, such as abseiling, flying fox (known as the BIG FOX), kayaking, raft building, team-building challenges, and arts and crafts. The students developed their leadership skills, learned to challenge themselves and take risks, and to work collaboratively to achieve success. Looking forward to the 2027 Year 6 Camp already.

Physical Education – It has been a very busy start to the term for our HPE program, with something happening almost every week! The Year 5 students competed in the WACSSA Soccer Carnival and did very well, considering they were competing against Year 6s! Our boys' team finished 2nd in their pool, while the girls won the championship in theirs! We had our Cross Country Carnival, where our Early Years students ran a 1km race and our Junior Years students ran a 2km race. It was a fantastic race, with the top six students in every event qualifying for the first-ever JACC Cross Country Carnival.  

In Week 5, we had two interschool carnivals. The West Coast Fever Primary Schools Cup, which is always a very fun carnival. During the breaks between games, students were able to watch a West Coast Fever open training, and there were even signings and games run by the West Coast Fever staff! Our first team were undefeated and won the West Coast Fever Cup! To finish off week 6, we had the WACSSA AFL Carnival, where our girls were incredible, going undefeated and winning our school’s fifth championship of the year!  

A very busy, but successful start to our HPE Program this term!  

Music – Our Year 3 students have been busy exploring the joy of making music together! Over the past few weeks, they have been learning a short song called Move with the Motion and progressively adding new parts to create harmony and a bass line.

Students have enjoyed experimenting with a variety of percussion instruments, including xylophones, boom-whackers and chime bars, alongside using their wonderful singing voices. They worked hard to learn each individual part, developing their ensemble skills and listening carefully to one another to stay in time.

This culminated with students bringing everything together using both instruments and voice. There was plenty of enthusiasm, musical growth, and collaboration on display—along with lots of fun and excitement!

Visual Arts – The Year 2 students have enthusiastically immersed themselves in the colourful world of American pop artist Wayne Thiebaud. Famous for his vibrant still-life paintings of delicious edible treats, Thiebaud has inspired great excitement and creativity within the classroom.

Students have recently begun their clay project, creating delightful clay donuts inspired by Thiebaud’s iconic artworks. Throughout the process, they have been developing key clay-making techniques, including ‘scratch and slip’ joining, safe and effective use of cutting tools, smoothing clay surfaces, and rolling clay slabs.

The donuts are already looking fantastic, and the students are eagerly looking forward to seeing their finished masterpieces come to life!

Digital Technologies – Year 6 started using binary to create black and white pictures, one pixel at a time. Slow work, but amazing to see how many 1s and 0s are needed to fill a screen.  

The 3D printer has been busy this week, printing out shapes for Year 4. It is incredible to see the actual object of a shape we coded and drew on a screen.  

Year 5 drew loops and IF statements in their algorithms. We are one step closer to starting to code.  

Meanwhile, Year 3 levelled up their Power Points on peripheral devices by adding animations. These are being uploaded to SEQTA , and you can look under the assessments tab and see the creative presentations they have put so much work into.

Italian – Whilst all primary students have been diligently completing their Italian assessments, a highlight for Year 4 was the announcement of the winners of the 2026 Italian Mathematics Championship. Students thoroughly enjoyed applying both their language and mathematical skills in the challenge, with the added motivation of winning the highly coveted SVACS Café vouchers! The winners are:

4B:

• 1st place: Penelope B., Rico G., Mitchell P., Ju’ella A.
• 2nd place: Liam B., Izabella D., Fatemeh K., Oliver T., Jasmine D., Liam D., Harriet D., Jack Z.
• 3rd place: Oliver H., Jax M., Sifat S., Ruhi V.

4C:

• 1st place: Yantong Z., Finn R., Shivnya P., Yajurv K.
• 2nd place: Benji S., Ava E., Samar R., Quinn S.
• 3rd place: Pablo V., Ariana K., Naila N.

4S:

• 1st place: Benjamin D., Elisa F., Kayla K., Austin M.
• 2nd place: Aarav N., Vivienne O., Arjoy K., Isabelle P.
• 3rd place: Chloe T., Tyler S., Jace A., Wendylene A.

Drama - Students in Years 1 and 2 have commenced their production rehearsals. It has been very pleasing to observe their high levels of enthusiasm and engagement as they begin preparing for their performances.

Students in Years 3 and 4 have been focusing on developing their skills in voice, movement, and the use of setting. They have created a variety of engaging and imaginative scenes, many of which have demonstrated a strong sense of creativity and humour.

Year 5 students have been presenting their superhero scripts to the class. Their dedication to learning lines and developing expressive performance skills has been commendable, resulting in confident and engaging presentations.

Year 6 students have recently begun exploring monologues. This unit will provide opportunities for students to further develop their individual performance skills, and I look forward to observing their progress over the coming weeks.

National Simultaneous Storytime

On Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 9am, millions of children, parents, teachers and library lovers across Australia and beyond came together to read Luna Roo The Kangaroo Baller at the same time — celebrating the joy of reading, storytelling and connection. Published by Little Book Press, the story followed the spirited kangaroo Luna and her friends as they chased their football dreams across the outback, blending action, teamwork and fun to inspire young readers.

As part of our National Simultaneous Storytime celebrations this year, The SVACS Resource Centre is excited to launch a creative competition inspired by Luna Roo! Students are invited to share their creativity through drawing and writing.

How to Enter:
Ask your teacher for an entry form.

Submission boxes will be available:

• Early Years (Kindergarten–Year 2): Outside Mrs Steel's Office (Primary 1 Building)
• Junior Years (Years 3–6): Outside Mrs Crawshaw's Office (Primary 2 Building)

Entries close:  Wednesday 10 June