PRE SCHOOL

In Preschool we launched our Unit of Inquiry into ‘Sharing the Planet’ with two excursions to Birrigai Outdoor School!  Having a full day on beautiful Ngunnawal Country was a wonderful provocation for our learning this term where we will be exploring how we can come together to play and learn harmoniously (social sustainability) and how we can take action to look after our special places (environmental sustainability). 

Our four Preschool classes had so many rich, engaging and authentic learning experiences on Country.  The Preschool team were very proud of the children’s knowledge of the ‘Wombat Song’ which we learnt in advance, to guide us through a day of learning about Aboriginal perspectives, natural history, art-making, cooking, play, investigating, risk-taking and perseverance.  

Thank you to all our parent volunteers – we could not have had these wonderful excursions without you.  

Below you will see a small selection of our photos and student reflections from our Birrigai days.

KINDERGARTEN

In Kindy we have been practising our GROW VALUES Respect and Wellbeing. We are learning to speak and act respectfully, and keep our hands and feet to ourselves, even when we don’t feel like it!!

This ties in perfectly to our new unit of inquiry “How We Express Ourselves” where our central idea is  “People have the right to express their feelings”.

We will be exploring these lines of inquiry

• The right to feel safe.
• Actions communicate feelings.
• We have a responsibility to express ourselves safely.

For literacy, this term sees us working on the final single letter sounds of the alphabet. Each day we work on articulating and writing the sound correctly, sounding out, blending and segmenting to read two, three and four letter words. We practise these skills through bookwork, whiteboard work, partner reading and lots of games.

In Maths we started with a big focus on two dimensional shapes. We read a great book called “The Greedy Triangle” by Margaret Burns which helps us explore the language of sides, angles, corners and also has a lovely message about being satisfied with who you are. Other maths skills we continue to work on are

• working with numbers up to and back from 20.
• Addition and subtraction to at least ten
• Facts of ten

YEAR 1

Where We Are in Place and Time (WWAIPT)

People can make changes in their communities and environments.

We are learning about:

1. Environments change overtime
2. Change is guided by need
3. How people make a difference in their community

Did you know that the Molonglo Valley was once covered in pine forest, which was later destroyed by fire? This term, we’ve been learning about how our local area has changed over time. Using Google Earth, we travelled back in time to compare how the suburb looks today with what it looked like in the past. We explored the natural, managed and constructed features visible in satellite images and discussed how the area continues to change.

This week, we’ve been exploring our local community and learning to identify the different features that make up the places around us. A highlight was our walk down to the Molonglo River, where we spotted many natural features and enjoyed connecting with our environment. 

Literacy

In writing we have been learning about conjunctions and how they are used.

• and - adds extra information
• because - gives a reason
• but - changes the direction of the sentence

As part of our Unit of Inquiry, Where We Are in Place and Time, we are reading books that explore the key concept of Change. These texts are helping us understand how people, places, and environments can change over time and why they change. We’ve been having thoughtful discussions about the different ways change can occur and how authors communicate their purpose and opinions about change through the texts we read, such as through visual features and language choices.

YEAR 2

Sharing the Planet

Patterns and data inform how we predict and think about the natural world. 

We are learning about:

1. Celestial objects in the sky
2. Patterns that occur in the sky
3. People tell stories to share their understanding

The students in Year 2 are enjoying using their Research Skills to explore our first line of inquiry. They are curious about the sky and are working together to answer the many ‘wonderings’ they have about our solar system.

Maths 

Our current maths focus is about time, days, months and calendars. This links closely to our Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry.
We have learnt about the connections between the Earth’s rotations and day and night. We have learnt that there are 24 hours in a day and that each month has a certain amount of days. We were interested to learn about leap years and the reason for February having 29 days every four years. 

Gruffolo Excursion 

Our amazing Year 2 teachers organised an exciting excursion to the Canberra Theatre to see a performance of the Gruffolo’s Child by Julia Donaldson. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to authentically learn about the structure and features of a narrative text. We will continue to draw on this experience as we learn about writing narrative texts this term. 

In Performing Arts this term, students will be concentrating on Drama. 

Students  in Years 1 and 2 will be learning vocabulary used in drama, experimenting with voice production and expressing emotions, trying improvisation and reader’s theatre, and rehearsing a short play in class for presentation to members of their cohort at the end of term.

Kindergarten students will learn how to co-operate to enact stories in groups, create character through facial expression, and use puppets to tell stories they have made up with partners.

All Junior School students will have the chance to take part in performances in class of well-known fairy tales, using the available costumes, props and scenery. 

Drama Club meets in the new Performing Arts Room (Building 1) each Friday in Break 2. All students are welcome to come along to the club to enjoy a selection of drama games, mimes and skits.

Pictured below: Drama Club; Class performances of Goldilocks and the Three Bears; 

Photos from the School Musical, “Porridge”.

PYP Big Sing

Charles Weston Choir Shines at the PYP Big Sing

On Wednesday, 30 July 2025, our talented Charles Weston Choir students proudly represented the school at the PYP Big Sing, held at Canberra Girls Grammar School.

Throughout the morning, students worked with choirs from four other local International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, rehearsing songs and harmonies in preparation for a combined performance. Their hard work, teamwork, and enthusiasm culminated in a beautiful concert for families and friends at 1:30pm.

We are incredibly proud of how our students represented Charles Weston School on the day. We all made new friends and can’t wait for our next Big Sing in 2026.

A heartfelt thank you to our music teacher, Susan Curbishley, for preparing the choir for this event and for conducting the mass choir on the day.