Head of Primary

Term 1 Reflection

The year has begun with a busy start, and I can’t believe we are already celebrating end of Term 1 learning milestones.

It has been lovely to see the Preps settle in so well. The Prep Picnic early in the term fostered a great sense of community, and I am thankful for the networking of many of our long-standing families that have supported new families in joining the St Andrews Community. More recently, the Prep Welcome and Badge Ceremony also highlighted the wonderful Buddies Program which we foster between students. At the presentation, the Year 12 students gave their Prep Buddies a teddy bear and the School Captains shared a lovely tribute to what has been particularly formative for them in their educational journey at St Andrews.

Making an incredible difference to the Year 1-2s learning space has been the new garden area outside the classrooms with a sandpit! This has been a huge hit for the students and has supported the Year 1s in their transition to their classrooms. It has also been a joy to see parents using this area to catch up with each other when they drop their children off each morning.

This term there have been many excursions and incursions to further broaden the students learning. Year 1 enjoyed Teddy Bear Picnic, Year 4 enjoyed a trip to the Botanical Gardens and selected Primary students have engaged in both SSV District and Division swimming doing incredibly well in the relay and individual events. Primaries have also enjoyed their annual Cyber Safety sessions raising student awareness of how to use technology wisely. We have also been busy with Naplan, completing assessments in Writing, Reading, language Conventions and Mathematics. Last week the Year 6 student enjoyed a week in Canberra on the Year 6 Camp. A major highlight for them was flying!

Most recently we launched the Primary student leader’s program with a morning tea and annual network conference with other Christian schools. At the Sower Conference students were inspired by stories from athletes and leaders reflecting on their leadership journey. We can look forward to seeing several initiatives growing further this year under the guidance of Mr Cram, our Student Leadership Coordinator.

A key priority for Primary is our E³ program reflecting Engage, Enrich, Empower. Primary teachers challenged and extended student thinking in the areas of literacy and humanities. Our theme of 'Fearfully and Wonderfully Made' was reflected in all of the workshops which pointed students to reflect on Psalm 139:14: 

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well."

It has been a joy to work with the Primary staff this term. As I reflect on Term 1s activities, I am reminded of all the things we can be grateful for. May our efforts bless and bring glory to God!

Blessings,

Prep News

Prep Welcome Ceremony

We welcomed our newest students to St Andrews Christian College! Thanks to our Year 12 Buddies who met us on stage, gave us a hi-five and presented us with a teddy bear and school badge. We thank God for a smooth settling into school and pray we can continue with our amazing learning at school.

Preps having fun with their learning!

Our Prep students have settled well into school and are learning so many new things! Each week we learn 2 or 3 new phonograms (sounds). We learn the letter name and sound (or sounds) that these phonograms make and also learn how to write these letters. We often do a fun craft activity to help us remember these new phonograms. At the end of Week 7, we have learnt 14 new phonograms. At the end of Term 1, we will have learnt 23 of the 26 single phonograms. Wow!

Year 1 News

Teddy Bear Picnic

On Friday, 13^th of March, the Year 1s had an amazing Teddy Bear Picnic. It was an evening straight out of a storybook! Families arrived with platters full of delicious treats, colourful fruit, homemade goodies and enough sushi and pizza to share amongst the community. Picnic blankets were arranged like a beautiful patchwork quilt and everywhere you looked, there were teddy bears of all shapes and sizes joining in on the fun.

Music filled the air as the children and their teddies wiggled and flapped their wings to the Chicken Dance. Everyone had so much fun playing What's the time Mr Wolf? and lying under the relaxing colours of the Parachute.

The best surprise came at the end of the night, as our special guest, Monty, shared his important story with us about Respect and Kindness. He reminded us that even the smallest gestures can make a big difference. His words added a beautiful spark of meaning to an already joyful night.

It truly was a wonderful time, full of fun, friendship, community and a whole lot of heart. It was a magical way to celebrate our amazing families and school!

Year 2 News

PMP

For the very first time, the 2026 Year 2 classes have been participating in PMP every Wednesday morning. PMP is a program that focuses on developing student's gross motor, fine motor and sensory skills through movement based activities. It aims to improve balance, co-ordination, eye-tracking and spatial awareness to enhance classroom learning. Our Year 2's are having a great time interacting with their peers and learning new skills. We have already noticed an improvement in the students' focus and learning. We thank our parent helpers that have assisted us each week and look forward to this program continuing throughout the year.

Year 3 News

NAPLAN

Here are our NAPLAN champions! Our Year 3 students recently completed their very first assessment, showing great perseverance and resilience across the three days. Each student approached the writing task with persistence, effort, and a fantastic attitude. We are so proud of them!

Year 4 News

Cranbourne Botanical Gardens Excursion

Year 4 students were blessed with good weather for their excursion to Cranbourne Botanic Garden on 25th February. They had fun learning about some of the tools that Aboriginal people use, using water and ochre rock to make paint and tasting lemon myrtle tea and finger lime. They also had a fantastic time looking at some very interesting native plants and ended the day with some fun at the playground.

Year 5 News

Shadow Puppets

This term in Science, the Grade 5 students have been exploring light. Using shadow puppets, they discovered how shadows change when the position of an object shifts in relation to a light source. Students created a variety of shadow shapes, then conducted an experiment to see how the distance between an object and the light affects the size and clarity of the shadow. They recorded their observations, discussed their findings, and drew conclusions — bringing scientific inquiry to life in a fun and creative way.

Year 6 News

Canberra Camp

We thank God for a wonderful and enriching Year 6 Camp in Canberra, filled with learning, fun, and meaningful experiences together.

It was an early 7:00am departure on Monday 16th March as students began their journey to Canberra. Although it was a long trip, students enjoyed several stops along the way at Benalla, Holbrook and Gundagai. After dinner, students took part in fun “Minute to Win It” games, filled with laughter and teamwork, before settling in for the evening.

The next day was action packed with both learning and memorable experiences. The day began bright and early with a 6:30am breakfast, followed by a visit to the Australian War Memorial, where students participated in a respectful ceremony to honour fallen soldiers. From there, students visited Parliament House, gaining insight into Australia’s government, before heading to the Australian Institute of Sport. In the evening, students enjoyed a lively trivia session, featuring questions they had created about themselves, along with some fun teacher challenges.

The third day began at the National Arboretum, where students participated in an orienteering activity, followed by time at the Pod Playground. Students then explored the interactive exhibits at Questacon, enjoyed a liquid nitrogen demonstration, and some brave students took on the free fall slide. The day continued with a visit to the National Film and Sound Archive, where they learned about Australia’s media history. To finish the day, students enjoyed laser tag and arcade games, full of energy, laughter and friendly competition, before winding down with a movie in the evening.

Day 4 brought the classic experience of Melbourne’s “four seasons in one day”! We started with rain, enjoyed some beautiful sunshine and outdoor time, and then ended the day with flash flooding, lightning and thunder. Despite the unpredictable weather, the students had a great time staying at camp, beginning with some fun indoor games. They also enjoyed the high ropes, used real GPS devices in the navigation activity, and then had some free choice activities. It was a memorable day, finishing with more games and a movie after our planned campfire was quite literally washed out.

On the final day, students visited the Electoral Education Centre, where they learned about Australia’s voting system and the importance of active citizenship, before heading to the airport for their journey home.

We are incredibly proud of how the students represented our school throughout the camp, demonstrating respect, enthusiasm and kindness. We thank God for His protection, mostly good weather, and the many opportunities for learning and growth during this special time together.

E³ Week

March 23^rd to 27^th

During Enrichment Week students from Year 1 to Year 6 participated in a variety of enrichment activities.

On Monday to Wednesday, Year 4 to 6 students chose from the following workshops all with the underlying theme of ‘Fearfully and Wonderfully Made’.

• Amazing Athletes – research skills
• Fearfully and Wonderfully Made creations – linking creative writing with creativity
• Drawing Portraits – Lining our artistic skills and identity
• Crafted Words – Linking creation with poetry
• Building Strong Communities – Learning about how communities work
• Mini Moot – Linking respect for others with arguing like a lawyer
• Progressive Stories – Creating with others

On Wednesday, selected students had the chance to participate in a GATEways Ignite incursion where they extended their literacy skills with such things as hyperbole, descriptive writing, and alliteration within the context of tall stories and historical investigations.

On Thursday and Friday, Year 1 to 3 students participated in workshops each afternoon, again with a focus on our school theme.

• Literacy is fun
• Your name is a song
• Wonderfully Made
• Fearful and wonderful creations
• Drawing Portraits
• Literacy Builder

A huge thank you to the teachers who made this week so much fun for our students.