Primary Newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE:
News from the Classroom
Birthdays
Student Achievements
Dear Parents and Caregivers, It was a busy week in the Primary School, with the academic programme in full swing and the students applying themselves fully to their cycle tests and various other assessments, projects and classwork. The sporting and cultural programme is also picking up steam which is exciting. We were disappointed that the scheduled ‘Heart of Friendship’ and ‘Friendship Fires’ incursions planned for this week had to be rescheduled. Relationships are at the heart of who we are, and as the well-known quote reminds us, we are not islands unto ourselves. As such, any opportunity to discuss ways of enhancing relationships is incredibly valuable and we look forward to enjoying these workshops later in the term. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in what is referred to as positive psychology, which focuses primarily on the positive influences in a person’s life. So much of the field of psychology seems to be associated with what is wrong in our lives, and how we can remedy our problems, so it is refreshing to have a field which looks at the positive aspects and how these can be used to build self-esteem, confidence and positive interpersonal relationships. A primary school environment seems to me to be the ideal place to start with such an approach and hopefully to instil an optimism and positive attitude which will last a lifetime. One of the cornerstones of our approach here at Reddam House is to see each child as unique, with his or her own strengths, abilities and interests. It is our real hope that the students come to school each day, knowing that they arrive in a space which is conducive to discovering more about themselves. We hope that they are able to explore the myriad of opportunities on offer and that as they do so that they will discover those areas which quicken their hearts and inspire them to step excitedly into the future. Congratulations to Micah Shields and Eva Herson who competed in the Narwhal Water Polo Cup in Woy Woy over the weekend. The girls played five games over the course of the weekend and helped their team to achieve some outstanding results throughout. Well done girls! Next week, the Year 2s have their first opportunity of the year to enjoy an excursion. They will visit the Schoolhouse Museum, where they will undoubtedly have their eyes opened to the very different world which their predecessors experienced at school all those years ago. Enjoy your weekend! Dee Pitcairn The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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SPORT FIXTURES
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Sporting Fixtures 26th February 2022
Un14s – Reddam Mavericks v Accelerate Warriors 1.50pm Court 1
Basketball
Un14s – Reddam Nuggets v Newtown Raptors 11.20am Court 2
Comets Competition – Friday 25th
Un14s – Reddam Pistons v Newtown Lions 1.00pm Court 1
Un16s – Reddam Knicks v Newtown Diamond's 4.30pm Un18s – Reddam Suns v Hoops I did it again 4.30pm Un18s – Reddam 1st V v BYE Bus will return back to school at 5.40pm
Un16s – Reddam Rockets v Newtown Force 2.40pm Court 3 Boys MPCYC
Perry Park Courts & Comets Stadium Saturday Fixtures 26th Feb (Perry Park Courts are located behind the Comets stadium)
Un16s – Reddam Warriors v KHY Astronauts 2.15pm Court 1 Un16s – Reddam Pacers v BYE Un16s – Reddam Nets v MVP Cheetahs 3.45pm Court 1 Un18s – Reddam Heat v BYE
Girls
Un18s – Reddam Grizzlies v CYS 7.30pm Court 3
Un10s – Reddam Lakers v Inner City Sparks 8.00am Court 3 Un12s – Reddam Bucks v Inner City Wild Cats 8.50am Court 4
Un18s – Reddam 1st V v MVP Lakers 1.30pm Court 2
Un14s – Reddam Timberwolves v Reddam Sparks 9.40am Court 3
Water Polo- Saturday
Un14s – Reddam Sparks v Reddam Timberwolves 9.40am Court 3
Boys Primary v St Aloysius, Scots Pool 9.30am
Boys Alexandria (Perry Park Courts)
Middle School v St Augustines, Warringah Aquatic Centre 2.05pm
Un10s – Reddam Jazz v Newtown Panthers 8.00am Court 1
Seniors v SHORe, SHORE Pool 1.25pm
Un10s – Reddam Hawks v All Blacks 8.50am Court 1 Un12s – Reddam Celtics v Reddam Raptors 10.30am Court 2 Un12s – Reddam Clippers v BYE (No game) Un12s – Reddam Raptors v Reddam Celtics 10.30am Court 2 Un14s – Reddam Bulls v Inner City Thunder 11.20am Court 3
Girls Reddam 1 v Reddam 2, UNSW Pool 8.15am Reddam 2 v Reddam 1, UNSW Pool 8.15am Reddam 3 v Reddam 4, UNSW Pool 10.30am Reddam 4 v Reddam 3, UNSW Pool 10.30am Reddam 5 v SGHS, UNSW Pool 11.15am
Un14s – Reddam Cavaliers v Sydney HoopStars Cobras 11.20am Court 1 The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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SPORT FIXTURES
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Cricket
Boys
Saturday
Reddam 1 v Trinity 1, Queens Park No. 6 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 8:00am
Under 10 BoysUNSW Rebels V Reddam Roos 10.00am Nagle Park Under 11 Boys Reddam Rhinos V Easts Athletico Smash 12.30pm Lough Field 2 Under 13 Girls Reddam Redbacks V Summer Hill CC 3.00pm Rowland Park Oval 4
Reddam 2 (Year 9) v Waverley 2, Queens Park No. 8 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 10:30am
Sunday Under 12 Boys Reddam Roosters V Sydney Coastal Sharks 8.30am Booralee Oval 3
Reddam 3 (Year 9) v Waverley 1, Queens Park No. 7 (adjacent to the Shed Café, Darley Rd), 9:50am
Touch Football - Saturday
Reddam 4 (Year 8) v Waverley 2, Strathfield Park, 9:40am. The bus will leave at 7:00am.
Girls Reddam 1 v KRB 2, Mission Field 3, Parkes Drive Centennial Park 8:50am Reddam 2 v Loreto 5, Reservoir Field 6, Oxford Street Centennial Park 9:40am
Reddam 5 (Year 8) v Waverley 1, Strathfield Park, 8:00am. The bus will leave at 7:00am. Reddam 5 (Year 7) v Waverley 1, Riverview 1B, 9:30am. The bus will leave at 8:20am.
Reddam 3 v KRB 7, Mission Field 6, Parkes Drive Centennial Park 10:30am
Tennis - Saturday
Reddam 4 v Schols 5, Mission Field 3, Parkes Drive Centennial Park 11:20am
Reddam 1 v St Pius, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 10.00am
Reddam 5 v SVC 12, Mission Field 6, Parkes Drive Centennial Park 8:50am Reddam 6 v SVC 14, Mission Field 6, Parkes Drive Centennial Park 8:00am Reddam 8 v Kambala 15, Reservoir Field 3, Oxford Street Centennial Park 9:40am
Reddam 2 v Redlands, Lane Cove Tennis Club 10.00am Reddam 3 v St Pius, Talus Street Courts 10.00am Reddam 4 v St Pius, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 10.00am Reddam 5 v Reddam 6, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 8.00am Reddam 6 v Reddam 5, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 8.00a Reddam 7 v St Pius, Neutral Bay Lawn Tennis Club 8.00am
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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SPORT RESULTS Sporting results
19th
February 2022
Reddam 1 v Sydney Girls High School 11 - 2
Basketball
Reddam 2 v St Andrews, 8 - 7
Comets Competition Girls Un16s – Reddam Knicks v Inner Coty Jaguars 6 - 16 Un18s – Reddam Suns v SGHS Flames
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Girls
15 - 10
Un18s – Reddam 1st V v Inner City Fever 23 - 36
Reddam 3 v Bye Reddam 4 v Reddam 5, 9 - 7 Reddam 5 v Redam 4, 7 - 9 Cricket Under 10 Boys
Girls Un10s – Reddam Lakers v BYE (no game)
Reddam Roos 11/46 def by RJCC Force 5/128 Under 11 Boys
Un12s – Reddam Bucks v KHY Astronauts 4 - 15
Reddam Rhinos 8/165 def Easts Cheetahs 9/129
Un14s – Reddam Timberwolves v Newtown Lynx
Under 13 Girls
Un14s – Reddam Sparks v KHY Astronauts 18 - 20 Boys
Reddam Redbacks 6/43 def by Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates 2/46
Un10s – Reddam Jazz v Innercity Clippers 0 - 41
Under 12 Boys
Un10s – Reddam Hawks v Newtown Panthers 3 - 36
Reddam Roosters 8/37 def by Easts Jets 7/172
Un12s – Reddam Celtics v KHY Orbits 2 - 25
Touch Football - Saturday
Un12s – Reddam Clippers v Reddam Raptors 6 - 26
Girls
Un12s – Reddam Raptors v Reddam Clippers 26 - 6
Reddam 1 v KRB 2, 3 - 2
Un14s – Reddam Bulls v Reddam Pistons 25 - 32
Reddam 2 v Ascham 5, 1 - 2
Un14s – Reddam Cavaliers v Reddam Nuggets 19 22
Reddam 3 v Loreto 7, 10 - 1
Un14s – Reddam Mavericks v Newtown Nets 28 23
Reddam 5 v St Caths 5, 2 - 3
Un14s – Reddam Nuggets v Reddam Cavaliers 22 19
Reddam 8 v SVC 19, 1 - 0
Un14s – Reddam Pistons v Reddam Bulls 32 - 25 Un16s – Reddam Rockets v Newtown Tigers 2 - 40 Un16s – Reddam Warriors v KHY Astronauts 20 - 0 Un16s – Reddam Pacers v Inner Coty Magpies 6 - 68 Un18s – Reddam Heat v Newtown Gryphons 29 - 25 Un18s – Reddam 1st V v MVP United 35 - 15
Reddam 6 v Loreto 12, 2 - 7 Boys: Reddam 1 v Riverview, 8 - 4 Reddam 2 v Waverley, 4 - 8 Reddam 3 v Trinity, 0 - 9 Reddam 4 v Waverley, 2 - 12
Un16s – Reddam Nets v Kings 26 - 21 Un18s – Reddam Grizzlies v BYE
Reddam 4 v Loreto 11, 11 - 0
Reddam 5 v Waverley, 2 - 1 Reddam 6 v Waverley, 14 - 2
Tennis - Saturday Reddam 1 v Redlands 0 - 3
Water Polo- Saturday
Reddam 2 v St Pius,3 - 0
Boys
Reddam 3 v St Pius, 2 - 1
Primary v Waverley, 4 - 6
Reddam 4 v St Pius, 3 - 0
Middle School v SHORE, 3 - 3
Reddam 5 v St Pius, 1 - 2
Seniors v Scots, 11 - 1
Reddam 6 v Cammeraygal, 0 - 3 Reddam 7 v Redlands, 1 - 2
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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Reddam House Would like to wish a very happy birthday to Alexander Cao, Quentin Kwan, Abigail McGhee, Anton Popoff, Carter Allen, Alexander Goodsir, Shepherd Smart, Benjamin Boyd, Luella Hart, Ostein Jiang, Pippi Pike , Phoenix Palermo and James Plaskett Who celebrated their special day this week and over the weekend
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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Principal & Principal Honour Awards Reddam House
Would like to congratulate the following students on their Principal and Principal Honour Awards. Principal Awards recipients: Avi Hutensky & Harriet Bakes
Principal Honour Awards recipients: Sasha McNamara Arietta Spender Capps and Zac Boyd
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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KINDERGARTEN During our Personal Development and Health lessons this week, Kindergarten students learnt about their emotions and began to make connections between their words, feelings and actions. We read the story ‘The Colour Monster’ to help students identify emotions using colours. As it can be challenging for our little ones to express how they are feeling using words, each Kindergarten classroom has created a ‘colour wall’ that students can use to help reflect and describe their emotions. In English, students were introduced to the letter sounds /o/, /c/ and /k/ and focused on writing these letters with the correct formation. They continue to use their knowledge of sounds to blend, read and spell CVC words. Students were also introduced to decodable readers this week and learnt how to use their fingers to track the words they read. It was all about 2D shapes in Mathematics this week! We started off with a “shape hunt” around the school where students found triangles, circles, squares and rectangles all around them. Students learnt about and identified the different properties of shapes including how many corners and sides they have. Kindergarten had lots of fun this week!
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Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 1 This week in Year 1 we focussed on the text 'Willy the Wimp’ by Anthony Browne. The students connected the emotions of bravery and confidence to their own life experiences. Many children reported feeling brave when they started school whilst others related experiences of rock climbing, riding bikes without training wheels, trying out new sports and completing obstacle courses! Highlighting emotions felt by characters and linking the children to their own identity gave them a deeper connection to the text as it held more meaning for them. In Mathematics, we focussed on subtraction, making use of number lines and 100 squares to support jump strategies and visually see patterns. Kinaesthetic approaches have been taken with the children using dienes, counters and dice to manipulate. Moving the number from abstract to concrete is very supportive and consolidating. On Tuesday we obviously had fun with the date – a palindrome and an ambigram – now that doesn't happen every day! In History and Geography, we looked at primary sources of images from the past that have depicted roles and responsibilities around the home in the olden days. Children were able to compare and contrast the responsibilities that are now shared in their own households. Great to hear so many children help with the chores! Science allowed us to explore the direction of light. The children are aware that it moves in a straight line and our experiment proved it. The children had to line up pierced pieces of card. Only if they managed to get the holes in perfect alignment would the torch light travel through to light up our classroom. A fantastic week!
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 2 This week in Year 2 the students learned about so many interesting things across all Key Learning Areas. In English, we focused on ‘fl’ and ‘ld’ words, as we thought of as many words as possible to add to our word bank. The focus in grammar this week was on making plurals by adding ‘s’ to some words and using these in sentences. We continue to build our writing skills with the Quick Writes activity and the students are gaining confidence in their own ability to put pencil to paper and express their ideas. Our focus on expanding sentences using interesting verbs, adjectives and details is assisting the children with developing their writing skills. We continue to read the true story ‘Lost’ about three children in the 1860s Victorian bush who survived almost ten days in the rugged terrain. The students are enthralled. Mathematics work covered in numeration included addition to the number twenty. We used mental strategies, along with concrete materials, to make number sentences that equal twenty, while also showing our working out. In our multiplication work, we used arrays to show how we group numbers to get our answer. The focus in measurement was capacity and we compared various household containers to determine which had the smallest or largest capacity. We discussed the need for formal units of measurement and why it is necessary. In addition to these concepts, the students identified practical activities and everyday events that involve chance. They were able to describe outcomes as ‘likely’ or ‘unlikely’ and some events as ‘certain’ or ‘impossible’. The Winter Olympic Games and its history helped the students to identify a timeline of these important games and to recognise how they have grown to include countries from all over the world with thousands of participants. In History we discussed household items of the past and compared these to the present. In Science, the students continue to identify properties and the uses of materials by looking carefully at objects that contain a combination and why this is so. We had fun hunting combination objects in our classroom.
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 3 This term, the Year 3s have been focussing on being ‘Part of the Family’ in their PDH lessons. The students have learnt about the various types of family that exist around the world and have discussed what type of family they belong to themselves. This week, the students thought about the roles and responsibilities that different family members have and how their own important contributions can help to build a stronger and happier home. Although some of the students do not particularly enjoy their ‘chores’, they have been coming up with suggestions as to how they can help their parents and families to work successfully as a family unit. Perhaps some of these ideas will inspire you to think about your roles and responsibilities within your family... ‘My responsibilities are..’:
Margarita Lyaschenko: ‘I help to wash the dishes, and myself and my sister hang the laundry up on the line.’
Kiran Reddy: ‘I fold our clothes when they come out of the dryer, and I always make my bed in the morning before I come to school.’
Aaliya Rodger: ‘I help my family by unpacking the dishwasher. Every morning I make my bed and clean my room. I also help with dinner which makes my parents very happy.’
Sol Jiminez: ‘I take the dog for a walk and make sure it has enough food and water. I am also responsible for watering the plants inside and outside my house.’ What a fantastic effort by our Year 3 students. It’s great to see so many of you helping out at home. Keep up the excellent work!
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 3
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 4 Year 4 students had an amazing week of learning in all areas of the curriculum this week. Unfortunately, the incursion led by URSTRONG had to be postponed. However, Year 4 still discussed how they can help to develop their social, moral and emotional skills. Importantly we discussed what makes a good friend. Using their ‘fuzzy friend’, students had the opportunity to engage in role play and analyse deep, meaningful conversations. The ‘Heart of Friendship’ incursion will be reintroducing these topics later this term and we look forward to witnessing the social growth that students develop throughout the year. Students were also fully engaged in supplementing their learning of numeracy and literacy with digital platforms. All students have now been given access to the platforms Literacy Planet, Mathletics and MathsOnline. These digital platforms as a fantastic tool to assess and support students’ understanding of the topics taught. For example, this week, whilst learning to multiple by 10 and 100, tasks were set on Mathletics to mirror the topics. Students are encouraged to engage with these online platforms during appropriate learning opportunities and use them as revision tool to prepare for assessments and examinations. Great work mastering the art of Information Technology, Year 4. We are proud of your ability to use it to enhance your learning, whilst demonstrating mature netiquette! Well done.
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 4
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Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 5 & 6 SCIENCE This week, Year 5 students began their chemistry topic for the term. Students started the topic by investigating states of matter and how these states change from one to another. This involved students seeing dry ice for the first time and witnessing the process of sublimation (when a solid turns directly into a gas). Students also learnt about why and how we classify solids, liquids and gases and which characteristics and properties each of these states of matter possesses to make it unique. Year 6 students also began their chemistry topic for the term this week. Students studied the periodic table of elements. Students began to break down the periodic table, while learning about its periods, groups, group names and each element's individual information. By the end of the term, students should be able to recall the first 15 elements of the periodic table from memory. In Science Club this week, students made water walk! This involved using water, food colouring and paper towels. Essentially, the water moves from one beaker of water to the other, absorbing the water/food colouring, before moving to the next beaker. This is an experiment students can do at home too.
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Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 5 & 6 ENGLISH & PUBLIC SPEAKING In Year 5 English this week, students continued their study of the persuasive essay form. In particular, we focused on the structure of a body paragraph, using the PEEL scaffold (Point, Expansion, Evidence, Link). Students applied this format for developing evidence in a persuasive manner to different topics, including "Should tourists be able to climb Uluru?" and "Should bike helmets be compulsory?" We are working towards our writing assessment task, which is a full persuasive essay. In Year 6 English this week, students continued their study of "The Rabbits" by John Marsden and Sean Tan. We focused on descriptive writing skills, looking at how the use of adjectives, sensory imagery, figurative language and other "exciting" sentence structures can bring writing to life. Students will move on to a study of narrative structures soon. By the time we are finished this unit, their stories will jump off the page! In Public Speaking this week, students began their impromptu speaking assessment tasks. We spent time understanding the structure of a speech, along with practising brainstorming and coming up with ideas fast. Assessments will continue over the next three weeks, so everyone has a turn to speak – and to receive some constructive feedback from the students in the audience. Good luck, Year 5!
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Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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YEAR 5 & 6 MATHEMATICS This week in Mathematics Year 5 and 6 students received feedback on their cycle tests. Feedback provides an excellent learning experience in which learners recognised their strength and weakness. Students and teachers were able to identify and plan the next steps in learning process based on the individual student’s results. Students saw the importance and benefit of showing their thinking and working as a means of communicating their understanding. Year 5 mathematicians multiplied base numbers by themselves according to the exponent. They realised that the exponent tells how many times to multiply the base. The students soon became experts at determining the numerical value of expressions. They also worked on writing expressions in expanded form, rather than providing a numerical value. They learned that when bases are raised to the power of 2 it is called ‘squaring’ and if a base is raised to the power of 3 it is called ‘cubing’. Year 6 students used the inverse operation of squaring and cubing and found the square and cube roots of numbers. They discussed perfect squares and some adventurous mathematicians investigated Pythagoras’ Theorem, in particular Pythagorean Triads. Students made good guesses of approximate square roots by comparing two perfect squares. They used their scientific calculators to calculate square roots of non-square numbers and they corrected these to 2 decimal places. Santiago Smart, Hugo Holmes, and Ethan Song in Year 6 were hard at work calculating the length of the hypotenuse in a 3D solid. Romany Hoskins and Nathaniel Weiss worked diligently to identify Pythagorean triads.
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Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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MUSIC
This week in Music the year 3 and 4 students enjoyed getting back onto the xylophones. For the last few weeks, the students have been learning ‘Dinah’ (Year 3) and ‘Rocky Mountain’ (Year 4) and now we have started to learn how to play them on the xylophone. We have been going over our routines when using the instruments and also making sure that we play with proper mallet technique. In Year 5 and 6, the students have been showing their understanding of rhythm and have put together group arrangements of their percussion pieces. The Year 5s used classroom instruments to complete and perform their version of ‘One to Four’ while the Year 6s performed ‘Get Down and Play the Drum’.
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Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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MUSIC PERFORMANCE Our Music students have continued to enjoy their individual tuition and ensemble programmes this week, as well as a wide variety of voluntary ensembles that have been operating on a rotation basis. Please enjoy the snapshots below of some of our ensembles and what the students have been working on. Year 3-4 Concert Band Cohorting arrangements in the Year 3-4 Concert Band have allowed Mr Kempton and Ms Tickle to work with the students in focussed groups. As many of the students in this ensemble are new to their instruments, students have had lots of fun being introduced to ensemble playing, as well as picking up where some of the students left off last year. Mr Kempton is looking forward to being able to combine the groups, and working towards having some repertoire ready to be performed later this year! Year 5-6 Piano Duets It has been a fabulous start to the new school year for the Year 5-6 Piano Duets and all our students have started to settle into their new duet groups. We have begun work on new music pieces from a wide variety of genres: classical, popular, jazz. It was wonderful to see that many of the students took plenty of time to learn their own duet part before trying to put two different parts of music together into one cohesive piece. Playing a duet with another pianist is not as easy as one might think. When practising a solo, it is natural to start and stop to make corrections and master parts of the music as you go. But duet practice requires maintaining continuity so that your music will develop momentum and stay together. Also, we have learnt that playing duets helps to build friendships, learn new musical skills, and grow our performance abilities.
The Reddam House Primary School Newsletter
Volume 32 Issue 40 Friday 4h February 2022
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