Around the Junior School

Pre-Kinder Celebrates Book week

Excitement, colour, characters and fun. Our Book week celebrations were amazing. Super heroes, witches, a unicorn and a cat in a hat. Well done Pre-Kinder.

Year 4 History

Year 4 are studying First Fleet and its arrival in History this term. This week 4A have been empathising with the experiences of the convicts aboard the ships of the First Fleet, in particular what it would have been like to be stuck below deck with hundreds of other people. We ruled out the approximate size of the beds of the convicts and tried to make ourselves fit- they were so cramped! Anna and Josh played the role of Generals and bossed the convicts around. It was a great way to get in the shoes of a convict but we were glad to return to our clean and warm classroom! 

Freya Blackwood visits KWS

As part of our Book Week Celebrations, children in the Junior School were so fortunate to have award-winning illustrator and storyteller Freya Blackwood for a session on Wednesday 24th of August. Freya has illustrated around 30 children’s picture books and has been a winner of the CBCA categories in the past. This year, her wordless picture book, “The Boy and the Elephant” was shortlisted for the CBCA Children’s Picture Book of the Year. The students viewed Freya’s clever illustrations whilst listening to Zoe Barry play the cello. Some classes even put their own words to her drawings. The book reminds us of the world we live in and our ability to change it.  The boy lives in a city, where everything is fast and loud. But amidst the bustle and the noise, the boy has a secret ...In the overgrown lot next to his apartment building, deep within the green, he has a friend.But one day progress arrives, bringing with it plans for something new, and the boy must find a way to save his friend before it's too late...

The children were mesmerised by Freya’s stories and her ability to draw on the whiteboard and asked plenty of questions. Many students ran out of her session to find one of her books to borrow for the week.

KWS Junior School children dress up for Book Week

The library was a hive of activity on Friday 26th August as the children in the Junior School paraded their costumes for Book Week and then participated in a team quiz Kahoot. The theme for Book Week this year was Dreaming with Eyes Open and students were asked to come dressed as a character who encapsulates the theme, holding the book or a photocopy of the cover that their character is from. Some children didn’t know the characters that students had chosen to dress up as which stimulated many conversations and interest in reading the selected books. As Sam Adetifa in Year 5 said, “It is the whole point of Book Week, it is part of fun.” It is such a great opportunity for children to share what they are reading and to find out about other great books to read.

The Junior School staff and the Senior School English teachers chose to come as a character from Harry Potter to celebrate 25 years since JK Rowling the first Harry Potter book was published. Did you know that it is 21 years since the first film was made?  The children were so fortunate to have such a large group of parents as their audience as they braved the catwalk to music. They then joined a group within their House to contribute to a quiz about books they had recently studied during their library lessons. This meant that everyone in the group had a chance to answer a question. Each year group has studied specific short-listed CBCA books. In other words, only the Kindergarten children could answer the questions on the books they had studied. The noise level rose and the organised chaos continued as the 24 teams battled it out for the top position on the podium.  Congratulations to Brown House 1 who gained the top prize of 100 house points. I’m guessing they only got the Kindergarten questions wrong as unfortunately their Kindergarten team player was away on the day. The question that only 9% of students knew the answer to was the colour of the library’s circulation desk. To be fair, it was a trick question as the children had to read the colour name rather than select the colour! 

It was a lovely finish to Book Week and the children were all engaged.  

Keep Reading!

From the Library Team

Results from the Book Week Kahoot/Quiz

1st place – 100 House Points Brown 1

Captain -  Georgie Simpson

Members:

Aari Poole (Year 5)

Crispin Downs (Year 4)

James Robson (Year 3)

Edith Triggs (year 2)

Aedan Hunnam (Year 2)

Amelia Canning (Year 1)

2nd place – 50 House Points – Gordon 2

Captain – Jude Jansen 

Members:

Harriet King (Year 5)

Lachie Turnbull (Year 5)

Harriet Johnston (Year 4)

Digby McGee (Year 3)

Joshua Westcott (year 3)

Sophie Kerdic (Year 2)

Henry Devjak (Year 1)

Darby Mullins (K)

Louis Zhang (K)

3rd place – 25 House Points – Douglas 6 

Captains – Aurora Everett and Will Stratton 

Jimmy Jones (Year 5)

Prayan Dulal (Year 4)

Nicos Cassimaty (Year 3)

Eddie Chapman (Year 2)

Henry Devjak (Year 1)

Poppy Fardell (K)

Sam Akerstrom  (K)

Book Week Photos

Term 3 Technology Showcase

Save the date for our Term 3 Technology Showcase on Wednesday 21 September. Year 1 students will share their Stop Motion Animation films, as part of the Storybook component of their InitiaLit program. Join Year 2 for a tour around the Pacific when they reveal their final project for their Geography unit this term ‘Where In The World’. In groups they are working on designing an Oceania Cruise visiting our pacific neighbours, involving the Ozobots, Canva and moviemaking skills. Year 6 have been game designers this term, bringing together their computational thinking ability and coding skills to create an arcade game. Bring along your phones so that you can access their theme song developed in GarageBand during Music, and play their game by scanning the QR codes on their posters.

Mrs Muriel Fatai

JS Leader of Technology and Innovation

K-6 Parent Numeracy Workshop 

Presenter: Fiona Walker from the AIS 

Hosted by: Mrs Hayward and Mrs Milliken 

Last night a number of Junior School parents joined us in The Glasshouse to learn how they can further support their child in number skills at home. We also spoke about the exciting professional learning that our Junior School teachers have been participating in this year to strengthen student engagement in mathematics. 

Merit Awards - Term 3 week 5, 2022

K Paddington

• Lyla Milton-Wonderful work with grouping and sharing in mathematics
• Louis Zhang-Being a “friendship magnet”

K Caterpillar

• Poppy Fardell-Wonderfully descriptive compound sentences
• Thomas Williams-Brilliant mathematical thinking when making groups

1 Elmer

• Tom Haydon-Number fact family work
• Ivy Coleman-Mathematical explanations

2 Alcott

• Mezen Jalal-For active listening at all times
• Cerys Thomas-For great time investigation

2 Barty

• Grace Monaghan-Approaching all learning tasks with enthusiasm and humility
• Savidu Fernando- Great work in science

3 Curious Creatures

• Will Davis-Always having a positive outlook
• Digby Volkofsky-Improved setting out of book work

3 Volcanics

• Julian Capanas-Being kind and caring towards other students
• Finlay Simpson-Always being a cheerful and positive class member

4 Attenborough

• Reg Caskey-Being a collaborative learner
• Alice Jones-Asking inquisitive questions in History

4 Phillip Parker King

• Harriett Johnston-A positive attitude to writing
• Crispin Downs-Enthusiastic work in writing

5 Irwin

• Amelia Sullivan-Her positive and enthusiastic attitude 
• Louis Blyth-Fantastic achievement in basketball

5 Watson

• Caityn Long-Contribution in all class discussions
• Harry Price-Great work in Maths tasks

6 Goodes

• Chloe Caro-Using great mathematical thinking when problem solving
• Sam Commins-His persistence with his novel writing 

6 Mabo

• Jed Volkofsky-Offering constructive suggestions to his peers to assist in group projects
• Georgie Simpson-Always exhibiting a positive outlook and attitude in the classroom

Haiku by a Zach Stacpoole in 5 Irwin

Dawn on the Kinross oval

Kinross has green roots

Each day is a brand-new day

Old tree history

Green are the new shoots

Dawn frost climbs the naked trees

Grass is always green

By Zach Stacpoole