I hope you all had a chance to relax over the school holiday period. As always, we’ve hit the ground running with our learning for the first two weeks of the term.

Inquiry Exploration in Grade 3/4

Last Friday the Grade 3/4 students had their inquiry immersion day. Students started with an Australian history escape room, with students having to work in small teams to collectively solve problems (including circumnavigating the playground and paper tower construction) as well as researching some key points in Australian history to ‘unlock’ the next stage. During the middle of the day, the students undertook a STEM investigation, designing helicopters and learning about the inventions of David Unaipon. This was followed by rotations which included a chance to experience various indigenous Australian games. I briefly spoke with some of the 3/4 students about their immersion day:

Jack: One of the things we did was helicopters, where you put a propeller on an icy pole stick and then you put an elastic band with a paperclip. Then you put sticky tape where the paperclip is to attach it. Then you fly it in the air; mine went to the ceiling!

Willow: One activity we did was an escape room on the iPads. We had to search for answers to different questions and put them into the iPad (Google Form). For one of the activities we had to make a tower out of wood that had to be 40cm high to get the clue.

Fergus: I had the best helicopter because our team used TWO rubber bands. It crashed into the roof a lot!

Sihaam: I liked when we made the helicopter. Ours didn’t really fly but it was still really cool- it just went up and down.

Byron: We played loads of aboriginal games. One was a possession game where you had to pass it to your team mates and you could only take three steps. It was lots of fun.

Thanks to the Grade 3/4 teachers for organising such a fun and educationally rich immersion day.

Once again the Grade 3/4 students have been busy - this time they travelled outside of the school on an excursion to Melbourne Museum. From all reports it was a fantastic adventure full of educational opportunities that will be connected back to their learning at school. Thanks to all the family members who volunteered to help out on this excursion.

Creative Mathematics with Grade 5s

How would you solve 53 x 23? Could you solve it a second way? What’s the most efficient way to solve it?

I try to find a way to squeeze maths into every newsletter I write… and this week I couldn’t go past the brilliant work happening in the Grade 5 classrooms! In the process of developing their multiplicative thinking skills, the students had an opportunity to be creatively demonstrate the depth of their understanding by teaching a strategy to others.

Check out this wonderful video made by Izzy in Refi’s class:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w6Zf0g_EpH0569SbxLSSIPgqJbqtTUoA/view?usp=sharing

Preps Cooking Up a Storm

Today our Preps spent part of the morning working together in our kitchen to make ANZAC biscuits! This shared experience will provide an opportunity for further literacy and mathematical learning in the classroom over the coming week. I asked some of the Preps about what they were doing:

Alex (Prep BM): We’re making Anzac Cookies - because they’re yummy! I helped put the coconut into the bowl and then I mixed it up.

Pepper (Prep TJ): We’re making cookies - so we can eat them! I’ve been mixing all the dry ingredients - flour, oats and coconut. The other people put in butter and syrup - like the one you put on pancakes. This all melted and then we put it with the dry ingredients and then we mixed it slowly so it wouldn’t burn. Sometimes I cook at home - I like to make cupcakes!

This has been a super busy week for our Preps. As well as cooking today, on Monday they headed off on their first ever school excursion on Monday - a local immersion walk where they had a chance to explore some important places in the local community. This local excursion is part of the children’s focus on ‘community and belonging’ during the term, and provided an opportunity for a shared language experience for their writing.

Our Grade 6s Supporting our Community

At Fitzroy North Primary School we are supporting our students to continue to grow as caring and engaged citizens whose actions have a positive impact on others in community. At the moment, our Grade 6s have two simultaneous projects that are focused on supporting those people in our community who may need a little extra help.

6HK are running a food drive for Oz Harvest, where they are asking students across the school to donate non-perishable food items (such as pasta, canned fruit or vegetables, tinned sauces, tea/coffee, cereal or muesli bars).

William T (6HK) told me, ‘We are just starting to collect the food and we’re working out how much we’ve got. Remember, whichever class has the most, gets a prize! Please keep bringing them in next week!’

6BA are collecting for 300 Blankets, a not-for-profit organisation that provides support to those experiencing homelessness in Victoria. The students are collecting items including (new) men’s and women’s underwear, men’s tracksuit pants, socks and toiletries. They would love more donated items over the next week; students across the school can bring these into their own classroom and the Grade 6 collection team will swing by during the week.

Bea (6BA) told me: ‘We are already more than halfway to our goal! We really appreciate the donations. Keep them coming!’

Thanks to everyone who has been able to contribute to these fantastic causes.

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend.

Toby

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