Grade 6

Kokoda Day

Kokoda Day, a memorial service day for the fallen soldiers in the 39th Battalion that went to battle against the Japanese to protect a potential invasion by the Japanese forces in World war 2. Tuesday the 8th of August was made a day to remember the ones who fought in the battle but didn’t make it back, who protected our country from being taken over and who fought for their families. All of the grade 6 students went to One Tree Hill and paid respect for the soldiers who lost their lives during the New Guinea campaign. We had many special guest such as, Alfred Malia, John Pesutto and Daniela De Martino. There was a laying of the wreaths where  John Pesutto and Daniela De Martino Laid their wreaths first, Sue Liedler represented Aaron Violi put down their wreath Second, Mary Holloway and Bob Richards put theirs down next, then the Victorian Police put down their Wreaths next and then Archer.S and Harry.B put down theirs representing Belgrave South Primary School at the end of the memorial service everyone got light refreshments. Which included choc chip cookies, Anzac cookies, apple and orange flavoured juice, sandwiches, sushi, sausage rolls, party pies and water. The delicious refreshments filled us up on the way back to school. Overall it was a fun experience and we were happy to support the fallen soldiers. The reason why that day is so important in our military history is because if the 39th battalion didn’t hold back the Japanese forces we wouldn’t be here and Australia could be a Japanese country. 

Maths Workshop with Andrew Lorimer.

Do you like maths and challenging yourself so hard that your brain bursts? If not, we present you a way to make maths fun! On Wednesday the 9th of August, some grade 5’s and 6’s from multiple schools participated in a Thinksquare maths game day. Thinksquare is a website that gives students access to different games that improve their mathematical skills. It includes games that teach the four operations, different maths vocabulary and more. Andrew, the guy who created Thinksquare, taught us many different games and puzzles, such as; Money Box, Mathema-tic, tac, toe and much more, but  instead of playing them online we got to use a physical version of each one. Groups from many different primary schools came, including Selby, Cockatoo, Upwey, Menzies Creek, Clayton South, and of course us, Belgrave South. We were split into groups of four, where we would conquer different challenges together. When we completed challenges we got platinum, which was a scoring system. When we played competitively against other groups, we could steal their platinum if we won. The three groups with the most platinum at the end of the day, would win different prizes, including a deck of number cards, a really hard Thinksquare puzzle and, for first prize, a hat that says ‘cool’ on it, until you look in the mirror and it says ‘dork’ instead. Overall the Thinksquare maths day was a great success and gave us a great opportunity to meet people from other schools! Even though no one from Belgrave South won any prizes, we all had lots of fun and we would like to thank Andrew and Mrs Price for organising this brilliant day. 

Written by: Poppy, Elise and Sailor from 6K