From the Head of Junior School
Teachers have enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with families over the past week, for Parent Teacher interviews and Student led conferences. I really enjoy popping my head into the Student led conferences in particular, as the children take the reigns and talk about all of their learning with their parents. Our students are proud of their learning (as they should be) and are regularly told that they are the central agent of their own learning. Learning isn’t something that is “done to children”. It requires curiosity, effort, struggle and risk taking. I’m proud that students in the Junior School really do understand this.
Many students have also enjoyed a visit to Kedumba Gallery this week, as the prize has just been announced for the year. What a treasure we have on our door step! Many of our children have also submitted works to be considered for Kids Kedumba and our school judges will have a very difficult time choosing just a few drawings to be submitted for Blue Mountains Grammar School!
Below is a great news report from Stage 2 at the Springwood Campus. The students have taken action for the environment and organized a fundraiser for Endangered Species Day. They’ve baked at home and created beeswax wraps at school and have raised more than $300 for this great cause! Bravo to Stage 2 Gudugulung!
Investigating with Mathematics Competition
This competition aims to promote interest in mathematics and foster positive attitudes amongst students, teachers and parents. Through the investigation students are asked to explore 'real-life' situations and problems that are engaging and encompass a wide variety of mathematical skills.
Mr Carr’s Stage 2 class (Wentworth Falls) entered six investigations into the state-wide competition with the results below:
A Mathematical Vegetable Garden - Sy and Evelyn
The girls explored all the mathematics behind creating a vegetable garden at their home.
Awarded: Participation
Reforesting Bungawarra - Alex
Alex looked at what it would take to begin to reforest Bungawarra
Awarded: Participation
Frog Hotels - Mariella and Clare
Mariella and Clare set out to investigate the impact of the decreasing frog population in the Blue Mountains. The 2022 floods had a major impact of the frogs declining population, destroying the habitat of the frogs, so the girls aim was to create four Frog Hotels to place in different areas of the school to monitor and collect data about the frogs of the Blue Mountains and find ways to help build the population.
Awarded: Highly Commended
Animal Buffet - Adelaide and Kyah
Adelaide and Kyah decided to investigate all the maths behind designing and creating an animal feeder to be placed outside the stage 2 classroom area. This feeder would be monitored via a recording device in order to collect data on the native and non-native Fauna we have on the school grounds.
Awarded: Highly Commended
Born to be Wild: An Investigation into Magpies - Emma
At my school there is a bad magpie called Mr Swoopsalot. He swoops, I guess you can tell by his name. Mr Swoopsalot is dangerous and I wondered where his territory is, and what type of people he swoops. My research question is: do magpies mean to hurt us? I predict
that they are just looking after their babies, but I will figure out the answer through maths.
Awarded: First Place
Class Inquiry: Designing and Creating a Frog Habitat Haven
Our aim was to design and build a habitat haven for frogs in our local area that are endangered, threatened or without a safe healthy habitat. The hands-on learning experiences allowed the class to apply writing skills, science skills and mathematical skills to problems we face outside the classroom. Through the investigation we learned about the ecological role that frogs play in their local ecosystem, as well as the threats that they face, such as habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. We learned about the importance of creating and maintaining healthy habitats for frogs and other wildlife on our school playground.
Awarded: First Place
The two entries that received First Place in the State competition have been chosen to represent NSW in the National Competition which is a fantastic achievement.
Congratulations, Mr Carr and Stage 2 on these terrific results!
Mrs Rachael J Newton
Head of Junior School