Inquiry Centre

Curriculum

After settling in quickly to all our class routines, the Inquiry Centre have launched straight into action to make the most of Term Two. Monday started off strong as we began our Guided Inquiry rotations which are all about ‘Stimulating Science’. Each teacher is focusing on a different scientific area and completing an experiment or investigation. Topics include the weather, space, chemistry and different forms of energy. Over the next five weeks, we are sure you will hear all about these so be sure to ask your child about their rotation!

In Reading, we explored different types of non-fiction texts and their purpose in giving information or persuading the audience. A highlight was our ‘chalk and walk’ where we rotated around the classroom and made observations about a website, encyclopedia, news article, LEGO instructions and an information report. We reflected on the similarities and differences between these text types and then consolidated our understanding throughout our rotations. Students also received their spelling words where their focus is to explore codes and spelling rules within targeted words based on their area of need.

Our Writing sessions last week were focused on a skill that we are sure many students use at home… persuasive writing! We spent lots of time sharing our opinions on different topics including whether we should have a class pet and if all children should have iPads. There were lots of interesting and convincing arguments! Over the coming weeks, we will be working on a project all about why MPRPS is the best school. You will notice that there is a ‘Home Talk’ post uploaded to Seesaw and we would love for you to add a comment with your child sharing some of the things that make MPRPS the wonderful place that it is.

Students have been investigating the many different ways that they can add and subtract numbers in our Maths sessions. We have had plenty of hands-on materials including number lines, icy pole sticks, counters and tens frames, students have been building on their understanding of addition and subtraction. Students have enjoyed the opportunities to work on their next steps for this skill. Whether it’s building their fluency recalling number facts to 20 or using vertical equations to add larger numbers, it has been great to see students making progress in their learning!

In Wellbeing, we have been learning about our school value of inclusion and considering the diversity of our classroom. There are so many different cultures and backgrounds represented in our classes and we loved being able to celebrate our similarities and differences! We also spent some time using our strength of gratitude to think about some inspirational women in our life to celebrate Mother's Day. For all of the Mums and Mother figures, we hope you had a lovely weekend!

We began our Junior Rotations across Foundation to Year Two and had lots of fun using our creativity and spending time with students from other classes. It was lots of fun!

Have a fabulous week,

Miss Glen, Mrs Martin, Miss Molloy, Mrs Seadon, Mr Shaw, Mrs Sutherland and Mrs Tang

Reminders

Please check your child has their headphones at school, as some went home over the holidays
Junior School Cross Country is this Thursday, weather permitting. Families are welcome!

Student Voice

Andy H - "We enjoyed doing lots of writing, especially persuasive texts."
Eshaan S - "Crazy Hair Day was fun because we could have messy hair!"
Emil A - "We practiced counting money and made $5.50 using the coins."
Zoe M - "We had the Mother's Day stall this week and there were lots of things!"

Pupil of the Week

1/2ET: Rebekah L -

For demonstrating excellent teamwork skills when working in pairs to come up with a list of ideas for our persuasive writing prompt. You share ideas and take turns to scribe, keep up the amazing work Rebekah!

1/2G: Princess T -

For demonstrating curiosity and enthusiasm when exploring different strategies for addition and subtraction. It was great to see your focus throughout our Maths sessions this week. Fabulous work, Princess!

1/2K: Troy M -

For demonstrating creativity when brainstorming ideas about our persuasive writing topics. You explained your reasons using connectives and shared them confidently with your peers.

1/2M: Clara M -

For demonstrating perseverance in Maths this week. You worked hard to understand how to do difficult vertical addition and subtraction problems and never gave up! Your hard work this week can be seen in your ability to use a new Maths strategy. Well done Clara!

1/2SS: Sahib P -

For showing excellent progress when reading. You have shown a love of learning and improved your decoding skills and comprehension to help you understand different texts.