Specialist Showcase
Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
A special thank you to the Parents Association who have been instrumental in getting our STEM specialist program off the ground since last year. Another wonderful purchase we have been able to make through their generous fundraising were some Makey Makey Kits, Spheros and Drones. All will see use for many years to come with their links to the Digital Technology, Critical and Creative Thinking and Design Technology curriculum - and many more!!!
Makey Makeys
We were able to purchase 12 Makey Makeys. Makey Makeys allow you to design your own controller with everyday materials like fruit, playdough or graphite pencils.
You can then code your own game and use the Makey Makeys as a controller. Check out Kane and Angus playing a game they made using the coding program Scratch and using the Makey Makey as controllers!
Spheros
We were able to purchase 12 Spheros too - a spherical robot toy. It is a white orb wrapped in polycarbonate plastic, capable of rolling around, changing colours, running programs and being controlled by the school iPads through the Sphero app.
They can be utilised through:
Rolling - Sphero robots can roll at a controlled speed and heading for a given amount of time.
Colours - Sphero robots can light up in any colour the user wishes.
Sensors - Sphero robot's internal sensors include an IMU and locator.
Bluetooth - Students connect Spheros to our school iPads through Bluetooth.
Coding- Sphero robots support three 'onboard' programming or coding languages which the students can use to code a Sphero's path.
Click the link below to view a Sphero in action:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WdAWSmMtKhfX8I0X1u4mBPp3IIrU07ie/view?usp=sharing
Drones
We were also able to purchase 10 Tello drones. Tello drones are an impressive and programmable drone perfect for education. They students can easily learn programming languages such as Scratch and code a drone to safely take off, turn, take photos, do flips and land.
Discovery Centre
Book Week & Book Fair
What a fabulous time we have had over the past two weeks celebrating “books and literature”. We kicked off with our annual Book Fair, which saw many excited children running into the DC to pick up “just the right book”. The support from the school community saw us achieve record sales, which in turn results in a record commision, to enable me to purchase new resources for our students. Thank you so much for your support.
The winners of our popular “guessing competition” were - 1st - Alexandria Thomas (1MH) with a correct guess of 293 items, followed by Kai Williams (4EP) and Evie Hannon (Prep
AS). Well done.
Book Week Parade
Book Week of course saw our dress-up parade and the students and their parents are to be congratulated on the variety of costumes. The hall was ablaze with the colour with many super heroes, characters from Harry Potter, Minecraft and fairy tales to name a few. The teachers all joined in too. This was followed by a new idea - the “QR Code” quiz, which saw the students literally running around the school to find hidden clues and then answer the book/superhero related questions.
Guest Speakers
Our two guest speakers - Sue De Gennaro (Prep-Yr. 2) and Michael Panckridge (Year 3-6) provided inspiration, hands on activities and great writing ideas to our students.
Michael has emailed me just today to say “It was an absolute pleasure visiting your school and chatting with the super engaged, well-mannered and interested students”. Always great to hear positive feedback about our students.
If you would like to order any of Michael’s books, please return the order forms supplied to me by Friday 6th Sept. Alternatively the students are welcome to borrow the copies in the DC.
Sausage Sizzle and Buddy Reading
We enjoyed our lunchtime sausage sizzle, thanks to Mr. Boyhan, Mrs. Bownds and heaps of parent helpers and we finished our week reading with our buddies.
I would like to thank my Year 6 DC Leaders who have helped out so much over the past two weeks, often giving up their lunchtimes, coming to school early and staying late after school until 4.00pm. They have been stars. Thanks to - Angus, Edith, Holly, Joel, Tara and Xavier.
Book of the Week
“Wolf girl” / By Anh Do. Anh Do usually writes book of a humourous genre eg. Weirdo, Hot Dog and Ninja kid, but now he has written a new “adventure” novel, which tells the story of Gwen who finds herself separated from her family. She joins with a wolf cub, some stray dogs and a hawk, who learn to survive in a changed world.
Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge
The Challenge closes on 6th September. All children at SFX from Yr. 1-6 have been entered in the challenge. In order to meet the requirements (as previously stated) - Year 1-2 students must read/experience 30 books and Year 3-6 must read 15 books. I have entered all the books we have read in DC sessions, but the onus is on students to complete the data themselves. I will give them time in DC this week and next to do so.
Health and PE
In Term Three in Health & Physical Education, the Year Two’s have been focusing on Fitness. We started off a rainy term exploring and identifying various essential body parts and muscle groups that we use to move. We used a familiar ‘Thinking Routine’ used in the classroom called, ‘Think, Pair, Share’. This was a great opportunity to share our thoughts and understandings with others. Outside we have continued to improve our fitness through a wide variety of activities including running games, running training, athletics, skipping and gymnastics.