Positive Climate for Learning

Year 1 Learning Community

This Term, the Year 1 students have been learning about their personal history. Students have been focusing on events that happened in the past, present and future. Students identified important events that have happened in their lives, such as birthdays, starting school and family holidays. 

Students have discussed different types of families and who are the members of their own family by creating a family tree. Students identified the types of roles in their families and how they have changed over time.

This week, we have been playing games from the past and comparing them to games we play now. We have been playing games, such as hopscotch, using skipping ropes, jumping in potato sacks and having egg and spoon races.  

Year 5 Learning Community

Inflation. Interest rates. The economy. The true cost of Fast Fashion.

Needs vs Wants. Consumerism. GST. Budget. Taxes.

General Studies:

If you were to step into the Year 5 Learning Community, you would probably hear a lot of these words floating around the room in conversation and see them up on our “WOW” Word Wall.

Why is that?

The Year 5 students have been deep diving into the world of Economics and Finance. And, it’s pretty interesting stuff! We are trying to figure out if money really does “Make the world go around.”

Our BIG QUESTION for the term is “What does it really cost?” The teachers and students have been researching, reading, discussing and debating ideas that relate to the economy and consumerism. 

We researched the controversial world of “Fast Fashion” and found out what negative impacts the Fast Fashion industry has on the environment and worker’s rights around the globe. 

“Fast fashion companies do not pay their workers enough. This makes me angry because these companies don’t treat people fair.” Kobi

“A lot of the materials used for brands like Target and KMart are not natural. They are man made in factories that pollute the air.” Scarlett W

“Recently there was a protest in a fast fashion factory in Cambodia because the workers were only getting paid $2 per day.” Narain

“High Street fast fashion manufacturing harms the environment because of all the chemicals that are released into the water from the factories.” April

Reading:

As part of our reading program this term we studied, “The Little Refugee” by Ahn Do. We identified themes in the book such as loss, fear, family and hope, and learned about the literary device “Juxtaposition” - that’s when an author encourages the reader to make comparisons in the book. A perfect example of this, is the front cover of “The Little Refugee”. Here you can see the happy, young Ahn Do in the foreground, but we have mixed feelings about this little boy and his safety, due to the image of the crowded boat in the background. We created our own front covers of books using titles we made up, to show our understanding of juxtaposition. Here are just a few examples.

Maths:

How many different combinations can you think of to fit 100 cars into a multi-level car park? What about “split” levels? A big part of our maths learning in Year 5 is to “think like a mathematician.” We have learned lots of strategies to help us solve problems like this one. We are now much more confident in having a go at difficult maths challenges - and if we make mistakes and struggle a little, we know that these are important parts of our mathematics learning. Our teachers often tell us - the journey is more important than the destination - especially in problem solving. We are always encouraged to show our working out, as that is a great way to show our teachers, and each other, the different approaches we all take, to solve the same problem. Check out these amazing maths wizards!

Visual Arts

Students have all returned from the holidays, refreshed and keen to express their creativity. It has been a joy to see the enthusiastic faces every lesson. 

Well done ACS community!

After 3 Terms of hard creative efforts, our students have been rewarded with Second Place for Schools over 200 in the Royal Geelong Show. Students from Prep-Year 9 contributed to the display and it was simply gorgeous! We are so excited to have come second at the Geelong Show, each year level contributed to the Geelong Show with some amazing art works. Below is a list of the many many creative, unique and award winning artworks that were included in our entry.

Here you can see a video of the entire process of setting up our amazing installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu1iFNEMk2s

Prep students: 

• Shape crocodiles 
• Egg carton giraffes 
• Self portraits 
• Jelly fish
• Rainbow lions
• Cardboard dinosaurs 
• Penguins 

Year 1 students: 

• Clay fish 
• Value ice creams
• Ink blowing cherry blossoms 
• Symmetry butterflies
• Koi Fish 

Year 2 students:

• Giant sunglasses 
• Boy with flowers in his hair 
• North lights chalk pastels 
• Flashlight 

Year 3 students: 

• Modigliani Portraits
• Optical Illusion Name Graphics
• Mandala Lantern Sculptures

Year 4 students: 

• Skateboards 
• Mini surfboards 
• Kimono Paper Weaving

Year 5 Students: 

• Relief paper sculpture
• Geometric value animal paintings
• Radial printing 
• Self-portrait on acetate
• Felt toys 

Year 6 students: 

• Plasticine self-portraits 
• Hand sewn Felt toy Monsters
• About Me Jumble

High school: 

• Radial Prints
• Lantern Sculptures

Physical Education

Hello Armstrong Creek School Families!

We had such a great start to the term and have continued to have fun and develop our skills throughout. Our students should be so proud of their efforts this term who have embraced every topic in PE we have thrown at them. A reminder to students to please bring their hat and drink bottle to every class to minimize disruption to the lesson especially as it heats up (we hope!). 

WHATS BEEN HAPPENING IN CLASS!?

PREP- 2

Students will be participating in our first Junior Athletics postponed to next week. Reminder that students can wear their House colours (if you are not sure what your child’s House colour is please contact their teacher or the office). They will also need to bring a hat, water bottle and snack with them and ensure they are wearing appropriate footwear for running. Families are welcome to join in on the day, bringing picnic rugs and snacks to enjoy with their child during recess time and whilst they cheer on from the side lines. There will also be a coffee van available on the day to purchase hot drinks. Unfortunately, the canteen will not be available on this day so please ensure you pack snacks and lunch for your child. Our students are so excited and so are we! We cannot wait to see you there!

THREE/FOUR/FIVE/SIX

Our Year Three to Six students have been developing different skills within Net and Wall games exploring skills for volleyball, badminton, wall ball, downball and tennis! They have had so much fun exploring these games and skills and have shown great commitment in their learning. We are about to enter our student choice unit where students were surveyed to choose what sports or games they would like to play or learn. We would love to promote interests in sports and in turn get them involved in the local community sport. In week 8 students will get a choice of Karate, Dancing, Bike Riding, Skateboarding, Rollerblading/skating. Students are able to bring their own equipment on the day of their regular PE session however the school does have bikes and skateboards for students to use. Even if students have not learnt these skills we will be there to teach them the way! In week 9 we will be doing  minor and cooperative games playing things such as dodgeball, capture the flag, Armstrong Creek walls and many more. In week 10 student will have the choice our of Boxing, Basketball and Parkour to try out on their day. We look forward to seeing their creative side and interests play out in PE this term.

SECONDARY

Our secondary students have had voice and agency within their lessons, choosing which sports interest them and what skills they would like to improve on and try with guidance by the teacher. We have developed a 2-3-week system where we develop and execute skills and sports chosen by our students. We have participated in games such as Volleyball, basketball and tennis. We are currently in the middle of our final unit- Bike Education where students will practice the skills and safety of bike riding and for some learn to ride! We have recently purchased some inclusive bikes and found this has made a huge different and change in motivation and participation with our students which I feel will continue and develop throughout the rest of the year.