Specialists

Visual Arts

We have had such an amazing week in Art! Being halfway through the term means we are completing our first projects and moving onto our second. Please remember to send along an art smock if you have not already. Thank you if you have already provided one. We are currently looking for the following items to be donated to the art room. If you have any of the following, please send them along with your child to bring to their next art lesson.

Items needed: Newspaper, Plastic meat trays (washed and dried)

Foundation - 'take your dot for a walk' is how we have begun learning about 'line' and drawing different types of lines. Curvy, wavy, zigzag, dashed, dotted are just a few example of lines they have been experimenting with. Over the next few weeks, we will be using line to create simple artworks before moving on to collage. 

Junior - a messy, but fun week has been had in junior school art! We have been working with paper mache to create ice creams and bowls. Students learnt how to layer newspaper strips with glue to create a smooth surface. Next week, we will paint our pieces! 

Middle - have been experimenting with clay. Scoring and using slip to join small pieces have been our focus. Middle B have completed tribal masks and will move on to creating coil pots in the coming week.

Senior - are stunning us with 'collaged' animal pieces. They are using painted papers to create their animals and textured papers to create the backgrounds. More 'collaging' to come in the coming weeks. 

Rebecca Bertrand

Science

I put up a new display in the science hub this week. It’s titled #SQUAD and has many faces of famous scientists. I was asked why Mrs Frizzle’s face was amongst the greats such as Steven Hawking’s and Marie Curie. The answer is because she makes science fun and her passion as a scientist is infectious. Who wouldn’t want to jump in the yellow school bus and go on an adventure to outer space or explore the deepest parts of the ocean. Curiosity in science allows us to observe and find out how things work which is the fundamental reason why we conduct investigations. Through this concept we have been building on our understanding of what makes a good scientist.

Foundation

Juicy sweet and nice for a treat. In fact we thought the apples we had in science were so delicious we couldn’t stop nibbling in slices till they were all gobbled up. We had so much fun using the apples to explore our 5 senses.

Junior 

The butterfly life cycle is an amazing sight to witness. We have loved watching our very hungry caterpillars transform into caterpillars right before our very eyes. We have been comparing the life cycle of a butterfly to our own life cycle. We have had great conversations on what changes and stays the same as we grow older. A great picture storybook on the concepts we have been learning is, The very hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Middle

Classifying things is not as easy as it first appears. Whilst we can classify most living and non -living things independently now, strengthening our claims as to why this is so is where the challenge has been. With feedback students are starting to add greater detail to their explanations to justify why they put certain objects into the groups they made. I’m sure by the end of the unit we will be far more confident with this.

Senior

Did you know that yeast does not have the most delightful odour. While most students in senior classes have agreed with this discovery for others it has unleashed our prior knowledge and love of making pizza bases and bread at home. We have conducted several investigations using yeast so far and have learnt that when yeast is mixed with sugar and warm water it is activated under the right conditions to produce gas. We have also learnt that warm water is the best to use. Who knew we would learn so much about this fascinating microorganism.

Emma Sceberras

Physical Education

Another two weeks have flown by, but the students have been hard at work keeping their bodies moving and healthy. We have been working together to form trusting relationships, ensuring our environment is optimal for learning. This has been effective as students have well and truly settled back in to face to face learning.

Foundation students have been working on PMP (perceptual motor program). PMP aims to develop children’s perceptions and understanding of spatial awareness through which the body moves. Developing fine and gross motor skills and promoting hand-eye coordination, concentration and attention and confidence to have a go!’. As you can see in our photos, we focused on; balance, locomotion, gross motor skills (jumping and landing) and auditory-motor skills (shapes and commands).

Junior students have been practising the overarm throw. This involved explicitly teaching the individual steps. They have been very successful in learning the steps of the overarm throw being; superhero stance, eyes on the target, and step forward and put your money in the pocket (follow-through). This was evident as they used them throughout our games of; dodgeball, clean up my backyard and race to the base. Our next focus over the next couple of weeks will be dodging.

Middle and senior students have completed the overarm throw by doing a post-assessment and peer feedback form. Students offered their peers effective feedback by watching them perform the overarm throw and checking that they could complete each step. At this stage, most middle and senior students will be able to perform the overarm throw correctly. However, some students need to practice these steps to perform with precision, accuracy and distance. In the next couple of weeks, we will be working on our two-handed side strike.

Kate Green

Global Studies and Ethics

Foundation and Junior: The students have been learning about the types of celebrations people around the world celebrate and what we love about them. We have looked at what all the different celebrations have in common.

Middle:  The students have been looking at the aspects of kindness and fairness. They looked at questions such as: How can we be the best person we can be and how can we be kind to everyone? If we treat everyone exactly the same way, is that always fair?

Senior: The students have continued learning about Singapore for their projects. They are looking great and the students are truly showing that they are being the best that they can be and working hard on this task.

Harmony Day

We will be celebrating this in a couple of weeks. Please keep a look out for more information coming soon.

Kym Wallace