What's happening in our classrooms? 

Grade 6 Incursion 

As part of grade 6s Civics and Citizenship unit about Democracy and Government, the Honorable Natalie Hutchins took time out of her busy schedule to visit our school. Natalie Hutchins has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorates of Keilor (2010–2014) and she now represents Sydenham (2014–present). Natalie explained the levels of government and talked about what takes place in parliament. Natalie also shared stories about her political journey and the inspiring work that she undertakes for others. 

Notice our grade 6s in their new school windcheaters with their names on the back!  Students absolutely love their personalised uniform top AND apparently, they are 

VERY WARM! 

EXPO  

Thank you to our grade 6 students and families who attended Mackellar’s recent EXPO evening. The theme of the evening, ‘Learn with Us’ was student-led and showcased key curriculum areas and specific, current learning. What a wonderful community event. Here is some much appreciated feedback from our parents and some photographs from the evening:

‘Giving parents the opportunity to see their children’s work is enlightening. It’s incredible to see how our children are exposed to such rich learning.’  Mrs Pajaron 

‘I thought the evening was a success. The children were proud to show off their school to their parents. It was apparent that the teachers have a close bond with their students which is beautiful to see. The students will miss the school very much next year.’  Mrs Kong 

‘I loved seeing the students so involved in the EXPO night and it was wonderful to see them lead the evening. As parents, it’s so nice to have the opportunity to come back into the school and the classrooms, and to be able to see what work our children are producing and how their teachers are helping our children learn and nourishing their young minds.’ Mrs Scarfo

Thank you for a pleasant evening, we enjoyed everything. Krish showed us all around the school. The cooking room and vegetable garden were amazing with lots of fresh herbs for the kids to use in their cooking classes. The music room was also nice, to see all the different instruments the kids are learning. The robotics program speech was brilliant, the kids are very talented. We enjoyed all aspects of the night. Thank you. Mrs Sha

‘The EXPO evening was wonderful and it showed how we can build the childrens’ confidence.’ Mrs Bytyqi 

‘It was interesting to see what the students are learning at school. It was also nice to be part of a school community event after all this time. I really liked the welcoming atmosphere.’  Ms Wilson 

‘We enjoyed the evening and were so happy to see our child progressing so well, especially after remote learning. Thank you to all the teachers.   Mr. and Mrs Vujatovic

‘Hazel was very excited before the expo as she was so happy for us to see the work they are involved in at school. Also, Tanya was great to speak to and gave us amazing feedback about our daughter. I think the expo night should be a part of Mackellar Primary School as it gives students something to look forward to. Expo night really gave me an insight into what is taught and all the different talents the children have. Thank you for the time and effort that was put in.’   Mrs Sule Yucel

‘The evening was fantastic!  It was so nice to be at Mackellar and see the classrooms and what students are learning. I really enjoyed it!’   Mrs Giuffrida 

English – reading and writing

Our literacy focus this term is Discussion Text. When comparing persuasive texts, students learnt that expositions present one argument, whereas discussion texts present at least two arguments. They used Stephen Graham’s recommended structure and applied appropriate grammatical and language features to write convincing discussion texts. Students also developed their ability to analyse, interpret and evaluate discussion texts.

Mathematics

Grade 6 students really worked hard during Term 2 exploring fractions and decimals, patterns and algebra, length, time, and data. Our key focus has been adding and subtracting unlike fractions by exploring the fraction wall, including jump, split and compensation strategies. Students worked with vertical and horizontal algorithms, expanded and rounded numbers and automatically used estimate and check strategies.  They described and predicted the way number patterns build, they found and wrote rules for number patterns.  Students have been interpreting and using timetables in the real world to calculate elapsed time.  During work on length, we made paper planes, estimated, and measured how long they flew and measured the distance between our estimations and our calculations.  Our focus has been on converting units of length and comparing these to our decimal system.  Running alongside that we have been identifying various graphs and choosing the most appropriate graph type, understanding, and writing statements of findings.  We have used Netball and AFL statistics from websites to interpret data in the real world and have identified correctly represented data, or misleading data as well as primary and secondary data. Students worked extremely this term and we congratulate them on their efforts.

STEM

Grades 6A and 6B have been working together as a cohort to learn further about digital technologies and using LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3.  This opens the possibility for a variety of successful learning outcomes.  It promotes teamwork, creativity and problem solving and assists in student’s natural mastery of digital technologies as they rapidly learn the language of programming. They are learning to use computational thinking and computing practices as they ask questions, design solutions, engage in conversation with others about programming their robots and recognising that computers model intelligent behaviour such as, speech and language recognition, and computer animation.  Throughout the next two terms, we will continue to add to our knowledge of robotics by assessing design skills and by developing a Coding, Science, Engineering and Maths focus.

Grade 6 positive behaviour display

Here are our displays that proudly promote the value of Teamwork and the expected behaviour ‘Accepting our responsibilities.’