Transition/Kindy Start
Year 6 to 7 Transition Days
Year 6 students from three other schools in the area joined together with Year 6 from BCS to continue the transition to year 7 program for two days last week. Participating in nearly all subjects that will be offered in Stage 4, they had a good taste of what is to come when they enter secondary school in a couple of months.
In STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), Mr Corcoran helped the students to make name badges that lit up. The students enjoyed this new hands-on experience, exploring and creating electrical circuits and proudly wore their badges for the rest of the day.
In Food Technology, students had a great time creating Freak Shakes, which are a decadent milkshake using a variety of chocolate, biscuits and sprinkles as decorations. I am not sure whether it was the variety of chocolates on offer, the sugar hit from the toppings or being able to use the can of whipped cream, but the sound of enthusiastic students filled the room, until it turned to silence as they drank their concoctions.
With Mrs Bridge in LOTE (Languages other than English), students learnt about hiragana, one of the Japanese writing systems. Each student was given a copy of their name in hiragana and romaji (romaji is their words using our alphabet) and then practiced writing their name. They also played hiragana bingo with Mrs Bridge calling out a hiragana character and if they could find it in their name, they won a feather. The lesson ended by writing the entire sentence, “watashi no namae wa ___ desu” which means, “my name is_____”.
Mrs Bridge also kept the students busy in computing where they learnt about cell referencing, cell ranges and dragging formulas. They then learnt simple equations (/ and *) and how to add an entire column or row with one equation and finished off the lesson by graphing their results.
During the Maths/Numeracy lesson, Mrs Poplin introduced Year 6 to the magic of filography where students created curved diagrams and shapes by drawing straight lines. Back when I was at school, this was called string art! One Year 6 commented that it was the best maths lesson she had ever had.
During PE with Mr Jones, Year 6 participated in a general warm up followed by a scissors/paper/rock, decision making under pressure game. A Girls V Boys attack-the-line game had the students relying heavily on problem solving and team work. All the students participated extremely well and had a great time.
During RAGE (Read and Get Engaged) the students participated in quiet reading in the library, which they really appreciated as part of their busy day.
The Year 6 students provided feedback for all subjects which is helpful in shaping Transition days in the future. They were positive about nearly all experiences across the two days and are certainly looking forward to being able to participate in these lessons more frequently once they get to High school, next year. All staff were impressed by the students enthusiasm to learn both new skills and knowledge and their ability to cooperate and support each other. We are looking forward to welcoming them into the Secondary school in 2020.
Ms Hawkins l Acting Deputy Principal/Hospitality teacher
Kindy Start
KINDY START GALLERY
We had our last Kindy Start Day on Friday 22nd November and we had a lot of fun making a wild rumpus after reading 'Where the Wild Things Are'. We took turns being the king of the wild things as they danced around playing percussion instruments. Each king tamed the wild things with a magic trick. All of the Kindy Start children did a great job learning and adjusting to school routines over the Kindy Start weeks.
We had an opportunity to experience an assembly in the hall on the final day and everyone got up on to the stage to receive their Kindy Start certificate from Mr Jones.
PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES
We are really looking forward to seeing them next year and hope they have a happy Christmas. Look out for a special letter in the mail in January.
Mrs Proudford l Kindy Start Teacher