In the Classroom

Plastic Free July Findings/Awareness

During science on a Wednesday, as part of our Plastic Free July, student's have been doing a garbage bin audit.  The findings in the first week were very scary with the amount of extra plastics that our morning tea and lunches were creating as well as general waste from the office, staff room and classrooms.  During the next two checks we did better, with not as much packaging coming to school.          

Years 2-6 have developed a new waste management plan for our school which we plan to implement over the next few weeks to help our school reduce our waste and our footprint on the environment. 

STEM Air Garden

During Term 3 & 4 student's have access to an Airgarden through the Department of Educations STEM program.  The Airgarden is a hydroponic system that can be set up anywhere.

To get things started we selected a variety of plant seeds and have set them to sprout. Watch this space for how it all goes!

Taekwondo

What a treat it is to have a martial arts instructor, Instructor Dave, come to our school each Thursday to provide us with one-on-one Taekwondo coaching. Instructor Dave is targeting balance, coordination and flexibility whilst teaching the principals of Taekwondo, respect and discipline. Students have been learning some Korean words and the first movements of Taekwondo. So far, students (and teachers) have learned and practiced the fighting stance, upper and lower block, front snap kick and most recently, a self-defence routine. These taught routines and movements will soon become a natural reaction with each week learning more kicks, blocks, punches and rotational movements to build our Taekwondo skill set. Have any parents been treated to a Taekwondo masterclass at home?

PSSA District Athletic Trials

Chaise and Chanse represented Niangala Public school at this years PSSA District Athletics Carnival held in Armidale Friday 9 August.  

Chaise competed in the senior boys (12 years) 1500, 800, 200 and 100 meter events.

Chanse participated in his first junior competition (8-9 years) he also ran the 1500, 800, 200 and 100 meter events. - Congratulations to you both!

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Years 2 - 6 are currently reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr on Fridays. We are all very much enjoying the book and the students comprehension and understanding of the text is to be commended. The persistence to make a paper crane is also rather commendable!!

Close Reading

This year as part of our staff Professional Learning we are part of a group where we are learning to develop and hone our skills in teaching students to understand texts. We are doing this through a process called Close Reading. This term we have been mainly focusing on 'reading with a pencil' which is teaching students to annotate their reading and to find evidence to justify answers among other skills. It is proving to be highly engaging and the teachers are noticing an increased improvement in discussion skills and deeper thinking. 

Volume and Capacity

Bullying No Way National Week of Action 12 - 16 August 2024

This year for Bullying No Way Week we focused on the concept of belonging. We discussed how a sense of belonging makes us feel more connected and ways in which we can try and make sure everyone feels they belong.  Belonging allows us to embrace who we are, respect everyone's differences, build resilience and stand up together against unkindness and bullying. 

Kindergarten created a poster with the heading "In our school, we're all different but we all swim together" which included fish that the students decorated in their own unique ways. Our Yrs 2 - 6 created a weaving mosaic to visually show that even though each student's mosaic may be different, each has its own place within the class mosaic.

Say No Way to Bullying!