STEM

Exploring the World of Living Things!

This term, our STEM learning has focused on Biological Science, with students across all year levels exploring the fascinating world of living things, habitats, adaptations and life cycles.

Our Prep-Year 2 students have been investigating the different parts of plants and learning how to classify things as living or non-living. They also put their creativity to work by designing their own Pokémon and imagining habitats perfectly suited to their creatures!

Year 3/4 students have been exploring the characteristics of living, non-living and once-living things, as well as investigating metamorphic and non-metamorphic life cycles. They planned and constructed 3D shoebox habitats for their very own made-up living creatures. Their creativity and scientific thinking have been fantastic!

The Year 5/6 students have taken their learning even further by investigating the differences between physical and behavioural adaptations. They explored the concepts of natural selection and evolution, before applying their understanding to create a unique Pokémon species and its evolutionary family.

A highlight for many students this term was our Henny Penny chicken-hatching experience! Watching the chicks hatch and grow provided an exciting, hands-on connection to our learning about life cycles and living things. Students particularly loved the opportunity to hold the chicks and observe them up close!

STEM has certainly been full of curious minds and creative creatures this term!

PE

Term 3 has been massive in the gym! Our major unit of work across the school was all about gymnastics! Plenty of fun was had learning all about jumps, rolls, balances and more!

This term we also took the year 3-6 Athletics team to the Officer District Athletics Finals. Our students always try their best at these events and I am super proud of all them!

Congratulations to all of those students who placed first or second in their events at District and have progressed to the Division Finals in week 10.

Well done to both the 5/6 and 3/4 basketball teams who participated in the Hoop Time events this term. All teams played well, won lots of games and shot lots of hoops!

We are looking forward to our Footy Colours day on the last day of term, highlighted by the Staff vs Year 6 footy match! The staff are looking forward to a competitive match, going up against our mixed and girls district champion AFL teams! GO STAFF!

PERFORMING ARTS

This term in Performing Arts, our Prep–Year 2 students have been exploring the elements of music: beat, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, form and tempo. Students have had lots of opportunities to investigate these elements through hands-on music-making using a range of instruments, including keyboards, rhythm sticks, agogo drums, tongue drums and Boomwhackers. They have experimented with creating and performing rhythms using allocated pitches and enjoyed sharing their musical ideas with their peers.

We have also discovered that our bodies can be instruments too! Through body percussion, students used clapping, tapping, stomping, clicking and other body sounds to create musical soundscapes. One of our favourite activities was creating the sounds of a thunderstorm, working together to layer sounds from gentle rain through to louder, more dramatic thunder. Students explored how changing dynamics, tempo and rhythm could help communicate an idea and create a particular mood.

We have also used familiar songs to unpack and identify different elements of music, helping students to develop their musical vocabulary and understanding. Throughout the term, students have worked collaboratively to listen, create, experiment, perform and respond, building confidence in sharing their musical ideas with others.

Our Year 3–6 students have also been developing their musical knowledge and skills, exploring music notation and the elements of music through a range of practical activities. Working collaboratively, students created chants using different rhythms inspired by their school houses. They have also begun exploring the ukulele, learning to identify its different parts and experimenting with both open and fingered strings. Students have enjoyed using the ukulele to explore pitch, rhythm and other musical elements while developing their confidence as young musicians.

It has been wonderful to see our young musicians experiment with sound, collaborate creatively and develop their understanding of how the elements of music work together.

VISUAL ARTS

The Visual Arts room has been buzzing with creativity! Students have been exploring inspiring artists, experimenting with new materials and developing their own artistic ideas.

Our Preps have been busy little artists! They discovered that everyday objects can become exciting printing tools, using LEGO to create their own colourful robot prints. They have also explored the playful work of Wassily Kandinsky, experimenting with collage, mixed media and textile felting to create vibrant artworks. It has been fantastic to see our youngest artists confidently explore and discover what different materials can do.

1 & 2 have been getting creative with Pablo Picasso, exploring how geometric shapes can be used to show different views of a face. Students then put their ideas into action, creating their own fun and expressive mixed-media portraits. We then travelled to Indonesia to explore the traditional textile art of batik! Inspired by Australian artist Brentos, students used simple shapes, lines and Australian animals to design their own colourful batik masterpieces. The results are full of personality and colour!

3 & 4 students have been inspired by the imaginative landscapes of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. They experimented with organic lines, bright colours, oil pastels and watercolour to create their own vibrant landscapes. Students then explored the fascinating idea of transparency. What does it mean to look at a window and through a window? They designed and constructed their own windows using Icypole sticks and transparent materials, carefully thinking about how their artwork would look from both sides. To take their creations one step further, they added 3D clay elements, combining painting, construction and sculpture to bring their windows to life.

Our senior students have jumped into an exciting textiles adventure, taking inspiration from artist Reginald Laurent. Grades 5 & 6 have been cutting and arranging colourful organic felt shapes, sewing them onto black cotton and experimenting with stitching techniques. Now for the fun part – sequins and beads! Students are adding embellishments to create texture, detail and sparkle. Their textile artworks are already beginning to make a statement, and we can't wait to see the finished pieces.

It has been wonderful to see students experiment, take creative risks and proudly develop their own artistic style. With so many exciting artworks taking shape, we are looking forward to celebrating their creativity at our Art Show in Term 4, where students will have the opportunity to proudly display and share their artwork with our school community. We can’t wait to showcase their hard work, creativity and artistic achievements!

Orchard Park News

Going Further Together

Issue 15 · 11 Sep 2026

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