Junior School

Book Week Celebrations in the Junior School  

Article by Maria Muse, Library Leader Canowindra

A symphony of stories resounded throughout the Junior School last week as the students celebrated Book Week. This year’s theme “Symphony of Stories”, was inspired by the harmony of an orchestra, highlighting how different characters, settings and plotlines come together to deliver a unified reading experience. 

Just as a musical symphony relies on various instruments playing in unison, a library or collection of books, uses many exciting tales to create rich reading opportunities. 

A sense of fun and adventure was in the air throughout the Junior School on the morning of Friday 21st August. The school was abuzz with anticipation of the annual Book Week street parade. Students and staff had a joyous time parading around the school grounds in their creative character costumes. At our Book Week assembly on Friday afternoon, the results of our book week voting were revealed in addition to the announcement of Book Week competition winners.  The shortlisted books were celebrated and students were treated to a spectacular performance by the Year 3/4 choir of a special Book Week song. The Year 6 Burrito Band also inspired the students with their amazing performances. 

The Junior School was thrilled to welcome some Year 9 students to conduct story-telling sessions during lunchtimes throughout Book Week. Their chosen picture books were a hit with the younger students. 

A number of authors and illustrators visited students, to offer insights into creating children’s books. The Prep students were visited by author and illustrator Anna McGregor. Students listened enthusiastically to her recently published book Dear Humans, We Stole Your Crayon! Anna also created some illustrations of new characters, with the assistance of the Prep students. 

The Year 1 and 2 students participated in a session with author Emma Bowd, an award-winning and internationally published author of books for children and adults. Her picture books for children include Children’s Book Council of Australia notable book Wonderful Shoes. They were especially delighted by an exclusive reading of her latest book Howl-o-ween. 

The Year 3 students enthusiastically engaged in a session with illustrator Dub Leffler. Dub shared examples of his stunning artwork and conducted an illustrating workshop. The students and staff were impressed with Dub’s demonstration of drawing with both hands at the same time! 

Author Robert Favretto spoke to our budding Year 4 writers. He shared his book Boris Goes Berserk and guided them through a writing workshop. Students were keen to share their ideas using the “Story Frame” technique. 

Overall, a marvellous week was experienced, where the joy of reading and the excitement of delving into favourite books was celebrated by all in the Junior School. 

Year 3 Bring Animation to Life at ACMI 

Article by Sophie Bertolini, Year 3 Level Leader  

Our Year 3 students recently enjoyed a sensational day of learning and discovery at ACMI, immersing themselves in the fascinating world of animation and the moving image. 

The day began with a hands-on stop motion animation workshop, where students explored how animation is created by learning about frames per second and how the movement of individual images can bring a story to life. Working in small groups of three, students collaborated to complete a series of exciting animation challenges. They experimented with countdown timers and created scenes using colourful LEGO, carefully moving objects frame by frame to produce their very own short animations. 

The engagement, excitement and enthusiasm were contagious as ACMI came alive with our Year 3 students.  Their collaboration skills were on full display as they shared ideas, solved problems and worked together, while their genuine curiosity and creativity shone throughout the workshop. 

The second part of the day involved each class touring ACMI’s Moving Image Exhibition. Students embraced each experience as they explored the exhibition, read information plaques, discussed the history and evolution of animation, listened to audio and viewed a fascinating range of moving images. Students enjoyed the hands-on experiences as they explored gaming consoles throughout history and creating movie timelines to designing sound effects to match movement. 

It was a sensational day that provided rich learning opportunities that saw students enthusiastically apply their new knowledge to create their own stop motion animations back in the classroom. This  cross-curricular learning experience combined literacy, technology, creativity, collaboration and the arts in such an engaging and memorable way.