Learning and Teaching

Extension Education & Tournament of Minds Showcase

This year, a small group of students from Years 2-6 have been participating in an Extension Education program at St John’s. Each week they have been working on projects of their choice that extend their critical and creative thinking skills and provide valuable practice in collaborating and communicating with their peers. This has been invaluable in building their independence, self confidence and engagement in school activities. On Tuesday, 17 September,  between 2.20pm and 3.20pm, these students will be presenting their work in our Extension Education Showcase.

During this time our Tournament of Minds participants will also share their learning.

All are welcome to come and see what they have produced. We look forward to seeing you there!

Ange Crowe and Mel Kerwin

Extension Education

Sovereign Hill - Year 5 Camp

Last week, we attended Sovereign Hill with our Year 5 students arriving safely after a long, but comfortable bus ride to our accommodation.  We had an amazing time with lots to do and learn every day. We stored our luggage and commenced following our Itinerary straight away as it was jam packed with activities from the 1850's.  The students learnt very quickly that Ballarat was an attraction to so many civilians, but the chance of 'striking it rich' and finding gold was hard work and only few found it worth their while.  Life on the goldfields was very challenging and with riots, ill health and starvation being just some of the problems encountered.  Our First Nations people were living alongside and saw the changes in the landscape due to animals introduced and also due to many digging for gold in all the wrong places. Gold is a soft metal and was not used by our First Nations people as it was not strong enough to make their tools for survival. The Aura light and sound show was incredible helping the students to  make connections with how God created the world and the 'Big Bang' theory.  The Eureka stockade was an experience that made us feel like we were present at the Goldfields.

Here are some photos of the various activities we were involved with. This was our tour of the living museum to begin with.

Candle Dipping 

Coach Rides

Costumed School Experience

We are so very proud of our Year 5 students for their magnificent behaviour and courage to join in with all the learning and activities put before them.  We did at least 16,000 steps a day but it was worth the effort and needed to fit our shopping in as well.

We hope our students were able to share some of their experiences with our families and St. John's and we look forward to the next camp in 2025.

Mrs Melinda Buscema