Learning & Wellbeing @ ASPS
Stories that Warm the Heart (and the Stomach!)
We take a thoughtful approach to reading comprehension through our 'Questioning the Author' and 'Text-Based Units of Study' frameworks. Teachers design learning engagements to support vocabulary development and background knowledge to enable students to dive deeper into the meaning of a text. This might involve asking questions like, “What is the author trying to tell us here?” and “Why might the author have written it this way?”
As part of their inquiry into how stories communicate culture and identity, our Year 1 students explored the beautiful story Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup by Pamela Mayer. This heartwarming book tells the story of a girl with two grandmothers from different cultural backgrounds, and how love, family, and food can bring people together.
As students read, they discussed identity, diversity, and traditions, connecting the text to their own families and experiences. To celebrate the end of the unit, the Year 1s brought the story to life by cooking soup together in our kitchen garden. It was a joyful and hands-on way to reflect on the themes of the book: sharing, belonging, and the warmth of a shared meal. A big thank you to the parent helpers for preparing the soup for our Year 1s!
What Sparks Joy? Year 3s' Creative Voices on Display
As part of their How we express ourselves inquiry, our Year 3 students have been exploring the big idea that people create art to communicate meaning and provoke a response. Through rich conversations, guided art-making, and reflection, students examined how artistic elements, symbols, and personal perspectives can be used to express complex emotions and ideas.
The culmination of this learning was a joyful and thought-provoking art gallery held in the library, with each student responding to the prompt: What sparks joy for you? From painted landscapes to sculptural works, the artworks reflected a diverse range of voices, experiences, and interpretations.
Families, staff, and students who visited the gallery were invited not just to admire, but to interpret and respond; mirroring the very concepts students had been working with: form, perspective, and meaning. The gallery was a lovely reminder of how art connects us, challenges us, and celebrates the things that make each of us unique.
STEM Term 3
The first few weeks of STEM have flown by with the junior years! It has been so great to reconnect with all of them and meet our new scientists in Prep.
We have started the semester looking at the night sky and understanding how stories can be used to record scientific facts.
This week we had a focus on the Southern Cross, looking at Southern Cross creation stories from the Minjerribah people of Stradbroke Island, Queensland. We then learnt how navigators from many cultures have been using the Southern Cross to find their way home for thousands of years and even learnt how we can use the Southern Cross and Pointers to find south.
The children have brought home a star map to try and find south and here is a link to a video that explains the process. If you have a chance over the coming weeks, it would be great if the children could get outside and have a go at finding south.