Kinross Wolaroi Family Bulletin

Around the Junior School

Kindergarten Museum Visit

On Tuesday 28 May Kindergarten enjoyed a fabulous day at Millthorpe Museum to support their history studies. Students explored the museum learning all about toys from the past, how machinery has changed and what school life was like 100 years ago.

 

Students tried writing in different ways using quills and blackboards and survived the strict nun who was teaching children of all ages in one room. How school life has changed! They found their muscles to do the laundry the hard way- with a scrubbing board and metal iron! They watched the blacksmith work the bellows in the forge, made a phone call using a phone with very funny looking buttons and sorted eggs using a hand operated machine. To finish we enjoyed lunch and playtime at the park. A great day of learning was had by all!

Orange Interschool STEM Challenge 2024 

The Junior School was excited to host the inaugural Orange Interschool STEM Challenge in 2024. Students partnered up with other schools and participated in STEM activities during the day. The focus is not on competition. The principles of teamwork, collaboration, and communication are emphasised, allowing the students to challenge their own thinking and learn from their peers.  

 

The concept of the Interschool STEM Challenge falls into many of the Round Square Discovery Framework principles. These include Teamwork, Tenacity, Inventiveness, Communication, Diversity, Problem Solving, Inquisitiveness and Courage. 

 

Twelve students from Orange Anglican Grammar School, Orange Christian School and Kinross Wolaroi Junior School gathered in the Junior School Glasshouse and worked through three challenges. Working in pairs, the students were challenged with creating a LEGO marble run, designing and building a structure that can withstand an earthquake and a tornado, and making a Sphero chariot. After lunch, all students competed in the Sphero Chariot race held in the Glasshouse Arena.  

 

It was wonderful to see our students mingle and work with other students; to watch them engage with the variety of STEM tasks and each other. There was also great collaboration between the teachers, and the success of the day was very much a team effort.  

Mrs Muriel Fatai 

Junior School Leader of Technology and Innovation 

Junior Gardening Club

The Gardening Club is in full swing this term, although much of the work will be weeding and cleaning the space up. There were many young helpers looking to Ms Moloney for guidance and there were a couple of senior school Agricultural students who assisted. 

 

Students were very enthusiastic in their digging and weeding and conversation and laughter. There were possibly some plants mistaken for weeds but with each week that passes we hope to be able to distinguish more plants from weeds!

 

Gardening Club takes place each Thursday during lunch time and all students are welcome to attend.

Young Archie Competition 

Each year, the Art Gallery of New South Wales offers young students the opportunity to participate in the Young Archie competition. Two students’ artworks were submitted in the competition; Phoebe Westcott and Edith Triggs created a multi-modal portrait of a peer, using the art forms drawing and painting. 

 

This year, the Art Gallery of New South Wales advised they “… received a record number of entries from amazingly talented young people from every state and territory across Australia.” Unfortunately, the girls’ artworks were not selected as finalists however they did each receive a certificate recognising their participation and congratulating them on their artistic creativity. 

 

We are extremely proud of their efforts. Well done Phoebe and Edith!

 

Mrs Alicia Holmes

Visual Arts Specialist Teacher 

Year 5 Excursion

On Wednesday 12 June, all of Year 5 piled onto a bus to go on an excursion to the Orange Regional Museum to learn about the history of firefighters in Orange. 

 

Year 5 was split into Mrs Seedsman’s class and Mrs Hazleton’s class and went to the museum and the library. The museum was very interesting, and it showed us the different uniforms that the firefighters wore over the years. They showed us helmets, fireproof jackets and pants they wore. The guide showed us a picture and replica of the bell that someone had to ring to alarm the firefighters that there was a fire. They then showed us the hose reel that the firefighters had to pull and reel to put out a fire. After that we were shown the competitions that the firefighters had done to have fun and to prove that they could help someone in need quickly. We then had an opportunity to have our own competition and reel a rope quickly around our arm, as if it was a hose.  We had lots of fun having some free time and looking at everything else in the museum.  

 

We left the museum and went into the library. We were given a tour of the library and were asked to find anything other than books in the library. Students looked around and said that they saw: movie CDs, a garden, Lego displays, audiobooks and laptops. The guide told us that the public came to work, build (Lego) and come to participate in clubs, borrowing books, CDs and audiobooks. We were read a story about bushfires and how it can sometimes help an environment thrive. We were then given the task of making something out of Lego relating to something from the book or firefighters. Students worked in pairs or by themselves to create a masterful piece of work to go on display for the public to see. We each named our creations and wrote our names on a sheet to show who they were done by. We finished by thanking the librarian and headed back to the bus for the ride back to school. 

 

We are looking forward to our Geography Unit on Bushfires in Term 3! 

By Nick Strahorn and Janagan Kandeepan (5H)

Merit Awards - Term 2 Week 7 2024

K Nemo

  • James Coleman: Making good observations and demonstrating excellent behaviour on our excursion.
  • Ollie Byrnes: Demonstrating good problem-solving skills when solving number stories.

1 Eco-Octonauts     

  • Michael Chan: Wonderful use of adjectives in talking and writing.
  • Rhys Morley: Connecting learning at home and school.

1 Minton

  • Ezra Mohammadi: His enthusiasm when learning new diagraphs and trigraphs in English.
  • Nina Cardiff: For taking time and care with her handwriting and her bookwork.

2 Lorax

  • Tommy Harvey: Taking your time to produce beautiful handwriting.
  • Henry Volkofsky: Continual enthusiasm in Mathematics and building your automaticity in addition and subtraction strategies.

2 Yindyamarra

  • Gideon Laffey: Demonstrating great imagination in storytelling.
  • Abigail Westcott: Showing curiosity and enthusiasm in science projects and experiments. 

3 Uno

  • Elke Sawtell: Improved focus and perseverance within writing tasks.
  • Allegra Lawson-White: Commitment to completing home learning tasks on a weekly basis.
  • Henry Devjak: Improved focus and commitment to classroom learning.

4 Kiernan    

  • Arthur Mullins: For his hard work in mathematics and for persevering with difficult worded problems.
  • Emily McGreal: For showing the value of resilience by delivering a wonderful persuasive speech.

4 Goodall

  • Mezen Jalal: His consistent hard work, commitment and application to learning across all areas of the curriculum.
  • Grace Monaghan: Being a consistently kind, respectful and inclusive friend, and always uplifting others with her positive attitude. 

5 Bear Grylls

  • Will Davis: His outstanding progress across all learning areas. Will has been working diligently- showing persistence and determination. Keep up your hard work Will!
  • Milly McLennan: Taking courageous risks in her learning which has resulted in outstanding progress in both Maths and English. Keep up your hard work Milly!

5 Seed

  • Digby McGee: Demonstrating leadership within the classroom, consistently guiding his peers with wisdom and a sense of responsibility blended with charisma and dedication.
  • Charlize Byrne: Her growth in becoming a more independent worker and showing commitment to being true to her beliefs as she consistently stands by her values with confidence and integrity.

6 Rober

  • Daniel Hayward: For his thoughtfulness and compassion, he shows to all those around him and for displaying all the school values in his leadership.
  • Henry Sawtell: For his continued commitment to his learning and the resilience he shows in tackling difficult tasks.

6 Dalziel

  • Audrey Sharp: Her engaging participation in our class dialogue about ‘Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief’ and for her growth mindset in response to teacher feedback about her writing.
  • Crispin Downs: His excellence in maths problem solving classes. Crispin is to be commended for his consistent effort and sharing of his strategies. Keep up the fantastic work!