Welcome to IPS

Education Week begins next week and is celebrated from Monday 13 May to Friday 17 May. The theme, Spotlight on STEM, celebrates the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in our everyday lives, in the classroom and beyond.

In the past, each discipline was taught separately in schools. We understand now that the skills required in the different learning areas overlap.

For example:

Science can involve learning about the natural world through observation, listening, and recording. It includes reasoning, classifying, experimenting, hypothesising, making predictions and wondering.
Technology involves designing, planning, testing and creating things to support us in work and our daily lives. It includes all human-made objects, non-digital and digital. It is about being inventive, identifying problems and creating.
Engineering can comprise, solving problems, using a variety of materials, creating and building things that work. It involves planning, designing and working collaboratively.
Math is about problem solving, reasoning, looking for patterns and structure, and understanding measurement, shape and quantity.

Interdisciplinary learning (STEM) helps children make connections across learning areas and strengthens their disposition for lifelong learning.

STEM experiences that are connected to children’s everyday lives increase motivation and engagement. Children are full of wonder, interest and curiosity, and are constantly investigating and making sense of their world. It’s these foundational concepts of exploring, questioning and speculating that influence future educational experience and provide knowledge required for an innovative and creative world.

Focusing on real world issues and problems, STEM explorations support children to develop skills that have become increasingly important for 21st century learning.

An inspirational application of STEM is the story of William Kamkwamba. In his TED talks, William explains that he lived in Malawi in poverty and struggling with famine, he built a windmill to power his family's home. William was only 14 at the time and was forced to leave school because his family couldn't afford for him to attend.

To power his family's home, young William Kamkwamba built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap -- starting him on a journey detailed in the book and film "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind."

This is his first TED Talk...

At IPS, we take many opportunites to build STEM into our learning. Whilst the STEM projects are perhaps not at this stage, quite as life changing, they spark innovation and curiosity. They provide the foundations on which our students can build their 21st century skills and knowledge.

At Ivanhoe Primary School, we will be celebrating Education Week by inviting our community into our classrooms for an OPEN MORNING on Wednesday 15th May from 9.30am to 11.30am.

Here's a taste of what you can expect to see during our open morning:

Year Level	Activity
Foundation	Foundation students are looking at the seasons as part of their Earth and Space Science unit. They are exploring Autumn, the changes in the environment and how these changes effect daily life. Students will be making a picture using dried leaves to show these changes and will be having some fun leaf rubbing, looking at different texture and leaf lines.
Year 1	Students in year 1 will be collaborating to play Maths games. Additionally, students will be creating a surprise mathematical craft activity.
Year 2	Year 2 students will be participating in a building and problem-solving activity where they will be working with partners to create a table to hold a can of food using only cardboard and tape. Following on from this task, students will be heading outside to find and solve a range of place value task cards.
Year 3	Linked to their term 2 Australia project, Year 3 students will be using technology to research Australia ‘Big Things’ landmarks and learn out about their connections to the location they are in. Students will then be given the task of designing and build their own ‘Big Thing’ landmark for the local community.
Year 4	Marble Run Challenge! Students will be creating a marble run constructed from only paper and tape. They will need to design a track that has their marble not only make it to the end, but complete a task, such as bowling at a wicket. Students will build and test their track, making alternations to ensure their marble completes the challenge.
Year 5	Year 5 students will be planning, designing and creating a Mathematics board game for younger year levels. Students will need to consider the components of a game, as well as what the goal of the game will be. For example, a Snakes and Ladders style game students will add and subtract numbers to successfully to move up the game board. We are very excited to have our students share their games with our buddy classes later in the term. Using STEM in Mathematics allows the students to explore and extend their critical thinking skills.
Year 6	Year 6 students have been working on Arcade Games. They have designed and built these in order to raise money for Canberra Camp. Families and students are invited to the Beehive to find out how the games work and to play the games the year 6 students have created.The students have also created posters to advertise their games. Remember your gold coins - play and have some fun.

Student leaders will be takigive you a tour of the school and into classrooms to see some of our STEM learning.

The morning will be brought to a close in the hall from 11.00 -11.30am with a Principals' welcome, followed by a performance from the IPS strings program

Everyone is welcome!

Mother’s Day Stall and Breakfast

Students had a wonderful time this week visiting the Mother's Day stall and choosing a small gift for mothers and significant female role models in their lives.

Many thanks to the PFA and volunteers who organised, stocked and ran the stall. The stall raised just over $1000 which will go to support future PFA events as well as supporting student learning and activities.

The school hall was a-buzz with Mother's Day fever this morning! Bright and early, students led their mothers to school (via the coffee van in the yard) to collect their breakfast treat! The hall was jam-packed with mums, grandmas, students, and siblings all tucking into a delicious breakfast organised by our wonderful PFA, catered by Annette in the canteen and set up and marshalled by a generous group of dads!

It was lovely to see everyone having a fabulous time.

Wishing all the mums a Happy Mother's Day!

Once again, we owe a huge thank you to our PFA and volunteers. We just couldn't do it without you.

Wool Wanted!

We are intending to set up some additional lunchtime activities in the next few weeks. These activities will be targeted to certain year levels and will complement our exisiting lunchtime activities as an alternative to unstructured play. Some of these are Minecraft Engineers, Gardening, Library, Basketball, Dance, Tennis and new activities planned are senior drawing (years 4-6) junior art (years F-3) and Finger Knitting (years 3 and 4).

If you have a ball of wool spare, please consider donating it to the Finger Knitting Club. The students are hoping to teach one another to knit and ultimately decorate the Street Libraries!

Ivanhoe Primary Classroom Helpers Program

We are looking forward to having families and carers helping in our classrooms and programs. The main role of the classroom helper is to help the teacher and support the teaching program.

However, there are expectations around confidentiality and a few helpful rules that you will need to be across.

Below is a link that outlines some protocols and expectations you will need to be prepared to follow to ensure the partnership is successful.

Once you have been through the slides and you are ready to help, then approach your child’s teacher and let them know you are interested, and he or she will work out the best place to start.

IPS has partnered with Nautilus Clinical Therapy

In our continued pursuit of improving student outcomes, and in recognition of the crucial role played by strong wellbeing in maintaining student engagement and academic attainment, Ivanhoe PS is pleased to be able to offer direct referrals to a Mental Health Clinician.

We have partnered with Nautilus Clinical Therapy to offer out school community direct access to a variety of supports. This service can be accessed through contact with Nick King, Assistant Principal.

We can facilitate private client referrals or a subsidised referral with a Mental Health Plan via your GP.

Services can be provided either on site during the hours of (8am – 5pm) or off site at a private practice.

For further information or to begin the referral process please contact me via email: Nicholas.king2@education.vic.gov.au . Alternatively through the school office during business hours: 9499 1880.

Good Luck

Good luck to Maddie (5M) who is competing at the State Tennis Championships at Glen Waverley on Friday.

Good luck also to Josie who recently left IPS. Josie and her family moved interstate but dropped in to see us yesterday as she was filming for a show on the ABC. Josie will be competing on the Hard Quiz show with Tom Gleeson.

Finally

If you'd like to help your child engage with STEM, you could start with simple investigations and questions about the real world. You can do this simply by asking open ended questions such as;

Can you describe...?
I wonder what would happen if...?
How would you answer that question...?
What if...?

For younger children, you could :

play games to identify different shapes, numbers and patterns and positional language (eg "We are Going on a Bear Hunt", "Once I Caught a Fish Alive")
sing songs and nursery rhymes about numbers
play with building blocks

For older children, this could include:

using a digital device to make a movie with special effects
learning cooking skills
creating/coding their own computer games
encouraging the use of apps and computer games that are STEM-related such as Minecraft.

To learn more about encouraging your child with STEM skills. The following websites may also help provide for further ideas:

Maths video resources for young children can be accessed through the Mathscots animation series and Everyday Maths animations.

To find out more about Education Week 2024, visit www.vic.gov.au/education-week.

We look forward to seeing many current and prospective families as well members of the wider community at our Open Morning.

Pam Wright

Co Principal

http://www.ivanhoeps.vic.edu.au/

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Victoria and pay respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Peoples.

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