Learning and Teaching

Learning through experience

Across the year, your children participate in different activities at school. Some of these activities are specifically planned to assist the children to build their vocabulary and understanding of different concepts. This is called language experience. The language experience approach integrates speaking and listening, reading and writing through the development of a written text based on first hand experiences. Through scaffolded talk, the teacher supports students to document experiences and ideas, using familiar and expanded vocabulary, modelling ways in which their thoughts and words can be written down and later read.

So far this year, our students from Year Prep to Year 4 have participated in various language experiences. This has included making Anzac cookies, cookie decorating, excursions, incursions etc. 

As part of their Eucharist preparation, the Year 3 and 4 students have been learning about the Passover and how we share meals together. Last week, they gathered together to share a meal and eat unleavened bread. To understand what unleavened bread was, the community mixed the ingredients together and then cooked the bread. The tables were moved to set up the space as one where they cook and share a meal together. Most of the students were confident to try the bread. They were also able to experience what a meal may have been like for Jesus and his followers. 

Check out the images below to see the process they went through. 

The Preparation

The Meal

Deborah Courtney

Director of Learning and Teaching