Learning and Teaching
St John's Art Show
Save the Date - St John's Art Show, Friday 13 September 2024
The students are busily preparing their art pieces to present at our Art Show later this Term. It will be a great showcase of their many talents, artistic skills and creativity. All parents, guardians and families will be invited to come along in the evening, on Friday, 13 September, so please save the date, as more details will follow soon.
Book Week
Coming up in Week 6 we will be celebrating Book Week at St John’s!
Book Character Parade – Tuesday, 20 August @9am
Parents and families are all very welcome to attend!
Students are invited to Come dressed as their favourite Book Character …and perhaps include a little bit of magic, to tie in with this years Theme - READING IS MAGIC!
Extension Education @ SJM
Last term the Extension Education group met weekly to work on Long Term Challenges in two different groups. Below are some of the reflections from our students.
Maxwell’s reflection:
My group made a paper rope, to hold 3kg in a bucket. We did this by braiding twisted paper together. We succeeded. My group included me (Maxwell), Jasper, Kirralee, George, Ben and Jackson. I enjoyed making the rope and experimenting with different designs. If I was to do this project again, I would have tried to get everyone to do the same share of the work, and I also would just go straight to braiding the rope, as now I know what to do. Some of the skills I needed to complete the task were making things, cooperation, leadership and not getting distracted with playing games on my computer. Overall, I liked being able to be in extension education this year. I am an intern, the new guy and I liked extension this term.
George’s reflection:
Me and my group came up with an idea of how to make a paper rope that holds 3 kg but has to be 1 metre to three metres long. We used newspaper and ripped it, scrunched it up and braided the strips to make a strong rope. My challenge was to make the rope and think of a way to make it. I worked with Kirralee, Jackson, Ben, Jasper and Maxwell. I needed to develop braiding skills, paper ripping skills and painting skills. I enjoyed making the rope because you could learn how to make the rope and also learn braiding.
What would I do differently if I had more time ? I would make a normal paper rope and see which one is better and I would use the stronger one.
Kiralee’s reflection:
Our Group task was a challenge, especially being the only girl in the group. At the start I was happy to be in this group but over time it became more challenging especially since we thought we had a set idea with how to solve the problem of making the rope. I worked with JASPER , MAXWELL/PEEP1, JACKSON/PEEP2, BEN and GEORGE. Our challenge was to make a rope 1-3 metres that holds 3 kg. I needed my intuition and brain power. I enjoyed trying our rope with the three KG weight. I would change the rope design earlier to give us more time to write the script and to learn it.
Jasper’s reflection:
Our group understood the task fairly well and brainstormed ideas promptly.
Once we locked on an idea, everyone contributed. Sometimes, there were struggles like how you had to do something in a completely different way. It was fun but difficult sometimes. I liked being in extension group though as it was fun. I worked with Ben, Jackson, Kirralee, Maxwell and George. Sometimes the whole group needed to focus on a single task the entire time, which was really time-draining and focus-draining. Sometimes group members were absent, which slowed progress drastically (most of the time).
Other than that, it was fun and I learnt a lot.
Ben’s reflection:
Our group had to design a rope that could withstand 3kg of downwards force and the rope could only be made from shredded paper and black tape at 1 metre intervals. I worked with Maxwell, Kirralee, Jasper, George and Jackson. Some of the skills I needed were things like braiding, leadership and pinching and twisting paper. The thing that I enjoyed the most was creating a funny script. Finally, if I could do something differently it would be creating the final rope model from the start.
Jackson’s Reflection:
Our group's activity was to create a paper rope that could hold three kilograms and be at least a metre long. The people in my group were me, Kirralee, Maxwell, Jasper, Benjamin and George. We had to twist the paper and then braid the paper to make a really long rope. We also had to make a skit/play to explain the concept of it.
Lola’s Reflection:
So we could learn how to collaborate, this term Ange and Mel said that we would be working in groups. We got to pick between different long term challenges and we each got a vote of which one we wanted to do, in the end there turned out to be two groups, Social Sciences and Maths. I was in the Social Sciences group, with Maxine, Sebastian and Valerie. We had to choose an unlikely group to go on strike, so we decided to make the bees go on strike - I mean, who wouldn’t?
We made a play about it called Beestrike. Making the props was really fun. I really enjoyed picking out the costumes too… and I learnt how to compromise and collaborate!
Valerie’s reflection:
This term, our reflection was to showcase a group in society that was unlikely to strike back. My extension group chose bees as the unlikely group from society. My group was Lola, me, Maxine and Bas(Sebastian). The skills we needed for this project were leading, team cooperation, writing plays, creating props and teamwork. I enjoyed writing the script the most, however I would have changed some minor details and props and try to be more organised and prepared next time.
Maxine’s reflection:
This term we had to work together in a group. My group needed to look at people and businesses that are unlikely to go on strike and make a play about it. We decided to do a play about bees going on strike. It was hard because when working as a team we had to think about something that all of us agreed with.
Bas’ reflection:
This term me and my group were tasked with presenting about a group of people going on strike that you wouldn’t expect to go on strike. We presented this through a play.
I worked with Maxine, Valerie and Lola. To complete this task my group and I had to use the skills of acting, writing scripts and making props out of cardboard. My favourite part of this project was acting in the presentation.
Stay tuned for news of our Extension Education Showcase at the end of this term!
SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB
Issue 5 of the Scholastic Book Club catalogue was sent home with your child last week.
Please place your orders at scholastic.com.au/LOOP by Monday, 5 August 2024 at the latest.
Each order will help earn books and teaching materials for our classrooms at St John's.
Unfortunately no cash or late orders can be processed.
For queries: Cynthia Timoti - 0421 835 778 (Maxwell 5/6B, Jasper 5/6A).
