Year 5 & 6

Thursday May 9th was a very exciting day for everyone in the 5/6 level. Seventeen students caught a train with Mrs van Loenen (and parent helpers) to the city to take part in the Writer’s Festival. They listened to a variety of authors and had the opportunity to purchase a book and have it signed by the author. The students really enjoyed the day as you will read for yourself and their behaviour was exemplary. 

The students who remained at school were involved in a STEAM incursion. Nicky Rogers from Monash Virtual School (Monash University) came to visit us again. Last term, Nicky helped Dan Quick with a series of lessons relating to solar cars. This time the brief was to design, then build a lunchbox out of upcycled or recycled materials. The students were introduced to a ‘Design Thinking Model’ and the focus was on the following questions: 

Can we utilise the environmental resources respectfully and responsibly to design a prototype? 

How will the lunch container design demonstrate its efficiency and effectiveness? 

What ethical matters should be considered in the design challenge? 

The students worked in groups and each member had a specific job to do. Each group was allowed 1 metre of masking tape and one visit to the glue station. This meant students had to plan their use of resources carefully. It was amazing to see the collaboration, the creativity and the resourcefulness that each student displayed. 

Achala has summarised the day extremely well.

I was so excited for the STEAM incursion! On the 9th of May, a special guest came to our school and told us what our project for the day was going to be! First, we watched a video of some kids who made instruments out of recyclables! It was so cool! Then, we got straight into the project. We had to make a lunchbox and a lunch bag! But not just any lunchbox and lunch bag, we had to make one that hadn't been invented yet, one that could enable the user to dispose of their lunch, make their lunch cold and hot, and have different compartments! And we had to make that all out of recyclables! When we started making it, I knew that it would take a lot of hard work! We only had one trip to the hot glue gun station, and we only got a metre of tape to use! After a lot of hard work, our lunchbox was finally done! We had a fridge, a bin, two lunchboxes, and a water bottle compartment. And of course our lunch bag! Then we got to present it to the entire level, and I saw some really amazing lunchboxes! I think that this was the best incursion of my life!

Achala

Billie’s summary of the Writer’s Festival:

On Thursday 9th of May some of the 5/6 students went to a ‘The Writer’s Festival'. It was held at the State Library in the city. In the morning we all met at Mooroolbark Station with Mrs V. It was so fun going on the train to Melbourne Central. When we got to Melbourne Central we saw this big dome in the shopping centre and we put Emily's (she was a parent helper) phone on the floor and we all went in a circle and looked at the phone and the photo looked really cool. When we got to the library, it looked so cool. The first authors we listened to were Kate and Joel Temple who are the authors of Bin Chicken. They read their new release, ‘Frog Squad’. They were my favourite authors that I listened to because they slingshotted volleyballs from a giant pair of underpants. Next favourite authors were Richerd Pritchard and Jordan Gould. We made a weird animal which had a capybara head, llama body, pigeon wings and chicken legs. We called it capy-bob. Also may I add, Mrs V said we were really good the whole time and we followed all of the school values, especially on the train. I’d like to give a special thanks to Mrs V for letting us go to the Writer’s Festival.

Thoughts from students about the Writer’s Festival or the STEAM incursion.

The STEAM incursion was such a great time to show your creativity and let all your ideas out on a project. We had to try and make a lunch box that we could carry our food in and add features that you couldn’t find on the market. I was in a group with Holly, Kaylee, Madi, and Maisyn. We worked really well together. Some of our ideas did not go to  plan but we were prepared and had lots of solutions. Overall, our lunch box turned a ton better than I expected.

Alyssa

It was fun making the lunch box. I really enjoyed it.

Ryan

On Thursday the 9th of May while some students went to the Melbourne Writers Festival the other students were back at school in the BER with Nicole Rogers. Nicky works at Monash and has come into our school twice so far this year. Both times she has come into our school she has done a STEAM activity with the year 5/6s. The most recent time that she came in was last Thursday to do a project with lots of recycled materials that we brought in from home. We got into our groups and then we were given a mission, and that mission was to design a lunch box with hidden features that no one had ever seen before. We designed what we wanted to make, then we went out to the ‘shop’ to collect our materials. We got to work at constructing our lunch box. After completing our beautiful prototype, we showed our design to the other students. I really hope that Nicole comes back because she makes the day so fun.

Lily R

On Thursday the 9th of May, Year 5/6 had a special guest come and do an amazing activity with us. The overall experience was super fun and interesting. What we did was speak to the guest (Nicole Rodgers) about what we were going to do then get recycled objects like cardboard boxes, milk cartons, bubble wrap, foil, newspaper, etc, and use them to design cool and unique lunch boxes. Some had microwaves, fridges, thermostats and more amazing features. It was super fun and I would definitely like to have Nicole back at Yarra Road.

Isla

Last Thursday was the Writer’s Festival at the State Library of Victoria. Out the front of the state library there was a statue of a human riding a unicorn and a gumnut baby.There were six authors that came out and talked to us about them being authors and they talked about their books. The two authors that came out last had a book series but they made the book series a TCG (trading card game). I bought a book from there and I got it signed by the author, Anna Zobel. 

Hunter

I'm going to reflect on the Writer’s Festival. On the way there, Ollie D, Levi and I were talking to the people behind us and they were really nice and funny. When we got there we walked through a big shopping centre to the State Library. We even got to listen to authors like Jake and Kate Temple and Ritchard Pritchard. It was so fun.

Kaden

I loved the steam incursion. It was really fun and there was this nice lady called Nicki there. Last term she worked with us in science. We had the STEAM incursion in the BER because there were alot of Year 5/6s doing it. For the activity we made lunch boxes out of recycled materials which was really fun. My group named our lunchbox, Lala Lunchy. I was in a group with Sadie, Luca C and Sophie. Overall I had a great time.

Harper

On the 9th of May we had a STEAM incursion. We had to use recycled materials to make our own lunch boxes. I know it sounds so cool. My group’s lunch box  had three sections; one was for hot food, one was for cold and one was normal. In the group we had a designer, a sketcher and a timekeeper, I was a time keeper so I had to keep track of the time and make sure that we were done under the time limit. I thought that the incursion was really creative and fun. I would love to do it again.

Sophie H

I went to the Writer’s Festival. It was SO fun! My favourite part was when we got to go get our books signed by the authors. The Authors were; Anna Zobel, Kate and Joel Temple, Idan Ben-Barak, Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard. I bought a book by Kate Temple called 'The Dangerous Business Of Being Trilby Moffat'. On the train ride back everyone was talking and most people were standing because the train was so full. I loved the Writer’s Festival!

Zoe R

I went to the Writer's Festival. It was fun listening to famous authors. I bought a book called 'This Camp is Doomed' by Anna Zobel for $17 and I even got it signed by herself. I also got a free card and on it had two signatures, one from Jordan Gould and the other, Richard Pritchard. But the best part of it was getting to finally ride on a train without my parents.

Oscar

Celebrating our Students

Students are nominated by their teachers to receive a certificate of acknowledgment. The below student's certificates will be presented at our next assembly. 

56C - Mrs Haysom

Jack R

For always being responsible and reliable.