Student Learning

Foundation 

We have been doing information reports! We are learning about lots of different animals and writing facts about them. Such great multitasking! 

We have been doing some amazing writing in Foundation. Writing letters, stories, information reports AND learning to publish! Term 3 in Foundation is magic. 

Zion has been working very hard in writing.

Look at his AMAZING recount!

Grades 1 and 2

During our Reader’s Workshop sessions, we read ‘The Concrete Garden’ by Bob Graham. We made text-to-self connections then, during mindfulness, enjoyed the sunshine and created our own concrete garden. Did you see our amazing work? 

In Maths, we went ‘shopping’ at the canteen. We used different strategies such as making a model and using a table to calculate the money we had spent.

In 2LS we planned our own lunch orders using a canteen menu. We were given $20 to spend. 

We filled our paper bags with our recording of all the different strategies we used to help us solve the problem.

Grades 5 and 6

Over the past few weeks, the Grade 5/6’s have been testing their research skills and creativity to produce an information report poster about their own unique combined animal species. The students have worked hard to research aspects of their different animal’s habitat, appearance, diet, and other interesting information. They have demonstrated wonderful creativity and presentation skills with their drawings, diagrams, and the overall presentation of their work. Above are some samples from 5/6M!

Japanese

In Japanese, students in Grade 1 and 2 have been cheering on Nihon and Australia. We made origami shirts to decorate with the team colours and flags. 

Grades 3 and 4 learned what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 79 years ago and wrote the message “Heiwa”　平和　へいわ; Peace.

Grade 3 and 4 students tied their wishes to bamboo branches for the Japanese event, "Tanabata" (Star Festival).

The Grade 6 Tomodachi Club held a celebration with onigiri (rice balls).

STEM

The STEM program is buzzing with activity this term, bringing students closer to the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through hands-on experiences and innovative projects.

Victorian PrintACar Challenge

Last week, two teams of enthusiastic Year 6 students represented our school at the PrintACar qualifying session at Quantum Victoria. The PrintACar Challenge is a prestigious statewide competition that engages primary and secondary students in the exciting world of 3D printing and car racing. Throughout the year, our teams have dedicated countless hours to designing, printing, and assembling their own 3D-printed cars, following a strict design brief. Powered by CO2 canisters, their cars zoomed down the specially designed track at incredible speeds. It was thrilling to see their hard work pay off as their creations came to life in a high-speed race.

Precious Plastics Recycling Program

In a significant achievement for our school announced last term, Kalinda Primary has secured a grant from Bank First to launch our very own community plastic recycling program. We are implementing a school community plastic recycling program that will ultimately enable students to use micro-recycling machinery to recycle plastics at school. These recycled plastics will be used in our STEM program for 3D printing. We are excited to announce that this Friday at assembly, a representative from Bank First will formally present us with the grant. Stay tuned for more details on how you can get involved in this fantastic program.

STEM Lessons Across the School

Our STEM lessons continue to inspire creativity and critical thinking across all year levels:

• Foundation students are diving into the basics of 3D design, working on personalised 3D name tags for their pets.
• Years 1 and 2 are exploring the mechanics of fidget spinners, designing and creating their own unique spinners.
• Years 3 and 4 are investigating maze design, crafting intricate 3D-printed mazes to challenge a 3mm ball bearing.
• Years 5 and 6 are tackling the pressing issue of climate change, designing experiments to understand how global warming is contributing to rising sea levels. They are also honing their coding skills.

Our STEM program continues to provide students with opportunities to explore, create, and innovate. We look forward to sharing more exciting updates in the coming weeks!

Paul Todd

STEM