Student News

Prep

Over the past 2 weeks, our Preps have been busy investigating, experimenting, and learning all about DIVISION! Can we share equally? How do you know if you have shared equally? How many groups have you shared with? We know that equal means the same, and we have been practising how to share equally using different quantities and groups. 

Look at this fruit salad! There are 5 groups of 24! We counted 

By 10s and worked together to find the total.

Grades 1& 2

In our Grade 1/2 Inquiry unit, students have been focusing on Design and Technologies, linking their learning with our Fairy Tale unit in Literacy.

As part of their Inquiry learning, students were given a range of design challenges inspired by some familiar fairy tales. Their first challenge was to design and create a new chair for the Three Bears. Students explored different ways they could design a chair that was strong, stable and suitable for the bears. They then selected materials, created their chairs and tested how well their designs worked.

Students then took on the challenge of designing and creating a new bridge for the Billy Goats Gruff. They needed to consider how to create a bridge that was strong and sturdy enough to help the goats safely cross the river.

Next week, students will take on their final design challenge of creating a house for the Three Little Pigs. They will need to carefully consider which materials and designs will create a strong and sturdy house that can withstand the Big Bad Wolf.

Throughout these challenges, students have used the Design and Technologies process to explore each problem, develop and share their ideas, create their designs and test their solutions. It has been wonderful to see their creativity and problem-solving skills come to life as they connected their learning in Literacy with hands-on design challenges.

A big thank you to the families who contributed materials for students to use throughout these design challenges. Your contributions have helped make these hands-on learning experiences possible and have given students a wonderful range of materials to explore, create and experiment with.

Grades 3&4

Growing Our Garden 🌱

Our Grade 3 and 4 students have been busy getting their hands dirty in the garden! Students worked together to plant new plants, remove weeds, hunt for snails and other garden creatures, and harvest fresh broccoli by carefully cutting the heads from the plants. They also had the opportunity to plant a range of beautiful succulents that were generously donated to our school.

It was wonderful to see students working collaboratively, caring for our garden and developing a greater appreciation for the natural environment. The students enjoyed getting involved in each task and learning about how plants grow, change and provide us with food. We are excited to watch our new plants grow and see our garden continue to flourish!

Fabulous Fables 📚

In Literacy, our Grade 3 and 4 students have been learning all about fables! Students have explored what makes a fable unique, including the importance of a clear beginning, middle and ending, interesting characters, a problem and solution, and a meaningful moral or lesson.

Students have been developing their understanding of how to structure and write their own fable stories. They have enjoyed exploring different fables and identifying their key features before beginning to plan their own creative stories. We look forward to seeing the imaginative fables our students create!

Telling Time ⏰

In Numeracy, our Grade 3 and 4 students have been developing their understanding of time. Students have been learning to read and identify times, including quarter past and quarter to, as well as practising how to calculate elapsed time. They have been applying these skills to a range of real-life situations and using different strategies to solve time problems. It has been fantastic to see students building their confidence and accuracy when working with time!

Grades 5 & 6

Grade 5/6 Update - Term 3 - September 1st (Week 8)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for our students 5/6! Last week, our Grade 5s attended a matinee performance of 'Sister Act' by Norwood Secondary College students at the Karralyka Centre. They were treated to an excellent performance by the Norwood students and were very excited to recognise some familiar faces of past Kalinda students who were now pursuing their passion on the big stage. 

Our Grade 6s took part in a STEM Rollercoaster challenge where they had to work together as a team with a time limit and pre-determined set of resources to design, build and test a ping pong ball rollercoaster. There were plenty of ambitious designs, rigorous discussions, compromises and endless test runs that ended in a mix of heartbreak and jubilation for our up-and-coming engineers. It was an excellent test of problem-solving and resilience, which culminated in some highly creative constructions! 

We were also incredibly lucky to be visited by ex-Kalinda student and now published author, Elle McFadzean who shared parts of her book, 'The Potion Experiment' as well as sharing her journey from primary school to published author. Elle shared some invaluable insight with our students about the writing process, as well as precious tips for getting over writer's block, coming up with ideas, and changing the way you can approach writing so it becomes just that little bit easier! Students then had the opportunity to ask questions, sign their names in her copy of the book, and even get their own copy signed by her. This was a perfect addition to our narrative writing focus this term as we near the end of 'Nevermoor' and begin the publishing process for our very own fantasy narratives…