Teaching and Learning

Education Week

This week is Education Week. We like to think that every week at Raywood Primary School is a week where we focus on education. What we aim to do at Raywood is educate the whole-child, that is we focus on developing their academic, social, emotional and physical knowledge and skills. Our ever broadening curriculum, wide range of activities, individualised  learning programs and focus upon incorporating Student Voice and Agency into our everyday practice means that our students are in the most fortunate position of having a fantastic and fun-filled education.

This week we asked our senior students to reflect upon what they love most about their school, their favourite memory and what makes a small school so unique.   Here are some of their responses.

Year 4-6 News from Miss Duffy

My teaching stint in the "big room" is almost over with Mr Collins set to return next week. I have really enjoyed teaching the class over the past five weeks and have been so proud of the way they have embraced their learning and accepted that different teachers have different ways of doing things. 

Students are currently working on projects to do with endangered species and have co-designed their own assessment rubrics that will be used to mark their projects. We will share some of the work with you when these projects are complete. 

Our maths focus of fractions, decimals and percentages also draws to a close, with each student becoming more proficient and (most importantly) more confident in working with these three concepts. A big hit has been our fractions, decimals and percentages number lines which stretch across the floor and allow us to order, compare and skip count using fractions, decimals and percentages. 

Thank you to Miss Coffey who has been my tag- team buddy and had the class when I had meetings and each Friday when I had some administration time,, it has been great having Miss Coffey around the school  for some bonus days. 

But the biggest thank you goes to Mez, who works in the classroom most days, on a voluntary basis. Mez provides additional assistance  to students when they need it and supports the teaching and learning program by joining in on activities- we are so lucky to have her and I bet most class teachers would love to have a "Mez" in their rooms! 

Whole School Focus

We have been enjoying the story of Fantastic Mr Fox. Last week we did some directed drawing of our hero- Mr Fox and brainstormed some adjectives to describe him. Below are some of the examples. Both grades have been learning about adjectives and how to effectively use them in their writing, so this activity further consolidated student learning. 

MARC News from Mrs G

In MARC this fortnight we read ‘I saw Pete and Pete saw me’ by Maggie Hutchings. 

When you are small

you can see

things that

grown-ups

are too busy 

to notice…

This is a beautiful story about the importance of really seeing the world around us and the power in tiny acts of kindness. The students used chalk to create images inspired by the sunshine bird in the text. We shared simple ways we can show kindness to those around us such as; sharing toys, including others in games and helping Mum. 

Kelly Sports

For the past two Fridays our students have been most fortunate to have been provided sports clinics ran at the school. The first week saw our students participate in a football clinic ran by an external coach. The second session was t-ball/softball themed. These sessions have been thoroughly enjoyed by all of our students and to have the opportunity to engage in a wide range of sports and sessions ran by professional coaches is so wonderful. 

Outdoor Education

We were so very lucky to have been gifted many seedlings from a community organisation. Last week, as part of our Outdoor Education lesson, we spent time gardening and planting these seeds. Get ready for a bumper harvest of lettuce, radish, rocket, parsley and spring onions!  

We have also planted some broad-beans in the side of a jar- so we can watch the seed germinate and grow roots and shoots. This activity aligns perfectly with our studies this term of Living Things. 

Excursion to Scienceworks and Planetarium

On Thursday June16th we are heading to Melbourne to visit Scienceworks and the Melbourne Planetarium. We are going to be studying Space, in the second half of this term, so this visit will further enhance student understanding of the topic. There is a permission notice on uEducateUs for families to sign. The cost of this excursion is partly covered by the school, we ask that each family assists with the cost by paying $25 per student for the bus. (As you can imagine with fuel costs, the bus is a lot more expensive than the student contribution, but the school will cover half of the bus costs, plus admission prices).  Please see uEducateUs for further details regarding departure/return arrangements, times and what students need to bring. 

AFL Clinic

We are very fortunate to have an AFL clinic offered to our students. This will take place at school on Monday June 6th at 12pm. How lucky we are to have such an opportunity right on our doorstep!