This week is book week! Quite a few pictures in this week’s edition of BBPS life include reading. We hope everyone has been reading lots of books this week! Reading helps to build vocabulary, develop empathy, and develop imaginations. And the stories in books can transport us to new worlds, make us laugh, make us think, and make us dream. Happy reading everyone.

This is also a special edition of BBPS Life. You may have noticed that every week we include some quotes from one or two students. This week we have decided that we would let our students tell you all about their week in their own words. We asked 2 or three students from each year level to tell us about all of the things they have been learning. Their enthusiasm has made us feel excited and grateful that we are all back at school and learning so many different things!

So, without further ado: here are the students of BBPS…

Prep

Harry B (Prep OP): We’ve learned about sharing. The other day we shared using smarties. We all had 13 smarties. We shared them equally. We put 6 at each side and one at the top for left over. Today we are going to make a troll with 12 legs and 3 body parts. We have some sticks for legs and we have to make sure they are shared out equally for each body part. I like playing outside because when the bell goes I like sitting and talking with my friend. I also like collecting rocks with Sebby and a few others.

Thomas G (Prep OP): We have been learning about the word of the week, which is duck. Last week was shark. This morning we drew a picture. I drew a picture and I did a train and it said duck place. The train would go into a dip and come back out but I drew a snorkel and the duck would go into the water. My favourite thing at school this week is playing outside. I like to play tag with my cousin Xander. I like playing with all of my friends.

Grades 1 and 2

Chloe (2G): In maths we have been learning about money and we have made a shop that you might see at a theatre. We sell popcorn, lollies and choc tops. In reading and writing we have been reading a book and then been using sticky notes and writing down the interesting words. And we are saying if they are adjectives, nouns or verbs.

I like being able to play on the playground again and doing laps around the oval.

Charlie (2G): In literacy we have been writing about apples. We are writing everything we know about apples on apples that are made out of paper. Did you know that apples were made 2 million years ago? Apples also grow in winter. I’ve enjoyed making a theatre. I wish we could set up a real theatre with chairs.

Everyone is here at school now and I have enjoyed playing with people who I haven’t seen for a while.

Giles (2/1C):

We’ve been learning about this author called Julia Donaldson. She’s an author who writes animal books and rhyming books and poems for kids. And when she was young she got the inspiration from a book of poems and so she wanted to become a writer for other kids. We have read a few of her books. One of her books is Spinderella. They’re funny books. Spinderella was about teaching all the kids how to count. They only knew how to count by saying “lots” and “loads” but then they found out how to count.

In Inquiry we have been talking about fruits and vegetables and making a poster. We made a list of healthy foods.

Lola (2/1C): Maths has been really fun because we have been learning about money and today we did an activity where we had a sheet of paper with money and a jar. On Monday we got to guess what money Mrs Coutts had in her bag.

I have enjoyed all of it. I have enjoyed just being in class and learning.

Grades 3 and 4

Ben (3RH): We started doing fractions. That has been really fun. We also started doing some number lines and putting the fractions in order on the lines. We have also enjoyed doing lots of persuasive writing. We use a thing called OREO, which stands for Opinion, Reason, Evidence and Opinion again. What you have to do is write your opinion and then your reason and a fact and then some evidence as well. And then you write your opinion again in different words. My favourite thing about this week is, well… I think all of had lots of smiles on our faces when doing specialists. I know everyone enjoyed being active doing sport and playing softball. Friends for Life has also been fun it helps us to get to know each other again because we haven’t been keeping in touch because of Covid. Music has been great because we have been able to do music and also a game at the same time, which has been really fun.

Holly (3RH): We’ve been doing maths with number lines and we have been doing fractions. Today we were in groups and we had fractions on slips of paper and we had to put them in order between 0 and 1. We have been doing persuasive texts. This week we also did sport, music and friends for life. Friends for life is social and emotional learning (SEL). We do it with Mrs McCaffrey. In sport we have done softball. In music we made a game of snakes and ladders, but instead of snakes they had to be things to do with music such as instruments.

When we came back to school I was so glad to see my friends. I’ve also enjoyed doing persuasive texts. I have enjoyed writing about why rainforests need to be protected. I think the trees and animals should be protected. If we cut down the trees the animals won’t have a home anymore.

Edan (4D): This week we have started our poster for persuasive writing. WE have been learning about what persuasive tools we can use. For example, on a poster you use big letters so it stands out from everything else. And some things we have learned are rhetorical questions.

We have also done our persuasive text about nature. For example, “Save the Koalas”.

This is the favourite thing for me to learn this week. In our life we will need to know about how to persuade people and I loved learning about persuasive techniques. I am also more aware of when other people might be trying to persuade me to do something.

In Maths we have recently been doing chance and data such as what is possible and impossible. Like, bringing back dinosaurs isn’t possible. And how you have to be careful when you say “that’s impossible” and think “is it possible? Today we started fractions.

Aarav (4D): In Inquiry we have been doing chemistry. We have been making crystals. You need a pencil and string and a paper clip. You put the paperclip in some water and put in lots of salt and sugar. On the paperclip some crystals will start forming.

My favourite thing I’ve done this week has been maths because we are looking at chance and data. Sometimes when you think something is impossible it may actually be unlikely, but it may happen.

Grades 5 and 6

Preston (5S): We are doing self-directed book club and we are learning about top 10 leaders in the world. Some of them are good and some of them are bad. Two of the leaders we have looked at have been Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

This has been my favourite thing to learn this week. I like being able to choose my own group. We meet up and decide what our role is. For example, one person will summarise the book and then the next time we meet we share the summary.

Millie (5S): I’ve really enjoyed doing specialists this week. We are doing production. We are workshopping costumes, and the setting and actions. We are acting our scenes in each class. Sport has also been fun with everyone playing sport all together. We didn’t do much sport in teams when we were learning from home. We have played softball. It ended up in a tie.

Abbie (5S): Something we’ve done this week in maths is measurement for area and perimeter. We did a fun game where we had to make a cube where we had a picture and we had to try to make it in 3D. My favourite thing we have done this week has been production. Our scene is in an airport.

Polly (6B): We are doing art and we are painting skateboards. You can use them as actual skateboards and they are also art works. We have been doing smart spelling. We have also been making cards to send to our local nursing home, telling the residents about us and also asking them how they are going.

We are doing a maths activity where we pretend we are escaping from school. We have 12 hours to get as far away as possible. We are planning our escape digitally using public transport such as trains (planes don’t count for this).

The best thing about being back at school is being in the classroom. You can talk to the teacher in person (as opposed to sending emails or zoom) and share ideas with the other kids around you.

Hugh (6B): We are doing a project in maths and we need to escape from school and get as far away from Melbourne as we can and we need to think about what public transport we can take and how long it will take us to go a certain distance. Calculating how long it will take us to go a place can be challenging we need to calculate the time it will take to get a certain distance. So you need to work out the time it takes to get 200 metres and then duplicate that time to work out how long it takes to get 2 kilometres. You need to add up the seconds and convert that to minutes.

Everyone has done an economics business idea. People have done all kinds of business ideas for products used in cooking, like designs on a cup, or a workout for fitness and other business ideas and we are presenting about those business ideas.

Seeing everyone has been my favourite thing about being at school this week. Seeing people in person and not just staring at a screen all day has been great. We are using our screens a lot less which I think is quite good because we aren’t just staring at screens but interacting with everyone and doing activities.

Getting to Know

Name: Ruth Pascoe

Role: Education Support

Which season is your favorite, and why?

Late Spring, with its warm days and cool nights and the anticipation of spending more time with family and friends over the Christmas holidays. It also seems to me that most people walk around with smiles on their faces!

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?

Steve Hooker, the Australian pole vaulter who won an Olympic gold medal in 2008. I cannot even begin to imagine how it would feel to plant a 5 metre pole into the ground, travel vertically and upside down a distance of over 6 metres, inch my body over a horizontal bar and land the right way up on the other side.

Please share a favourite memory of BBPS

Many years ago, I was attempting to build a rapport with a Grade 2 student who was reluctant to take part in the set class activities. Suddenly he announced to me that he wished it was 20 years from now. I asked him why, expecting the answer of, “Then I’ll be a fireman , soccer player, etc.”

Instead it was, “Because then you’ll be dead!” It made my day.

Who is your favourite sports team?

I am a long-suffering Melbourne Football Club member and supporter who has attended more than 500 of their matches over more than 50 years. And each March, it’s a new season…

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?

It’s an unusual one – Elemental Control – controlling the atmosphere and weather. Imagine the good I could do in preventing droughts, bushfires, floods, cyclones and other devastating conditions that impact the health and welfare of billions of people.

What is the kindest thing that someone has done for you?

My youngest son has been known to forget that it’s quite acceptable to give as well as to receive gifts on Christmas Day! However, last year he remembered and had spent hours devising a Spotify playlist with all my favourite songs placed in an order that “made a story”. The simplicity yet thoughtfulness of this gift meant so much to me.

Name: Linda McCaffrey

Role: PE Teacher and Relief Teacher

Which season is your favorite, and why?

Definitely summer, I love the sun, beach, swimming, trying to learn to surf and the summer sports of nippers and athletics with my kids.

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?

This is the toughest question. I think I would choose to swap places with somebody on holiday on a tropical island.

Please share a favourite memory of BBPS

I am really lucky and get to spend time with every BBPS class at some point each term and I am always learning lots of new things from all of the students and love that something makes me laugh every day. Kaboom Sports last year was a lot of fun, especially winning the dance off with 1M and that would count as a favourite.

Who is your favourite sports team?

I love plenty of sporting teams but the Aussie women’s soccer team, The Matildas are my favourite. And the Tigers in the AFL aren’t far behind.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?

I would love to be able to fly, pretty sure everyone would love to do that!

What is the kindest thing that someone has done for you?

I love all of the little kind things that people do that are unexpected. I love when my daughters write me a note to say that they love me, or offer me the last piece of chocolate in the block!

Brighton Beach Primary School

Building Better Pathways to Success to create a community learning globally

Term 4 Week 3 · 22 Oct 2020

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