Curriculum

Term 2 Units of Inquiry

Our whole school Program of Inquiry this term explores the Humanities in the Victorian Curriculum through the broad conceptual lens of 'Social Organisation and Histories'. Using the 21st Century Learning Design Framework, our teachers have designed units of inquiry that sequentially build deep conceptual understandings of the world, whilst also building key 21st-century learning skills that can be adapted to a range of rapidly changing contexts. This term, the skills in focus are 'Knowledge Construction' and 'Self-Regulation'.

Here's a snapshot of what our students are engaging with at each year level:

Foundation

Essential Question: Why do we have toys?

Students will be exploring how to manipulate materials using a range of tools, equipment and techniques to successfully and safely design and create a toy.

Key 21st Century Learning Skills: Self-regulation and Knowledge Construction

Year 1

Essential Question: How has life changed over time?

Students will be curious learners and connect with their personal, family, and school history. They will communicate and connect with people from different generations and create artefacts to build upon their understanding.

Year 2

Essential Question: How can everyone’s story be heard?

Students are inspired to be curious about who was here first and what happened, and connect to this learning as they learn about the first people to live in the local area and the Boonwurrung land and people. Learners will communicate an understanding of empathy and true Australian History, by creating artefacts and artwork that demonstrates critical and creative thinking.

Year 3

Essential Question: What’s it like to live in Australia?

Students will develop curiosity about life in Australia and make connections to the land and people. They will communicate the needs and challenges for living in various locations around Australia and form a perspective of what makes Australia unique. 

Year 4

Essential Question: How has European settlement impacted Australia?

This unit focuses on ‘Australian History’, where students will learn the history of First Nations culture and the arrival of European settlers. This unit will develop students’ critical and creative thinking and collaboration skills and will allow them to express their emotions based on prior and current knowledge.

Year 5

Essential Question: How am I smart with money?

Students will be curious about the purpose of money and the decisions that drive consumers. They will connect this concept to their own lives by thinking about their aspirations for their future and exploring the businesses in their local community. They will be able to communicate the difference between needs and wants, the difference between goods and services and what it means to be an informed consumer. They will create balance sheets, receipts and business records to document their financial choices. 

Year 6

Essential Question: How has the face of Australia changed?

Students will examine Australia's migration history and they will continue to develop their understanding of citizenship from Term 1. 

We want our students to -

• Be curious about how Australia has changed, and about the experiences of different migrants coming to Australia.  
• Make connections to their own lives and family histories, and to the locations that we visit on camp.  
• Communicate the reasons why people migrate, both historically and in modern times, and what the migration experience was like for different historical figures, as well as the relative scale of Australia’s migration timeline.  
• Communicate the reasons for the establishment of a British colony in Australia after 1800.  
• Create a sequenced timeline of waves of migration into Australia, and an information report on an immigrant who has had an impact on Australia. 
• Consider what might cause migration in the future.