Discovery Centre

Curriculum

Halo semuanya! 

Two words to sum up Week 5 in the Discovery Centre...

Healesville. Sanctuary.

On Thursday we had the most amazing day exploring the beautiful grounds of Healesville Sanctuary, the home of many wonderful Australian animals. A highlight for the students was of course the bus ride! But, students were also very excited to participate in our Education Session about Aboriginal Cultures and Life Cycles. We were lucky to learn the traditional Woi Wurrung names of many animals that we saw at the sanctuary, including wallart (possum) and barraimul (emu). Students enjoyed listening to an Aboriginal Dreaming story told by Murrindindi, called ‘How Barrai-mul Lost Flight’. We also learned how the Emu in the Sky helps First Nations Peoples to locate emu eggs to eat. Drum the emu was very hungry on Thursday and students used their character strength bravery, to have a go at feeding her.

We saw koalas, echidnas, kangaroos, dingoes and lots of birds, especially in the Spirits of the Sky show! Many students (and Miss Dawson) were very brave as beautiful Australian parrots, owls and eagles flew VERY close to our heads!

We would also like to say a big thank you to the parent volunteers who so generously assisted on the day. Hope you enjoyed seeing all the photos and videos on our School Instagram!

Wednesday was the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) National Simultaneous Storytime and this year the book was based in space! Philip Bunting’s ‘Give Me Some Space’ was all about Una’s life-long mission to travel to space in the search of new and exciting life forms! Students spent the morning designing their very own rockets and writing an information report about a creature they might see when ‘travelling’ to space in their rocket! It was fantastic to see students using their imagination to create a unique new creature and their character strength of perseverance to have a go at labelling the interesting parts of their creature. You will be able to check out these wacky new life forms at our open night this Thursday. We took the excitement outside and tested our very own coco cola and mentos rockets!! The teachers had to use their perseverance to keep trying even when their rocket didn’t take off straight away. It was such a fun day and students thoroughly enjoyed listening to the story read by an astronaut at the space station at exactly 11am.

In Maths, we have been learning about Statistics and Probability but more specifically about chance and how we can describe the likelihood of events happening. Students used the words will happen, might happen and won’t happen to sort events based on the chance of them actually happening. After returning from Healesville Sanctuary, we brainstormed animals that we definitely won’t see if we go back with our families. Students justified why we wouldn’t see lions, tigers, dinosaurs and aliens there but might see frogs or a platypus. We decided that if they did go back with their family, they would definitely see their favourite animals!

This Thursday marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week, following National Sorry Day on Wednesday the 26th of May. During this week, Foundation classes will continue exploring First Nations Peoples culture and perspectives in a way that is culturally and age appropriate. Through picture story books, circle times and play based learning opportunities, we will begin to explore the hardships faced by Australia’s First Nations Peoples. We will acknowledge the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, which we now know as the Stolen Generations. 

We are excited for another fantastic week in the Discovery Centre!

Student Voice

What was the best thing about our excursion to Healesville Sanctuary?

• Nivas and Andy - “It was cool when the bus got in front of the other cars”
• Max - “I loved the slide at the playground”
• Nethun - "I like feeding the emu"
• Anoshka - "I had so much fun, it was the best day ever"

Reminders

• Grandparents and Special Friends Day will be held on Thursday 27th of May from 1pm to 2pm.
• The Art Show and Open Night will be on the evening of Thursday 27th of May.
• PMP will be held in the courtyard again this Friday 28th May due to Art Show installations.

Pupil of the Week

FD:  Oscar M -

For demonstrating a love of learning in Writing. You challenged yourself to write four sentences sharing facts about different animals at Healesville Sanctuary. Super work Oscar! 

FH: Phoebe R -

For demonstrating our school values of respect and responsibility during our excursion to Healesville Sanctuary. You showed a keen interest during our Aboriginal culture and life cycle workshop as well as the Spirits of the Sky bird show. Keep being curious Phoebe!

FJ: Anouk D -

For demonstrating a love of learning during our Writing sessions. You consistently challenge yourself to practise using our writing goals, such as sitting your letters on the baseline and using two finger spaces between your words. Keep up the fantastic work Anouk!