Years 3 -6 Community News

October 2021

What a good feeling it is to be back on-site and back in the classroom with the students. It has been great to see students socialising and engaging with their peers again. Again, the students have shown so much resilience in starting the term remotely, then working on a staggered timetable to transition back into the classroom full time. Fingers crossed it stays that way and students can enjoy another busy but exciting term. This term the student’s curriculum topics cover Earth and Space Science / Design and Technology (HASS), Poetry and Explanation Texts (Writing), Non - Fiction texts (Reading) and also Measurement, Fractions and Decimals (Numeracy). The specialist subjects for this term include LOTE (Indonesian), Performing/ Visual Arts and Physical Education.

Remote Learning

With the hectic schedule of remote learning behind us we’d like to reflect on what our students have learnt. The students are incredibly lucky to have Chromebooks and this has increased their knowledge of digital literacy. Our remote classrooms ran each day, beginning with a community circle and a great way to socialise with each other. Although some students were a little shy, most were happy to show their faces. It was also great to see students engaging in a range of literacy, numeracy and inquiry based workshops. The students have shown resilience throughout this period and we are proud of them. During remote learning students also had fun with their teachers playing hide and seek, cooking and dressing up. Lastly, we the teachers would like to acknowledge the work you have taken on at home in educating your children, this does not go unnoticed and we are very grateful.

Transition to on-site learning

The 3- 6 community have transitioned smoothly back to onsite learning. Northern Bay College is a sun smart school and Term 4 requires the students to wear a wide brimmed hat. The government has also mandated that all students from Year 3 upwards are required to wear a mask in class. Please remind the students to bring a hat, mask and fully charged Chromebook to school each day. The teachers have enjoyed seeing the smiling faces of students return back to the classroom. Students have also loved having the choice over recess and lunch activities through engaged play. This allows students to improve important social skills whilst in a supported environment.

Student Led Conferences

Student-led conferences were held remotely in Weeks 2 and 3, which were a huge success. It was enjoyable to witness student growth across the curriculum areas and have wonderful in-depth conversations about their learning. It was pleasing to see so many students and their parents and carers attending these conferences. We are looking forward to supporting students and their learning goals for the remainder of the term.

HASS- Inquiry Topics

This term in HASS the Year 3/4 students will be looking at what causes day and night, the relationship between the sun, earth and moon, the comparative size of the sun, earth and moon and how they rotate to cause day and night.

In Year 5/6, students will be learning about the planets and how they orbit our solar system. They will also investigate major geological events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. Students will also explore the effect of drought, floods and bushfires on people, animals and the environment and how the Indigenous Australians sustainably care for the environment. There will also be opportunity to use a design cycle to predict, test and refine different scientific experiments.

ERP’s

Students have started working on their ERP’s (Education Research Projects). These projects encourage students to reflect on their prior knowledge, as well as new learning that they have been emerged within throughout the first four weeks of term. The projects are linked to our HASS Inquiry topics. Students are formulating their own question or wondering based around this work and then further investigating the science behind this. This gives students voice over their own learning and interests. We expect you will be hearing a lot about your child’s individual ERP question over the coming weeks. We are very excited to see how these individualised projects develop throughout the term and the new learning that takes place.

Poetry

This term in literacy, students have been learning about the use of figurative language in texts. They have been investigating the use of metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia in writing. Students have used figurative language in poetry, playfully creating limericks, haiku’s and free verse showing each student's originality and voice in writing. Students enjoyed sharing their poems with classmates communicating words that were both meaningful and powerful while displaying their ability to express rhythm and rhyme.