Prep News
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day is a big concept for the Preps to grasp. To help them understand why we had a special service on Thursday, we watched an age appropriate clip to explain what Remembrance Day is and the significance of poppies. The Preps all did incredibly well watching the Year 6s speak by showing a huge amount of respect. On Friday each child at BNPS got to 'plant' their own poppy, as a demonstration of how thankful we are for those people who risked or lost their lives and also to show how grateful and lucky we are to live in Australia.
Aquarium Excursion
On Wednesday, the Preps had their first ever excursion! There was much excitement and chatter on the buses on the way in to the city. When we got to the aquarium, we had some time to eat our morning tea beside the river and then we all headed into SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium.
The Preps were so excited as they entered the aquarium. Each group had their own guide to show us around and share their knowledge with us! Everyone was so excited to see the clown fish, Tony the Giant Southern Crab, seahorses and the penguins!
We asked lots of interesting questions like, “Why don’t the sharks eat the fish in the tank?” and “How often does the crocodile get fed?”. We learnt a lot about marine life and what we can do to make sure their ocean home stays safe.
We thought Tony the crab was amazing! He is a Giant Southern Crab, and he is HUGE - he is 50cm across his body. Giant Southern Crabs are one of the biggest species to live in Australian waters.
There are lots of different types of sharks which come in all different shapes and sizes. There are Banjo sharks, Port Jackson sharks, Brown Banded Bamboo sharks and Swell sharks. Some sharks, like Sandbar Whaler sharks, must keep swimming the whole time to make sure they can breathe!
We saw lots of bright coloured fish. The reason they are so brightly coloured is so that they can hide among the coral!
Pinjara the crocodile is 5m long and weighs 750kg! Saltwater crocodiles live in the rivers and the oceans of Queensland. Saltwater crocodiles are reptiles and need to lie in the sun to keep warm. Crocodiles can go without food for up to 6 months!! They were almost extinct in the 1950s and 1960s, because they’re delicious to eat and their skin used to be used for shoes, belts and handbags. They are now a protected species, and they are no longer endangered.
We learnt that our discarded plastic items can end up in the mangroves and hurt the baby fish, and turtles can mistake plastic bags for sea jellies and eat them! We must be very careful where we leave our rubbish, so it doesn’t end up in the ocean.
We saw the beautiful King penguins, which are the second biggest species in the world. We also saw some Gentoo penguins. Penguins sleep, eat and do everything in the water except for when they moult or lay their eggs. Penguins touch flippers while they sleep in the ocean, so they don’t float away, and they only sleep for around 20 minutes at a time! We even got to see the Gentoo penguins lying on their eggs to keep them warm in their pebble nests.
On the way home, we stopped off at Thomas Street Park to enjoy our lunch and have a bit of a play. We were lucky that the rain held off! What a busy and fun day we had!
Drama Toolbox Incursion
On Monday the Prep children took part in an incursion by the Drama Toolbox which related to our Central Idea that 'people's use of the sea impacts upon the creatures that call it their home'.
Our presenter, Jade, was very engaging as she took the children through lots of underwater adventures. The children go to dress up as various creatures of the sea and Jade guided them as the different creatures interacted with each other.
At one point Jade introduced the concept of how people can be unthinking and allow rubbish to interfere with the underwater ecosystem. Jade helped guide the children to act out how each creature might be impacted by such a foreign invasion.
Overall, the incursion was so much fun and the Preps had a ball dressing up and interacting with each other!