Middle Sub School

Inquiry

The inquiry unit for this term is called Behind the Scenes and is about being creative. Students learn about the different ways that people can be creative and how we can all be creative in our day-to-day lives.  So far we have realised that creativity isn’t just in the art room. We can be creative by making individual choices every day such as choosing what to wear or how to style our hair. We are all creative in our own ways!

Our highlight of the unit was visiting Scienceworks in Week 5 where students were able to work, play and create using a range of materials. The goal of the workshop was to design a vehicle that could travel on water, snow or other difficult terrain.

Writing

The end of Term 3 saw us researching and writing terrific biographies as part of our inquiry unit on ‘Social Justice’. Students were able to choose a famous person who has a disability to write about. As part of this they engaged in independent research in order to write their biography. These were then shared amongst the classes so that we could all learn from one another and find out what makes these individuals so inspiring.

To begin Term 4 we have focused on narrative writing. The students are once again engaged through their inquiry topic on ‘Creativity’ and are being inspired to produce their own narratives with creative characters, props and settings. Much time has been spent, engaging through narratives during reading to gain a sense of the elements in a narrative. The students are now eager to publish their own story and to illustrate this, as well as to make a prop for it.

Reading

As well as our Daily 5 sessions, where the students read to themselves, read to someone, listen to reading or complete word work, we have also been busy conferencing and hearing individual students read. As part of this, students are working with their teacher to identify their strengths and opportunities for improvement in reading and then to set goals to work on. A focus through our reading sessions is always on developing understanding that extends beyond the text and it has been pleasing to see how well the students are making connections to what they know, have experienced and have read elsewhere to the texts they are reading in class.

Mathematics

Students have been focusing on the different methods and units of measurement and have learnt that measurement tools and skills have a variety of uses in everyday life. They were provided with many opportunities to use a variety of measuring tools including rulers, measuring tapes, trundle wheels, thermometers and scales.

The students enjoyed exploring measurement through hands on, engaging learning experiences. They learnt that area can be measured in formal units such as square centimetres and used this information to help them when calculating the total area of their own name on grid paper. They also enjoyed lining their rulers up correctly to measure objects around the classroom, exploring volume and capacity in the sandpit and using scales to measure a variety of objects.

Students learnt that measurement can tell us how tall we are, how hot we are, how much we drink, how heavy things are and how far it is from here to there.

We are now looking forward to exploring 3D shapes, including identifying their faces, bases, edges and vertices, as well as making 3D shapes from nets.

Play is the Way

As part of our Play is the Way program at the moment we are focusing on the values of good character, kindness and self-control. When Wilson McCaskill met recently with all the teachers he spoke about the importance of sharing your feelings during difficult and challenging times.

As we get closer to the end of the year it is not uncommon for students to start thinking about the changes ahead of them for 2019. During class discussions and circle time, we will be focusing on helping them to understand that the virtues that they hold will help them to face new experiences in a positive way. We have also discussed how it is important to take these attitudes out into the community with them and to recognise them in others as well.

The Middle Sub School Team

Brendan Tudball, Fiona Porter, Tanya Whiteside, Angelique Lowe and John Shiell