Teaching & Learning
Maths Challenge Day
On Friday 7th of September, 36 Grade 5 and 6 students from Buninyong PS joined students from 5 other local primary schools to compete in the Maths Challenge Day. The other schools in attendance were Woady Yaloak, Delacombe, Dana St, Sebastopol and Lal Lal.
The students competed in teams of 4 to complete different Maths challenges throughout the day. Our students, once again, were great hosts and handled themselves extremely well throughout the day.
Here are some thoughts from the students who attended the day:
The Maths Challenge Day was a great experience doing hard activities. We had to work as an effective team, solving questions above our year level and also receiving prizes for winning the different sections.
By Andrew W (5PD)
I really enjoyed the Maths Challenge Day because we got to interact with students from other schools and the Grade 6 students from our school. I enjoyed working with people I haven’t worked with before and it was challenging and fun! Plus we got pizza for lunch, who doesn’t love pizza? I thoroughly enjoyed it.
By Charlotte Crimeen (5DS)
My favourite activity at the Maths Challenge Day was definitely the card tower challenge. Each team got a deck of cards and 1 metre of masking tape and the aim was to get the tallest tower. My team did okay but the top of our tower fell off.
By Luke Eddy (5PD)
The Maths Challenge Day was a great experience. It was fun because we worked in groups. We also got PIZZA! My favourite activity on the day was trying to build the largest card tower possible.
By Conal Seare (5DS)
Maths Challenge Day was challenging! I think that’s why it’s called ‘Maths Challenge Day’ We went up against 5 different schools in a series of events. The first section was drawing the nets for 3D shapes, it was a good way to warm up our brains. We did lots of problem solving before lunch, which was pizza.
Next we had to build the tallest card tower with a metre of tape to help us. The relay was fun too. We had to answer questions that we ran up to grab.
The robots we made before the day were judged and the points were counted, Woady Yaloak PS, Snake Valley campus won overall, but it was still a fun day in the end!
By Erin
Article below from The Courier
Young Authors’ Celebration: Melbourne, a City Built on Words.
The culmination of the Young Authors’ program for 2018 saw 17 Buninyong students join with 50 other students from across Ballarat to be part of a literary tour of Melbourne. The students travelled by train to the Southern Cross station before catching the City Loop to Federation Square. The 2 hour tour took us down small alley ways, into historically rich buildings which once would have been thriving, and even to the archaeological dig that is currently taking place before the new underground station at Federation Square is created.
Congratulations to all students who have been part of the program this year. All students have gained some wonderful new writing skills and some great friendships from other schools across Ballarat.
On Wednesday last week the Young Authors had the pleasure of exploring the city of Melbourne and finding out how it was built on words.
We had the wonderful Eve walk us around and talk to us about old and new literature you can find in the city and throughout. We visited some old Libraries and closely looked at the different types of fonts the writing the marketing industry use.
Following lunch, we visited ACMI and were all fascinated by the technology has changed over the years. You could watch old TV advertisements or experience a VR experience. Overall, we all had a fantastic day and enjoyed our celebration.
By Zoe K
2018 Solar Boat Challenge
Coming up on Wednesday 19th September is the Buninyong Primary School District Solar Boat Challenge. Last year we had 2 schools enter teams into this competition and this year we will be welcoming 9 schools. It promises to be an exciting day of Solar Boat racing.
With the increased number of schools involved this year, we are looking for parent helpers to assist with roles on the day. If you are interested and able to help out with jobs listed below, please contact David Young at school.
Set Up Team: Setting up the pools, tents and arena for racing.
Pack Up Team: Packing the pools, tents and arena after the event.
Lunches: Assisting with collating, cooking and distributing lunches on the day.
Event organisation: looking for timers and recorders on the day.
Andrea Hillbrick
This week we welcome back Andrea Hillbrick who is working with teachers on building curiosity and wonder in the the maths classroom. Andrea has been working with our staff all year to assist in developing the way in which maths is planned and implemented. We have already seen some significant changes, including the development of Maths Fluency Tasks, the introduction of the Maths Big Book of Thinking and different strategies to engage students in the way they reflect about their mathematical thinking.
The staff will each spend a 90 minute session with Andrea over the next 3 weeks.