Teaching and Learning

Term 1 Wrap Up

It is hard to believe that the end of term has arrived already! Term 1 has been very busy in all areas of the school with students settling into their 2019 classes and learning programs operating in full swing.

Our Integrated studies focus on Identity has seen classes from both campuses using the resources and learning spaces in the Discovery Centre to engage students and support the learning that is occurring in classrooms. Classes have been able to view and interact with the human body displays as well as exploring their emotions and developing team work skills. Students had the opportunity to engage in a real life democratic process when many classes used the voting booths that have been set up to cast their vote for their class SRC rep earlier in the year.

We have had many opportunities for our parent community to engage with their child’s classroom teacher and section teams this term through the meet the teacher night, the Lower Primary BBQ and our Student Support Group meetings in the final week of term. We have also inducted many parent helpers to support learning in classrooms and around the school. The home-school partnership is essential in creating the best possible learning environment for our students and we encourage you to support the learning of your child where you can.

Our students have had some wonderful opportunities to engage in experiences beyond their classroom this term including swimming programs, Secondary 11/12 students attending the Grand Prix, gymnastics programs, circus skills programs, Interschool sports, ice skating and many other active programs through Fit for Life in Secondary 9/10 and Challenge in Secondary 7/8. We also currently have a group of secondary students on the Alpine bike camp.

In classrooms this week students are reviewing the learning they have engaged with this term and practicing the reading, writing, oral language and maths skills we have introduced. It has been wonderful to visit classrooms in the last few weeks and have the students explain to me the learning intention of the session and the skills they are practicing. This morning I worked with some students in Upper Primary who were able to explain the reading strategy of Skippy Frog and how it helped them solve unknown words (skip the word, read the rest of the sentence and use the initial sound of the word to try and figure out what would make sense).

Supporting Learning at Home

Over the holidays we encourage you to tune your child into the incidental learning they are doing during their break. If they attend a movie discuss the characters, the problem and the solution or make a prediction about what might happen next. Encourage them to read for pleasure and engage them in conversations about the activities they participate in to build their oral language. Involve them in money transactions on outings or keeping track of time, public transport schedules etc.

Most importantly have a safe and happy holiday!

Sam Birrell 

Acting Assistant Principal