Around the Junior School

Term 3 Technology Showcase

The Junior School would like to invite visitors to our Term 3 Technology Showcase on Wednesday 21 September from 2:30-3:00pm. On display will be work from Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 students in the Glasshouse area.

Year 1 will share their Stop Motion Animation stories that have been created from their InitaLit Storybook activities. The students have used a story summary to create their storyboard which has then been filmed using Stop Motion software and edited to create their stories. Visitors will be able to watch the final product iPads in the Year 1 classroom.

Go to the Glasshouse to see the Year 2 Oceania Cruise Projects that have involved a variety of technology elements. In small groups, the students designed a cruise visiting Australia’s neighbouring countries. Each group had to create an Ozobot Cruise Ship Costume and then code the Ozobot to complete the cruise. Each student used Canva to create a poster to promote their stop on the cruise. The final activity was to work together to create an advertisement to convince people to go on their cruise, using the greenscreen feature in iMovie.

Year 6 have spent the term developing their own Arcade Game using Microsoft MakeCode. They had to consider elements of game design such as the objective of the game, heroes, enemies and dangers presented to the player. Computational thinking, problem-solving skills and attention to detail are essential in creating a working computer game. The games created include a variety of themes, graphics, music and levels of difficulty. The students used Canva to create a poster that includes a QR Code link to their game.

Muriel Fatai

JS Leader of Technology and Innovation

IPSHA Debating

On Monday 5 September five junior debaters headed off to Sydney bright and early to attend the IPSHA Debating Gala at Tara Anglican College, with thanks to Mrs Hayward for driving us. Zaro, Georgie, Natalie, Zoe and Millie had been busily preparing their arguments for many weeks in the lead up to this event. The topics they debated were ‘Online learning is better than face to face learning’ and ‘All Year 5 and 6 students should be forced to complete compulsory community service.’ The teams secured two wins for the day against very strong teams. Millie said that the Tara girls were very hospitable and that the team absolutely loved debating the other schools.

The opportunity to participate in this event allowed the students to compete in a face-to-face setting against schools of a different context to our own. They received detailed adjudication which will be used in the 2023 season. It is a challenging environment to compete in but the students showed resilience and professionality, representing our school to a high standard.

Pre-Kinder Letterland

Letterland continues to be as popular as ever. Each week the children get very excited about the new character. Letterland becomes a special part of their play. This week it has been creating the Letterland village in the sandpit. A castle for Kicking King, Quarrelsome Queen and Clever Cat. A high hill for Harry Hat Man, a pond for Dippy Duck and a mountain for Munching Mike. Their play was so fun and cooperative. The children were very proud of their village.