Mount Pleasant Road Primary School & Kindergarten

Discovery Centre

Curriculum

 Halo semuanya - hello everyone!

 

We have had such a fun week in the Discovery Centre! The Foundation students have used their perseverance, teamwork and adaptability to respond to new challenges as we have navigated movement of classes and larger classes. What superstars!!

 

In Literacy sessions last week, we continued learning our two letter codes. This week we will practise au, or, ck, wh and ed. You may like to discuss these codes and notice them written in Magic 100 Words, on labels or in books that you enjoy at home. This term we have also explored how writing can ‘inform’ an audience by writing recounts, information reports and sharing true reflections of our learning. During the week we dipped into persuasive writing! The students came up with their own unique idea for how Mrs Streitberger could spend our new grant and even provided a reason why. Students were re-introduced to Connie Connective from the VCOP gang who encouraged us to use the word ‘because’ to justify our idea and convince Mrs Streitberger that we needed the new toys, swimming pool and puppies at MPRPS!!! 

During Maths, students transferred their understanding of length to other areas of measurement. We explored the concept of Capacity by comparing the size, shape and space inside different containers using materials such as water, rice, sand and unifix blocks. As we explored, students used key words such as ‘holds more’ and ‘holds less’ to comment on their noticings. We used our hands to ‘heft’ when comparing the Mass of different objects around the classroom to determine which objects were ‘heavier’ and ‘lighter’. Students explored the use of balance scales to check their predictions. Perhaps you have used scales at home to measure ingredients for cooking? Or maybe your child can teach you how to use your hands for hefting!

During our Guided Inquiry and STEM sessions, we have been reflecting on our learning during our incursion and previous learning. Students have continued to develop a rich vocabulary of key terms and have used them when describing Earth and Space. We designed our own Alien creature using Creativity and our growing knowledge of space and developed an information report about our creature to inform others about where it lives, what it eats and what it looks like!

In Wellbeing, we unpacked National Sorry Day. Did you know that every year on Thursday the 26th of May there is a nationally recognised day to acknowledge and reflect on the devastating events of the Stolen Generation. As National Sorry Day marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week, we will continue to learn about the shared history of our First Nations People and explore how we can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The theme of 2022 is ‘Be Brave, Make Change’ and we look forward to exploring this! If you would like more educational information about the upcoming week, we would encourage you to visit:

https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/

 

We look forward to another fun week! Some highlights last week were recording our science observations in our Plant Journal, exploring mass using our balance scales and learning about National Sorry Day!

 

We hope you have a wonderful week.

 

The Foundation Team,

Brooke Henwood, Ella Gasowski and Jessica Tossell

Student Voice

What should we buy for MPRPS with our new grant?

  • William L - "We need Lego because then we can build big rockets"
  • Claire G - "Can we please have a pool because then we can swim in it"
  • Max S - "We need a sperm whale because I love sea creatures"
  • Felix N - "We need a swimming pool in case kids are hot"

Pupil of the Week

FG: Maneet S -

For demonstrating a love of learning during writing this week. You have used your Magic 100 Words and codes knowledge to write interesting sentences and sound out new words. Keep up the amazing work, Maneet!

 

FH: Chloe C -

For being an innovative mathematician by creating your own balance scales to measure and compare the mass of different objects. Using a ruler and elastic band was a creative idea! Superstar effort Chloe!

 

FJ: Ariana W -

For demonstrating perseverance and a love of learning during our Maths sessions. You worked hard with a partner to measure the different capacities of objects in our sandpit and used key words to describe which container held more or less. Well done Ariana!