Curriculum News
Curriculum
Student progress in the areas of English and Mathematics continues to be monitored closely so that learning is targeted to the specific needs of each student in the form of explicit, whole class teaching and workshops.
English
WRITING, SPEAKING, LISTENING and READING
The Year 7 Semester 2 writing focus will be on developing skills in constructing historical recounts and explanation texts and the Year 5/6 writing focus will be on persuasive, information texts and reviews. Year 4/5 classes will be exploring narrative writing, poetry and information texts. Vocabulary expansion will be dependent on text topics, integration of all other curriculum areas as well as words identified through class novels and independent reading. We also focus on "academic vocabulary" to empower our students to be successful in interpreting demands across all subjects and in a variety of learning contexts.
Students also have the opportunity to regularly express their ideas and work on specific aspects of their writing through 15 Minute Writing tasks. Making plans, proofreading and editing written work will also be a focus with the expectation that students take greater responsibility for this.
Listening and speaking skills will be developed through class participation, assembly presentations, Year 7 speeches and class based oral presentations.
Spelling workshops are targeted to student needs and focus on understanding spelling generalisations and the origin of words, with the expectation students will then transfer skills into everyday writing.
Developing reading comprehension skills will take place through guided reading sessions, class novels, and small group work targeting key reading behaviours and comprehension skills.
Mathematics
Learning Mathematics is an active process where students build their own mathematical understanding through interaction with the ideas they hold and alternative ideas held by others. Students are encouraged and supported to take risks and persevere with new or different and efficient ways of thinking and solving problems, and will understand that mistake making is an important part of their learning.
Students will continue to develop understanding of the algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and will explore, and apply a range of written and mental strategies for computation to solve multi-step problems with a focus on measuring masses. Students will continue to apply their understanding of concepts related to place value, fractions, decimals and percentages.
Students will develop their understanding of concepts relating to mass, as well as have opportunities to collect, represent and interpret data and investigate chance. We will be investigating angles, time and geometry.
Year 7 Mathematics
This semester, our Year 7 students will be focusing on the strands Measurement and Geometry and Statistics and Probability. Students will reconnect with geometric reasoning by focussing on the classification of triangles and quadrilaterals and investigating angles. They will describe different views of three-dimensional objects and represent transformations in the Cartesian plane. This will lead into probability and statistics in Term 4 with many opportunities to represent and interpret data and to explore concepts relating to chance.
Interdisciplinary Studies
Including: History, Geography, Economics & Business, Science and Design & Technology
We use an inquiry approach to assist the students’ learning of skills and attributes necessary to become successful, independent and lifelong learners. In addition to the subject specific concepts addressed, key skills developed through our inquiries include: questioning, researching, analysing, evaluating and communicating. The Fisher staff plan and assess all inquiry units together.
Year 4/5 Inquiry
How did colonisation shape Australia?
This Semester's inquiry will have a strong focus on Australian History with opportunities for students to develop historical understanding through key concepts including sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance. The curriculum in this year provides a study of colonial Australia in the 1800s. Students learn about the reasons for the founding of British colonies in Australia and the impact of a development or event on one Australian colony (continuity and change, cause and effect).
Students examine what life was like for different groups of people in the colonial period (sources), and explore the reasons for their actions (cause and effect, perspectives, empathy). They examine early migration, settlement patterns, people and their contributions, significant events, and political and economic developments (sources, continuity and change, significance, empathy). Students are also introduced to the concept of sources as they analyse sources to compare information and points of view in the past and present (sources, perspectives).
Exploring and building indigenous cultural knowledge will allow students to understand the impacts and connections to early British settlement in Australia. Many learning experiences will be hands on, collaborative and involve students making connections to their life experiences.
During Term 4, students will be inquiring into democracy and what it means to be an Australian citizen. This will include levels of government, how decisions are made and how citizens can become involved within their community and with decision making. Students will present their ideas, conclusions and viewpoints in a range of communication forms using civics and citizenship terms and concepts.
Year 5/6 Inquiry
How can we reduce water based diseases?
Fisher students will be involved in many projects this semester which will see multiple subjects combined during inquiries. This will enable students to make links between their learning experiences and ensure their efforts have an impactful purpose.
Students will continue exploring water-related issues and population growth, in finding solutions to our student led inquiry, “How can we reduce water based diseases?”
Learning experiences will be hands on and collaborative with multiple opportunities provided to embed new learning across a variety of contexts. Students will make connections to the affects of increasing human populations on available natural resources and their impacts on living things and the resulting changing ecosystems.
Our water inquiry will incorporate many areas of the curriculum with an emphasis on Biological and Chemical Sciences and Geography. Students will be looking at both local and global issues and will engage in projects involving oceans, rivers or human access to clean water.
We will have a Science Week exhibition on Thursday Week 9 (19th September), where we will celebrate our learning and share our discoveries. With changes to restrictions, we are unable to confirm this as an event for families to attend - more information will follow in our main newsletter.
Term 4 will involve an Economics and Business inquiry with students learning about the purpose of business and recognising the different ways that businesses choose to provide goods and services. They will also identify individual strategies that can be used to make informed consumer and financial choices.
Year 5/6 History
LNPS 60th Anniversary
As part of the school's 60th anniversary, students will be investigating how aspects of Lockleys North Primary School have changed over time. Students will probe into how and why the schools past is important to the local community. They will also explore how changes in technology have shaped their daily lives.
Year 6/7 Science
Deep Blue - NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK 2020
During Term 3, Year 7 students will be delving into Chemical Sciences. They will investigate various mixtures and discover ways of separating them usefully. They will also investigate the way various materials dissolve creating solutions and discover ways of reversing the processes. With Science Week coming up in week 5, students will develop hands on activities for the rest of the school to try based around this year’s theme, “Deep Blue.”
In Term 4, students will focus on Earth and Space Sciences and be inquiring into how the internal and overall movements of the Earth create various phenomena including eclipses, seasons and tides, along with earthquakes and extreme weather events. They will explore these events through a number of hands on investigations.
Throughout the semester, students will continue developing their Science Inquiry Skills where they will get opportunities to conduct scientific investigations, plan and implement fair experimental methods and identify variables to be changed and measured. There will also be a particular focus on Science as a Human Endeavour where students will expand their scientific knowledge and make connections to the real world.
Year 7 HASS
During Term 3, Year 7 students will be building upon their learning in Ancient History by inquiring into and the emergence of a number of ancient civilisations. With a focus on 'How Do We See The Past In Our Present?' Through this unit, students will explore different civilisations and then have the chance to pick a 'home' civilisation that they will explore in greater depth. Learning about Laws, Social Classes, Farming, Trade, Inventions, Religion and art are just some of the areas students delve into before researching SIGNIFICANT patterns from their chosen civlisations that they will then recreate on some pieces of pottery. Learning about Timelines and Archeology will also feature at some point during the unit. By the end of the unit, students will walk away with an understanding of the following concepts - evidence, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy, significance and contestability.
Term 3 and 4 will involve an Economics and Business inquiry: 'What types of work exist and in what other ways can people derive an income?' with students learning about the relationships between producers and consumers and the characteristics of successful businesses and entrepreneurial behaviours. We will create pop-up businesses with the aim of making profits to contribute to school resources as a legacy left by senior students upon completing their time at LNPS.
We will also conduct a Health inquiry into puberty, its impacts and developing resilience to cope with physical, social and emotional change. More information will be sent home prior to beginning this unit.
ARTS & Technologies
This year, Fisher students are participating in Arts within class groups. The learning includes Drama, Dance Music, Media and Visual Arts with students experiencing a range of programs to support their creativity.
All Fisher classes will focus on Digital Technologies this semester - investigating programming (Coding) using a variety of applications and digital devices. This is a great chance for students and staff to develop new skills, take risks and increase confidence. In Design Technologies, we will continue to investigate Makers Empire to develop design thinking opportunities and 3D design.
PE & Health
Y4/5/6 - Health
Students will be...
- proposing strategies to help others understand points of view that differ from their own and to encourage further discussion about individual and cultural similarities and differences in order to tackle racism.
- exploring and celebrating how cultures differ in behaviours, beliefs and values.
- exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders understandings of special places and the connection of these places to physical activities.
- reading Dreaming stories unique to an Aboriginal group and comparing them to stories shared in different cultures.
- developing an understanding that individuals experience changes associated with puberty at different times, with differing levels of intensity and with different responses.
Fisher PE
This semester, our Year 4 - 7 students will be learning through movement by practising, applying and transferring a variety of movement concepts and strategies with and without equipment. The focus sports for the semester will be Table Tennis, Badminton and Volleyball. During these sessions students will be demonstrating control and accuracy when performing specialised movement sequences and skills. They will be applying these movement concepts and refining strategies to suit different movement situations. They will also be encouraged to develop team skills, deferring to others and good sportsmanship, so that physical movement will become an enjoyable and regular part of their lives.
Languages - German & Greek
LANGUAGES
German and Greek language learning experiences will include reading and creating written texts, oral interactions and listening tasks. Students will be encouraged to work both independently and collaboratively to develop and enhance their vocabulary and language learning skills.
Google Classroom has also become an integral part of teaching and learning and it is being used to share announcements, extend learning and give feedback. It is a valuable means of communication where additional information and resources can be shared and accessed by students at any time and not just during language lessons. Therefore, students are encouraged to check Google Classroom regularly.
Students are also encouraged to support their learning and build their confidence and fluency by working online with Duolingo which can also be accessed at home. Each student has an account where they can practise topics which are covered in class and their progress is also monitored.
Please ask your child about their language lesson and encourage them to share what they have been learning.
GERMAN Wir lernen Deutsch.
Tausend Dank (many thanks) to F14 and F15 students who made the Schultüten for the Reception students and in particular to those students who spoke, led the singing and took photos at the presentation. Also, many thanks to those Fisher students who volunteered to go to Frau Edwards’s German lessons to teach students their songs which they wrote to the tune of ”Bruder Jakob” (“Brother John”). Gut gemacht! (Well done!)
During Semester Two we will focus on topics such as fitness and sports, maps and directions and creative story writing. Activities will require German verbal and written interaction between students and will include, interviews, writing and presenting a short narrative based on a model, creating a board game or an obstacle/fitness course and researching and presenting information based on German speaking cultures. Frau Edwards and I are working together to create more opportunities for Fisher students to use their German knowledge and talents by engaging them with Torrens, Mellor and Reception students in their German lessons. This gives students more time to practise their German as well as think critically about how they would work with a particular age group.
Alles Gute für das zweite Semester! (All the best for Semester Two!)
Frau Mudge
GREEK - Μαθαίνουμε Ελληνικά
This Semester students will continue to develop their reading skills with an emphasis on fluency, reading comprehension and vocabulary building. They will have the opportunity to read text and complete comprehension and grammar tasks.
Tongue Twisters will also challenge the students to develop their confidence with oral language and speaking.
There will also be a focus on the Olympic Games both past and present. Students will have an opportunity to complete a choice of activities which will encourage and assist them to become higher level thinkers. Learning activities will require thinking skills based on a combination of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Furthermore, the students are learning the song Κιβωτός (2020 Version) by Katy Garbi feat. Andonis Remos and so far they are doing an amazing job. Part of this project requires a family photo from each student. Therefore, with your permission I would like to request that you provide a family photo so we can put together this special song. A consent slip with more details for the photo will be sent out shortly.
Finally, I would like to remind you that we are very fortunate to have the Greek Language program continue this year so it is important that students remain committed to their learning and attend their weekly lesson every Friday afternoon.
Here’s to a successful and productive Semester!
Voula Pagonis ( Κα. Παγώνη)