As per our school’s Curriculum Plan and Policy, the core Curriculum Areas of Religious Education, English and Mathematics are complimented by the delivery of an integrated unit of work using an inquiry approach.
Each year level’s integrated Inquiry Units will encompass the General Capabilities as well as several discipline-based curriculum areas from the Victorian Curriculum, such as History, Geography, Civics & Citizenship, Economics & Business.
This semester, our whole school Inquiry concept is: CULTURE
In order to plan engaging learning experiences and meaningful units of work, staff commenced the planning process in November last year. The voice of students and staff were considered prior to more in-depth planning of our Inquiry units.
“Student Voice” was collated by classroom teachers, specifically through class discussions about the concept of CULTURE and explicitly planned activities where students shared their prior knowledge of various topics that may be covered in our units.
Here is a snapshot of each level’s Inquiry units for Semester 1 2023:
Prep
Title: I Belong!
Compelling Questions:
How do I belong?
What’s the same and what’s different?
Key Topics & Understandings:
Culture - Songs, Rhymes, Artwork, Dance from Other Cultures
Belonging - Groups I belong to, Groups my family belongs to, God’s family
Family - Family Structure, Family Tree, Family History, Background/Origin
Celebrations - Family Celebrations, Different Cultural Celebrations, Past Celebrations (i.e. Passover)
Family - history, traditions, culture, language, meals, connections, beliefs, past and present, relationships, connection to place, celebrations
Traditions - food, events, language
Change - past and present, roles of family, technology, daily life
Stories - Dreamtime, way of explaining our world, different cultures, bible, our stories, family stories, history, timeline
Understandings:
I can identify different cultures and what makes them special.
I can share my own story with others.
I can explain how to show respect for all people.
Year 3/4
Title: Celebrating Culture
Compelling Questions:
How can we respect other cultures?
How can we celebrate different cultures?
Key Topics & Understandings:
Change - Change in culture over time,
Celebrations - religious - Easter, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Australia Day, school, Chinese New Year
Comparisons - Comparing cultures within countries, neighbouring countries, similarities and differences
Responsibilities - Custodial responsibilities to a certain country/place, inclusivity, respect
Belonging - Belonging to church and the school community, community groups e.g sporting, drama, inclusivity
Understandings:
I can explain ways to be respectful towards other cultures.
I can identify ways to include people into our community.
I can compare similarities and differences between cultures.
Year 5/6
Title: Understanding Culture
Compelling Questions:
How does culture define us?
Key Topics & Understandings:
Family and Family beliefs: Where does your family come from? Origin? Traditional beliefs and celebrations that are important to your family, and why are these celebrations of such importance.
Migration: contributions to the development of Australian society, migration to Australia, Immigration policies – how did the policies, acts and schemes change our nation? What was life like after World War II? Why do people immigrate to Australia?
Aboriginal/Indigenous Perspective: Acknowledgement to country, lands we live on, languages spoken, art/media arts
Multi-cultural society: world cultures and beliefs/religions. What makes up our multicultural society? Who are the different cultures in our school community. How do we celebrate these?
Federation: the reasons for Australia’s Federation; challenges faced by colonists, racism, know when and how Federation finally happened
Understandings:
I can reflect on my personal cultural experiences and how these have influenced my attitudes, values and beliefs.
I can recognise the important role that I play in my family and school culture.
I can explain what culture means in my local and global community
I can explain how and why cultural beliefs and practices important in families
I can explain the different world religions and the cultural beliefs they have
I can reflect on my families culture
I can explain and demonstrate my understanding of Aboriginal cultures and groups.
I can reflect on how the Aboriginal people felt during colonisation.
