Learning Updates -

School of Wonder

Children inquire into how to express themselves

School of Wonder children returned to school refreshed and ready for term two of learning. Many children shared new and adventurous experiences they had during the holidays and were happy to reconnect with friends and Learning Mentors. Children quickly settled into the learning routine and it has been terrific to see the children implement the learning assets and values established last term.

We begin a new focus of Inquiry this term: How do we express ourselves? This topic focuses on the concept of reflection and the key concepts of: There are different ways of reflecting; There are different ways of interpreting expressions; People express their thinking by reflecting and justifying using evidence. Tuning into the topic has begun and the children have been drawn to the provocations presented by Learning Mentors, eagerly engaging in exploring and wondering. 

We welcome parents and grandparents to come into our space of a morning and hear their child read, but a reminder that if you are to stay longer than 15 minutes, you are required to sign in and have a Working With Children Check. 

As the cooler weather has arrived, children are not required to wear their hat during recess and lunch unless they choose to. Please ensure all jackets and hats are clearly named to avoid property being lost. Please check the labels on your child's uniform to ensure they have their own uniform items, as there have been a few mix-ups with children accidentally taking home another child's uniform item. 

We continue to appreciate the experience of being on site for teaching and learning, where the assets of self-management, collaboration, researcher, communicator and thinker are used daily and are visible to Learning Mentors and children. One of the ways Learning Mentors capture the progress of learning and the application of assets is by using the Seesaw app. It is strongly recommended that parents check this regularly to see the progress and learning that is happening. Parents also need to check PAM daily for important communication from the college, to access school activity permission forms and to check daily messages. Parent notified student absences can also be lodged via PAM.

 - Laurel Baxter-Butts, School of Wonder Leader

Hands-on approach to learning about Pentecost

This week children in Years 1 and 2  have begun learning about Pentecost. So far we know that Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter and that the symbols of Pentecost are 'flames' and 'wind'. We responded to this information by creating our own flames using materials and resources from around the learning space.

-  School of Wonder Learning Mentor Kara McCann

Children share thoughts about ANZAC Day 

School of Wonder children in Years 1 and 2 reflected on and learnt about ANZAC Day today. Children listened to the story Anzac Biscuits and made their own poppy before enjoying baking some ANZAC biscuits with Learning Support Officer Luci Amodio and Learning Support trainee Maddi Crawford. Here are some of the children's thoughts about ANZAC Day:

When you are a soldier, you get special badges. They aren’t exactly medals, they are smaller than that. They are red, green and other army colours. The soldiers try to blend in so the other team don’t see them. - Hannah

Some people’s great-grandads went to war, and some people remember them by poppies and badges if they still have them. - Josie

Soldiers have been sad and that is really sad. - Allegra

It is a day about the war people and that people give ANZAC cookies to the soldiers. - Xavier S

There were poppies on the grass where the war was. - Alessandro

 -  Kara McCann, School of Wonder Learning Mentor

Items needed for Visual Arts projects

School of Wonder children are collecting the following items to use in Visual Arts: old newspapers; medium/large button-up shirts (for art smocks) and recycled materials (clean yoghurt tubs, small boxes, cartons for a recycling project - no egg cartons please or cartons/boxes that have contained nuts, due to food allergies). Families wanting to donate any of these items can please bring them to the Dry Atelier in the new Stage 2A building at the beginning of term two.