From the classrooms

Infants

With SMArt and Drama night out of the way, Infants students have been knuckling down with their learning. After all the highs of rehearsals and performing, costumes and props, it has been good to spend more time in the classroom again. With lots of solid work under our belts, we finished the week off by being treated to a fun and engaging adaptation of James Foley’s book, ‘Stellarphant’, by Meerkat Productions last Friday.  The story was cleverly turned into a stage show that involved all members of the audience, with a few stepping up for some impromptu starring roles – huge well done to Josh C, Mia, Amelia B and Mia G for getting in and having fun as part of the show! And to Mr Rowley for his role as the ‘Big Scary Boss’. It is great to finally be able to have these incursions at school once again! 

In Term 4 we will return to our ‘No Hat, No Play’ policy as the sun hopefully pays a visit. Please remember to pack a named school bucket hat with your child each day so that they don’t miss out on making the most of break play times. 

We wish all families and friends a relaxing, fun and safe holiday!

Ms Mem Brougham

Assistant Principal - Infants (Relieving)

K/1 Class

K/1 are becoming super clever at reading and writing their sounds and using this knowledge to play more and more games such as ‘Bingo’ ‘Jumbled Sentences’ and ‘Hangman’. Students have been impressing their peers and other teachers with their ability to use adjectives and tricky words in their sentences to make their writing more interesting.

K/1 have again filled their ‘feather box’, meaning they could vote for a class celebration, with the winning choice being to have a ‘mufti-day’. Everyone enjoyed being out of uniform for the day and we’re hoping we can squeeze another celebration day in before the end of the year, so we have all agreed to try our best always! Happy holidays everyone!

1/2 Class

Features of Places 

During the last three weeks students in 1/2 have been working to complete a simple research project to design their own park. They had to pose geographical questions and collect data through interviews and websites (videos). 

They then recorded their information in a simple mind map. The students next drew conclusions based on discussions and observations and then used this information to design their own park. The final step was to create their park using a variety of materials in the innovation centre. All students were completely invested and enjoyed this lesson from the Geography Unit ‘Features of Places’.

Ms Robyn Hoy - Geography Teacher

2/3 Class

Year 2/3 have been studying how forces are used in games during their Science lessons. 

We started by researching arcade games and how they work using pushes and pulls. 

The next step was to become a game designer and design an arcade game that used a push or a pull and was made from recyclables. 

We then had to draw a design for our arcade game and label it.

Then we went to the Innovation Centre to make our games and we even decorated them.

The final and most exciting step was setting up our own class arcade to test out each other's arcade games. Who knew Science could be so much fun?

Miss Downey - Year 2/3 Teacher

Primary

Well, we have come to the end of another busy term here at BCS in the Primary classrooms. Personally, I am immensely proud of all of our students' efforts over the past 10 weeks and they have all definitely earned a rest over the coming holidays.

Our SMArt and Drama Night was a great success. From Pink Panthers to swimming fish, to scaredy crows to Elton Johns and Little Red Rocking Hoods - all of the students gave their all and I was proud to be a part of the night. Special mention must go to our Stage 4 students who put on music and drama performances - let's keep this creativity going and build bigger and better for next year. I hope you have placed orders for the DVD, if not, please visit www.apmedia.com.au to place an order.

As we think forward to Term 4, please remember the excursion to Dubbo is on from 2 – 6 November 2022. This is our first excursion away from school for a few years, so kids will no doubt be excited. If there are any issues or concerns, please let me know. Final information will be released soon as numbers have been confirmed.

As always, a big thank-you to our wonderful teaching and support staff here at Boorowa Central School. They go above and beyond each day to ensure your children are safe, happy and supported at school. They too have deserved a well-earned break these holidays.

Mr Jason Stuart 

Assistant Principal - Primary (Relieving)

5/6 Class

In the 5/6 classroom we have finished our novel study on Matilda and have begun comparing the book to the 1996 film directed by and starring Danny DeVito. This is a class film, and we are enjoying analysing the differences and choices made by the director. In mathematics, we have been revising the four operations - and I must continue to stress that children MUST know their times tables off by heart by the time they are in Years 5 and 6. This is the base that students need to ensure success in any other area of mathematics, this can't be stressed enough. In PDHPE, we will continue to focus on basketball and ball sports, enjoying the clear weather when we can! We have also continued to focus on reading, comprehension and handwriting during our morning set-up sessions - regular reading at home will aid development in this area.

I look forward to seeing you all after the school holidays.

Jason Stuart - Year 5/6 Teacher

Secondary

Hannah finds link between tree density in farm tree lines and the abundance of small birds found in them

This year, Hannah Southwell from Boorowa Central School has been completing a Science Extension Course for her HSC studies. The course is a newly developed course encouraging students to pursue further studies in science. Hannah is the first student from Boorowa Central School and the entire school network of Yass, Harden and Crookwell to complete the course. 

As part of her studies, Hannah had to develop and research a high-level scientific question to then conduct across the school year. She was paired up with a university lecturer in the area of research, Eleanor Lang from ANU, who agreed to mentor Hannah and guide her through the process of completing a scientific study. With a keen interest in bird watching and an eye on further study in conservation, Hannah developed the question ‘The Effect of Shrub Layer Composition on Bird Abundance and Species Richness in Revegetation plantings in Hilltops NSW’. Hannah got into the task of surveying 10 sites in the Boorowa area, including the CSIRO BARS Faculty where Dr Stuart Brown allowed Hannah to survey the tree lines on the research site. 

Her extensive research into other similar studies in the area such as Professor David Lindenmayer’s, led her to the hypothesis that there would be a positive relationship between the density of shrub like trees in the agricultural tree lines and the number of birds that use them for a habitat, especially small birds. Hannah firstly analysed the composition of the tree lines, counting the number of shrubs and trees in the area and converting this data to scrubs and trees per hectare. She then completed 30 x 20 minute - 2-hectare surveys of the 10 selected tree lines. All the tree lines had to be fenced off from livestock, be located on a farm and be at least 5 years old. 

Over the 6 months she counted over 800 birds and analysed the data for trends. Unfortunately, her hypothesis that there would be a relationship between the shrub density of the tree line and the number of birds in it, yielded no relationship. This initially deflated her, which was understandable considering the hours she had put into the task. However, with further analysis of the data she found that there was in fact a strong relationship between the density of all trees and shrubs found in the tree line and the number of small birds it has. Essentially, the more trees and shrubs of any type that a farmer plants in the tree line, the higher the number of smaller birds that will use the area as a habitat. 

Obviously more extensive research and peer review would need to be undertaken to make this claim, but it was an exciting finding by Hannah as she heads into a life of research and conservation. It was a mammoth task to complete this research as well complete her other studies, however, the school and town of Boorowa should be immensely proud of her achievement.

Please see the attachment to read Hannah's paper.

Mr Andrew Corcoran

Head Teacher - Agriculture, Mathematics, PDHPE and Science

Year 7

Fergus is conducting an experiment to see if people can tell the difference between coca-cola, diet coke, pepsi and pepsi max.  Today students and staff blind taste tested the drinks and informed Fergus on which one they thought was which, to Fergus's surprise not many were able to tell the difference.

Ms Elizabeth Moorby - Science Teacher