the Nor'Wester

school life

news from the art room  

This term Foundies will be looking at, making, and discussing portraiture. We’ll ponder why so many artists throughout time have created them, and what makes a great portrait. We’ll be making 3D playdough and clay heads and shining torches on them to catch light and cast shadows in different ways, then trying to show these shadows and the ‘3D-ness’ of faces in our 2D drawings and paintings. We’ll make crazy collage faces that link to our Arts Festival theme of Monsters. Then later in the term, for the Arts Festival, we’ll create a giant eel (or two!) to return to ‘home’ to the creek that once ran through Yakai Baring. We’ll also be looking at traditional Aboriginal eel traps ahead of the festival, where visitors will be invited to contribute to the creation of a giant trap.

To help make our best creations I’d love any donations of the following:

  • Small named torches that can be borrowed for week 3
  • Unwanted flat-based coffee filters, or similar, to contain our small clay heads and help them be carried home safely (week 4/5)

For our giant eels:

  • Long strips of bubble wrap
  • Hula hoops
  • Dark coloured yarn
  • Plastic netting from bags of oranges/onions/potatoes/avocadoes
  • Brown paper packing mesh (I think Ikea and Mr Kitly use this)
  • Silver-backed ‘wrapping paper/foil’

NF

 

This week we read the narrative “My Country” by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan. It celebrates a connection with place and highlights the wonders of nature. As a reading response activity we discussed a special place we have in common being Unit NF and celebrated the positive learning experiences that we share there. We decided to continue the narrative of “My Country” by creating a sequel “In Class NF”. 

Working on our drafts:

Working on the front & back covers:

Sharing our pages:

LD and SM

Unit LD and SM brainstormed strong, persuasive reasons for why all children need to stay out of the out-of-bounds areas during school time. Here is what we thought.  

maths

 

Another jam packed week for us! We were able to visit the team planning meetings of each team and got an insight into what each team is doing and it was awesome! The Foundie team shared some games that they were going to play with their kids that were super interactive, hands on and great for those kids who like to wiggle around!

We are also busily getting ready for our parent information afternoon, running from 4 till 5 in Week 6. We have asked parents to fill out the Google Form (you can find it here: https://forms.gle/BD4vTi59iSDuUuHe7) and we are then answering each of your questions in as much detail as we can. We are also asking teachers how they would respond to these questions if they were asked so we are giving you as much information as possible. The questions have been interesting and definitely encouraged me to think about my practise and how I would answer if I was asked. So far we have 7 people coming, so those 7 people will be lucky enough to have their questions answered in a small forum although we would love more people to attend so we can not only provide you with as much information as we can but also share all the cool things we are doing at BNWPS to extend your child.

 In our Parent Info afternoon, we are asking parents how they extend their child at home. This is in no way a judgement question, rather, we would love to hear from the fabulous parents all the ways that you include maths at home and how you extend your child whilst doing every day maths. After all we could pick up some tips or tricks! I would love you to ponder this question and to reflect on what you are doing at home, just as the teachers are reflecting at school on how we cater for capable students.

A normal school day is jam packed with learning and things to do, as well as additional things (like the amazing Indonesian concert that occurred this week!) so the more you can foster the school/home connection the better. We were discussing things we could send home to families to do to continue maths learning at home, but we are conscious of ALL the learning students do to and most importantly we need to give something fun! So it was quite a happy coincidence that we got an email from our PMSS leader Chris Brown sharing some resources that the Department have released. As we read through the resources one jumped out. The Victorian Maths Challenge has a variety of activities you can complete with your child or children at home. They cater for F-2 as well as 3-6 and they are hands on activities you can try with your family! For the younger years, there are different activities you could do each day for example measuring ingredients on Wednesday or on Sunday, talk about the shapes you see at home or complete a jigsaw with someone in your family. For the older kids, there is a list of activities they can try such as the Titanic challenge or the paper plane challenges! The Maths Challenges for grades 3-6 (or capable F-2s!) are all online and you can upload what you’ve made or look at what other people have made for inspiration. This is just one of many great resources you could use to encourage numeracy at home.

Maths challenges: http://vmc.global2.vic.edu.au/

Every day maths activities (click on early childhood): https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/events/vmc/Pages/default.aspx

 

I’d love to leave you with a puzzle! Every couple of weeks I update the staff toilets with new maths questions, ideas or riddles for them to have a go at. I would love it if families could have a go at a weekly puzzle and let me know if they could work it out or not! This week my question is:

How many nets does a cube have? 

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jessie and Alice