As we approach the halfway point of term 3, the 5/6 Neighbourhood have entered the apply phase of our inquiry into legacy, leadership change and impact. As part of deepening and demonstrating our learning and new understandings, we have split into 3 project groups. Each student has opted into one of the following based on their curiosity and prior learning:
- Writing, filming and broadcasting a PHPS news program to be shared to all Neighbourhoods on a regular basis with the goal of using our position as 5/6s and school leaders to keep everyone informed, and create a template for future 5/6 cohorts to follow.
- Exploring the impact of public art and developing a shared artwork that communicates the values of the children in the group and acts as a visible monument to their legacy in our school community. This links directly to children’s learning in Visual Arts.
- Thinking deeply about the question ‘What is forever?’ and using a range of disciplinary lenses (including science, mathematics, philosophy and the arts) to explore how humans think about and communicate concepts and discoveries on an astronomical or microscopic scale.
Being Producers:
This fortnight, students have been tuning in to their initial questions and knowledge around their chosen project and working together to think about the direction of their project as a vehicle to share their learning with the broader community. They have also been concluding their work on prior provocations, including developing a proposal to create a time capsule with prep buddies to be opened in their grade 6 year, researching and designing sustainable public transport systems and exploring the ‘underconsumption core’ trend on social media.
An ongoing area of focus throughout our project groups and workshops is sustainability and ways we can use our individual, local and global contexts to think critically about our consumption and impact on the planet and find creative ways of making more from less. An example of this is an effort to repurpose the scrap paper in our Neighbourhood and decrease the volume of resources consumed in our studio space by making our own clay out of paper, glue and water.
Next Steps:
English: In our home group text study and writing workshops across the last fortnight, students have been practicing their ability to ‘read as writers’ by analysing word choice and seeking to replicate it in their own writing. We have focused specifically on the use of specific and interesting verbs to add description and movement to a piece of work.
Mathematics: In mathematics, we have been exploring fractions as a way of representing sharing and equal segments of a whole. The Olympics has provided a rich mathematical context to explore questions of proportion, rate and ratio. In coming weeks, we will be combining this learning with decimals, percentages and ratios.