Welcome to week 5 of term 4! (Unbelievable but true)
Inquiry
Power manifests in a range of ways that can have positive and negative impacts.
Our Inquiry statement has taken us on a fascinating journey throughout the year. Our students’ understanding of the way power manifests has deepened and extended appreciably. In conferencing, we are reflecting on this growth. As one student said last week, “at the start of the year, I thought power was only really related to super heroes. Now I can see how power can be used by individuals and groups to change things for the better or worse.” Another year 6 student shared with a group of year 5 students how being a wellbeing leader has given her a taste of what it feels like to be powerful, because she has been part of important projects like establishing a student code of conduct.
Please discuss our Inquiry with your kids. You will be rewarded with conversations that will show you first-hand how our Inquiry has deepened their thinking.
As you all know, we are currently producing movies that will demonstrate the way power manifests in terms of identity, belonging, relationships and transformation. As we said in last week’s post, we are incredibly proud of the way our students are approaching the film-making process and there is palpable excitement in the Neighbourhood as filming begins.
English
Our students continue working on their speeches. Our year 5 students are also preparing their leadership position applications for 2018.
Maths
We have started a new mini inquiry “Whatever the Weather”. Last week we presented all students with a detailed document of the weather in Melbourne in October. Students are selecting questions they can ask and answer from this data. Next week, in conference with their teachers, students will be guided towards answering further questions related to the data.
We are also encouraging all students to work regularly on their number fluency. Please check in with your kids that they are thinking about strategies for filling in the gaps in their knowledge of multiplication facts and fact families.
Getting ready for our visitors from Hong Kong
In a few weeks we will be welcoming 12 students and 3 teachers from our sister school in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong teachers will be teaching a lesson in Chinese Calligraphy. To get ready, we have set up a provocation to allow our students to gain some familiarity with this wonderful art. We are also inviting students from the 3/4 Neighbourhood to participate in the provocation.
