A warm welcome to all our returning families, and a special welcome to our new families of the 5/6 Neighbourhood,
In case you haven’t had a chance to come to school to meet our team, we would like to introduce ourselves:
from left, Steve, Lucy, Praew, Jen and Kat
5/6 A: Jen Bradby –bradby.jen.j@edumail.vic.gov.au
5/6 B: Kat Battersby –battersby.kathryne.n@edumail.vic.gov.au
5/6 C: Lucy Buncle –buncle.lucy.m@edumail.vic.gov.au
5/6 D: Praew Paramo –paramo.praew.p@edumail. vic.gov.au
5/6 E: Steve Marks –marks.steven.a@edumail.vic.gov.au
We, the 5/6 teachers are joined by Maddy (PE), Anna-Maria (Italian), Deb (Music), Lora (Art), Mark, Caroline and Meredith (Learning Support) in learning with your child.
While there will be opportunities to meet in the future to discuss your child, please feel free to contact your child’s homeroom teacher to discuss their needs if there is anything urgent. From our perspectives, the children had a fantastic first day, however, if there is something we did not notice, please encourage your child to come and see us, or you can let us know. It’s important that we support students’ transition and feel as confident as possible during the first few weeks.
Getting Started
We have reminded students that they need to be in the neighbourhood at 8.50am to prepare, ready to begin our learning at 9am. We want to remind families that they are welcome in our neighbourhood before 9am, or after 3.30pm. It is a great opportunity for our learners to share their space, their learning and relationships. We are also keen to maintain close relationships and communication with parents to best support our learners.
We were excited to greet our students and hear about their summer adventures. Today we introduced a few changes to students, which may come up in conversation, such as moving from homeroom specialists groups to mixed specialist groups; the Project Curiosita; or Rent a Hat From Kat in which students are able to ‘rent’ a hat in exchange for neighbourhood chores in the event they forget their own hats.
Project Curiosita
We have invited students to begin thinking about a concept, topic or question that most intrigues them. We are beginning Passion Projects that will enable students time and resources to begin exploring something that most interests them during Personal Learning time. While some of us can easily identify ideas things we are curious about, others of us need to discuss our interests and experiences to help define a concept to explore. We encourage families to ask their child about their Passion Project and discuss the possibilities.
Welcome Inquiry
Our first Inquiry for the year is our Welcome Inquiry. As we begin to unpack, what does it mean to welcome? Why do we welcome? What does being welcome feel like/look like? How do various cultures/groups/people welcome? etc. We invite parents to feedback any observations or discussions from home; as well as any possible cultural connections that may help inform our inquiry. Today some interesting discussion was shared around what welcoming might mean, what is a genuine welcome, and what makes us feel welcome or unwelcome…
“Welcoming someone is like bringing someone into your life” Siena
“I feel welcomed when I’m included in what other people are doing” Morgan
“Welcoming someone is to make them feel safe” Olin
“People feel welcome when we put effort into making others feel comfortable…like when someone picks us up at the airport with a sign or makes you hot chocolate when you arrive home from camp…they don’t have to do these things!” Finn, Griffin, Grace, and others
We are looking to ensure all our students feel welcome in our school, and are able to extend this feeling to others.
We look forward to sharing some of our inquiries with you all at the Expo in a few weeks!
Connections
In the meantime, your family might like to participate in welcoming the Lunar New Year, the year of the Rat. There are dragon dances and celebrations happening this weekend, and Dragon Boat races next weekend. These experiences may generate interest and discussion related to various aspects and cultural connections to ‘welcome’.