The students have returned to Term 2 with enthusiasm and focus for building on their inquiry and learning from Term 1.  There is so much happening as we continue to explore and build our sense of community.  

Acknowledgement of Country 

Students have been able to explore the connection between community and the importance of acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands within Australia.  Students in 5/6 have begun to write their own Acknowledgement of Country, through their research into the First Nations people and owners of the land to which our school is located.

Artefacts 

We have continued to build on what we began to explore in Term 1 about artefacts, their place in community, and how communities use artefacts to tell stories.  This week, students were able to research artefacts from different communities around the world which included Indigenous People of Australia, Vikings, Egyptians, as well as those artefacts that are kept on display in Australia, from various communities over time.  Students were able to research further into the significance of the artefact within that community, what the benefit of the artefact was within the community, and how the artefact contributes to the development of the community’s identity and culture.  There was great collaboration to work together to present an oral presentation on what they found.

5/6 Neighbourhood Newspaper 

The students have finished their first edition of the neighbourhood newspaper that they began working on last term.  All students were involved in putting it together, which we decided to do by hand and black and white only.  Students’ collaboration and communication skills have been developed and on display during this project, and it is wonderful to see it all come together.  The students are going to work out what’s next for sharing our wonderful newspaper with the school community.

Nature Parks 

The students have continued to build, design, make, construct, create, and budget for their nature park projects.  The engagement we are seeing from the students in completing the final stages of this project is just amazing!  They are self assessing their progress to keep them on track, continuing to use Google Sheets for budgeting and calculating profit and losses in their park.  The making of the actual park is happening on paper, through arts and crafts materials, 2D and 3D hand drawing, and of course in Minecraft.  

We are looking forward to seeing where our inquiry heads next as we begin to explore the concept of community through a social issues lens.