Exploring our Princes Hill Community 

Last week, the 5/6 students embarked on a journey through history in our local community, Princes Hill.  On our way, we were able to visit various locations that highlighted many different aspects to our community.  This included mansions, houses, old factories, warehouses, and of course the park!  The students were curious to find out about the age of buildings and how their history dates back to even the 19th Century.  They were able to see that a community can change over time, but often the bones or buildings remain the same, albeit with some renovations and modern touches along the way. 

Student reflections include:

“It was very interesting how I didn’t know how much there was in Princes Hill that I didn’t know.” – Elliot

“We saw lots of historical things that were interesting.” – Miles

“I learnt a lot about Princes Hill and its history.” – Felix

“I really liked the walk because we got to see a lot of historical buildings.” – Ozzy

“I love seeing how the Princes Hill community has come to life.” – Claudia

Following the excursion, students were able to reflect on their Princes Hill community walk by choosing a form of expression to share what they learned.  Students have written narratives, descriptive pieces of writing, created Kahoot! Quizzes, and even developed worlds in Minecraft. 

It was wonderful to be able to get out and about in our community before the end of term, and we can continue to build on this physical sense of community that we belong to and how important it is to our sense of belonging as we head into the expand phase of our inquiry in Term 2. 

A Community of Writers

A community of writers project has developed into creating a whole neighbourhood newspaper.  Students are working together in editorial groups, and are working to develop the first print of our newspaper, which is all being done by hand.  There are so many wonderful sections including recipes, wellbeing, sports round up, neighbourhood news, and events to name a few.  Students love the opportunity to collaborate with each other and work with students they don’t usually collaborate with.  It is wonderful to see the students engaging in this project and we can’t wait to get our first edition on display to share with our community.  

The newspaper we’re creating is a good thing to do because we learn how to use a newspaper collaboratively. – Maggie

I like working on it and I like how you can work with other people. – Fox

It is very fun to work on and collaborate. – Hugo H

It’s really great to make a newspaper for the whole school to read. – Molly

I think that the newspaper is a good thing to do because it brings the 5/6 community together and we can all do something creative. – Lucy

iSea iCare Excursion – Moonraker Boat to swim with the dolphins 

Last week, the iSea iCare ambassadors escaped the neighbourhood and went to Sorrento to board a boat called the Moonraker.  The students were equipped with flippers, wetsuits, and snorkels.  They were taught how to use a snorkel and flippers… Some people learnt the hard way about how to use a snorkel!  On board, the students were introduced to seals, dolphins, and sea dragons by carefully sliding down a board into the ocean from the stern of the boat.  The ocean was cold and crystal clear, but they were distracted enough by the beauty of all that they saw.  In the ocean, the students clung onto a rope in the water, being dragged behind the boat, and looked down to see the dolphins.  An amazing experience!  While they enjoyed the experience more than anything, they understand that the purpose of this excursion was to learn why they should fight for the environment, experience the beautiful habitat of marine life, and to realise their role that they play as an iSea iCare ambassador.  

“I loved how everyone was so interested in the marine environment.” – Alessia

“It was a wonderful experience and the dolphins were SUPER cute!” – Maia

“A very inspiring journey.” – Hugo H

“It was inspiring and it was a good experience.” – Kat

“I love how alive the ocean was and the dolphins were so beautiful.” – Claudia

“I loved how the people on the “Moonraker” were encouraging, but let us choose not to do it if we didn’t want to.” – Bessie