Term 3 overview
Welcome to Term 3! We hope everyone is refreshed after the term break and looking forward to a great term ahead. We would also like to welcome Mrs Warren back after family leave.
Please read on for an overview of the curriculum and sporting events planned for the 6 - 8 Learning Community this term.
English
We have commenced our book clubs this term. A wide variety of texts were on offer for the students to select from. Students are currently being reassessed to ascertain their reading and comprehension levels. Once this is completed students will be assisted in updating their learning goals.
In writing, we are focusing on the ‘Traits of Writing’, specifically word choice and sentence fluency. We have created an electronic word wall for students to access and record the interesting vocabulary they discover in their reading whilst at school and at home.
Maths
We are concluding our unit of work on Algebra and Location. For the remainder of the term students will be learning about ‘Financial Maths’ with links to last term’s work on fractions, decimals and percentages. Students will also be exploring statistics, where they will collect, present and analyse data.
HHaSS – History
This semester we are focusing on the History curriculum; learning about Ancient Civilisations. Students are investigating the essential question, ‘Is Change always for the Better?’ One of the key skills they will utilise in this unit of work is accessing primary and secondary sources of evidence.
Science
In Science in term 3, we are looking at physics and biology. Instead of simply learning about forces and energy, we have been applying these ideas to what happens when cars crash, in our unit called “Car Carnage”. Students have been building prototype cars to protect a 'fragile passenger' (an egg) in a collision, then using their new knowledge of forces and motion to redesign a safer model to retry.
After this, we will be looking at biology, specifically the habitats, needs and dangers of threatened Australian species. Students will be learning about species, ecosystems, food webs and related careers as they explore the needs of some of our most important indigenous animals.
ICT
Students are involved in creating SWITCH videos. They will be demonstrating their understanding of a skill or concept they have learnt and creating a short video about it. Some students may wish to enter these videos in to the College wide SWITCH competition which closes on the 7 August.
Visual Arts
Week 1
Portraits, mosaic or oil pastel
What is Expressionism?
How to draw a realistically proportioned face
A portrait using colour to express an emotion or feeling.
Week 2
Ancient Greek Urn
Ancient Greek imagery
Scratch back technique
A scratched back image depicting a Greek style urn with imagery from ancient Greece.
Week 3
Logo Design –Doodle 4 Google
Intro to a Design Brief
Free-hand drawing skills
An original logo that meats the Design Brief.
Week 4
Yarn bombing – Pom Pom tree
How to make a Pom Pom
Work collaboratively to produce an artwork
Yarn Bombing history
A successful collaborative yarn bomb constructed from pom poms.
Week 5
Softies, underwater theme
Develop basic sewing skills
Design skills
A completed sewn and stuffed softie that meets the Design Brief.
Physical Education
Week 1 - Basketball: Skills and Drills
Week 2 - Basketball: Modified Major Games, Super-Hoops from Supercats
Week 3 - Table Tennis: Skills and Drills
Week 4 - Table Tennis: Singles
Week 5 - Table Tennis: Doubles
Week 6 - Preparing for Inter-School Sports: Baseball, Softball, Cricket & Tennis: Skills, Drills & Modified Games
Week 7 - T-Ball: Throwing and Catching Skills
Week 8 - Softball: Batting Practice
Week 9 - Baseball: Pitching Practice
Week 10 - Minor Games e.g. European Handball
Upcoming Events
There are a number of events this term. Please see the table below for more information.
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 8
Wednesday 2-4 September Year 7 Urban Camp
Thursday 3 September Student Led Conferences
Please be aware some of these dates may change due to unforeseen circumstances. We will keep you up to date on any changes via the school newsletter as well as the 6-8 Learning Community web page.
Your child will share their achievements with you at Student Led Conferences on Thursday 3 September.
Please read on for an overview of the curriculum and sporting events planned for the 6 - 8 Learning Community this term.
English
We have commenced our book clubs this term. A wide variety of texts were on offer for the students to select from. Students are currently being reassessed to ascertain their reading and comprehension levels. Once this is completed students will be assisted in updating their learning goals.
In writing, we are focusing on the ‘Traits of Writing’, specifically word choice and sentence fluency. We have created an electronic word wall for students to access and record the interesting vocabulary they discover in their reading whilst at school and at home.
Maths
We are concluding our unit of work on Algebra and Location. For the remainder of the term students will be learning about ‘Financial Maths’ with links to last term’s work on fractions, decimals and percentages. Students will also be exploring statistics, where they will collect, present and analyse data.
HHaSS – History
This semester we are focusing on the History curriculum; learning about Ancient Civilisations. Students are investigating the essential question, ‘Is Change always for the Better?’ One of the key skills they will utilise in this unit of work is accessing primary and secondary sources of evidence.
Science
In Science in term 3, we are looking at physics and biology. Instead of simply learning about forces and energy, we have been applying these ideas to what happens when cars crash, in our unit called “Car Carnage”. Students have been building prototype cars to protect a 'fragile passenger' (an egg) in a collision, then using their new knowledge of forces and motion to redesign a safer model to retry.
After this, we will be looking at biology, specifically the habitats, needs and dangers of threatened Australian species. Students will be learning about species, ecosystems, food webs and related careers as they explore the needs of some of our most important indigenous animals.
ICT
Students are involved in creating SWITCH videos. They will be demonstrating their understanding of a skill or concept they have learnt and creating a short video about it. Some students may wish to enter these videos in to the College wide SWITCH competition which closes on the 7 August.
Visual Arts
Week 1
Portraits, mosaic or oil pastel
What is Expressionism?
How to draw a realistically proportioned face
A portrait using colour to express an emotion or feeling.
Week 2
Ancient Greek Urn
Ancient Greek imagery
Scratch back technique
A scratched back image depicting a Greek style urn with imagery from ancient Greece.
Week 3
Logo Design –Doodle 4 Google
Intro to a Design Brief
Free-hand drawing skills
An original logo that meats the Design Brief.
Week 4
Yarn bombing – Pom Pom tree
How to make a Pom Pom
Work collaboratively to produce an artwork
Yarn Bombing history
A successful collaborative yarn bomb constructed from pom poms.
Week 5
Softies, underwater theme
Develop basic sewing skills
Design skills
A completed sewn and stuffed softie that meets the Design Brief.
Physical Education
Week 1 - Basketball: Skills and Drills
Week 2 - Basketball: Modified Major Games, Super-Hoops from Supercats
Week 3 - Table Tennis: Skills and Drills
Week 4 - Table Tennis: Singles
Week 5 - Table Tennis: Doubles
Week 6 - Preparing for Inter-School Sports: Baseball, Softball, Cricket & Tennis: Skills, Drills & Modified Games
Week 7 - T-Ball: Throwing and Catching Skills
Week 8 - Softball: Batting Practice
Week 9 - Baseball: Pitching Practice
Week 10 - Minor Games e.g. European Handball
Upcoming Events
There are a number of events this term. Please see the table below for more information.
Week 4
- Monday 3 August Year 8 Girls Hockey
- Wednesday 5 August Year 8 Boys Hockey
- Friday 7 August Year 7 Boys & Girls Hockey
Week 5
- Monday 10 August Year 8 Basketball, Volleyball & Table Tennis
- Thursday 13 August Year 7 Basketball, Volleyball & Table Tennis
- Friday 14 August St John First Aid training for students
Week 6
- Friday 21 August Year 6 District Athletics Goldsworthy
Week 8
Wednesday 2-4 September Year 7 Urban Camp
Thursday 3 September Student Led Conferences
Please be aware some of these dates may change due to unforeseen circumstances. We will keep you up to date on any changes via the school newsletter as well as the 6-8 Learning Community web page.
Your child will share their achievements with you at Student Led Conferences on Thursday 3 September.
Student Led Conferences
We had a very successful Student Led Conference on Tuesday 24th March. I was a great opportunity for students to discuss their learning goals and their achievements!
Some students proudly discussed their progress in reading, moving up several levels when they completed their Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment. Other students identified mathematics goals which we can work towards achieving next term. Some students shared their ICT learning and discussed their Harmony Day projects.
We are very proud of our students and how well they articulated their learning and future learning goals.
Some students proudly discussed their progress in reading, moving up several levels when they completed their Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment. Other students identified mathematics goals which we can work towards achieving next term. Some students shared their ICT learning and discussed their Harmony Day projects.
We are very proud of our students and how well they articulated their learning and future learning goals.
Schools Clean Up Day!
On Friday 13th March the 6-8 Learning Community was involved in the Schools Clean Up Day. It was postponed to this date because some classes were involved in the Staughton Vale excursion on the official day.
It was a great opportunity to go out and look after our local area. We split in to two groups - one group cleaned up the area behind the kindergarten and our own school grounds and the other group cleaned up outside of the school grounds.
We didn't find as much rubbish as we thought we would ... which is a very good thing!
It was a great opportunity to go out and look after our local area. We split in to two groups - one group cleaned up the area behind the kindergarten and our own school grounds and the other group cleaned up outside of the school grounds.
We didn't find as much rubbish as we thought we would ... which is a very good thing!
ICT classes with Mrs Collins - Term 1
This year we have ICT classes with Mrs Collins. In each of the mentor classes there are two people who will be working with Mrs Collins to come up with creative projects for us to work on. They will also be responsible for writing things in the class blog for the first half of the year.
Our first task involved setting up documents on the computer so we can easily locate our work. Throughout the term we will learn how to set up our email accounts and add attachments.
The second task is a big one and it is going to take all term to complete! Mrs Collins printed off some QR codes so that we could easily scan it and download the app it took us to ... Harmony Day Stories. Some people had used this app before but Mrs Collins had something very different planned for us!
Once we were in the app, we talked about what Harmony Day is about and looked at some of the different features we could view later on. Then came the fun part! We opened up 'Activate Stories' and then scanned these pictures that were linked to the app. Wow! The pictures came to life. There were three different characters who talked about their life in Australia and when you turned the picture around you could see a different scene from the story they were telling you. We found out later that this is called Augmented Reality.
Our task for the rest of the term is to write our own Harmony Day story and it can be made up if we want. We are working in small groups and once we have finished our stories we have to think of a creative way to present our work. Some people want to try Augmented Reality, others want to make a short movie using the green screen, other people are going to try using Stop Motion to do it. Once we have create our stories we will be showing them to the Prep - Grade 5 Learning Communitities ... in time for Harmony Day. Harmony Day is on Saturday March the 21st.
We are looking forward to showing off our work in the last week of term!
Our first task involved setting up documents on the computer so we can easily locate our work. Throughout the term we will learn how to set up our email accounts and add attachments.
The second task is a big one and it is going to take all term to complete! Mrs Collins printed off some QR codes so that we could easily scan it and download the app it took us to ... Harmony Day Stories. Some people had used this app before but Mrs Collins had something very different planned for us!
Once we were in the app, we talked about what Harmony Day is about and looked at some of the different features we could view later on. Then came the fun part! We opened up 'Activate Stories' and then scanned these pictures that were linked to the app. Wow! The pictures came to life. There were three different characters who talked about their life in Australia and when you turned the picture around you could see a different scene from the story they were telling you. We found out later that this is called Augmented Reality.
Our task for the rest of the term is to write our own Harmony Day story and it can be made up if we want. We are working in small groups and once we have finished our stories we have to think of a creative way to present our work. Some people want to try Augmented Reality, others want to make a short movie using the green screen, other people are going to try using Stop Motion to do it. Once we have create our stories we will be showing them to the Prep - Grade 5 Learning Communitities ... in time for Harmony Day. Harmony Day is on Saturday March the 21st.
We are looking forward to showing off our work in the last week of term!
Shrove Tuesday - February 17th 2015
As a nice surprise for the students, the ES staff in the 6-8 Learning Community arrived at 8:00 am and began preparing the pancake batter for a surprise Shrove Tuesday breakfast. Students were able to come in from 8:30 onwards and enjoy some delicious pancakes ... the teachers may have joined in too!