Reading to the kinder kids

Over 6 sessions over the the last two weeks, the Middles have visited a local pre-school to read to and play with students in the 4 year old kinder program. It has been an invaluable experience for all our students, and they have learnt as much as the kinder students, albeit in different ways. Below are some of our reflections about "returning" to kinder:

On different dates this term the Middles are all going to Indra Pre-school to read to the kinder kids. The point of us going there to read to them is to help with their reading and because of our Inquiry. Indra pre-school is part of the community – Alex

We went there to help answer our rich question in Inquiry, “How does belonging to a community contribute to our wellbeing?” I really enjoyed it because it was a great experience. I have friends who have siblings who don’t go to kinder yet and I was thinking I could help them - Molly

I made a new friend when I went to Indra Pre-school last week. The reason we went there was to teach the children by reading and to play with them – Cooper

Having fun with the kinder kids, so that both us could get some fresh air – Will H

There were all these types of games you could play with the students there. It was fun playing with more than one kid. The reason we went there was to help with and learn more about our community and our Inquiry topic – Adol

They got to learn how to read from the Middles – Natalia

I learnt that little children interrupt a lot, but I would stop reading and listen to what they were saying. It sort of helped with both of our learning. What I did with the children is if they didn’t understand a word I would tell them what it means – James

When we were there we learnt how they move, work and what they do at kinder – Oliver

The kinder kids were really interested in the books we had. It helps develop their minds – Lachie B

I think that the little kinder kids really enjoyed us reading to them, because they wanted to read another book – Jessica

I was think it’s really good to go to Indra because it’s like going to see what it is like when we were younger – Keira

We didn’t only go there to read. We also go there to help them learn things for when they go to school – Grace

I think going to Indra preschool can help with our reading as well. We can ask them if they know a word and then we can help them sound it out - Lauren

Middle S doing fractions!

On Monday we did fractions for maths. We used play-dough to make fractions that we know.We learnt all about fractions like making halves,quarters and thirds.Our learning intention was to identify,explore and create fractions as a whole.We did circles and squares and halved it to equal the same shapes.

Aboriginal art

Aboriginal art is fun and easy to make we used textas, pastels and paint. I think it turned out awesome-Cooper I think that it was a great idea to teach this art lesson to everyone because just last week we did a art lesson based on symmetry - Adol

P.E. - We learnt a new game!

On Friday, Miss van Eyk taught us a new game, called "Pony Express". We joined up with Middle V and took turns being the running team and the throwing team. 

When we return to school we'll tell you the rules...

Clean Up Our School Day

On Friday, we did Clean Up Australia Day at our school. We all did a very good job – Jake

We cleaned up at the back of the library – Natalia

I thought it was good that we cleaned up as we had a lot of rubbish at the end – James

The whole school did it with us and we collected a lot of rubbish by the end. It was a good day to do it because it helps other schools by setting a good example – Ryan

I think that I would like to do this at my house and I think we did a great job. I feel guilty that we had so much rubbish – Molly

We collected as much rubbish as we could find and disposed of it – Adol

At the end each class got a certificate and we all felt proud – Lachie B

Thank you everyone for cleaning up our school – Natasha

I thought it was a really good idea because it’s helping the environment and animals – Jenny

I think the whole school contributed and tried their best – Cooper

I thought it was good because if we didn’t there’d be rubbish everywhere and that’s not good for the environment or our school – Sienna

Solutions to this problem are:

-         Don’t let your wrappers fly away: Natasha

-         Don’t throw rubbish away on purpose: Aerodyne

-         Think about what your wrapper could do to tiny animals: Riley

-         Try to make your lunch box wrapper-free: Adol

-         Continue with ‘Wrapper Free Day’ and spread the word about it to the community: Molly

-         If you drop your wrapper it could end up in the oceans, where animals could eat it and die: Jenny

-         If you see your wrapper floating around pick it up and put it up and put it in the correct bin, because it’s bad for the animals and the community: Sienna

An excursion into the Community

On Friday, all the middles classes took a bus to the council offices of The City of Whitehorse, in Nunawading. Some of the staff there spoke to us about the services and resources provided by the council and how they contribute to our health and wellbeing.
Here are the notes we took...

Whitehorse was named after an old pub and it's the 20th anniversary this year 2014
 Cr stands for councillor marternal and child health 
Victoria is the only state that legally makes contact with every baby born in a
hospital in Victoria.
Breach is when a baby comes out bottom first.when the baby stays in the stomach  for
to long the mum has a Caesarian. 

Aged services
Social groups 
Meals on wheels
Try to be Independent if you don't really need help

Health and well being of older people. Elder people need to stay healthy and fit. If
they don't they can get sick.
Some activities they do are gym, swimming

When babies are different ages they have a needle and get vaccinated for different
diseases like measles and chickenpox.

They check the equipment at the tattooists.
Nurse's go to schools and check the students heads for lice.

Healthiest transport
Bikes
Legs
Scooter
Skateboard 

If you walk to school you have much better concentration because your brain is much
healthier because you have been getting exercise. 
Ride to school day march

How to be healthy
Aqua link
Parks/300
Footy ovals
Basketball courts 
Athletic tracks
You can go skate boarding at parks
Skate park
Play grounds
Netball courts
Soccer courts
Dance club 
Council website
Volleyball 
Badminton

What services do you access in your council? Are there any that are the same as ours?

SRC

Yesterday, in Middle S we voted to see who would become our S.R.C. reps. S.R.C. stands for Student Representative Council. They will represent our school and the students. They had to write a speech about what they would do if they were chosen as SRC and why they want to become our SRC reps. They will be going to a special mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, with all the other SRC people from other Catholic schools in Melbourne. In our class we voted for Sienna M. and Cooper T.
Congratulations to Cooper and Sienna and all the other people who made a speech to go for the SRC positions.