Morning Tea - Expo of our inquiry

We welcome all our parents and guardians to a morning tea and to see an exposition of our inquiry learning this Thursday at around 9:30 am (after we take the roll and get everything ready...) This has been organised by our Parent Representatives. We would like to take this opportunity to spend some time with members of our learning community to celebrate all that we have achieved this year. We hope that you are able to take part in this wonderful occasion but please don't feel bad if you are unable to attend. We will discuss with the children the time commitments that parents have and discuss how difficult it is for people generally to be flexible with time in their work environment, using ourselves as a model for this.

Diorama Project

We have been very fortunate to have Sahra (Isaac's mum) run the diorama project with some of our students in the neighbourhood. She kindly came in last week to give a presentation and this week, she assisted with the planning of the dioramas with the students who signed up to the workshop. Next Wednesday, Sahra will come back to help with the building of the diorama. 

It would be great if each child involved in the diorama workshop could bring a shoebox or similar sturdy box with a lid from home by Wednesday, December 14th so we can begin to build the diorama. Any other materials needed should be discussed with your child as they have been thinking about their requirements as part of their planning. Some students have said they would like to make their diorama with an eyepiece for viewing but this is completely optional. The eyepiece is made from a simple toy magnifying glass, available very cheaply from discount stores. For safety, plastic is preferable to glass for magnifying lenses but whatever is readily available would be fine.

Clarification 1 to 1 Computing Program

Just to answer and clarify some questions that has been coming from the parent community regarding the one to one laptop program. Students who do not take up the one to one MacBook option will continue to work within the neighbourhoods with a laptop ratio of 4 students to 1 laptop as they do now. These students will not have one to one access and they will have to negotiate with other students and the teaching staff for access to the school laptops as they do presently. Students who take up the one to one program will have guaranteed access to their laptop for learning as they need it both during school and at home.

As was stated at the one to one information evening we believe that one to one access to laptops is an important step in providing the best possible learning environment for our students. With the introduction of the program in 2012 the teaching and learning in the neighbourhoods will remain the same as it is now.

At no time will all students be asked to “get out your laptops”.  The use of laptops in the neighbourhoods will remain, as it does now, connected to the inquiry, managed by the learning needs of the students and supervised by the neighbourhood teachers. In learning experiences that have a specific ICT focus an equitable laptop ratio will be in place.

Also a reminder that parents will only have one opportunity to take up the 1 to 1 program.  Grade 2 and 3 students who wish to be a part of the program in 2012 must sign on this year.  There will be no possibility of signing on at a later stage due to contract constraints.

Keith McNeill

On behalf of the 1 to 1 laptop working party

Transition Info

Here is some info from our Student Pathways and Transitions Coordinator, Rita,  concerning transition sessions for our students who are moving to new neighbourhoods next year.

Transition: We all experience it!

The whole school community including children, parents and staff are experiencing the transition of children from one year level to another.

To familiarise themselves with new home groups and neighbourhoods the children will partake in 4 transition sessions. Three will take place on 5^th, 6^th, 7^th December from 10am to 11:15. The children will spend time in their 2012 neighbourhoods with their team of teachers and groups. They will familiarise themselves with the new learning spaces, discuss learning possibilities and partake in learning agreement activities with all of their 2012 teachers.  Older children will be mentoring and offering advice to the younger ones. The children will have lunch in their new spaces as part of each session. The aim is to make all children feel comfortable, confident and excited about their next year level. Consistency in learning across the school aims to make this a seamless process.

On Tuesday 20^th December there will be a fourth transition session where the children will be introduced to their 2012 home teacher as well as working in their new neighbourhoods for 1 hour. This will take place from 2.30 to 3.30. The children will be dismissed from their new neighbourhoods on this day.

This period of change is both challenging and exciting in which children and families adjust to expectations, interactions and relationships.

Rita Jokubaitis

Student Pathways and Transitions.

Spelling High Frequency Words

We have been exploring some strategies to make sure that we spell all our high frequency words correctly. It is important that students are aware of which words they misspell frequently and make sure they learn them for when they produce texts. It is an expectation in our neighbourhood for all students to spell all these words correctly and use them appropriately at all times. 

Students should use the "look, say, name, cover, write, check" strategies when they are learning these words. This is as follows:

1. Look at the word, perhaps noticing words within the word, looking at the parts of the word, or underlining known parts 

2. Say the word (in a way that will help you remember how to spell. i.e. not necessarily how it is pronounced). 

3. Name the letters of the word. 

4. Cover the word and picture it in your mind. 

5. Write the word from the picture in your mind. 

6. Check to see that you have all of the letters in the word and in that correct order.

The document below lists the 100 frequent words:

100 frequent spelling list

Press Club - Episode 3

The new episode of PHPS Press Club is now available for your viewing pleasure. This episode presents the wonderful 4/5 Choir, and the lead up to their fantastic Mary Poppins show last month. The show will also give you a short preview of the performance. The entire show will hopefully be available to you on DVD soon!

This episode can be accessed in the intranet sections of the PHPS website HERE and the username and password can be found in Talking Point issued today (week 6).

Inquiry Workshops

Today, we ran three elective inquiry workshops. One workshop examined the topography of potatoes, looking into the contour lines in topographical maps.  Another workshop also examined contourlines in maps and created mountains using plasticine, measured and marked each section and drew its topographical map.  The third workshop investigated air pressure through a series of experiments and explored how air pressure affects the weather. Here are some photos taken during these workshops.

Bazaar - Thank You!

As a Bazaar first timer, I was completely blown away by the amount of support from everyone in our community. Special thank you must go to all the parents, relatives and carers in our neighbourhood who gave up their time to help out with the organisation and running of the stalls. I visited all the stalls on the day of the Bazaar and I thought they were fantastic!

I was also very proud to see so many talented students in the Talent Quest. I thought that the standard of the acts were extremely high! Well done everyone!

Hip Hoppers at the BER Opening

You may have witnessed our outstanding Hip Hop Group at the Grade 34 Neighbourhood 1 assembly few weeks ago. Formed by Patrick this term, the group learnt some cool moves and grooves. The Hip Hop group will be performing their coolness again at the BER opening in the gym at 9AM this Wednesday (16th). All parents are invited to the opening of course and you will be able to see many other students from other neighbourhoods performing.

Inquiry Report

I wanted to share with you the wonderful variety of learning experiences our students are having during our current inquiry into geography. Our focus has been quite wide as students have demonstrated immense curiosity into the subject. Here are some photos to explain some of the things that are happening in our neighbourhood at the moment.

Some of our students are investigating rainfall. They have converted disposable drink bottles into rain gauges and placed them around the school. These students check their gauges frequently and are graphing their results.

Meanwhile, some of our students are investigating weather by keeping diaries. Some have created weather diaries, while some are researching cloud formations and their relationship to weather. Here is an example of a weather diary.

Another weather investigation takes the form of music. Here students express different kinds of weather phenomena through the use of musical instruments or through digital music making software such as GarageBand.

Here is an example of a rock collection that a student has made. They are currently identifying the different rocks they have found around school, or brought from home, and are then classifying them into igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.

There are many more experiences occurring in our neighbourhood at the moment and hopefully, I will have the opportunity to share more with you soon.

Landmarks of the World

I would like to present to you a our World Map of Landmarks. We have only been working on this map for a couple of weeks so far in ICT and LA time in our neighbourhood but I thought it's a wonderful example of how we can use ICT to share knowledge within our learning community.

Our students researched some famous landmarks around the world, looking at their history, cultural significance as well as their physical attributes during our ICT sessions. We investigated ways of inserting our information in Google Maps to share this information with our colleagues.

It is still in work-in progress but here it is so far. You get a better experience by seeing it in FULL VIEW here.


View Earth Report Map 2011 in a larger map

- Click on a tab to see some information (blue = manmade landmarks, red = natural landmarks).
- Click on "more' to get the option of zooming into the landmark.

Inquiry learning term 4

Our focus for inquiry learning this term is in the humanities area of geography.  The children are working towards producing an Earth Report as a culmination of their inquiry into a range of geographical concepts. 

For further details, please refer to the Student Learning section of our blog.

Afternoon tea with Patrick

We were very sad to have to say goodbye to Patrick earlier this week. Patrick has been with our neighbourhood since the beginning of the year as a part of his Masters of Teaching course at Melbourne University and have thoroughly become a member of the neighbourhood team. He has built up wonderful relationships with our students though his enthusiastic style of teaching.

We would therefore like to celebrate Patrick's achievements by having an afternoon tea this coming Monday (31st) at 2:30 pm. We invite all students to bring a dish of choice which we can share amongst our neighbourhood.

Press Club - Episode 2

Just a quick note to inform you that the second episode of the Princess Hill Press Club can now be accessed through the Intranet section of the website. The username and password has been published in week 6 edition of Talking Point and will be again in the next week edition.

Peer assessment

Neighbourhood 1 has spent the last three weeks investigating and developing our understanding of what an assessment is. We have looked at various projects produced by students around the school and discussed and recorded our ideas on different elements, that put together, make a successful project. After collating these information generated by the students, and discussing further the exact wording, we are now in the process of producing a rubric. This rubric will then be used by the students to peer assess the projects produced by their fellow learners in the neighbourhood.

Incursions

We were very fortunate to have two special guests in our neighbourhood last Wednesday.

Laura Pearse came in to our neighbourhood and presented her incredible VCE media project she created last year. Laura, who is a god-daughter of Julie Effemey, graduated from her high school last year and is currently on a gap year. For her project, she created a film inspired by Jim Henson which incorporated puppets and live action actors. She gave an inspiring talk about her filmmaking journey, through the processes of designing and creating her puppets to storyboarding and directing her wonderful film. It was lovely to see the enthralled faces of our students as they watched the final product at the end.

Laura shows introduces our neighbourhood to one of her creations.

Laura with her fox puppet.

On the same day, Bruce Kane from Australian Broadcast Cooporation came in to our neighbourhood to show us a funny animated short called "Teach Maths To Your Dog". After the viewing, Bruce received some insightful feedback from our students.

Bruce Kane introducing the animated short.

We would like to thank both Laura and Bruce for giving up their time and providing our neighbourhood with rich and exciting presentations.

1-to-1 Computing Program Parents Information Night

There will be a parent information night for people interested in the issues surrounding 1-to1 computing program on 6th September at 7pm in the gymnasium. Presenters will include Bruce Dixon (founder of Anywhere, Anytime Learning Foundation and world leader in 1-to-1 Computing Program), Peter Alibon (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development ICT leader) and Justin Lewis (Beyond The Box, Apple Mac specialist). Members of staff will also be presenting the school perspective regarding this issue. The evening will include opportunities for members of the school community to ask questions.

A Frequently Asked Question page has been added to our school website which may answer some of your questions and concerns before the night. This page can be accessed HERE.

We hope to see you there!

While you're away....

Many parents have been requesting suggestions on what kind of learning their children could engage with when they are away from school on a family trip during term time. Although we think that trips are to be enjoyed without the stress of school work, sometimes it's good to have some learning to focus on if your child is away from school for a long period of time. So Kerri, Keith and I had a brainstorming session earlier this week and came up with some suggestions on activities.

Activities

We also suggest that our students login to our collaborative space on the Ultranet and check on our focus of our learning. Students are welcome to interact with activities put up on Ultranet while they are away from our neighbourhood.

PHPS Press Club

The first episode of PHPS Press Club is finally online! You can access this on the Intranet section of the PHPS website. The login and the password for this section can be found on the next Talking Point and you can also request these through our usual neighbourhood email address phps34n1@gmail.com.

Our vision for the Press Club is for the students to take a leading role in all aspects of making TV programs, from pre-production all the way to post-production. Experiences for students may include, writing scripts, presenting in a studio, interviewing, filming, editing, music making, animating, and much more. Although the Press Club is driven by our neighbourhood at this moment, we are very excited in involving other areas of the school as things develop.

Letter and number reversals

Here is an interesting and helpful document to help with children who reverse their letters and numbers when writing.

Often, letter and number reversals are not caused due to neurological reasons but through misinterpretations and misperceptions by the child and can be corrected through regular and relevant practice. We use some of the practices in this document in our neighbourhood and we thought we share it with you so that you can practice at home.

Letter and Number Reversals

40 Hour Famine

Some students in our neighbourhood have taken home a permission form for the 40 Hour Famine which will commence at 8pm on 19th August. It is a powerful – and meaningful – way that students can experience what life is like for children who have to go without. As the students are young, we do not recommend they give up eating, but instead, they can give up something that really matters to them. The funds raised every year by the 40 Hour Famine support World Vision’s work tackling the causes of poverty, through both short-term solutions and long-term development projects.

More information on the 40 Hour Famine can be found by clicking HERE.

Inquiry Update 2

Here is another photographic update of what we have been achieving in our neighbourhood so far this term. Parents and guardians are always welcome to drop-by and watch our neighbourhood in action, and we are always grateful for any helpers during specific learning times.

Some students are working on stop motion
animation in the media room.

The TV Executive group is learning about story-boarding.

The students in the Engineering team are
designing their earthquake proof structures
using Google Sketch-Up.

A fabulous hat design by one of the students in the Fashion
group.

The Fashion group has been practicing
different stitching techniques.

The Engineering group has been completing
their wonderful earthquake proof structures.

Some fantastic clothes designs.

Students measuring out material for their designs.

Ultranet

We have been focusing on logging every students in the neighbourhood on Ultranet this week. Students have been given a new password which they should take home with them and memorise. At this moment, we are just exploring the various possibilities, but during coming months we will be using the Ultranet more frequently for our learning.

Students can access the Neighbourhood 1 Collaborative Learning Area by clicking the Collaborative Learning icon at the bottom of the screen and then clicking on "PHPS 34N1".

Collaborative Learning icon

A reminder that student login is private and is to be used by the allocated student only. If a student has forgotten his or her password, it can be reset HERE. Any other queries, please ask one of the teachers in the neighbourhood.

Neighbourhood Update - Elective Projects

Neighbourhood 1 has been very busy with our new Design and Technology projects this term. The students were given the the choice of three elective projects last term and have been working towards creating some exciting designs. The projects on offer were: Earthquake Engineering, TV Executives and Fashion Design. Through these projects, we have been focusing in depth on many aspects of learning such as explanation and procedural texts.

Here below are some photos that give you a sneaky peek into students engaging in some of the activities this week.

Spelling Activities

Here are some spelling activities you might want to have a go at during rainy days of the holidays. The activities will allow the children to practice some of the spelling skills we investigated during term 1 and term 2. Click on any of the links below and have a go!

Plurals

Prefixes

Homophones

Suffixes

Test your Comma IQ

We've been looking at the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves recently and specifically, the role of commas in our writing. Someone has found for us a game that tests your knowledge of commas and their usage.

http://www.savethecomma.com/game/

Play, it, and test, yourselves.

Brush Night and Day

Here is a website recommended by one of the parents from our neighbourhood.

www.brushnightandday.com.au

This website promotes the maintenance of good dental health.

Parent Reps

The Community Relations Committee has prepared guidelines for the parent representative program. We are now looking for 2-4 parents from each neighbourhood to volunteer as a parent rep.

If you are interested, please speak to Kerri, Keith or Tomo.

Maths Design Project

Due to the children's engagement in this project, we have found other areas to investigate and so we would like to postpone the judging of their design planning until later in the term.  We will have the project on display for parents to view on the reporting day- Thursday 30th June - so you can all view the amazing projects your children have created.  We would like to finalise the judging panel and organise a time suitable to parents for this. We are thinking that Wednesday 29th June in the morning session would be the best time.  If you are interested we encourage you to contact us.

Parent signature on the Learning Agreement Document

The purpose of the weekly parent signature on the Learning Agreement Document is twofold. Firstly it is connected to the children’s personal management of their document.  Being able to hold on to it for the week, follow the timetable and manage their Learning Agreement time and have it signed by a teacher and a parent which is the organisational goal.

Secondly the document gives parents the opportunity to discuss the weeks learning with their children, using the document as a starting point.  

It is the teachers role to check completion of learning tasks and to conference with the children about their progress and to set goals alongside them.   This is when the child obtains the teacher signature.

We do not expect parents to check and follow up on completion, although you are most welcome to do so.

We are very happy to respond to any queries about this process and encourage feedback and comments form our parent community.

Little Big Shots

On Thursday June 9th, the 3-4 neighbourhoods will be attending the Little Big Shots International film festival at ACMI. There is no charge except for the cost of the transport which will be covered by the excursion levy if you have paid this. Details are coming soon as part of the permission slip.

Knitting and sewing materials

We are investigating knitting and sewing as a part of our design and technology inquiry this term in our neighbourhood. We would be grateful for any contributions of wool, knitting needles, materials, thread and sewing needles. We would also like to hear from any parents who would be interested in helping the neighbourhood with these activities.

The Season of Runny Noses

Winter is upon us early this year and  it is looking likely to be a cold and bitter one. Unfortunately, we are running very low on our supply of tissues in our neighbourhood. We would be really grateful if students in our neighbourhood could donate a box of tissues (or two) so that our runny noses can be tended to until spring arrives. Thank you!

Architectural Design Project

This term our neighbourhood Inquiry has a design and technology focus.  As a guided numeracy project the children have been given the brief as follows.  The aim is to link mathematical learning to an authentic context.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Architectural teams (students working in small groups within each home group) are challenged to design as many houses as possible using 4-cubic modules. The resulting designs have to be drawn up, costed and justified as part of a housing development. Embedded in the story shell, the learning  is a lot of fun. However finding the complete set of houses such that the modules all touch face to face, where  there are no 'cantilevered' structures and designs cannot be transformed into each other by a simple rotation around a vertical axis, is quite a spatial challenge.

Costing the designs adds further interest and results in not only achieving objectives in the Space and Measurement Strands, but also in the Number strand.

The learning outcomes are

• creating models in three dimensions
• representing 3D in 2D (isometric & plan/elevation views)
• scale diagrams
• operations with money
• basic number skills

The home groups are working together as independent companies and competing against each other to win the design contract.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Each home group will present the following to a judging panel

• A 3D model of the estate using unifix cubes.
• Design brochures with drawings and costings prepared in the smaller groups
• A joint presentation to the developers promoting the features of the model.
• A full page newspaper advertisement and/or an advertising video to promote Cubist Homes and the new estate to the public.

We would like to invite parents with a background in architecture, building, construction, real estate or design to volunteer to be on the judging panel  to determine which group will win the contract for the architectural design of the housing estate. 

The date for this event will be Thursday 16^th June from 9.30am to 11am.

Please contact Kerri for any further information.

NAPLAN

Grade 3 students were provided with a brochure from the Department concerning NAPLAN this week. This provides information to parents and carers regarding the NAPLAN testing taking place nationally next week between Tuesday 10th May and Thursday 12th May. If your child did not receive the brochure, you can download it from the ACARA site by clicking HERE. A hard copy is also available to parents from the school office. You can also find out additional information from the official NAPLAN Parent/ Carer Support site.

If you need further assistance, please feel free to approach one of the neighbourhood teachers and we will try and answer any of your queries. 

Mathletics is here!

Today, the students in our neighbourhood will be given their login details for the Mathletics website. Mathletics is an e-learning website which aims to engage and motivate students to improve their maths skills. There are many activities available for students ranging from number skills such as addition and multiplication, to concepts such as measurement and 3D shapes. The websites also contains animated mathematics dictionary as well as a Concept Search function that provides a detailed explanation on any given mathematical concept.

Students should login at home, explore the website and attempt some of the activities on offer. Although we will be visiting the site in our neighbourhood occasionally, we hope that  Mathlectics can become a part of home learning for many students. More information on the learning are available on the Mathletics website, and also on this document HERE. If you have further questions, please ask one of the teachers in the neighbourhood.

Thank you to all our parent helpers!

The teachers and students of neighbourhood 1 would like to thank all our wonderful mums, dads and guardians who came and helped with our learning throughout Term 1. We have had parents running specific projects, helping with their writing, giving presentations, assisting with excursions... the list goes on!

We are always amazed by the diverse range of talents, skills and kindness our community of parents and guardians have to offer. Our doors are always open, and we would like to welcome with open arms those who are able to come in and help with our neighbourhood's learning. 

Children's Book Festival

If you are out and about in the city this Sunday (3rd April), check out the Children's Book Festival on the lawns of the State Library where you will meet some of your favourite children's book illustrators and authors. Many, many activities will be organised by groups such as Book Council of Australia and Book Illustrated. There will also be a myriad of authors and illustrators there including Leigh Hobbs, Terry Denton, Janet McLean, Elizabeth Honey and Judy Horacek. And don't forget that there is also an exhibition "Look! The Art of Australian Picture Books Today" inside the library itself.

The festival will start from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. More details can be found on the State Library website and you can also download the festival program HERE.

Refugees Incursion

Last Wednesday, Elias' dad David came to visit the neighbourhood to help with our inquiry topic on "Communities". David, who is a Principal Solicitor and Migration Agent for RILC (Refugees and Immigration Legal Centre), gave a presentation about refugees and communities We learned about the differences between a refugee and a migrant, reasons why people may seek refuge in other countries as well as looking at some countries where refugees might come from and the people who come from there. The neighbourhood had many questions for David - more than he could answer!

We would like to thank David again for his time and his wonderful, thought provoking presentation. We would also like to extend our warmest gratitude to all parents who  have visited our neighbourhood to help out during our learning time.

Water safety and survival day

On Tuesday 29th March the Intensive Swimming program will focus on the rules and safety at the pool, beach and other wet environments. The students will practice water survival skills and rescue procedures. To make this a worthwhile learning experience for your child, we ask that all students involved in the  program bring shorts and a T-shirt to wear over their bathers. Please bring a plastic bag to put your wet clothes in at the end of the session.

Intensive Swimming Program

The Intensive Swimming program will commence next Monday (21st March) and will run for two weeks. Those students who have signed up for this program will go to the Klim Swim Richmond for two hours during school time  on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with their home groups, while students who chose not to attend will remain with others in the neighbourhood. As different home groups will be attending the program during different times of the day, we have created a flexible timetable to minimise disruption to the students' learning.

Finally, a reminder to all students that they will need to pack their swimming gear if they are attending the program.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge will be starting very soon at Princes Hill Primary School. All grade 3/4 students are expected to take part this year. Consent forms have been sent home with the students earlier this week but can also be downloaded HERE. The Premier's introduction letter of the event can be downloaded HERE. Please hand in the forms to your home group teachers as soon as possible. Any queries can be directed to Keith, who will be organising the event for the whole of the 3/4 grade this year.

The Ultimate Book Guide Blog

We wanted to share with you a fantastic blog written by the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide series.

http://www.theultimatebookguide.blogspot.com/

This blog reviews books for children and includes contributions from the editors,  authors as well as young readers. It is a wonderful resource for both parents and children and is well worth a browse if you ever need inspiration for the next book to get out from the local library or buy from the book store.

21st Century Learning

Leading educator Sir Ken Robinson talks about the changes that are taking place in education across the world. This is a good explaination of the wider educational context that influences teaching and learning in our school.

Touch Typing

We have been practicing our touch typing skills during ICT this week. Touch typing is a useful skill for students as they begin to publish more written work using word processors and other publishing software. We concentrated this week on typing using all our fingers on RapidTyping.

Students can continue practicing these skills at home by using the Dance Mat Typing found on the BBC website.

Neighbourhood email address

We have set up a neighbourhood email address for correspondences with our community.

Email address is: phps34n1@gmail.com

Please use this method of contact for non-urgent matters. Any confidential information, urgent messages or well-being issues should be addressed directly to relevant teaching staff.

Moment of Silence

During the morning of Flood Relief Appeal Day held on 17th February, the students across the grade experienced  displays prepared by the teachers. These displays all gave examples of how communities can come together in times of crisis. One of the displays included a room dedicated to a 'Moment of Silence' where video was shown of different moments of silences throughout the world. Students of neighbourhood 1 used this video as a 'seed of thought' in their writer's notebook. Below are a selection of published works which grew from this seed of thought.

Please click on the works to have a closer look!

Poem by Tilly Murray-White

 

 

Story by Amelia Menzies

 Poem by Alexander Adcock

Story by Ruby Ayliffe

Story by Alia Zahirovic

Poem by Bella Miller