Expert letters and emails

During our research inquiry, many students have found and contacted experts to ask specific questions that will help them with their research story. Some students have written an email or a letter with questions. The focus for these students have been to write in a purposeful manner and with clarity. Students have learned that not all experts will reply (as experts are often busy) but if we are polite and clear about our enquiry, we have a better chance. Many of the emails have been put on display on the writing area wall in the neighbourhood and we invite our parents to come in and have a look at them.

Singing Sessions

Following from the success of our students at the PHPS Bazaar Talent Quest, David (who is with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays) has kindly taken on a leading role for the singing sessions every Tuesdays. Today was the very first session, and although some students were shy and tentative about singing publicly, everyone joined in and had a wonderful time. Here are a couple of photos I'd like to share with you of today's session.

Research Inquiry Updates

The research inquiry developing very nicely in our neighbourhood. Every student has conferenced with teachers on refining and planning of their research story. While some students are still in the process planning, others are well on their way following different research pathways.

The puppies with their dog handlers answer the students' questions.

Ella and Andrea, who have come up with the research story "How puppies become trained as police dogs" organised the dog handlers of the Victorian Police Department to visit our neighbourhood. They brought with them two 13 week old alsatian puppies Hakka and Hamma to answer questions formulated by the students.

The students with Lynn, who was a parent at PHPS during 1980's.

Meanwhile, Tilly, Eliza, Rosie, Mara, Mia and Asha organised an interview with a former parent of Princes Hill Primary School.  She kindly came in to reveal some wonderful and touching stories of the school, including the story behind the plaques on the benches.

There are many stories like these and we are hoping for many more to come as the inquiry progresses.

One-to-one Macbook in Beijing

We would like to thank David Meiklejohn for sending us an email with the link to the One-to-One Computing programme implemented in Beijing. It's a wonderful example of how programmes such as these can transform learning within our schools.

http://images.apple.com/education/profiles/rdfz/#video-rdfz

State Library Excursion

During week 4, the Year-34s went to an excursion to the Gusto! exhibition at the State Library. This was part of our research inquiry, allowing students the opportunity to experience museums and exhibitions as a way of exploring the concept of research and research tools.

We were welcomed by the staff of the library and treated to an extensive tour that included the La Trobe Reading Rooms and the Cowen Gallery. We looked at some very old tins of Vegemite and crackers in the Gusto! exhibition, had a go at some games and searched the library catalogues.

 As always, we would not be able to bring these rich experiences without the help of parents and we thanks those who came along to share the experience with us.

 Here are some photos for you to enjoy.

Cupcake day

The students have written their explanation of the cupcake day held today. We will write a follow-up blog to report on how this went at a later date.

RSPCA Cupcake Day Blog Post[1]

Patrick's Blog

Patrick has created a blog to inform us of what he has been up to since he left us in term 2. Click on the link below to access the site. The password is "PHPS34".

patrickstriptotheuk.tumblr.com

If you would like to Skype him, his username is patrick.taylor308.

Monash Research Project

The Monash Research Project permission documentation sent home with the children last week is an important opportunity for us as teachers to engage in a high level research project that will support and improve our assessment processes. As teachers, we identified this as the area we are most interested in and we are extremely excited with the opportunity to work with Professor Marilyn Fleer. We understand that the permission documentation is rather complex as the University has a very stringent ethics approval process but we would really appreciate your support, because without it, the research would not be able to go ahead. Please feel free to speak with Kerri, Keith or Tomo, if you have any questions about this project. If possible, can the permission forms be returned as soon as possible.

Basil Sellers Art Prize Excursion Photos

Here are some more photos from last week's excursion to the Ian Potter Gallery. I would like to thank Ayden's mum, Michelle, for these. We would also like to thank all the parents who helped out during our excursion last week!

We walked from our school to the gallery.

We were given a tour of some of the art works in the gallery.

Then we were free to look around....

and answer some of the questions posed by the gallery.

Here is the work that won the prize,

Establishment of a Parents Gardening Club

School Council Facilities committee has recommended that a gardening group be officially formed in order to more effectively coordinate the gardening plots in the school. Members of the Facilities Committee and school staff will be in attendance. We wish to invite all interested parents to attend this meeting on Wednesday 7th November at 5.00pm in the meeting room opposite the school office.

Research Project on Assessment.

A letter is being sent home with the children this week. It outlines a research project that some teachers are involved in over the next 6 months with Professor Marilyn Fleer at Monash University. The letter outlines the project “Assessment beyond borders: Potentive assessment in Primary School”. The project is looking at varied ways to assess children both at school and at home. It also includes consent forms for you to fill out and return to school as soon as possible. We would appreciate your support in this research project.

Gusto! Excursion

Gusto! A culinary history of Victoria We will see the rich culinary history of Victoria in this exhibition, featuring gastronomic treasures from our collections – from the first Australian cookbook, published in 1864, to an actual World War I army biscuit.

Gusto! explores Victoria's historic and contemporary culinary landscape, covering subjects such as the history of viticulture, Indigenous foods, sustainable food practices, fine dining and food rationing, and also features the fascinating stories of significant Victorian culinary figures including Jacques Reymond, Rita Erlich, Guy Grossi and Stephanie Alexander.

The program has been divided into blocks: equal time looking at the Gusto! exhibition, in the computer lab having a look at the online resources, showing how research is done using the library catalogue and  seeing some other parts of the Library to tie in with the research aspect (eg. the Newspapers room).

We will be leaving school on Tuesday at 9.15AM and returning at approximately 1.30PM.  If you are able to accompany us please contact your home group teacher.

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/event/gusto-culinary-history-victoria

Basil Sellers Art Prize Excursion

We had a great time yesterday at the Ian Potter Gallery excursion where we saw the exhibition of the Basil Sellers Art Prize. We explored the relationship of Art with sport and investigated the intentions of the artist in connection to their art. The students were given the opportunity to use their research skills when trying to answer some of the questions the gallery posed.

We will be using this experience to look further into visual literacy and critical literacy of art during term 4.

Students looking and discussing the photograph by Christian Thompson.

The staff at the gallery gives a talk about some of the pieces of art at the gallery.

NAPLAN

The NAPLAN results went out to parents last week and we hope that you have received this safely. The results of the set tests were valid for April 2012 as it takes the examination body quite some time to deliver the results to the school. We would like to stress that NAPLAN is a snapshot of student achievement and reflects their ability to manage the ‘test genre’ as well as their aptitude for the five disciplines represented in the test.  Although most students managed to cope with the timed aspect of the test, there were few who were adversely challenged by this restriction. NAPLAN test is designed to give an idea of where the students are placed after their first three years of schooling (Prep to Year-2) and needs to be considered as a culmination of learning to this point. We would also like to stress that this is one of many forms of assessment and while we understand that parents consider NAPLAN as an important form of assessment, we do not consider it in isolation. We use a range of assessment tools available to us to accurately determine where the child is placed across the curriculum. 

Research Interviews

During week 1 and week 2 of this term, students will be planning and carrying out their interviews for the research inquiry. The main objective of this interview is for the students to discover different conceptions of the term 'research' by asking purposeful questions to people who use research in their profession. By collecting this data, and sharing it with others in the Neighbourhood, we hope to collate an insightful picture on research and the act of researching.

Term 4 lease payment

Term 4 computer lease payments are due and payable on the first Friday of Term 4 i.e. October 12, 2012. If your child is in Year 3 it is $97.80 and Year 4 is $108.80.

At this time can we remind parents of their financial responsibility under the agreement, please see Page 1 of your Contract Agreement.

If payment is not received within 7 days of the invoice you will be in default of the agreement therefore the MacBook will be withheld from your child i.e. not able to take home each night.

This is a requirement under the insurance component of the lease agreement.

 

Thanks

 

 

Research Inquiry – Part One

In response to many requests from children to negotiate projects as of late, we have decided to develop our inquiry focus around what a researcher is and the role of a researcher. As we focus on inquiry as a learning approach, investigating understandings of what research means to children is important. We would like to build the understanding of research from a fact finding process around a limited topic such as ‘the sea’ or ‘animals’ for example, into an understanding that research is a narrative, determined by the perspective and evidence provided by the researcher. Research is not just finding out what is already known and re-stating it but is also about creating new thinking.

In order to collect information as to the current understandings of research amongst the children we gave them a very open-ended research question, ‘Research the neighbourhood’. We filmed and analysed the responses of the children. From here we decided to pose a more specific question which incorporated the word story in association with research. ‘There are many stories in this school. Research a story of interest to you’. We wanted to see whether this would create different pathways of research. Again we filmed and analysed the learning. We also offered an opportunity for children who wanted to research a scientific story to do so.

As a result of our research in relation to research and research processes we are building some focus areas to work around and these big understandings are that

• Research needs to incorporate a range of experiences and sources of information 
• The use of the computer provides only one perspective 
• Research is to create your own narrative and your own interpretations with evidence to support the narrative. 
• There is a relationship between truth, perspective and research 

Research Inquiry - Part two

We would like to focus on building the understanding of what children think research is. To do this we will be asking each child to ‘Find someone who does research to interview about what they think research is’.

We will be supporting the children by offering workshops on;

• How to find people to question – sources
• Key information – purpose of questioning 
• Building good questions
• Interview techniques 
• Data collection 

We do ask parents to support their child in finding someone to be interviewed either in person, by phone or email.

Silver Key 2 Book Launch

The 3/4 neighbourhood played host to the launch of the book 'The Silver Key - Guardians of the Key' today. Author Nicole Cameron read sections of the story to a group of students from grades 2 to 6 and the Federal member for Melbourne Adam Bandt was on hand to officially launch the book as part of the national year of reading. The students had many questions for both Adam and Nicole about publishing  and writing, especially the grade 3 and 4 students who have been involved in the publication inquiry. Students were also very interested in the current state of federal politics. As always our students made us proud with their thoughtful questions and their level of engagement. 

If you wish to purchase the book please see Keith for an order form or look for the book at Readings in Carlton.

Premiers Reading Challenge

The deadline for submitting your Premiers' Reading Challenge (PRC) list of books is Monday 3 September.

Please enter the books eligible for the PRC, which you have read, onto your login page at the PRC website.

Then, print a list of books with your name on it and ask a parent/guardian to sign it. Give this signed printout to your Home Group Teacher. Enjoy the Challenge!

Parent Helpers for camp

The 3/4 neighbourhoods are still looking for one additional parent to accompany us on our annual camp which runs from the 10th til the 12th of September. Parent helpers are an important part of the camp as they aid the teachers to provide a safe and comfortable experience for the children. The camp will be a great experience for all involved, so if you think you would be able to assist us please contact one of the 3/4 teachers as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance,

The 3/4 team.

Alice in Wonderland

The preparation for the Alice in Wonderland production is in full swing this week, with full dress rehearsals coming up next Tuesday. The 3/4 neighbourhood teachers would all like to wish all those students involved the in production, be they performers, technicians or designers, all the best for Wednesday and Thursday night. We are all really looking forward to it.

Inquiry

We have completed our Imagination Inquiries. Samples of the children's learnings will be available in portfolios, on display boards and display books. The children will be celebrating the publication of some of their books in the Publication Inquiry with author Nicole Cameron coming in to launch her new book on the 29th of August (further details to follow).

Our new inquiry will be examining the role of the researcher, the purpose of research and the process of researching. This week an open ended research question was given to the children to simply "Research the Neighbourhood". We were interested to see what mediums they engaged with, what questions they asked, whether the children were able to set parameters in their response and what disciplines they connected with. We are building up an understanding of the children's perception of the term 'research'. We are framing another research question this coming week that is more specific, providing a bigger timeframe. Again, we will be looking closely at the research processes that they use.

Here are some photos of students from both neighbourhoods taken during the activity.

Some students captured the neighbourhood using a digital camera.

Students frequently used the internet as a research resource,
while some used more traditional means of recording their findings.

These students incorporated their previous inquiry by
collaborating on a book about the neighbourhood.

Some students used iTunes to make their findings 'speak'...

while other students created a performance based on their research.

Massimo and Jake are googling different items found in the
neighbourhood and recording them on a Word document. 

Florence, Via and Olivia have found the school on Google Street View.

Students reflect on the activity.

Cupcake Day

We have some enthusiastic and motivated children in our neighbourhood who have initiated a fundraising activity to raise money for the RSPCA by making cup cakes in an exchange for a donation. Although their enthusiasm and initiative have been commended, logistical and man power issues have forced us to rethink our timeline. Now that that the teachers have been involved, we will support the children to establish a manageable process. Unfortunately, this means we will be producing cupcakes for 34 neighbourhood 1 only. This is a good opportunity to remind parents that these types of events will always be accompanied by official notification. 

Arrays around the school

Our children are exploring arrays and their relationship to multiplication during maths workshops. Last week, the group went outside to investigate the different arrays found around the school. We walked around the school grounds and photographed the arrays we found. We discussed the arrays and how they can be expressed in different ways. We found out that we can talk about the arrays as rows and how many in each row. We can also say how many things are in the array in total. We can also look at the array as a multiplication number sentence. We wrote all three of these to go with our photos

Bede found arrays in the windows of our art space.

Jane-Rose also found arrays in windows. This one was found on the Red Brick Building

Alice also used the window of the Red Brick Building.

Shreyash found an array in the cage of the tannoy speaker.

Alex found this array on the playground.

The group looked at the bricks at the entrance of the school. We found out that there were 310 bricks in each row and there were 7 rows. All together, there were 2,170 bricks.

Online Safety

Online safety for children is an important issue for schools and parents. We discuss internet safety at school and we have set appropriate expectations for the use of computers and the internet in the neighborhoods. While we realise that many of you are very experienced users of the internet we felt that some tips on how to ensure your childs safety online would be helpful.

1. Password Security - Our passwords and usernames are our online identity and they need to be kept secret. If you or your child think that a password has been seen by someone else, change it straight away. Also talk to them about choosing passwords that are more than six characters and use a combination of letters, numbers and punctuation marks as this will ensure that they have a strong password.

2. Computer Location - Ensuring that your child uses the internet in an area of the house where you can supervise will help to ensure that they are safe when online.

3. Social Networking and Forums - Talk to your children about never giving away personal information when communicating with others on social networking sites or on internet forums.

4. Communication - Encourage open communication with your child about the internet and the things that they enjoy online. Encourage them to let you know immediately if they see something that they don't understand or something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

For more information and fun activities try the Australian government's Cybersmart website which is linked below.

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/

Mathematics for Term 3

The Learning for term 3 Mathematics has been updated. You can read this by clicking HERE, or by clicking the Student Learning tab at the top.

Camp Manyung Recreation Camp

September 10th -12th 2012

Surrounded by vineyards and rural properties, Camp Manyung is nestled in a small rural belt between Mt Eliza and Mornington, overlooking Port Phillip Bay and only 1-hour drive (60km) from the Melbourne CBD.

Camp provides many experiences in the domains of health and physical education, science, personal and interpersonal development and the thinking processes.

The website address is: www.camps.ymca.org.au Melways reference map 105 A6.

We will be attending as a whole unit – together for 3 days. The accommodation is shared bunk rooms of 7 or 8 children. We will work out rooms, with the children, based on their friendship groups once we know who will be attending camp.

We need all expressions of interest with the $100 deposit to enable the final bookings and organisation to be made based on number of children attending by this Thursday July 26th 2012

Multiplication and basic facts

We thought that you might like to read a document regarding multiplication written by the curriculum coordinators in mathematics. We hope that you find this information useful.

Chance and Data Investigation

This year, the 34 Year Group have been working on a Chance and Data investigation every week. Here is the detail of the investigation they will be exporing from this week.

The students roll two dice in a simulated game of Aussie Rules football. They play all four quarters in a competition against a partner and the scores are similar to the real thing. This simple dice simulation has the fun of a game, but also involves many number, chance and data concepts. Collecting class data allows analysis of several aspects of the mathematics. We then move into using a computerised model, which allows for long term patterns to be explored, and empirical results can be compared with theoretical expectations.

 Learning outcomes and related concepts
• Whole number skills
• Probability comparisons and calculations
• Collection and organisation of group data
• Probability distributions
• Concept of expected results
• Calculation of averages
• The mathematical investigative process (Working Mathematically)

 Learning stages
1. Building the simulation model with dice
2. Small group work playing the game
3. Coding and collecting group esults
4. Discussing and analysing the data
5. Investigations using computer simulation - calculating empirical probabilities
6. Conclusion and summary

 Features
Connecting to (and modeling) a recreational game: Most investigations benefit from an interesting context and games can be a great source of these. However, it is the conversion of the game into an investigation that frames the learning. Use of concrete materials: Each student rolls two dice; the first rolled being the goals and the second the behinds. The concreteness makes the entry to the puzzle accessible to all.
Non-threatening: The randomness of the game and the easy entry skills makes the game appealing. Having 'entered' the game context, students can then be informally exposed to various mathematical ideas at a level that suits their confidence and ability. Collecting group data: The game is a played in pairs, but the decision to invite students to list the scores on the board cleverly sets the scene to change from a game into a whole group investigation. The data, being generated by students provides important 'ownership' and any stories or patterns in the data are 'their stories'. Empirical versus theoretical calculations: At several places throughout the investigations calculations are performed in both modes, allowing students to see and discuss the relative merits of each.

School Assembly

It will be the Year 34 neighbourhoods' turn to present our learning to the school next Tuesday. We will be presenting a wide variety of learning from our inquiries into imagination through calligraphy, performance, and publishing. We will also showcase some of the pieces we have composed during the performing arts every Friday. Hope you can make it!

Walkathon

There is a walkathon this Wednesday. Please remember to bring in your sponsor form in before this time. If parents are able to help in this event, please read Louisa's post in the Prep blog HERE.

UPDATE: The Walkathon has been postponed to next Monday due to bad weather.

Information regarding NAPLAN

Here is a letter from Esme regarding the upcoming NAPLAN tests, catch-up tests, disability support and exemption. If you have any question, feel free to come and speak to us regarding this matter.

Dear Parent/Carer

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 2012 tests for Years 3 and 5 students will be held on Tuesday 15 May (Language Conventions and Writing), Wednesday16 May(Reading Comprehension) and Thursday17 May 2012 (Numeracy). NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

The results of the tests provide information for students, parents, teachers and principals which can be used to improve student achievement.

During test week, catch-up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days. These students may undertake catch-up tests on the days in the test week after the scheduled test, up to and including Friday 18 May 2012. However, we do ask that every effort is made to have your child at school on time (by 9am) in order to assist with the smooth management and organisation of testing.

If your child is eligible for support due to disability or an exemption, you should discuss this with his/her teacher prior to the tests. Parental consent is required before any support due to disability or exemption is granted.

Students may be withdrawn from the NAPLAN by their parent or carer. This is a matter for consideration by parents and carers in consultation with the principal. If, after consultation, you decide to withdraw your child, you must sign a Student Withdrawal form. These forms are available at the school.

Later in the year you will receive your child’s personal NAPLAN report. The report will show how your child performed in relation to national minimum standards. These describe the minimum acceptable standards for students across Australia.

For more information about the tests, please visit the VCAA website at www.vcaa.vic.edu.au or the NAPLAN website at www.nap.edu.au.

Esme Capp

Principal

Mother's Day Classic

Come and join us for the Mother’s Day Classic fun run on Sunday 12th May to help raise funds for Breast Cancer Research. Follow the link below and register for the 4km walk or run or if really keen there is the 8km run. Please remember to enter PHPS as the team. This is a fantastic event and is lots of fun for the whole family. Everyone gets a medal and most importantly, the run raises vital funds for breast cancer research. Michelle and Sophie will be holding some training runs around Princes Park on Sunday 14/4, 22/4, 29/4 and 6/5 at 9am. Look forward to seeing you there.

Sophie 0414 834 855 Michelle 0413 215 472

http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/register-online

Intensive Swim Update

Students who signed up for the Intensive Swim Program, will be going swimming on four occasions next week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). Please make sure that your child has all their swimming gear with them.

The Imagination Inquiry

We have recently embarked upon a new inquiry and I thought I'd share with you some of the photos of the provocations which we have put around the neighbourhood. Through these provocations, we are finding out what concepts the children have in regards to imagination and how do the children connect and relate these concepts to learning situations. It has been a more organic process than we have been used to allowing the students to lead the inquiry through their different expressions. So far, we have seen incredible levels of engagement already and have also witnessed high levels of critical thinking and creativity as well as application of skills and approaches we did not envisage. We hope to develop this inquiry during the last week of term and into the next term.

The Cinema Imaginarium where films are shown each day.

The review book for the Cinema Imaginerium

The Photographic Exhibition Wall where
imagination is expressed through photography.

The calligraphy area where students write
captions for their photography.

The Da Vinci wall with the Da Vinci sketch book.

The Dr Seuss provocation. 

The character development area where students can
develop their illustrations for their own book.

Think About It book. Students try and
answer some challenging questions.

Inside the Think About It book.