Primary Years

Programme

News ISSUE 1, APRIL 2013

Inquirers

Knowledgeable

Thinkers

Communicators

Principled

Open-minded

Caring

Risk-takers

Balanced

Reflective

Learning is about the joy of

discovery and the mastery of

meeting challenges.

-Unknown

Our

learners strive

to be

MISSION STATEMENT

We help our students discover their passion and direction in life and make a positive contribution

in the world.

CORE VALUES:

We are a nurturing Christian community, basing all we do on the values of:

RESPECT for ourselves, for others and the environment. RESPONSIBILITY for our actions.

HONESTY in our interaction with others. COMMITMENT to achieve our best in all we do.

FROM THE PYP COORDINATOR

Welcome to the first PYP newsletter this year. These newsletters provide snapshots into the classes and an insight to the learning that has taken place this term. Another purpose the newsletter serves is to ensure parents are well-informed about the key elements of the IB Primary Years Programme. One of the defining features of the PYP is that it is a concept-driven curriculum model. What does this mean? Simply put, concepts are the BIG ideas which students explore to develop deeper meaning. Repeated exploration of these concepts leads students to make generalisations and develop principles based on fact. Knowledge and skills are tools for developing conceptual understanding.

Ref: H Lynn Erikson: A concept-based curriculum

This may be easier to explain in a realistic context. A universal feature of a Science curriculum would be the topic of water. In a topic-based curriculum, children may memorise facts about water, write stories and sing songs about water or the sea, explore capacity, do water-based sports such as swimming. The table below shows examples of the bigger understandings related to water when explored through concepts. Towards the end of this newsletter is the 2013 overview of the units of inquiry in each year group. The concepts, which these units have been built around, accompany the central idea. These concepts will be used to dig below the surface of the knowledge and skills as prescribed by the Australian Curriculum, to develop enduring understandings based on this knowledge. At the three-way conferences you will have had an opportunity to look through your child’s inquiry journal and see the development of these concepts in the context of your child’s work. Please feel free to come and discuss any aspects of the PYP with me at any time.

MRS FIONA CURREY PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME CO-ORDINATOR ASSISTANT DEPUTY HEAD OF PRIMARY

2D topic-based curriculum

Facts Skills

Content coverage Memorization of information

Concepts Principles and generalisations

Facts and skills are TOOLS for gaining deeper

understanding

3D concept-based curriculum Developing understandings about water through the PYP concepts

FORM: What is it like? Properties of water: solid, liquid, gas FUNCTION: How does it work? The water cycle, water or steam-generated power CHANGE: How is it changing? Changing water from one state to another CAUSATION: Why is it like it is? The processes involved in changing states; reasons for

floods, droughts etc CONNECTION: How is it connected to other things? Water as a life-sustaining

resource PERSPECTIVE: What are the points of view? Significance of water to different people RESPONSIBILITY: What is our responsibility? Sustainable use of water as a resource REFLECTION: How do we know? The evidence, proof of theories about water through

experimentation, observation and data collection.

3D concept-based curriculum

Our first inquiry in Year 1 this year was: “Making balanced choices

enables us to have a healthy lifestyle.” We learned that to be

balanced, we need to ensure we eat healthy food, exercise, get

enough rest and sleep, be sun safe and keep clean.

Year One Numbat and Echidna

We all came dressed in our pyjamas for Sleep Day where

we practised resting and meditation and our teddies had

a party! Here, Hayley, Ethan and Ashirai are colouring a

mandala to relaxing music.

To help us learn about healthy eating, Sarah’s

mum Kate, a dietician, came in and spoke to the

Year Ones about balanced eating and how to

choose foods from every food group to create a

balanced lunch box.

We all came dressed in our pyjamas

for Sleep Day where we practised

resting and meditation and our

teddies had a party! Here, Hayley,

Ethan and Ashirai are colouring a

mandala to relaxing music.

YEAR 3 LIZARD AND MAGPIE

Central idea: Differences in our perspectives can have an affect on our relationships.

In Year 3 we’ve been learning about what we can do when differences in our perspectives cause conflict. We have discussed the strategies we can use at home, in the classroom and out in the playground to help us deal

with arguments and manage and resolve the conflict.

Here are the steps we can follow:

Stop and cool off

Take deep breaths and count to 10

Relax your body and stay calm

What is the problem?

Use ‘I’ statements

Tell the other person what happened

Tell the other person how you feel

Brainstorm solutions

How can we solve the problem?

What are all the different ideas?

Choose the best solution

Make it fair for both of you

Remember to compromise!

Make a plan

Decide how you will put it into action

Agree on the plan

Shake hands!

We have special conflict fans we can use if we forget these steps.

PrePre--Primary: Koala and GeckoPrimary: Koala and Gecko In Pre-Primary, our central idea is “People celebrate events that are important to them.” Over the

term, we have looked at many different celebrations around the world. We started off learning

about Chinese New Year and investigated how people in China celebrate this special event.

Other celebrations we have looked at are Shrove Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, Easter and St

Patrick’s Day. We had a special class party for St Patrick’s Day where we all dressed up in green

and completed many arts and crafts.

Central idea: Kindergarten Unit of inquiry: People have rules and routines

In Kindy we have been exploring the rules and routines of the classroom.

Here are some of the rules that we decided upon…

“We should be safe and don’t run in school.” “You can’t run, if you find a toy that is little and small you might skid over it.” “Clean up the toys.”

We are kind to our friends

We listen carefully

We walk inside We all help at pack-away

We line up when we hear the tamborine

“If you have to clean up together.” “Play nicely.” “Talk normal. Speak normal.” “You don’t throw toys you might hurt them.”

What rules should we have at Kindy?

Kangaroo and Quokka

Year 2

Central idea: Values can be expressed through performance. During this unit of inquiry, we have been learning all about performance. We have inquired into different types of performance and the elements of performance. We have also been investigating number patterns in Mathematics. As a tuning in activity, we used different materials to see what patterns we could make.

Oscar investigates patterns using counters.

Harry investigates patterns using play dough.

Hannah used her creativity to design and make a puppet theatre. Here, a group of girls are enjoying

performing a puppet show for an audience.

Year 6

PYP Inquiry Central idea: People have a responsibility to restore communities where conflict has taken place.

Lines of inquiry

Causes of conflict

The effects of conflict on communities

Conflict resolution and management This term, we’ve been looking at our unit of inquiry based on conflict. The two classes got together to begin our inquiry. The teachers made up a scenario about us losing some of our Year 6 privileges thanks to last year’s “irresponsible” students. We were all very disappointed and angry. We shared our feelings with our peers. The two classes felt that we needed to take some action. We discussed some possible solutions and chose the best one. Our idea was to hold a meeting with the School Principal. We decided to send the School Captains and the Class Representatives. Then, our new inquiry was revealed to us. We all discovered it was a set up! It certainly was one interesting way to start our inquiry. After that, we brain stormed what we thought conflict was and some of the main causes. We also created a Y chart, including what conflict feels like, looks like and sounds like. During our inquiry, we’ve read some verses from the Bible, such as the stories of Moses and Solomon. These two stories both involve conflict. We wrote a short summary for each of them. We had to write a draft, edit, create a good copy and present them creatively in our journals. So far I’m really enjoying our new inquiry. I can’t wait to learn more! Amy Myers

Exhibition As you know we Year 6 students have been working on our PYP Exhibition. We have been working hard with Mrs Currey. On 12 March the parents and a few students had a meeting in the Chapel with Mrs Currey about the PYP Exhibition coming up in Term 3. We were told about what was going to happen and told about the skills we will need to complete it to the best of our abilities. Mrs Currey also talked to us about researching pieces of information we would need. All Year 6’s are looking forward to the Exhibition. Karrina Cain

HARD at WORK

More recently we began looking at the central idea of “Beliefs affect the way people live”. While our lines of inquiry are

focused upon the similarities and differences between religious practices, we have focused on Christianity and Hinduism as

two religions of interest allowing the children to contrast and compare different styles of worship and determine how religion

and beliefs are often similar but also different.

Year 4

Year 4 has seen a busy start to the year. We have already completed a Unit of Inquiry that

focused our studies upon the central idea of “Rights aim to ensure that all people have access

to equal opportunities”. The children were engaged and at times challenged by this topic as

they showed empathy for those less fortunate than themselves. The children were able to relate

their own life experiences and understandings to the important role human rights play in securing

the provision of the most basic of needs of children as well as developing their understanding

of how governments, third parties and ‘we’ have a role to play in ensuring such rights are upheld

and protected. The visit from Save the Children was also a great session which made this unit of

inquiry relevant and ‘real’ for the children.

Mid-March our children visited the Perth Hindu Temple (Mandir) and were provided with a very informative session by

a member of the Hindu community. The children took part in a blessing ceremony during which traditional ash dots were

daubed onto their foreheads and a chant spoken by the Mandir’s Pujari (priest). Children also observed the various

architectural and internal features (such as statutes and religious icons) and compared these to our Chapel at school.

The children had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed themselves displaying great

open-mindedness and tolerance as they obeyed and came to understand another religion

through first hand experience.

Year 5

In the Kookaburra and Bilby classrooms we have been learning about different types of learning styles and how we learn best. Our central idea was: Understanding different ways of learning enables people to respond to their own learning needs as well as those of others. These are some of the things we enjoyed best about our first unit of inquiry…

“I liked learning about being an auditory learner at our

Cheers for Ears incursion.” – Taylah Read, Bilby “I learnt that if you are an auditory learner you can also be a visual or a kinesthetic learner. It is okay to be more than one.” - Ashleigh, Bilby “I enjoyed learning about the different learning styles and how other children learn.” Andrew, Kookaburra “I liked this unit of inquiry because it helped me to know how I learn best, and that will help me learn.”– Jack, Bilby “I enjoyed the surveys and showing the class what kind of learner I am in the summative assessment.” Hana, Kookaburra

Through our first unit of inquiry, Teliah learnt that she was an

auditory learner. She discovered that listening to music is one of the many ways that an auditory

learner can learn best. Because of this, Teliah now sometimes listens to music

when working independently.

ACTION in the classroom…

KEY DATES FOR TERM 2 2013

UNIFORM STORE 2013

ASSEMBLY PROGRAMME—TERM 2 2013

Year Day Date Time

Year 4 Eagle Friday 17.05.13 2:20pm

Year 1 Echidna Thursday 23.05.13 2:15 pm

Year 3 Magpie Friday 24.05.13 2:20pm

Year 2 Kangaroo Thursday 30.05.13 2:15pm

Year 6 Possum Friday 07.06.13 2:20pm

Year 4 Black Swan Friday 14.06.13 2:20pm

Pre Primary Gecko Thursday 20.06.13 2:15pm

Year 5 Bilby Friday 28.06.13 2:20pm

CHAPEL PROGRAMME

Term 2 (Years 3 to 6 - Wednesday 11:45am –

12:15pm, ELC – Thursday 2:00pm– 2:40pm)

Year Group Date

Year 4 14.05.13 at 10:00 am

ELC 16.05.13

Year 3 20.05.13

Year 6 27.05.13

Year 5 10.06.13

ELC 13.06.13

Year 4 18.06.13 at 10:00 am

Year 3 24.06.13

UNIFORM STORE

TERM 2 TRADING HOURS -

Monday: 8:30am—10:00am

Wednesday: 1:30pm—3:30pm

Friday: 8:30am—10:00am

1:30pm—3:30pm

HOLIDAY TRADING HOURS

The Uniform Store will be open during the May School Holidays on

THURSDAY 2, FRIDAY 3 MAY 2013 from 9:00am to 2:00pm . This is

always an extremely busy time of the year - your patience will be

appreciated. To minimise waiting times, please make a note of

what size clothing your children are currently wearing and

decide how much larger you need to purchase before coming

in.

Deanne Marsden-Youll

UNIFORM STORE COORDINATOR

DAY DATE EVENT

Monday to

Friday

13.05.13

to

17.05.13

NAPLAN Week

Thursday 23.05.13 Coffee Morning – spelling, Jolly Phonics,

Words their way

Monday 27.05.13 Excursion: Year 6 at Parliament House, the

Constitution Centre and Kings Park

Tuesday 28.05.13 IPSHA Ecumenical Service—Hale School

Monday 03.06.13 Western Australia Day (formally

Foundation Day)

Tuesday 04.06.13 ELC swimming begins at Gosnells Leisure

World

Sunday 09.06.13 JWACS Fun Run

Tuesday 11.06.13 IPSHA Chess Day

Friday 14.06.13 Open Day

ELC Swimming Concludes

Wedneday 19.0613 Coffee Morning - Advanced Numero

Thursday 20.06.13 Coffee Morning

Friday 21.06.13 Speakers’ Challenge at 1:00pm in the

Chapel

Monday 24.06.13 Semester 2 Captains’ Speeches at

11:00am in the Chapel

Monday to

Thursday

24.06.13

to

27.06.13

IPSHA Performing Arts Festival at Perth

Convention Centre

Friday 28.06.13 Dental Screening PP, Year 3 and Year 6

Tuesday 02.07.13 Primary Musical Dress Rehearsal

Wedneday 03.07.13 IPSHA Speakers’ Challenge – Carmel

Primary Musical Opening Night 7:00pm in

VMAC

Thursday 04.07.13 IPSHA Co-ed Winter Carnival – Venue TBC

Primary Musical

Friday 05.07.13 Primary Merit Awards Assembly

End of Term 2