Winter Showcase 20 June

Jammin'

Stage Three are exploring the genre of Jazz in their classroom music lessons this term. They've been developing improvisation techniques over a pentatonic scale. This week, we improvised using a question and answer technique - impressive stuff Year Five!

Reconciliation week

I learnt that Aboriginal people have less opportunities than non-indigenous Australians. I don't think it's fair that many of them don't finish Year 12 which means they have less chance of getting a job, which means they wont have much money. They have a lower life expectancy too and live in crowded housing with up to 4-5 people in a room. It makes me feel sad that we spend a lot of time caring for our environment and stuff but our Indigenous people live like this. Arne

Reconciliation week is about saying sorry to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for what our ancestors did to them in history - but also it's about closing the gap between Aboriginal people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. I was really surprised to find out the facts and statistics when researching the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and it made me feel sad. Harrison

On Wednesday the whole school held a special peer support lunch. One of the things we did was hold a Yarning Circle. A Yarning Circle is what Aboriginal people used to do - they used to sit in a big circle and share their stories. There is a special symbol for Yarning Circles which looks like a boomerang. At the beginning of our lunch, we acknowledged the custodians of our land which is important because it's basically saying thank you for our land. Liberty

Digital Technologies Night

Year 5 students deliver drought relief in Dubbo.

Two weeks ago, we joined a group of St Luke’s students on a trip to Dubbo. The purpose of the trip was to donate the money that the school raised for the drought appeal. We handed over about  $10,000  to Macquarie Anglican School who shared it with farming families in need. We stayed at Macquarie Anglican School boarding house. At the school we had an agriculture lesson and we grew some wheat, walked and fed the cattle and we collected eggs from the chickens.

While we were there, we saw the effects of drought and how they affected the farmers. There was only pale brown grass and no water on the surface of the land. Before we went, we didn’t really understand the drought as much as we do now. We realised that drought affects everyone in the area and everything in its path. It completely turns the land into a dust ball. Farmers can’t raise their animals which means that they don’t earn any money. It isn’t a fun thing being in a drought because farmers don’t have as much income and this can affect the local and the national economy. Australians can lose jobs, budget and everything that the government needs to build our country.

We also brought the rain with us. On the last night it poured down with rain

Stage 3 Debating

This week, we kicked off our Debating unit in English. Stage 3 students are now in the midst of planning and preparing for their first debates of 2019.

As mentioned in a previous post, the skill building benefits of teaching and leaning debating in school are profound.

Our learning in History

Learning Intention: We are learning to think like historians and understand how perspectives shape history

This week, students deliberated over the below questions and posted their responses to our Canvas discussion board. There were many in depth responses from Year 5. 

What determines someone as a historian? How is history recorded? 

How do we know if something is factually correct when researching history?

How do understanding other people's perspectives assist us in understanding history?

Some of the responses from students include:

• ‘A historian is somebody who tells other people about history. Being a historian is basically a job. They might specifically study Aboriginals or Explorers or Ancient Egyptians. To determine someone as a historian they would've had to study history at university for a while.’ Ella

• ‘The person would have to study history really deeply, not just knowing that Tutankhamen was alive, it is knowing why and how he died and what he did.’ Harrison

• ‘History can be recorded in many ways such as books/diaries, art, carvings, stories that have been carried down by generation after generation and many other ways.’ Gracie

•  ‘What determines someone as a historian is someone that makes a difference and wants the world to know about it though out the future and present.’ Otto

• ‘Historians research and research to check if history is correct. People from the past also write things down from what happened. Also, there might be actual proof because we can see it. e.g: the Titanic sank long ago and we know that it happened because people witnessed it and the ship has been found way below the surface of the water.’ Liberty

• ‘We know something is factually correct by using trustworthy websites like .GOV.au or .ORG or it is proven and there is actual evidence.’ Jamie

• ‘Understanding other people's perspectives assist us in understanding history because you can get lots of different perspectives of the event. It is like a crime scene -  there are multiple stories to the one event and different witnesses are interviewed.’ Harrison

• ‘Looking at people’s perspective can lead us to the truth of history and knowing what really happened. We can see different perspectives from other peoples point of view. If we don't listen to the people who were there and impacted we will never know the truth.’ Olivia

Our unit of inquiry for the term is delving into our early colonial Australian history. We will be investigating why Britain colonised Australia, what the lives of those early settlers was like and how the colonisation of Australia impacted our Indigenous Australians. 

Stage 3 Art Club

Look at the amazing artworks created by our Stage 3 Art Club members.

Students are still welcome to join them on a Thursday afternoon, 2:50-4:00pm. This will run throughout Term 2.

Just email the Office to register.

Scholastic Book club orders closing soon!

Dear Parents,


Your child should have brought home a new Scholastic Book Club order booklet. Each booklet contains the entire range of books available which enables you to purchase for all ages, siblings, relatives or gifts for friends.

You order online using LOOP – and DON’T need to return any paperwork to school!

Order online using LOOP http://www.scholastic.com.au/schools/bookclub/bc_parents.asp 

Easy and paperless!

When asked for the school name enter “St Luke’s Grammar School” and it will come up with the Bayview option.

Purchases will come home with your child when they are delivered to the school.

Last date for this month’s orders is Sunday 19 May.

Kind regards, 

Susie Duffy

Walk Safely To School Day!

Next Friday is 'Walk Safely To School Day!' We'd love you and your children to join us for this occasion. We will be meeting at the bridge near the Flying Fox Cafe in the Winnererremy Bay Parklands at 7:50am, ready for an 8:00am departure. Students must have a parent accompany them on the walk.

Walk Safely To School Day has a number of objectives, some of which include:

- To promote the health benefits of walking and create regular walking habits

- To help children develop vital road crossing skills and ensure children up to the age of 10 years hold an adult's hand when crossing the road

- To reduce car dependency and traffic congestion

- To reduce the level of air pollution created by motor vehicles We'd love as many families to join us as possible.

No need to register, just meet us on the day.

NAPLAN News

Next week is NAPLAN Week. You will note from the timetable, that the schedule is quite demanding. Please assist by ensuring that your child comes to school on time and does not attend any appointments or music lessons during these times. There will be minimal Home Learning next week so that students can have an early night.

Tuesday 14 May             Language Conventions: 45 minutes

                                         Writing: 40 minutes

Wednesday 15 May        Reading: 50 minutes

Thursday 16 May           Numeracy: 50 minutes

This week, the students have been completing practice tests to familiarise themselves with the format, time limit and types of questions. When asked, the students agreed that this practice was beneficial. Here are some of their responses. Completing NAPLAN practice questions….

- has helped me with my meta-learning because when I get my test back I can see where I went wrong eg mis-reading questions

- has helped me with Reflectiveness because when I get my test paper back, I revise questions I got wrong

- has made me recognise the importance of reading questions carefully … I have grown as a learner

- has helped me remain calm and I feel more confident about completing the real thing

- has helped me work under limited amounts of time with pressure

- has made me notice the difficulty level of the tests

- has helped me sit and stay focused for 40-50 minutes straight

- has taught me to read and re-read questions

- has helped me catch up on learning that I haven’t done for while

- has been helpful by making me learn from my mistakes and successes

- has helped me get better at answering questions, like trick questions

Before, I couldn’t even get up to page 8 and now I’m able to finish the test.

Fundraiser for Mission Australia - Bunnings BBQ

The Big Breakfast

Public Speaking in Year 5

Year 5 have composed and delivered some impressive persuasive speeches this week. This has put them in good stead for our Stage 3 Debating unit commencing in week 3 of the term.
In mixed age groups of 3-4 stage 3 students, groups will compete each fortnight in a round of debates. After 5 rounds, our two leading teams will go head to head in the final debate.

Some of the benefits of teaching debating in schools are (but not limited to):

• increasing learners' confidence, poise and self-esteem, 
• encouraging teamwork and effective organisation skills,
• developing effective speech composition and delivery,
• improving higher-order and critical thinking skills, 
• enhancing learners' analytical, research and note taking skills, 
• gaining broad multi-faceted knowledge across several disciplines outside the learners' normal academic subjects and interests,
• improving learners' ability to form balanced and informed arguments and opinions.