Newsletter – Term 2 – Dianella Campus

The Year Ones have had a fantastic term of learning and laughter! We are so grateful to be back in our classrooms after our online learning experience last term.

We absolutely loved the Eid Festival this term! We ate lots of yummy food, rode camels, jumped on bouncy castles, rode bumper cars, and carefully patted some farm animals. We all behaved very well and looked out for our friends. It was an amazing day!

In math this term, we have been learning all about measurement. We have measured our feet, hands and legs with informal units of measurement and used scales in class to measure the mass of different classroom objects.

The Year Ones have been very busy with Writing this term! We started off the term with learning about reports. Every week we researched and wrote a report about a different animal. We absolutely loved learning about the features, habitats, diets and predators of different common animals. During Art each week, we made the animals to match our report. Then, we learnt about procedure writing! We followed procedures as a class to make popcorn, fairy bread, s’more pops and pancakes! It was so much fun to eat what we wrote about!

We can’t wait for Term 3!

Within writing this term, Year 2 students have been focusing on how to write a persuasive piece. We have spent a great deal of time looking at the structure of a persuasive text and the elements involved in writing one successfully. The children have learnt how to write the introduction using the “4-sentence”, structure. Although rhetorical questions have been a little challenging, one of the students when thinking about children playing team sports wrote “Don’t you know that teamwork makes the dreamwork?” we thought that was fabulous! By the end of this term the children will be able to demonstrate their success with writing a detailed persuasive text.

For math, term 2 started with subtraction without regrouping. We have learnt different techniques to help us with subtractions. We have learnt how to use the split strategy, jumping strategy, bar modelling and vertical subtraction. Some children prefer to use different strategies when subtracting. The second part of the term has focused on measurement. We have used both formal and informal units to measure and compare different items including our hands, feet, and arms.

Our focus in science this term has been forces. We have explored different objects that can be pushed and pulled by us. We have conducted a variety of experiments this term including, making a zip line for a teddy bear, changing the surface for a toy car to ride down, making different sized paper helicopters and our STEM project of catapults. The term has been very hands on and the children in year 2 have loved it!  

In HASS this term, we have had a geography focus. The children have demonstrated their understanding of Western Australia as a state, what we have within our state and how big our state is. We spent some weeks expanding our knowledge from the whole of Australia to the seven continents and oceans of Earth. The children have enjoyed learning about our country, and they have discovered places they want to visit with their families.

In math, we began the term by learning about the multiplication tables of 2, 3, 5 and 10; we learnt that numbers could be multiplied in any order to get the same answer. We have been on a journey which led us to find that scales can be used to measure masses, which can then be compared (with the right units – grams and kilograms). We also learnt to solve one and two-step problems involving mass.

For writing, we have reviewed narratives and persuasives. We wrote on a variety of topics, and it was a pleasure to have many of our students declaring that the ‘hero award’ should be awarded to their mums in their persuasive text on ‘Hero Award’. The students wrote many captivating stories, with suspense especially when they wrote their favourite narrative ‘In my new house’.

In science, we have been learning about heat in physical sciences this term. The students have learnt that heat can be produced in many ways and can move from one object to another. They have learnt to take the reading from a thermometer using the calibration. They also have become familiar with the terms, conduction, convection & radiation.

In HASS, we started the term with geography, understanding that Australia is an island in the Pacific Ocean along with many other island nations. These islands are Australia’s neighbours with similarities and differences. Students researched about their neighbouring countries, namely New Zealand and Papua New Guinea and compared the many ways they are similar and different to Australia. In history, students learnt to sequence key changes in early colonial Australia. They reviewed patterns of colonisation. Students also learnt to identify major changes in methods of transportation.

In design and technology, the students researched on many features that make a playground attractive. They proceeded to plan and design their playground using recycled materials.

Maths has been exciting this term with the introduction of new concepts such as the area and perimeter of a figure and applying it in real-life situations such as floor covering, wallpaper and paint. We broadened our horizons with multiplication (4-digit by 1-digit numbers) and division (long division of 2- and 3-digit numbers by 1-digit number). We also investigated different methods of data collection and data display, evaluating the effectiveness of different data displays, and comparing them. Students found that it is easier and faster to read the bar graph compared to other types of graphs. Although some of the concepts have been challenging for the students, they were enthusiastic about learning new concepts.

The students have thoroughly enjoyed science this term. With hands on experiments on a weekly basis, the students were regularly interested in what they would investigate next. The focus area of our learning was on forces. A favourite among the experiments was making their own catapults to demonstrate the forces of push and pull, and how a direct force is needed in order for the object to move.

The students have also loved learning about the different elements of drama. They have watched some theatre productions such as Pinocchio and some live monologue performances by children their age. Having seen others, they got to perform a monologue of their choice which they were very excited to do. Some students went the extra mile to make props and even put on amazing accents during their performance. 

For HASS, our students have been highly engaged learning about how the rise of the Ottoman Empire, inspired the Age of European Exploration in the 1400 to 1600’s. The famous voyages of Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and others, were explored, and their impacts on the economic, political, and religious landscape of the world were discussed. Such a topic opened itself very easily to the analysis of Muslim influences in history, and students were afforded insights that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

The year 5 students have been working hard in improving their writing skills this term. They have acquired the essential skills to start developing further their written narrative and persuasive writing skills. Apart from their daily literacy block writing sessions, students continued practicing their written expressions and vocabulary building during our drama lessons where they have written and presented their own play script to the class.

In math this term, our students have been learning to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers; elapsed time – working out start and finish time involving 2 days, and chance and data. During our math sessions, students are immersed in a variety of rich mathematical tasks that promote problem solving, reasoning and higher order thinking.

In science, students have been exploring how light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected, and refracted. These concepts were investigated through a peek-box experiment. Students quickly discovered that they would be unable to identify the object located in the enclosed box until a light source travelled to the object and then to the observer’s eye.

This term in health we have focused on understanding the difference between rights and power, character strengths and how to develop them, and the importance of exercise. Students particularly enjoyed identifying and sharing their strongest character traits.

Students have enjoyed learning about the government in HASS this term. They were able to make connections between Australia’s recent election and new understandings of the country’s three levelled, representative government and election system. Many students were surprised to learn the responsibilities that each level of government holds.

This term, our students were taught to expand their persuasive writing skills using the ‘Seven Steps of Writing’. Students learnt how to apply their ‘Sizzling Starts’ into persuasive writing. The cohort spent the first half hour of almost every day of the week sharpening their writing skills by creating fantastic introductions and first arguments for their persuasive pieces. This term, there is a greater emphasis on developing the students’ editing skills,  which is fundamental to further excel in writing.

The students revelled in the process of their STEM project. They had to plan and create – with the correct measurements, a farm which contains a house, lawn, and various farm animals. After planning accurately, they then designed a miniature version of the farm before constructing it using recyclable materials. Concepts such as area, perimeter and ratio were tested here and of course, children can surprise us with their creative minds!

This term proved to be another very busy yet eventful term for us all. The quality of our assessments, resources and teaching has improved and we are on the right track to make sure that our Year 6 children receive the academic excellence they are entitled to when they embark their learning journey with AIC Dianella. Inshallah, better progress and higher achievements can be attained in the following terms ahead.