AN UPDATE FROM MISS GIBBONS

Hello to all families and students of Wattle Grove Primary School.

I have now completed three weeks of my teaching placement in Room 17 and my goodness, what a busy three weeks it has been. We have been learning a lot and it is fantastic to see all students working hard and so motivated to achieve their best.

First off, I would love to congratulate Room 17 for their tremendous effort with Literacy Pro. Every student in our class has achieved obtaining their Bronze Certificate. What an amazing effort from all of you! Well done, you should be very proud of your dedication and commitment to achieving great results.

In Mathematics we have been learning about symmetry, measurement and division. The students have completed some great works of art inspired by mathematical concepts. For measurement, the students worked hard at designing their own zoo. They were given a list of features their zoo must include as well as the dimensions for each of these features. From there, they mapped out their zoo design and even calculated the area and perimeter of each store and exhibit. The students really enjoyed this and it was a great way to incorporate creativity into Mathematics. Another superb project the students completed was their symmetry circles. They were given a circle that had half a pattern and they mirrored the pattern to complete the other half themselves. Once the pattern was complete, the students were able to colour it in and their challenge was to make the colours symmetrical. This resulted in some fantastic results and wonderful additions to display in our colourful classroom. 

In History we have been learning all about Aboriginal history and culture. As a class we have learnt about Songlines, the Dreamtime, Noongar language and Aboriginal totems. The students have completed some fantastic projects alongside these topics, such as writing their own Dreamtime story that includes an important moral, creating a miniature Noongar dictionary and designing their own totem. It is great to see all students getting involved with learning about the importance of Aboriginal history and how they can transform this knowledge into stories and artwork of their own.

 

In Science we have been little Einstein’s conducting our own scientific investigations. We have looked at some very exciting investigations such as testing the number of wings on a loop plane and whether a toy car travels further on lino or carpet. The students have followed the same process for each of our investigations such as determining the independent, dependent and control variables of the investigation as well as determining their own hypothesis. All of our investigations have involved forces such as gravity, friction, push and pull. As a class, we have had some fantastic discussions on forces and how these impact our investigations. It’s great to see all students getting involved, working well as a team and putting their scientific knowledge into practise. 

The past three weeks have been wonderful and I am looking forward to the remaining three weeks of my placement, it will be great to see what we can achieve as a class. Thank you to Mr. Petch and the students of Room 17 for welcoming me into their classroom and I will be sure to post some more updates over the next few weeks.