Junior School

Jun ior School

A day in the life of an Engineer

AN initiative of Engineers Australia, EngQuest encourages students to participate in fun, educational engineering activities involving Mathematics, Science and Technology.

ON 2 June 2010, Ms Hardy's Year 3 EngQuest class visited Claisebrook Railway Station in East Perth, for a tour of the facilities and to see what Railway Engineers did for a living. The students discovered there were 48 trains at the station, they were washed each night in a huge 'train wash', and each train had eight surveillance cameras and 100 voice recorded messages for the train driver. They now know what a 'bogey' is too!

The Year 3s had an opportunity to go under the Australind train, but the highlight was the simulator where they sat at the controls of a train and drove it through the Perth rail network.

Later in the month on 25 June, the Year 4 EngQuest class was also fortunate to attend an interesting excursion. They visited the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics at the University of Western Australia and enjoyed seeing the Robotics Laboratory, Renewable Energy Vehicles and the Mechanical Engineering Faculty and their motorsport cars. It was a wonderful afternoon and many of the students are now inspired to become Mechanical Engineers! For more information visit: www.engquest.org.au.

Ms Gail Hardy - Learning Support Coordinator

Families celebrate full days in Kindy

KINDERGARTEN students, teachers and parents enjoyed a wonderful event on 24 February 2010.

THE annual Kindergarten Family Day marks the end of half days for the students and celebrates the start of their full-day attendance at Kindergarten. Bloopo the Clown performed fun magic tricks before everyone enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch in the Kindergarten playground and classrooms. It was a memorable and special day.

Mrs Rebecca Flanagan - Kindergarten Teacher

Fire safety focus Kindy

IN Term 1, Kindergarten students were visited by firefighters from Murdoch Fire Station. The excited children learnt about the special equipment on board a fire truck and even took it in turns tosit in the driver's seat!

THEY were taught some important fire safety rules and practised the 'Stay Low and Go!' procedure, crawling under fire blankets just as we should crawl under the smoke in a real fire. Another highlight for the children was turning on the fire hose and spraying water high into the air. There were definitely signs of some budding firefighters within the group! The students listened to the loud siren and watched the flashing lights of the fire truck as it left the College grounds. This was a wonderful experience for the children and was thoraughly enjoyed by staff and students alike.

Mrs Sheree Pascoe - Kindergarten Teacher

Red fire trucks

roll into Junior School

ALL Saints' College Year 3 classes heard important fire safety messages when Fire Service Officers from the Murdoch Fire Station visited the College on 14 June 2010. The students learnt about fire hazards in the home and what to do in case of fire.

IN the classroom, we talked about the importance of developing a fire evacuation plan with family members for our own homes, and how a simple smoke detector could save lives. Firefighters Tony, Tim, Brian and Michael were very knowledgeable and able to answer all of our questions. They showed us the clothing and equipment they required when fighting fires inside buildings.

After the classroom presentation, we all headed down to the College Oval where two fi re trucks were parked. We saw interesti ng firefighting equipment, water tanks and hoses on the trucks, and learnt about the different roles of firefighters within their crew. The most exciting part of the incursion was when we each had a turn to squirt huge jets of water onto the Oval using the fire hose.

Mrs Sue Gladman and Mrs Michelle King Year 3 Teachers

Junior School

Buddies team up to promote Amazing Australia

AS part of their Computer Workshops held in Term 1, Year 3 students in Mrs Gladman's and Mrs King's classes designed and created a lO-slide PowerPoint presentation on the topic, Amazing Australia.

STUDENTS worked hard to create an interesting PowerPoint display to promote the beauty and diversity of the Australian landscape and its fauna. They learnt to use many features of the computer program including text styles, picture formatting, slide transitions and animations.

Once the PowerPoint presentations were finished, Year 3 students invited their Year 1 buddies to come to their classrooms to see all of their hard work! The buddies had an enjoyable time, initially getting to know each other, and then viewing the PowerPoint presentations together. Year 1 students were asked to offer their opinions and suggestions through a partner feedback questionnaire.

Students then worked together with the Year 3 students taking the lead, sharing their expertise to create an additional PowerPoint slide to complete their Amazing Australia PowerPoint project. This was a wonderful opportunity for all students involved to work collaboratively, make new friends and practise leadership and social skills.

Year 3 students are looking forward to spending more time working with their Year 1 buddies throughout the year.

The Bully Strikes Back teaches resilience

YEARS 1-6 students learnt about inclusivity, resilience and practical strategies to cope with bullying, when they were treated to an energetic and educational play in the Lower Theatre on 3 June 2010.

THE Bully Strikes Back is the final play in the bullying trilogy written by Trisha Starrs, to be performed in schools throughout Australia and New Zealand to combat the problem of bullying.

The principles of resilience were introduced to the Junior School audience through the dramatisation of Alex's return to school, where they finally discovered all about his home life and how that had affected his behaviour. The three sources of resilience: 'I Have', 'I Am' and 'I Can' were dramatised through the play's story to encourage the students to foster trusting relationships, pride in oneself, the ability to problem solve, and autonomous and independent behaviour.

Following the performance, time was allocated for questions and answers. Class teachers then continued to discuss the play's important messages with their students back in the classroom. The Bully Strikes Back incursion was part of an ongoing and integrated wholeschool approach to bullying, which supports the College's Friendly Schools Program.

Junior School

Learning empathy through experience

WHAT is the 'global food crisis'? What is it like to be unable to feed your family, your tribe or your country? How thin is thin? Can we do anything to help children and families at risk of malnutrition? Why should we help?

THESE were some of the questions students explored during a World Vision incursion on 19 May 2010. A team of presenters led by World Vision Youth Relationship Representative, Karen Williamson, immersed the Years 5 and 6 classes in the everyday reality of life for many people in underdeveloped countries.

Each student became a member of one of the eight Kenyan tribes - Masai, Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kisii or Meru. In each tribe, the elected chief was responsible for ensuring the tribe produced enough goods to buy the basic necessities of life. This was challenging, but some did manage. That is, until the Prime Minister of Kenya announced a rise in the price of petrol which in turn pushed up the cost of food, but the goods they produced did not rise in value. Other difficulties which beset the tribes included drought, malaria, broken arms and blindness.

Students soon discovered that feeding a family became impossible for many people when the odds were stacked against them. They experienced a little of the frustration that more than a billion people live with daily. In Term 3, the Year 6 students will be challenged to see what they can do to 'make a difference'.

Mrs Susan Regnard - Junior School Religion and Values Teacher

Children busk for charity

YEAR 6 All Saints' College students swapped their school uniforms for colourful costumes at lunchtime on 26 March 2010, to busk for their younger peers and raise money for charity.

JUNIOR School staff and students gathered on the Lower Theatre lawn to watch the Year 6 students perform their self-choreographed routines including a Michael Jackson impersonation, clown show, dance and mime routines.

The fundraiser was organised by the Junior School Student Leaders and Heads of House with almost $300 in coins collected for The Fred Hollows Foundation. The All Saints' College fundraising activity was part of a national initiative by The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA), to support The Fred Hollows Foundation in 2010. IPSHA is committed to raising more than $150,000 throughout this year with the help of its schools, to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people in some of the most remote communities in Australia. All money raised throughout Australian schools will be presented to The Fred Hollows Foundation Ambassador, Susie O'Neill, at the IPSHA Biennial Conference in Melbourne later this year. "It was terrific to see the children support The Fred Hollows Foundation by providing entertaining performances for all year levels, but also to see them supporting and encouraging each other," Junior School Head of House Mrs Edel Hailes said. All Saints' will continue to organise fundraising activities throughout the year to support the Foundation.

Junior School

Students make an impact on Clean up Australia Day

ALL Saints' College Junior School staff and students were armed with gloves and rubbish bags on 5 March 2010, as they did their bit to protect the environment on Clean Up Australia Day.

THE Junior School registered as an 'official' clean-up site and Kindergarten to Year 6 classes collected rubbish from different areas of the College campus. Bags of rubbish from each area were returned to a collection point where they were weighed, recorded and reported back to the students.

The Clean Up Australia Day event launched an ongoing Environmental Sustainability focus in the All Saints' College Junior School. "Environmental Sustainability has become a major theme in the Junior School and we are working to ensure this will remain an ongoing part of what we do at All Saints' College," Head of Junior School Penelope Crane said. "After speaking to Year 6 students at the College we became aware that they felt strongly about rubbish and its impact on the environment. Clean Up Australia Day provides a great opportunity for us to participate in a community event that empowers students to act on their concerns and make a difference," Mrs Crane said.

The Sustainability focus will link in with other year group curriculum topics and projects throughout the year, including Gardens and Plants, Habitats, Waterwise, Recycling and Carbon Footprint.

The Junior School has also worked towards becoming an accredited Waste Wise School, modelling responsible environmental behaviours through hands-on learning experiences. As part of this process, College staff formed a Waste Wise committee, undertook appropriate professional development and invited Waste Wise to the Junior School to complete a waste audit.

Junior School Sustainability Week

REDUCE, reuse and recycle was the Waste Wise message resonating throughout the Junior School during Sustainability Week from 24-28 May 2010. Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 participated in a variety of fun and hands-on learning activities with a focus on environmental sustainability.

YEAR 3 students researched different types of packaging through the ages, and enjoyed a litter free lunch with their Year 1 buddies. The Sulo Bin Challenge saw the Year 3s investigate different types of rubbish that ended up in waste bins each week, and how much of it could be recycled. After researching the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle), students worked in groups to create some eye-catching and informative posters.

Inspired by the topic Underground, the Year 4 students recycled old newspaper to make mining hats, picks, shovels and belts. They also used ground coffee to create their own lifelike fossils. In Library Studies, the students discovered some interesting books on sustainability and reused old cereal boxes and art scraps to create 3D book covers.

E-waste consists of unused, broken or outdated electronic devices. In Years 5 and 6 households alone, there were 159 unused mobile phones, as well as significant numbers of unused video games, consoles and televisions. The dumping of E-waste into landfills results in toxic chemicals getting into the soil and water, which affects the environment and our health. There are many companies and councils that collect and recycle E-waste. Year 5 students decided to be proactive and organise for All Saints' College Junior School to be a recycling collection point for unused mobile phones.

On 25 May, Year 5D was on rubbish duty! The students collected rubbish throughout the upper Junior School before sorting it into categories. Patrick from Waste Wise WA, helped the students weigh the rubbish and complete the audit. The Year 5s were surprised to discover that most of the waste could be reused or recycled. For example, vegetable scraps could be composted, while wrappers and bottles could be collected and recycled.

The Year 6s worked on Murder Under the Microscope with a focus on threats to the environment and biodiversity. Their challenge was to fi nd the'cri me site', the victi ma nd the villain, in a situation where an animal in the environment had died. They had to discover why, what and who did it. Year 6 students also planned and made catchment area landscapes to help them gain a better understanding of the environment.

Sustainability Week came to an end, but it was certainly not the end of the students' sustainability projects, in fact it was just the beginning!