HASS
Pre-Primary
This term we have been busy learning about places that are special to us and the reasons why. We have investigated the features of familiar places, explored what makes them special and described how we can look after these places. Sometimes places may be special to just us but sometimes they may be special to everyone. With crayons we drew our special places and painted them with edicol dye. The pictures we created showed that we are working so hard to aspire to this term’s RICE value which is excellence. The pictures have made an excellent display in our classrooms.
Year 1
This term we have been busy learning about places that are special to us and the reasons why. We have investigated the features of familiar places, explored what makes them special and described how we can look after these places. Sometimes places may be special to just us but sometimes they may be special to everyone. With crayons we drew our special places and painted them with edicol dye. The pictures we created showed that we are working so hard to aspire to this term’s RICE value which is excellence. The pictures have made an excellent display in our classrooms.
Mrs Luisa Durkin
Pre-Primary and Year 1 HaSS Specialist
Years 2-6
During this term the students have demonstrated the RICE value of excellence in a variety of ways.
Year 2 children have loved the excellent experience of finding out about how people are connected to their places and other places. They enjoyed interviewing classmates about where their parents were born, and drawing and labelling the information.
In Year 3, students have looked at settlement and work in places in Australia. They demonstrated excellence in their research and viewing information about the similarities and differences between places in terms of their type of settlement, and feelings and perceptions about places.
Year 4 students had the opportunity earlier this term to create their own scratch art. They used knowledge of their own family history to create art that was similar to the rock art and cave paintings of the Aboriginal people. Excellent work Year 4!
In Year 5, students have been researching the founding of two colonies: Van Dieman’s Land and Western Australia. They have learnt about the struggle of the first settlers as they strove for excellence for their families in these new colonies.
Year 6 students have been completing drama or art activities regarding the development of Australia as a nation: democracy, freedom, change and reconciliation. The presentations so far have been of an excellent quality.
Mrs Mary Barclay
Years 2-6 HaSS Specialist
Italian
Pre-Primary
In Pre-Primary, students learnt about Italy and some famous Italian landmarks, they then created a booklet about this topic. Students showed the value of excellence when making the Italian flag on their booklet with the right coloured tissue paper. They also started learning about how we celebrate Christmas in Italy and students were excellent in comparing and recognising the differences of Christmas in Australia. It has been a very busy year of learning and discovery of this new language, and students are looking forward to learning more in Year 1.
Years 1, 2 and 3
In Year 1, 2 and 3 students performed their Italian Assembly items and they were amazing and very entertaining! They showed the value of excellence while learning their songs and their choreography in class, while practising during rehearsals and definitely on Assembly day. They also displayed the value of excellence while creating their winter booklet in Year 1, while completing their booklet about their day in Year 2 and while making their family booklet in Year 3. What a busy term of learning!
Year 4
In Year 4, students showed the value of excellence while writing a letter to an imaginary pen friend. They listened to an Italian letter that included vocabulary from all the topics learnt this year, they all tried to read a part of the letter, then translated it and, finally, wrote their own letter following the example. They were excellent in working together to try and translate the letter and to create their own one. We had an amazing year of learning!
Year 5
In Year 5, students showed excellence in their city project. They had to create an Italian city similar to the ones that they explored last term and they had to include important features of the Italian cities. They then described their cities in Italian and presented it to the whole class. Some students made 3D little models; some created an A3 plan; and some built their city using Makers Empire, but they were all amazing and showed the effort they put in to making their Italian cities. Students all loved the opportunity to work in pairs or small groups to create their small project for Italian and they are all excited to continue their learning in Year 6.
Year 6
In Year 6, students showed excellence when working on their restaurant project. They had to research typical dishes of the region they researched earlier in the year and design and make a menu of the dishes researched. Students then read and translated a conversation in a restaurant and created their own, which they practised and performed for the whole class. Their performances were excellent and it was a very entertaining way to conclude their year, which I hope has given them all the interest to continue to learn Italian in high school.
Signora Paola Pizzo
Italian Specialist
Library
After a busy start to Term 4 with Book Week, we have settled back into our regular library routines. It has been fantastic to see so many students consistently remembering to return their books, excited about new books arriving and generally striving for excellence in the library.
We have had a chance to revisit our value of compassion also, with students designing a Christmas ornament during library times, with a prayer for others written on the back. It was lovely to see so many students thinking of their families and people in need at Christmas and praying for them to have love, food and shelter.
We have finished up the year of Values awards being presented, with all classes receiving an award for the Library Wall of Fame, and having the chance to borrow extra books. Congratulations to all classes for demonstrating all of our RICE Values this year.
As the year comes to an end, I would like to thank all parents for supporting our library, helping students to remember or find books, encouraging extra reading by opening a parent account or assisting with covering new books. Please note that all library books are due back by the end of Week 8, I encourage you to take advantage of the Dianella Public Library over the holidays to keep your children engaged with reading.
Have a safe and happy Christmas.
Claire Dale
Library Officer
Music
Music Rocks at OLA
All OLA students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 had a wonderful opportunity to showcase our musical excellence this term. We have been learning to play a piece of music which was especially arranged for our school by Kaboom Percussion. We learnt and rehearsed this during our weekly music lessons, and the various classes learnt to play on bucket drums, chair drums, cajon drums, percussion cups, recorders, xylophones and ukuleles. This term, Cat and Josh from Kaboom came to our school, and video recorded the various classes playing their parts of the tune. The edited video ‘Music Rocks at OLA’ is now on the OLA website, and also on the school’s Facebook page. Check out our students demonstrating their excellence in music learning and performance!
Mary McAuliffe
Music Specialist
Physical Education
Pre-Primary
This term, Pre-Primary lessons revolved around sports that involve skills such as striking and fielding. We focused on refining our throwing and catching skills before introducing skills such as hitting a ball with our hands and feet, and the use of a bat. As the year is now coming to an end, we are looking to enjoy our last few lessons together and combine the many abilities and practices we have learnt throughout the year in some different games and activities. We have shown excellence in Physical Education through our determination to master some of the fundamental movement skills we have encountered throughout the year.
Year 1 and Year 2
In Year 1 and Year 2, we have entered our final term for 2020 with the focus of mastering some of the fundamental movement skills that we have practised throughout the year. We have tested our balancing abilities, worked through some whole-body gymnastic movements and skipping, and have looked to work on ball skills linked to basketball and soccer. This term, we have shown excellence in the way we approach our sport lessons. We have had many competitions within the classes to showcase our abilities and demonstrate our strengths to our peers.
Year 3 and Year 4
Term Four has been a challenging and enjoyable term for Year 3 and Year 4. We have introduced ourselves to some unique and exciting sports in tag rugby and AFL. For most, this has been the first time practising the skills tailored to these sports and has been a fantastic encounter in Physical Education. We have displayed excellence by taking on the challenges of these unique sports, learning new and different skills and demonstrating understanding of diverse rules and situations.
Year 5 and Year 6
Year 5 and 6 have had a busy and constructive term. In Year 5, we introduced ourselves to a wonderfully unique sport in ultimate frisbee. Learning something new can be challenging but we took it on with great attitudes and grew to love the sport. In Year 6, we worked hard to demonstrate our skills in basketball, displaying fundamental skills such as shooting, passing and dribbling. To finish our final term of the year, we have both come back to re-discover volleyball and have small sided games. We have demonstrated excellence by taking on challenges, and showcasing our athletic abilities each week.
Ciaran Allsop
Physical Education Specialist
Science
Chemical Science Capers
Pre- Primary
In Pre-Primary Science lessons this term, the students began by exploring the world around them using their five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. They learnt that different materials have different properties and found this out by making material rubbings, exploring the world outside the classroom. Sorting materials into different groups came next and finding out what the Three Little Pigs knew about the best building materials was a hoot! The students made their own little piggy homes from straws, sticks or bricks and tested them out with a lot of huffing and puffing! Lego bricks were the clear winners! Pre-Primary – you made my year, your enthusiasm for each of our lessons was awesome! I can’t wait to explore more of the amazing world of Science with you all next year!
Year 1
Can it bend, stretch, or squash? In Year 1 Science lessons, we investigated how a variety of materials reacted to being manipulated by bending, stretching and squashing. Then we looked at heating and cooling materials. Where could we place an ice cube to find out where it might melt quicker or slower? Using the mini-digital thermometers was very exciting, not to mention the cool digital timers! Then we checked out corn kernels before and after heat was applied! Very tasty lesson indeed! The resulting diagrams were marvellous! The popcorn was delicious too! But there were still bendy bridges of pasta to build, in our STEM challenge! Year 1’s you have been so wonderful to teach this year, I can’t wait for our further adventures together.
Year 2
This term in our Chemical Science lessons, we learnt all about how different things mix together. We made predictions, then discovered what really happens when a variety of substances are mixed with water. We had fun making traditional damper, and working out how baking soda changed the look and taste of our loaves! Too much bicarbonate of soda made the damper taste pretty yukky, according to the reactions on faces! In our Four Cups experiment we investigated which cup retained the heat best. Learning to use the mini-digital thermometers was a hit! But – STEM was yet to come! We designed a hovercraft from a very limited set of materials, and got to test it with a hairdryer! Would we be up to the challenge of inventing a machine that could be powered by the sun, yet safe to travel in?
Year 3
This term we used our prior knowledge about heat energy and heat transference when investigating how solids and liquids responded to changes in temperature. Speed melting let us explore how ice melts and solidifies differently if salt is added. We were surprised to find it was very difficult to completely freeze a salty water solution. Designing and building our Solar Ovens was a real highlight! Our group work was wonderful, we even shared the melted chocolate, carefully on our own pop-sticks. Watching the oven temperature rise, by reading the mini-digital thermometers was awesome! Then came our cooking segment, following a recipe which required either heating or freezing to create something delicious…who says Science is boring? Not us!
Year 4
This term focused on classifying and comparing natural and processed materials. Students looked at a variety of materials found around the home, garden or school and learnt to classify them based on their physical properties. In the Sink or Swim investigation predictions were made before a large variety of objects made from different materials were dunked into the water. Would they sink or swim? Some of us were surprised to discover what happened, and we began to understand how objects have different density because of how at the microscopic level the particles they are made from are closer or further spaced. We made the first type of ‘organic’ plastic using milk and vinegar! Very smelly experiment indeed! But, surprisingly in the 1890’s this type of plastic was used to make: buttons; buckles; knitting needles and necklaces. Next, we completed a STEM challenge to invent our own bioplastic and convince others of its benefits.
Year 5
Solid, liquid or gas? Well, the Year 5 students know exactly how atoms behave in each state of matter. They enjoyed behaving like atoms in our Solids, liquids and gases game this term. I think the gas particles had the most fun bouncing off each other! The solid atoms could only shake a bit, and they really had to hang together. Liquid atoms could flow, but stay linked! Does air have mass was our challenge question, and the use of the Fizz keeper and the digital scales helped solve the problem. The final lessons focused on mini-STEM projects: like designing a model vehicle using an alternative fuel; designing a 3D paper main meal with solids, liquid and gas components; or creating a hemispherical igloo using ice, water, and salt. All up the knowledge about the three states of matter, solids, liquids and gas was greatly enhanced this term.
Year 6
Year 6’s explored reversible and irreversible reactions, as well as identifying chemical and physical changes to substances. They experimented on crepe paper, made their own fizzy sherbet, froze and heated water to see how it changed. They made predictions about how a variety of substances would react with each other. But mixing ingredients to make amazing gingerbread, might have been the most fun (some ate it before it was cooked)! Along the way, they have gained a real love for Science and the scientific method. They are well-prepared for even greater adventures in Science and STEM to come as they transition into Secondary school. What a joy it was to teach you!
Mrs Colette Meyerkort
Science Specialist Teacher
