Around the School – October 2009

International Baccalaureate Years:

Once again we have mailed away Extended, World Literature and Theory of Knowledge Essays – and feel a collective sense of relief that they are safely away. Now, as almost all internal assessment items are complete, the students can focus on preparing for the November examinations.  The Visual Arts students, in particular, are focussing on exams, as their exhibition is set for Thursday 17th September. The availability of the visiting examiner has led us to change from a Friday to a Thursday, but now that we have, we feel it may be even better! Certainly, it is less likely to interfere with parents’ weekend plans. It will be interesting to see how well the new time works.

 The first year students continue to work steadily, especially as some of them ‘find their feet’, and more importantly, their own goals and hopes. It is only their own will which can sustain the level of commitment needed – we are very glad to see this manifesting and being reflected in great dedication. This is also the time when next year’s group begins to crystallise, making their own decisions about their particular courses and options for the final years of school. It is good to see a range of choices being made, with the students showing great maturity and sense in planning for their future.

 Lower Secondary

Term three was filled with the activities and tasks that make up the learning continuum.  Subject work, preparing for the quiz night and the swap meet to raise funds for the future Thailand trip, an outing to the Concert Hall, Wednesday morning activities such jewellery making, music/sound recording, cooking, shelf painting and web-work, all filled up the weeks effortlessly – some carrying over into the new term, providing new means of expression and social integration.

 The first week back has the added experience of event-organisation requiring crowd management of whole school proportions.  Two boys have taken on the task of coordinating a “Stand Up Against Poverty” photo-shoot of the school population as part of an international Make Poverty History campaign to remind politicians of their “promises” and responsibilities with regard to our world community.  There is something for everyone in the Montessori environment, and the challenges are accepted with flexibility and imagination.

 Upper Primary

We began the year by examining the various branches of science and what sorts of things scientists in these areas study.  We then took a closer look at the skills scientists use, such as making and testing predictions, making observations, and the importance of designing a fair test.  The children have had plenty of opportunity to practise these skills by using self guided experiments, worksheets and various items of scientific equipment.  This theme of scientific inquiry has been incorporated into the various topics covered throughout the year.

 Some of the favourite science areas covered include forces, particles and matter.  The children have studied these key subject areas investigating buoyancy, friction, gravity and air resistance.  Of particular enjoyment was an investigation to determine what effect changing a parachute canopy size would have on the resulting fall time.  This reinforced the importance of designing a fair test with controlled variables.  The Secondary school balcony provided an excellent launching pad for the many intrepid paperclip skydivers.

 Lower Primary

The highlight of this term was the visit to the Woodvale Library on the 15th of September.  Once again our sincere thanks to parents for their invaluable help on the day.  The children were informed of the various types of resources and services available at the Library.  Knowledge on how to find information on various topics without using the internet was followed by an interesting activity with the Dewey decimal system.

The children also enjoyed a story session followed by a craft activity.  In addition to this we were given a tour of the physical layout of the library and an explanation of the various duties performed by the librarians. Most children are members of a library and are familiar with the calmness and serenity of the place – however it was very interesting to hear from them at our follow-up discussion in the classroom that most of them enjoyed the 'back room’ that is always in a buzz of activity.   

 Pre-Primary

This term the children have been excitedly sprouting and tending a variety of seeds. We sprouted our own mung beans, which we consumed at lunchtime and are now eagerly observing and watering our broad beans, which are planted on the garden beds and in pots on the veranda and growing increasingly tall.  We identified parts of the seed and roots and used a microscope to spot the radicle .We look forward to seeing how high our beans grow.

We celebrated the Chinese Moon festival by making lanterns and having a tea session, which included Jasmine tea and tasting Moon cakes. These had interesting fillings such as red bean paste and lotus seeds and many of the children enjoyed these new flavours.

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Last modified: 16-06-09