Minimbah Update
- It's Festivale Time!
- Updated Image Permissions at Woodleigh School
- Starting a new year in The Hive
- Developing our sense of belonging in the Cocoon
- Off to a Brilliant start in Foundation
- Years 1 and 2 are into it!
- Year 3 is a Blast!
- What a wonderful start we’ve had in Year 4
- Reconnecting with Friends and making new connections in Year 5
- Welcome to Year 6!
- Join us at our Term 1 PEP Talk - Wednesday 1 March
- See you at the Minimbah Fair! Friday 3 March
It's Festivale Time!
Dear Minimbah Parents,
Thank you to the many parents who were able to join us at our information evening recently. It is always great to bring the community together at the start of each year to share in our collective mission to develop creative, compassionate, skilful and resilient young people ready to take on the challenges of the future into which they are heading. Using the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme as the framework for delivering rich and deep learning programs, our students work across disciplines, developing their conceptual understandings. You will have been introduced to the programs at the information evening that will engage and challenge the children throughout 2023. Transdisciplinary learning and experiences are key to the success of learning at the primary campuses of Woodleigh, and staff take great pride in developing relevant and significant learning. If you have any questions about learning here at Minimbah, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or our Head of Learning, Jodie Kirchner.
Thank you also to the parents who could join us at the recent Body Safety Information session.
Body Safety Australia begin sessions with students this week. Teaching students about body autonomy and body safety is critical in supporting a safe and inclusive environment in which our youngest people can thrive. If you have any questions about the Body Safety Program, there is information online at www.bodysafetyaustralia.com.au. You can also reach out to the Deputy Head of Minimbah, Kate Bird, who coordinates the program here at Minimbah.
I look forward to welcoming you all to the PFG’ Festivale du Minimbah’, our reimagining of the Minimbah Fair and the first after a hiatus of four years. As with all successful community events, you must be there to ensure a fun evening for all concerned. Please watch out for regular updates from Class Reps and if you can volunteer some time to support one another on a class stall. Pre-purchasing tickets helps the PFG enormously in the lead-up to the Fair. All students will have their moment to shine in class performances. There will be an art auction (class collaborative art-works up for bid). Senior Campus musicians and bands will perform and a staff sing-a-long will round out the entertainment!
Staff News
After leading the teaching and learning programs across both Woodleigh Junior Campuses, Jodie Kirchner, our Head of Learning and PYP Coordinator, will leave us at Term 1. Jodie has steered us through the successful accreditation process, much of which was undertaken throughout our Covid lock-down period. Jodie’s ability to immerse staff in the Inquiry process as we navigated the learning pathway to becoming a Primary Years Program accredited school was incredible. She has carried her role with professionalism and assurance across both Junior Campuses for the past four years, and she will be greatly missed. Jodie has laid a strong foundation for Woodleigh School to continue the growth and development of their multi-campus PYP curriculum and Internationalism in Education. She leaves us to join a team of Melbourne University experts, in the role of Education Programs Coordinator at the Asia Education Foundation. Ahead of Jodie leaving us, we thank her for her work with us and wish her well in her new role in the tertiary sector. Woodleigh School now begins the process of appointing a new Junior Campus Head of Learning and PYP Coordinator. I will let you know the outcome of that process in due course.
Looking ahead:
- School photos are being taken on Tuesday this week (28 February). Please make sure you have organised your orders online through Schoolpix.
- District Swimming Trials – Wednesday 1 March (qualifying students)
- Festivale du Minimbah – Friday 3 March, 3.20pm – 8.00pm
- Team Swimming Sports – Mornington Secondary Swimming School, Friday 10 March, Years 3-6 students
See you all at the Festivale!
ROD DAVIES
Deputy Principal – Head of Minimbah Campus
Updated Image Permissions at Woodleigh School
Woodleigh’s curricular and co-curricular programs offer a wealth of experiences; from classroom activities to incursions and excursions, Camps, Activities, Music, Sports, and Arts programs. And we love to document and share it with you all.
In line with privacy regulations, we need to update our permissions for image capture and use which showcase the learning and community engagement of the school. We have clarified the levels of permission families are able to give to allow the publication of images of their children.
Woodleigh’s image consent levels are as follows*:
- Images for school management and safety purposes – No consent is required
- Annual School Photograph Images – Opt-out available
- General Usage Images – Opt-out available
- Web-Based Publicly Accessible Images – Opt-in
- Images used in External Media – Opt-in
- Images used in Advertising – Individual consent will be sought
*Further explanation of the levels of consent and their associated use follows below.
As with medical and co-curricular consent, image use permissions will be managed by Operoo. Operoo requests will be sent to families in the coming weeks.
Woodleigh has always celebrated the achievements and experiences of our students, and we hope to keep publishing images and videos that highlight the amazing work done by staff and students at Minimbah, Penbank and the Senior Campus.
We hope these changes will better reflect the way we use images while protecting the wishes of individuals and families. If you have any questions about image use at Woodleigh, please shoot me an email: aliddiard@woodleigh.vic.edu.au
ADAM LIDDIARD
Director of Community Engagement
Levels of Image Consent at Woodleigh
Images for school management and safety purposes
Consent is not required for Woodleigh to use student images for safety reasons, such as identification, medical and school management systems, including but not limited to:
- TASS (main school database)
- SEQTA (Learning Management System)
- OPEROO (Medical management)
We require an image of all students for these purposes, which we request at enrolment. We will periodically update this image as the child progresses through the school, using school photographs when available.
Annual School Photograph Images
Woodleigh may use the individual and group annual school photographs for the following purposes:
- For sale to parents/guardians (parents are under no obligation to purchase)
- For school identification purposes, stored on school databases
- To print on school ID cards.
We notify families that photographs are being taken, and parents can opt-out of having their child participate. To opt-out, parents must contact the relevant Campus Reception before photo day to advise that their child will not participate.
General Usage Images
An annual Standard Collection Notice outlines the images we use, including images of students or student’s work as they engage in their learning, activities, camps, excursions, and other events the school offers.
Examples include the following image use:
- In learning and teaching tools and activities (e.g. for assessment, professional development, classroom displays, noticeboards, learning activities)
- In print newsletters and magazines produced by Woodleigh
- On Internal ICT systems and school sites, learning and teaching sites and websites (including SEQTA and Seesaw)
- In supporting the learning needs, wellbeing, and health of a student (i.e. PE skill development)
- For other purposes where the usage is restricted to the school community
- For class, Homestead, and Team photographs: e.g. annual class photograph, sports team or another team photograph.
Where possible, older students are asked by staff for their permission (this may occur informally) to use the image/s.
Parents can opt out of general usage by responding to the annual Standard Collection Notice. Parents can inform the relevant Head of Campus in writing if they wish to change their consent during the year.
Web-Based Publicly Accessible Images
Annual consent will be sought for the school to use images in online, publicly accessible locations such as the Woodleigh Messenger and Website and the school’s social media accounts, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.
Parents can opt-in by responding to the annual communication. Parents can inform the relevant Head of Campus in writing if they wish to change their consent during the year.
Images used in External Media
Annual consent will be sought for the school to use images in external media such as newspapers and other third-party publications for the purpose of promotion and communication of school activities and programs.
Parents can opt-in by responding to the annual communication. Parents can inform the relevant Head of Campus in writing if they wish to change their consent during the year.
Images used in Advertising
Individual consent will be sought for the use of images for advertising purposes. The school will provide information regarding the image’s intended use in the consent documentation.
Images Taken by Others at School Performances, Sporting Events, and Other Community Events
When possible, Woodleigh permits parents/carers, students and invited guests to photograph, film or record school performances, sporting events and other community activities. (Note: this is not possible for copyrighted performances).
However, the school asks that families, students and guests who photograph, film or record activities do so for personal use and do not publish the images, including on social media, without the prior consent of the persons whose children also appear in the images.
Please note: The school does not own or control any images of students taken by parents/carers, students, or their guests at school events.
Please note:
On occasions where we record or capture whole school or large group events (Assemblies, Productions, Concerts, Sporting events), we will do our best to exclude children whose parents have chosen to opt-out. However, at large-scale events, this may not always be possible.
Starting a new year in The Hive
The beginning of our year in The Hive has been full of many emotions.
We were excited to start the year and enjoyed getting to know one another during our orientation interviews. Lockers were chosen, and the children began to familiarise themselves with their new learning environment.
Our half days sessions were another source of joy, as families supported their children settling into The Hive. Then with a big leap of faith, families said goodbye, and the children independently spent the session playing and learning with their new friends.
Last week we began our full program, including our first long days in The ECC. Even though the initial excitement had worn off a little for some children, many arrived with happy smiles and enthusiasm. Some children were feeling a bit more hesitant and unsure, which of course, is to be expected. We must remember that this is a big transition for many children and their families, especially in recent years. As educators, we will support the children and their families to ensure a positive and successful transition for all the children in The Hive.
The children have already been sharing how they feel about this new experience. Our morning meetings have been enriched with discussions about our emotions and how we may care for ourselves and each other.
Dorothy:” I feel good because I have been playing with new people.“
Raffi: “I feel good as I like to play.”
Cassi: “I couldn’t find my red panda anywhere. I was worried.”
Iris: “You can feel sad.”
Albert: “You could give someone a cuddle if they are sad.”
Issy: “Get in the green zone to make them happy. I like to give budgie a cuddle to get happy.”
This conversation led to explorations about The Zones of Regulation and how to use them to recognise and support our emotions. This program is a tool that helps children begin to recognise and learn to regulate their emotions by associating them with different colours. For example, someone in the red zone may feel angry or out of control, while someone in the green zone may feel calm and ready to learn. The children explored the visual images of each zone and shared their thoughts about the emotions we all experience at different times. They then enjoyed using the mirrors to see how their faces might look when experiencing different feelings.
Tom: “I feel hurt when I’m Angry.”
Fleur: “I look like that when I’m sad.”
These investigations and learning experiences all link in with our Unit of Inquiry
“Who we are”,
and our central idea:
We are learning about ourselves and others as part of a learning community.
We will continue to investigate and learn about our emotions and how best to acknowledge and support ourselves and our friends throughout the year.
Thank you, everyone, for a positive and joyful start to our year together!
Love Emma, Milly, Heather and The Hive Children
Developing our sense of belonging in the Cocoon
We have begun our year in The Cocoon by introducing the Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are. Our early investigations have focused on our families and made us curious about where and with whom we belong.
“I am in my family” Indiana
“Woodleigh” Amelie
“I have a family”, Mila
“I do ‘acro-kids’ not at my home though”, Walter
“I have a mum and dad, oh and a sister Harlow” Oscar
“I live near Luca”, Spencer
“I went to another kinder now I’m here”, Elle
“Is this the Cocoon here? So the Cocoon is Woodleigh school” Elijah
As we explore our relationships and the groups we belong to in the wider community, we learn more about each other’s identities. We are looking forward to celebrating diversity and making the connection that relationships are crucial to our sense of belonging.
“I have a Woodleigh leaf”, Aaren
As the children explored Derinya Reserve, they found and collected lots of Woodleigh leaves so we could do art with some. We decided we could create our very own individual leaf on a mobile.
“It’s our own Woodleigh flag”, Tom
“They are gum leaves. It means respect,” Mila
“It’s to tell us to share and care”, Amelie
“Show love”, Arlo
“Respect everything”, Luca
“Yeah, like the land”, Seb
“Only take what you need”, Noah
By learning about the relationships, experiences and interests which help shape the children’s lives, educators play an essential role in helping the children develop their sense of identity and belonging. As they play, learn, and try new things in the ECC, the children are developing
As we develop this unit of inquiry, we plan to support the children to develop a deeper understanding of themselves as significant, respected members of our community.
Many of the games and learning invitations offered in the early weeks of the program have been carefully planned to build a sense of belonging through collaborative work. Working in small groups with others helps children learn to play cooperatively, help peers, show empathy, and feel the sense of satisfaction of teamwork. All educators have observed the children developing these skills through routines, visual cue cards and the development of our classroom agreement.
Off to a Brilliant start in Foundation
We have got off to a brilliant start in Foundation! Seeing the children settle into our routines and become more independent and confident at school has been fantastic. Starting school can be exhausting for children (and families), so thank you for your help in making the transition so positive.
Unit of Inquiry
Our central idea for this unit is, 'Exploring personal identity helps us to understand and build relationships with others.' We will continue to work on this unit throughout the term and explore relationships, belonging, identity, rights and responsibilities, and emotions. Our lines of inquiry for this unit are;
- Understanding the identity of ourselves and others
- Building and maintaining relationships
- How to develop our learning community.
This is a perfect unit to begin our year with as it helps the children to understand the social and emotional concepts that build self-esteem, friendship, and a sense of belonging in our classroom community. The children loved beginning to share their 'All About Me' posters and have had many opportunities to reflect on the skills required to build relationships with others. We have read many stories about friendship and even written and illustrated our own Friendship Book as a class. The children also decided they would like to make a class, 'Caring Tree', where we can celebrate acts of kindness that we see in Foundation.
English
We have begun learning our Speed Sounds in 'Read Write Inc' time. The children have enjoyed exploring the sounds and learning to write them using the handwriting prompts for each letter. If you would like to see the order in which we teach the sounds or discuss the handwriting prompts with your child, check the small green book in your child's reading folder. It's great to encourage your child to find the letters they have learned on signs or in text; if they are keen, they can practice writing them at home too.
Our focus during reading time this term has been on listening and responding to shared texts by answering and posing relevant questions and making predictions about what we are reading. We have been reading picture storybooks that relate to our central idea and concepts for our unit of inquiry. If your child has any books they would like to bring to share with us that focus on identity, relationships, or emotions, that would be wonderful.
Maths
Our focus so far this term has been on numbers and counting. We have worked on our ability to count and use number words and numerals to represent quantities. The children have enjoyed learning and playing dice games and watching video clips about numbers and problem-solving. We have also spent time learning the correct handwriting formation of the numerals so that we can efficiently and effectively record our mathematical thinking. Toward the end of the term, we will look at the measurement of time as we learn the days of the week and explore the months of the year.
Our first Discovery Day last Wednesday was lots of fun!
Reminders
- Please let me know if you are not connected to your child's Seesaw account or have difficulty signing up. I post regular updates of what we are up to in class so your child can share what they have done at school with you.
- Throughout Term 1, please send your child's swimming bag in at the start of each week, and Mr Roden will choose the best day for the children to swim based on the weather.
- If you still need to do so, please send in a bright-coloured t-shirt for your child's Gummy Bear costume for our fair performance.
- Please ensure everything your child brings to school is named so we can help return lost items to them.
- 'Read with Me' folders should be returned to school each Friday so that we can help your child choose new 'Read to me books' to bring home each Monday.
We can't wait to see you all at the fair on Friday!
Kind regards,
Jacqui, Jasmine & Bron
Years 1 and 2 are into it!
We have had a successful start to the year for 2023; It is hard to believe we have just finished week 4 of Term! We have settled in well to our routines and have been very active in our learning.
Literacy
We have commenced our Read Write Inc (RWI) program, and the children are working well in their groups and should be bringing home their readers to show their reading at home. Remember, the RWI readers have been ones they have practised in class, and they should be extremely fluent and expressive when they read them.
Maths
During maths sessions, we have been looking at number knowledge with a special focus on counting. We have been doing a lot of work recognising counting patterns and sequences and using our prior knowledge to find numbers in sequence. We have also been discussing collecting data and displaying what we find effectively.
Inquiry
Within our 'Who We Are' topic, we have been celebrating our similarities and differences and acknowledging that while we are all individuals, there are certain values that we all feel are important such as friendship and kindness.
Our Central Idea is
- Exploring beliefs and values within community helps people understand and make connections with others.
Our lines of Inquiry for this unit are
- Diversity in communities (including families)
- Beliefs and values that connect us to people
- Connecting with others through our beliefs and values
From week 6, we will move on to our new unit, 'How we organise ourselves.'
Discovery Day
It has been great to venture out for Discovery Day to explore Overport Park and get to know each other. It was wonderful to see the students work together and use some of what we have been doing in class, exploring 'our patch' and apply it while we were out there.
Discovery day photos
Finally, we are looking forward to the fair coming up; if you haven't already, please sign up to help out at our class stalls and purchase your tickets online.
Kind Regards
Liane and Lexi
Year 3 is a Blast!
Starting the year with my Year 3 students has been an absolute blast! Their enthusiasm and engagement have been impressive and watching them collaborate and work as a united team has been a true pleasure. It has also been great to see them building friendships and supporting one another in their learning has been particularly heartwarming, with each student contributing their own unique skills to the group. I'm excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for us.
Homework
The expectation has been explained to the students. I have explained they are to complete a minimum of 5 x 20 minutes blocks of reading across each week. I have permitted the flexibility to arrange their schedule and when they complete the reading (mornings, evenings, weekends).
Students who are avid readers and exceed these requirements can continue to read in a way that is comfortable and suits their style.
If meeting this homework becomes difficult for your child or... becomes something the parent ends up having to enforce! Let me know, and I can intervene from the school's perspective and support your child to meet expectations. I certainly do not want to promote negativity or stress around reading and will be keen to keep reading homework as positive an experience as possible.
Reading can involve any combination of reading texts, including graphic novels and follow-along audiobooks. Parent to child, child to parent and all manner of independent reading are warmly welcomed.
Units of Inquiry
Our first unit of inquiry of the year is an introduction to our year-long exploration into wellbeing. The goals of the unit include helping students understand what it means to have wellbeing, what factors contribute to it, and how to promote it in themselves and their community.
Students will learn about the different elements that make up wellbeing, such as physical, emotional, and social factors, and how they can impact it. They will also explore the importance of respect for self, others, and the environment in achieving and promoting wellbeing.
The unit will also cover skills and dispositions such as self-management, social skills, reflection, and resilience, with a focus on identifying choices that positively impact personal wellbeing and being reflective about those choices.
Overall, the goal is to help students develop informed actions that contribute to their own and others' wellbeing and to become responsible and caring members of their community.
As part of this unit of study, we are investigating the Growth Mindset and also how we can manage our emotions in difficult situations. In relation to the latter, a key catalyst for discussion has been the short story 'Take a Breath'.
Mathematics
We have commenced Year 3 with a range of mathematical activities designed to build confidence and competency in manipulating numbers. The number relationship between Place Value columns has been a key early focus and is a great lead into Addition and Subtraction. Developing a positive relationship with mathematics is incredibly important.
I will be encouraging the students to recognise that mathematics is an extensive subject that covers a range of topics and areas. It is not possible to be simply good or bad at the subject as it encompasses so many different branches.
We have also commenced our measurement unit around time, and you are encouraged to refer to time in discussions during this term using all the different terminology.
Examples:
- "How long do you have before gymnastics starts?"
- "Dinner will be at quarter past six tonight."
- "Set your alarm for 7 am"
English
Have you heard where the names of the days come from (Monday, Saturday)? Students have been investigating etymology as part of their understanding of how English words were formed and constructed. It is the beginning of our investigation into the construction of words and part of our deep dive into spelling. We recently learnt that 'i, j, q, u, v' are not meant to be at the end of words, and it is intriguing to see why there are exceptions to these rules (you, menu, rev). Students will have shared samples of their narrative writing as we examine the writing process and how to construct writing pieces using various planning techniques. A significant part of our English language learning occurs through our program of inquiry, as students learn through language, using language as a tool to think, listen, discuss and reflect on information, issues and ideas.
MKGE
Minimbah Kitchen Garden Explore has commenced, and the students have sampled the first round of activities.
As the term progresses, they will complete a 3-week unit in each part of the program. Here are some snapshots from their experiences so far.
Craig Kenner
What a wonderful start we’ve had in Year 4
Units of Inquiry
During the first few weeks of Term 1, we have been inquiring into the idea that understanding wellbeing enables us to promote it within the community, as a part of our year-long unit of inquiry, Who We Are.
To begin with, we looked at the definition of wellbeing – the state of being healthy, happy or comfortable. With that in mind, students used a thinking routine called Stock and Flow, which supports students to think about interconnectedness within systems. We imagine a bathtub, which has a tap to fill it up, and a drain to empty it, and ask – what if the bathtub is you wellbeing? What can we ‘put in’ to fill it up? What might ‘drain’ from it? The process of inquiry so far has enabled us to deepen our understanding of two of the Key Concepts in this unit – Connection and causation. At the same time, we went through a very similar process to create our class essential agreement – some pictures of this included below.
Students worked in teams to try to group their ideas by highlighting related ideas, and as a class, we came up with a list of categories that we think contribute to a person’s wellbeing. We then created a wellbeing simulation game and explored how our choices may impact our wellbeing. Have a look at the photos below to understand a little of how the process unfolded.
This week, we begin our new unit of inquiry, Sharing the Planet, in which we’ll be inquiring into the central idea that people’s responses to the actions of others affects the harmony of a community. Stay tuned!
Mathematics
Our first unit of learning in mathematics is focused on place value – essentially, how our number system works. We’ve been learning about patterns we see, reading, portioning and ordering numbers, and renaming numbers – for example, how 5324 can be renamed as 532 tens and 2 ones, or 53 hundreds, 2 tens and 4 ones. Alongside this, students have learnt a bunch of fun maths games that support their fluency and understanding of these concepts. Why don’t you try this one out at home?
Draw out six playing cards each (remove 10 and picture cards).
Using your six cards, make two three-digit numbers which add up to as close to 1000 as possible. The winner is the closest to one thousand. (If this is too much of a challenge, try the same game with four cards each, two-digit numbers and aim for 100!) When playing this game, encourage students to use ‘mental strategies’ – they may add the hundreds first, then the tens, then the ones. They might record their thinking or do so in their heads – but this process really reinforces the place value concepts we are learning about.
Language
In language, we have begun inquiring into the question, ‘What makes a good story?’ Students have begun reading and analysing picture books to look for the connection between how stories are structured and organised, developing their own plans for exciting narratives and collecting interesting vocabulary they may use.
I can’t believe we’re only four weeks in… there is so much happening! We are looking forward to seeing you at the Year 4 Assembly on March 2nd so we can share some more.
James Clapham
Reconnecting with Friends and making new connections in Year 5
We have reconnected with friends and established new friendships with others in the Homestead as we focus on being caring and communicative learners with opportunities to thrive. We are extending this learning about connections into our unit of inquiry: Sharing the Planet, in particular the interdependence of systems and how they can affect the Earth’s ability to thrive. Through the key concepts of connection, causation and function we are delving into our lines of inquiry:
• The role of diversity and balance within ecosystems
• The impact people can have on ecosystems
• Actions to maintain and regenerate ecosystems
With some topical discussions on ‘greenwashing’ and the responsibility that small and large companies have to the environment we are excited to see the actions students will take to address issues raised in this unit.
Numeracy
To perceive mathematics as both useful and worthwhile, to believe that steady effort in learning pays off and to see oneself as an effective learner and do-er of mathematics is our key focus throughout our numeracy sessions in the 5/6 Homestead. Continuous and conscious effort toward this productive disposition has enabled us to understand and work flexibly with numbers in our current unit of place value. Students are beginning to challenge themselves and each other as we investigate our place value system and review our work to check the reasonableness of our answers. As we plan our Maths units, the four proficiencies will be at forefront of our thinking:
- Reasoning
- Fluency
- Understanding
- Problem-Solving
We are looking forward to working together as a Homestead on a range of problem-solving activities and attempting to balance open-ended activities with explicit Maths teaching.
Over the next few weeks, our themes in Maths will centre on understanding place value using the four processes, mapping, and posing questions and collecting categorical and numerical data through observations and surveys.
Literacy
We have developed strong links in literacy with our ongoing unit of Who We Are. In Week 1, Year 5 students began interviewing Year 6 students about key moments in their lives. As students have established these new relationships, they have taken the time to reflect on what they have heard to and have identified the character traits of their partners to construct a detailed biography. Embodying the learner attributes of ‘caring’ and ‘communicator’ have been vital as students engage in choosing language and grammatical features to best describe their partner. Towards the end of the term, students will develop their oral language skills and self-confidence as they present their biographies to one another, along with a piece of art. Stay tuned, for this is something not to miss!
Zara Love-Davey and Andy Hicks
Welcome to Year 6!
We’ve had an excellent start, setting ourselves up for a successful year ahead. A big thank you to all those who attended our information night and parent-teacher interviews; we value the information gained and encourage open, two-way communication to continue.
Homework has begun! Last Friday, students were given their homework tasks for the term and encouraged to read through all the tasks before deciding on a task to begin. These tasks have been designed to complement the learning at school while allowing students agency in how they complete their tasks.
Auditions for roles in our production of Matilda are underway, with many performers showing great resilience and bravery, overcoming nerves to give it their best shot! Mrs Wong and Mr Huddle will announce the cast in Week 9, and rehearsals will begin in Term 2.
Year 6 are heavily involved in the upcoming Minimbah Fair. We have the responsibility of running several stalls and helping across the other activities and stalls of younger year levels. We have some schedules set up in the Homestead, and most students have committed to operating a stall for part of the afternoon and evening. Please check in with your child to discuss where and when they need to be available to help at a stall. It promises to be a wonderful event which may include a surprise performance!
Thank you for your support as we begin the end of your child’s primary school experience,
Jacqui and Jonno
Find below a brief outline of our program for this term.
Inquiry
Students have started our Who We Are inquiry unit, where they explore roles and responsibilities within different communities and their roles as leaders within our school community. As discussed at the parent information night, this unit of inquiry will be an overarching inquiry throughout the year centred around the idea of ‘Building a sense of community creates a sense of belonging’, where student-led initiatives will be encouraged wherever inspired.
Lines of inquiry for our Who We Are inquiry unit:
- Our rights and responsibilities within a community
- Factors that contribute to and promote a sense of belonging
- How we promote a sense of belonging in our community.
English
Minimbah loves reading, and Year 6 is no different; we’re committed to developing a community of readers who appreciate reading for information and enjoyment. Literacy groups will commence shortly, where students will meet their point of the challenge.
Year 6 have been interacting with their Homestead Partners listening to their stories, and asking insightful questions to gain a better understanding of who they are. They will then use the interviews to write a biography of their Homestead Partner. Later in the term, students will engage with the language features of opinion pieces, discussions and expositions.
Maths
In Mathematics, our approach addresses the four proficiencies of understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning, collaborating closely as part of the Homestead team to meet students’ needs.
Number and Algebra
Central Idea: The base 10-number system follows a multiplicative pattern.
Lines of inquiry:
- Patterns in number systems
- Magnitude in the base 10 number system
- Negative numbers in the base 10 number system
- Using place value to assist with solving problems.
Measurement and Geometry
Central idea: Time systems have been constructed to measure and organise time.
Lines of inquiry
- Systems for organising time
- Calculating elapsed time in complex situations.
Statistics and Probability
Central Idea: The way data is collected, organised and presented is connected to its purpose.
Lines of inquiry
- Developing purposeful questions for data collection
- Formats for collecting, organising and presenting data
- Evaluating the effectiveness of formats for collecting, organising & presenting data.
Join us at our Term 1 PEP Talk - Wednesday 1 March
Join Professor Lea Waters, leader in the field of positive psychology, for our Term 1 PEP Talk on the evening of Wednesday 1 March in the Senior Campus Hall from 7pm.
Prof Waters will introduce you to the strength-based approach that informs the teaching and learning at Woodleigh School, and highlight the research underpinning this approach, including:
- higher levels of resilience and well-being;
- more effective stress-appraisal processes
- and higher likelihood of growing through adversity.
The strength-based approach has been shown to help adults be happier at work, children be happier at school and parents be happier at home.
See you at the Minimbah Fair! Friday 3 March
It's FUNORAMA time! Festivale Du Minimbah, Minimbah's County Fair will be full of wonders and fun for all, thrilling attractions and activities!
Games, challenges and stalls will provide the fun, delicious food and drinks will keep tummies happy, and heaps of live music, including the return of our fabulous class performances, will keep everyone entertained!
This PFG-sanctioned event will occur on our Minimbah Oval after school on Friday 3 March.
Your ticket purchase will award you with MINIMBUCKS! To be used on the attractions and activities!
Purchase your family ticket or single today!
Get your Fair tickets hereWoodleigh’s curricular and co-curricular programs offer a wealth of experiences; from classroom activities to incursions and excursions, Camps, Activities, Music, Sports, and Arts programs. And we love to document and share it with you all.
In line with privacy regulations, we need to update our permissions for image capture and use which showcase the learning and community engagement of the school. We have clarified the levels of permission families are able to give to allow the publication of images of their children.
Woodleigh’s image consent levels are as follows*:
- Images for school management and safety purposes – No consent is required
- Annual School Photograph Images – Opt-out available
- General Usage Images – Opt-out available
- Web-Based Publicly Accessible Images – Opt-in
- Images used in External Media – Opt-in
- Images used in Advertising – Individual consent will be sought
*Further explanation of the levels of consent and their associated use follows below.
As with medical and co-curricular consent, image use permissions will be managed by Operoo. Operoo requests will be sent to families in the coming weeks.
Woodleigh has always celebrated the achievements and experiences of our students, and we hope to keep publishing images and videos that highlight the amazing work done by staff and students at Minimbah, Penbank and the Senior Campus.
We hope these changes will better reflect the way we use images while protecting the wishes of individuals and families. If you have any questions about image use at Woodleigh, please shoot me an email: aliddiard@woodleigh.vic.edu.au
ADAM LIDDIARD
Director of Community Engagement
Levels of Image Consent at Woodleigh
Images for school management and safety purposes
Consent is not required for Woodleigh to use student images for safety reasons, such as identification, medical and school management systems, including but not limited to:
- TASS (main school database)
- SEQTA (Learning Management System)
- OPEROO (Medical management)
We require an image of all students for these purposes, which we request at enrolment. We will periodically update this image as the child progresses through the school, using school photographs when available.
Annual School Photograph Images
Woodleigh may use the individual and group annual school photographs for the following purposes:
- For sale to parents/guardians (parents are under no obligation to purchase)
- For school identification purposes, stored on school databases
- To print on school ID cards.
We notify families that photographs are being taken, and parents can opt-out of having their child participate. To opt-out, parents must contact the relevant Campus Reception before photo day to advise that their child will not participate.
General Usage Images
An annual Standard Collection Notice outlines the images we use, including images of students or student’s work as they engage in their learning, activities, camps, excursions, and other events the school offers.
Examples include the following image use:
- In learning and teaching tools and activities (e.g. for assessment, professional development, classroom displays, noticeboards, learning activities)
- In print newsletters and magazines produced by Woodleigh
- On Internal ICT systems and school sites, learning and teaching sites and websites (including SEQTA and Seesaw)
- In supporting the learning needs, wellbeing, and health of a student (i.e. PE skill development)
- For other purposes where the usage is restricted to the school community
- For class, Homestead, and Team photographs: e.g. annual class photograph, sports team or another team photograph.
Where possible, older students are asked by staff for their permission (this may occur informally) to use the image/s.
Parents can opt out of general usage by responding to the annual Standard Collection Notice. Parents can inform the relevant Head of Campus in writing if they wish to change their consent during the year.
Web-Based Publicly Accessible Images
Annual consent will be sought for the school to use images in online, publicly accessible locations such as the Woodleigh Messenger and Website and the school’s social media accounts, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo.
Parents can opt-in by responding to the annual communication. Parents can inform the relevant Head of Campus in writing if they wish to change their consent during the year.
Images used in External Media
Annual consent will be sought for the school to use images in external media such as newspapers and other third-party publications for the purpose of promotion and communication of school activities and programs.
Parents can opt-in by responding to the annual communication. Parents can inform the relevant Head of Campus in writing if they wish to change their consent during the year.
Images used in Advertising
Individual consent will be sought for the use of images for advertising purposes. The school will provide information regarding the image’s intended use in the consent documentation.
Images Taken by Others at School Performances, Sporting Events, and Other Community Events
When possible, Woodleigh permits parents/carers, students and invited guests to photograph, film or record school performances, sporting events and other community activities. (Note: this is not possible for copyrighted performances).
However, the school asks that families, students and guests who photograph, film or record activities do so for personal use and do not publish the images, including on social media, without the prior consent of the persons whose children also appear in the images.
Please note: The school does not own or control any images of students taken by parents/carers, students, or their guests at school events.
Please note:
On occasions where we record or capture whole school or large group events (Assemblies, Productions, Concerts, Sporting events), we will do our best to exclude children whose parents have chosen to opt-out. However, at large-scale events, this may not always be possible.
The beginning of our year in The Hive has been full of many emotions.
We were excited to start the year and enjoyed getting to know one another during our orientation interviews. Lockers were chosen, and the children began to familiarise themselves with their new learning environment.
Our half days sessions were another source of joy, as families supported their children settling into The Hive. Then with a big leap of faith, families said goodbye, and the children independently spent the session playing and learning with their new friends.
Last week we began our full program, including our first long days in The ECC. Even though the initial excitement had worn off a little for some children, many arrived with happy smiles and enthusiasm. Some children were feeling a bit more hesitant and unsure, which of course, is to be expected. We must remember that this is a big transition for many children and their families, especially in recent years. As educators, we will support the children and their families to ensure a positive and successful transition for all the children in The Hive.
The children have already been sharing how they feel about this new experience. Our morning meetings have been enriched with discussions about our emotions and how we may care for ourselves and each other.
Dorothy:” I feel good because I have been playing with new people.“
Raffi: “I feel good as I like to play.”
Cassi: “I couldn’t find my red panda anywhere. I was worried.”
Iris: “You can feel sad.”
Albert: “You could give someone a cuddle if they are sad.”
Issy: “Get in the green zone to make them happy. I like to give budgie a cuddle to get happy.”
This conversation led to explorations about The Zones of Regulation and how to use them to recognise and support our emotions. This program is a tool that helps children begin to recognise and learn to regulate their emotions by associating them with different colours. For example, someone in the red zone may feel angry or out of control, while someone in the green zone may feel calm and ready to learn. The children explored the visual images of each zone and shared their thoughts about the emotions we all experience at different times. They then enjoyed using the mirrors to see how their faces might look when experiencing different feelings.
Tom: “I feel hurt when I’m Angry.”
Fleur: “I look like that when I’m sad.”
These investigations and learning experiences all link in with our Unit of Inquiry
“Who we are”,
and our central idea:
We are learning about ourselves and others as part of a learning community.
We will continue to investigate and learn about our emotions and how best to acknowledge and support ourselves and our friends throughout the year.
Thank you, everyone, for a positive and joyful start to our year together!
Love Emma, Milly, Heather and The Hive Children
We have begun our year in The Cocoon by introducing the Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are. Our early investigations have focused on our families and made us curious about where and with whom we belong.
“I am in my family” Indiana
“Woodleigh” Amelie
“I have a family”, Mila
“I do ‘acro-kids’ not at my home though”, Walter
“I have a mum and dad, oh and a sister Harlow” Oscar
“I live near Luca”, Spencer
“I went to another kinder now I’m here”, Elle
“Is this the Cocoon here? So the Cocoon is Woodleigh school” Elijah
As we explore our relationships and the groups we belong to in the wider community, we learn more about each other’s identities. We are looking forward to celebrating diversity and making the connection that relationships are crucial to our sense of belonging.
“I have a Woodleigh leaf”, Aaren
As the children explored Derinya Reserve, they found and collected lots of Woodleigh leaves so we could do art with some. We decided we could create our very own individual leaf on a mobile.
“It’s our own Woodleigh flag”, Tom
“They are gum leaves. It means respect,” Mila
“It’s to tell us to share and care”, Amelie
“Show love”, Arlo
“Respect everything”, Luca
“Yeah, like the land”, Seb
“Only take what you need”, Noah
By learning about the relationships, experiences and interests which help shape the children’s lives, educators play an essential role in helping the children develop their sense of identity and belonging. As they play, learn, and try new things in the ECC, the children are developing
As we develop this unit of inquiry, we plan to support the children to develop a deeper understanding of themselves as significant, respected members of our community.
Many of the games and learning invitations offered in the early weeks of the program have been carefully planned to build a sense of belonging through collaborative work. Working in small groups with others helps children learn to play cooperatively, help peers, show empathy, and feel the sense of satisfaction of teamwork. All educators have observed the children developing these skills through routines, visual cue cards and the development of our classroom agreement.
We have got off to a brilliant start in Foundation! Seeing the children settle into our routines and become more independent and confident at school has been fantastic. Starting school can be exhausting for children (and families), so thank you for your help in making the transition so positive.
Unit of Inquiry
Our central idea for this unit is, 'Exploring personal identity helps us to understand and build relationships with others.' We will continue to work on this unit throughout the term and explore relationships, belonging, identity, rights and responsibilities, and emotions. Our lines of inquiry for this unit are;
- Understanding the identity of ourselves and others
- Building and maintaining relationships
- How to develop our learning community.
This is a perfect unit to begin our year with as it helps the children to understand the social and emotional concepts that build self-esteem, friendship, and a sense of belonging in our classroom community. The children loved beginning to share their 'All About Me' posters and have had many opportunities to reflect on the skills required to build relationships with others. We have read many stories about friendship and even written and illustrated our own Friendship Book as a class. The children also decided they would like to make a class, 'Caring Tree', where we can celebrate acts of kindness that we see in Foundation.
English
We have begun learning our Speed Sounds in 'Read Write Inc' time. The children have enjoyed exploring the sounds and learning to write them using the handwriting prompts for each letter. If you would like to see the order in which we teach the sounds or discuss the handwriting prompts with your child, check the small green book in your child's reading folder. It's great to encourage your child to find the letters they have learned on signs or in text; if they are keen, they can practice writing them at home too.
Our focus during reading time this term has been on listening and responding to shared texts by answering and posing relevant questions and making predictions about what we are reading. We have been reading picture storybooks that relate to our central idea and concepts for our unit of inquiry. If your child has any books they would like to bring to share with us that focus on identity, relationships, or emotions, that would be wonderful.
Maths
Our focus so far this term has been on numbers and counting. We have worked on our ability to count and use number words and numerals to represent quantities. The children have enjoyed learning and playing dice games and watching video clips about numbers and problem-solving. We have also spent time learning the correct handwriting formation of the numerals so that we can efficiently and effectively record our mathematical thinking. Toward the end of the term, we will look at the measurement of time as we learn the days of the week and explore the months of the year.
Our first Discovery Day last Wednesday was lots of fun!
Reminders
- Please let me know if you are not connected to your child's Seesaw account or have difficulty signing up. I post regular updates of what we are up to in class so your child can share what they have done at school with you.
- Throughout Term 1, please send your child's swimming bag in at the start of each week, and Mr Roden will choose the best day for the children to swim based on the weather.
- If you still need to do so, please send in a bright-coloured t-shirt for your child's Gummy Bear costume for our fair performance.
- Please ensure everything your child brings to school is named so we can help return lost items to them.
- 'Read with Me' folders should be returned to school each Friday so that we can help your child choose new 'Read to me books' to bring home each Monday.
We can't wait to see you all at the fair on Friday!
Kind regards,
Jacqui, Jasmine & Bron
We have had a successful start to the year for 2023; It is hard to believe we have just finished week 4 of Term! We have settled in well to our routines and have been very active in our learning.
Literacy
We have commenced our Read Write Inc (RWI) program, and the children are working well in their groups and should be bringing home their readers to show their reading at home. Remember, the RWI readers have been ones they have practised in class, and they should be extremely fluent and expressive when they read them.
Maths
During maths sessions, we have been looking at number knowledge with a special focus on counting. We have been doing a lot of work recognising counting patterns and sequences and using our prior knowledge to find numbers in sequence. We have also been discussing collecting data and displaying what we find effectively.
Inquiry
Within our 'Who We Are' topic, we have been celebrating our similarities and differences and acknowledging that while we are all individuals, there are certain values that we all feel are important such as friendship and kindness.
Our Central Idea is
- Exploring beliefs and values within community helps people understand and make connections with others.
Our lines of Inquiry for this unit are
- Diversity in communities (including families)
- Beliefs and values that connect us to people
- Connecting with others through our beliefs and values
From week 6, we will move on to our new unit, 'How we organise ourselves.'
Discovery Day
It has been great to venture out for Discovery Day to explore Overport Park and get to know each other. It was wonderful to see the students work together and use some of what we have been doing in class, exploring 'our patch' and apply it while we were out there.
Discovery day photos
Finally, we are looking forward to the fair coming up; if you haven't already, please sign up to help out at our class stalls and purchase your tickets online.
Kind Regards
Liane and Lexi
Starting the year with my Year 3 students has been an absolute blast! Their enthusiasm and engagement have been impressive and watching them collaborate and work as a united team has been a true pleasure. It has also been great to see them building friendships and supporting one another in their learning has been particularly heartwarming, with each student contributing their own unique skills to the group. I'm excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for us.
Homework
The expectation has been explained to the students. I have explained they are to complete a minimum of 5 x 20 minutes blocks of reading across each week. I have permitted the flexibility to arrange their schedule and when they complete the reading (mornings, evenings, weekends).
Students who are avid readers and exceed these requirements can continue to read in a way that is comfortable and suits their style.
If meeting this homework becomes difficult for your child or... becomes something the parent ends up having to enforce! Let me know, and I can intervene from the school's perspective and support your child to meet expectations. I certainly do not want to promote negativity or stress around reading and will be keen to keep reading homework as positive an experience as possible.
Reading can involve any combination of reading texts, including graphic novels and follow-along audiobooks. Parent to child, child to parent and all manner of independent reading are warmly welcomed.
Units of Inquiry
Our first unit of inquiry of the year is an introduction to our year-long exploration into wellbeing. The goals of the unit include helping students understand what it means to have wellbeing, what factors contribute to it, and how to promote it in themselves and their community.
Students will learn about the different elements that make up wellbeing, such as physical, emotional, and social factors, and how they can impact it. They will also explore the importance of respect for self, others, and the environment in achieving and promoting wellbeing.
The unit will also cover skills and dispositions such as self-management, social skills, reflection, and resilience, with a focus on identifying choices that positively impact personal wellbeing and being reflective about those choices.
Overall, the goal is to help students develop informed actions that contribute to their own and others' wellbeing and to become responsible and caring members of their community.
As part of this unit of study, we are investigating the Growth Mindset and also how we can manage our emotions in difficult situations. In relation to the latter, a key catalyst for discussion has been the short story 'Take a Breath'.
Mathematics
We have commenced Year 3 with a range of mathematical activities designed to build confidence and competency in manipulating numbers. The number relationship between Place Value columns has been a key early focus and is a great lead into Addition and Subtraction. Developing a positive relationship with mathematics is incredibly important.
I will be encouraging the students to recognise that mathematics is an extensive subject that covers a range of topics and areas. It is not possible to be simply good or bad at the subject as it encompasses so many different branches.
We have also commenced our measurement unit around time, and you are encouraged to refer to time in discussions during this term using all the different terminology.
Examples:
- "How long do you have before gymnastics starts?"
- "Dinner will be at quarter past six tonight."
- "Set your alarm for 7 am"
English
Have you heard where the names of the days come from (Monday, Saturday)? Students have been investigating etymology as part of their understanding of how English words were formed and constructed. It is the beginning of our investigation into the construction of words and part of our deep dive into spelling. We recently learnt that 'i, j, q, u, v' are not meant to be at the end of words, and it is intriguing to see why there are exceptions to these rules (you, menu, rev). Students will have shared samples of their narrative writing as we examine the writing process and how to construct writing pieces using various planning techniques. A significant part of our English language learning occurs through our program of inquiry, as students learn through language, using language as a tool to think, listen, discuss and reflect on information, issues and ideas.
MKGE
Minimbah Kitchen Garden Explore has commenced, and the students have sampled the first round of activities.
As the term progresses, they will complete a 3-week unit in each part of the program. Here are some snapshots from their experiences so far.
Craig Kenner
Units of Inquiry
During the first few weeks of Term 1, we have been inquiring into the idea that understanding wellbeing enables us to promote it within the community, as a part of our year-long unit of inquiry, Who We Are.
To begin with, we looked at the definition of wellbeing – the state of being healthy, happy or comfortable. With that in mind, students used a thinking routine called Stock and Flow, which supports students to think about interconnectedness within systems. We imagine a bathtub, which has a tap to fill it up, and a drain to empty it, and ask – what if the bathtub is you wellbeing? What can we ‘put in’ to fill it up? What might ‘drain’ from it? The process of inquiry so far has enabled us to deepen our understanding of two of the Key Concepts in this unit – Connection and causation. At the same time, we went through a very similar process to create our class essential agreement – some pictures of this included below.
Students worked in teams to try to group their ideas by highlighting related ideas, and as a class, we came up with a list of categories that we think contribute to a person’s wellbeing. We then created a wellbeing simulation game and explored how our choices may impact our wellbeing. Have a look at the photos below to understand a little of how the process unfolded.
This week, we begin our new unit of inquiry, Sharing the Planet, in which we’ll be inquiring into the central idea that people’s responses to the actions of others affects the harmony of a community. Stay tuned!
Mathematics
Our first unit of learning in mathematics is focused on place value – essentially, how our number system works. We’ve been learning about patterns we see, reading, portioning and ordering numbers, and renaming numbers – for example, how 5324 can be renamed as 532 tens and 2 ones, or 53 hundreds, 2 tens and 4 ones. Alongside this, students have learnt a bunch of fun maths games that support their fluency and understanding of these concepts. Why don’t you try this one out at home?
Draw out six playing cards each (remove 10 and picture cards).
Using your six cards, make two three-digit numbers which add up to as close to 1000 as possible. The winner is the closest to one thousand. (If this is too much of a challenge, try the same game with four cards each, two-digit numbers and aim for 100!) When playing this game, encourage students to use ‘mental strategies’ – they may add the hundreds first, then the tens, then the ones. They might record their thinking or do so in their heads – but this process really reinforces the place value concepts we are learning about.
Language
In language, we have begun inquiring into the question, ‘What makes a good story?’ Students have begun reading and analysing picture books to look for the connection between how stories are structured and organised, developing their own plans for exciting narratives and collecting interesting vocabulary they may use.
I can’t believe we’re only four weeks in… there is so much happening! We are looking forward to seeing you at the Year 4 Assembly on March 2nd so we can share some more.
James Clapham
We have reconnected with friends and established new friendships with others in the Homestead as we focus on being caring and communicative learners with opportunities to thrive. We are extending this learning about connections into our unit of inquiry: Sharing the Planet, in particular the interdependence of systems and how they can affect the Earth’s ability to thrive. Through the key concepts of connection, causation and function we are delving into our lines of inquiry:
• The role of diversity and balance within ecosystems
• The impact people can have on ecosystems
• Actions to maintain and regenerate ecosystems
With some topical discussions on ‘greenwashing’ and the responsibility that small and large companies have to the environment we are excited to see the actions students will take to address issues raised in this unit.
Numeracy
To perceive mathematics as both useful and worthwhile, to believe that steady effort in learning pays off and to see oneself as an effective learner and do-er of mathematics is our key focus throughout our numeracy sessions in the 5/6 Homestead. Continuous and conscious effort toward this productive disposition has enabled us to understand and work flexibly with numbers in our current unit of place value. Students are beginning to challenge themselves and each other as we investigate our place value system and review our work to check the reasonableness of our answers. As we plan our Maths units, the four proficiencies will be at forefront of our thinking:
- Reasoning
- Fluency
- Understanding
- Problem-Solving
We are looking forward to working together as a Homestead on a range of problem-solving activities and attempting to balance open-ended activities with explicit Maths teaching.
Over the next few weeks, our themes in Maths will centre on understanding place value using the four processes, mapping, and posing questions and collecting categorical and numerical data through observations and surveys.
Literacy
We have developed strong links in literacy with our ongoing unit of Who We Are. In Week 1, Year 5 students began interviewing Year 6 students about key moments in their lives. As students have established these new relationships, they have taken the time to reflect on what they have heard to and have identified the character traits of their partners to construct a detailed biography. Embodying the learner attributes of ‘caring’ and ‘communicator’ have been vital as students engage in choosing language and grammatical features to best describe their partner. Towards the end of the term, students will develop their oral language skills and self-confidence as they present their biographies to one another, along with a piece of art. Stay tuned, for this is something not to miss!
Zara Love-Davey and Andy Hicks
We’ve had an excellent start, setting ourselves up for a successful year ahead. A big thank you to all those who attended our information night and parent-teacher interviews; we value the information gained and encourage open, two-way communication to continue.
Homework has begun! Last Friday, students were given their homework tasks for the term and encouraged to read through all the tasks before deciding on a task to begin. These tasks have been designed to complement the learning at school while allowing students agency in how they complete their tasks.
Auditions for roles in our production of Matilda are underway, with many performers showing great resilience and bravery, overcoming nerves to give it their best shot! Mrs Wong and Mr Huddle will announce the cast in Week 9, and rehearsals will begin in Term 2.
Year 6 are heavily involved in the upcoming Minimbah Fair. We have the responsibility of running several stalls and helping across the other activities and stalls of younger year levels. We have some schedules set up in the Homestead, and most students have committed to operating a stall for part of the afternoon and evening. Please check in with your child to discuss where and when they need to be available to help at a stall. It promises to be a wonderful event which may include a surprise performance!
Thank you for your support as we begin the end of your child’s primary school experience,
Jacqui and Jonno
Find below a brief outline of our program for this term.
Inquiry
Students have started our Who We Are inquiry unit, where they explore roles and responsibilities within different communities and their roles as leaders within our school community. As discussed at the parent information night, this unit of inquiry will be an overarching inquiry throughout the year centred around the idea of ‘Building a sense of community creates a sense of belonging’, where student-led initiatives will be encouraged wherever inspired.
Lines of inquiry for our Who We Are inquiry unit:
- Our rights and responsibilities within a community
- Factors that contribute to and promote a sense of belonging
- How we promote a sense of belonging in our community.
English
Minimbah loves reading, and Year 6 is no different; we’re committed to developing a community of readers who appreciate reading for information and enjoyment. Literacy groups will commence shortly, where students will meet their point of the challenge.
Year 6 have been interacting with their Homestead Partners listening to their stories, and asking insightful questions to gain a better understanding of who they are. They will then use the interviews to write a biography of their Homestead Partner. Later in the term, students will engage with the language features of opinion pieces, discussions and expositions.
Maths
In Mathematics, our approach addresses the four proficiencies of understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning, collaborating closely as part of the Homestead team to meet students’ needs.
Number and Algebra
Central Idea: The base 10-number system follows a multiplicative pattern.
Lines of inquiry:
- Patterns in number systems
- Magnitude in the base 10 number system
- Negative numbers in the base 10 number system
- Using place value to assist with solving problems.
Measurement and Geometry
Central idea: Time systems have been constructed to measure and organise time.
Lines of inquiry
- Systems for organising time
- Calculating elapsed time in complex situations.
Statistics and Probability
Central Idea: The way data is collected, organised and presented is connected to its purpose.
Lines of inquiry
- Developing purposeful questions for data collection
- Formats for collecting, organising and presenting data
- Evaluating the effectiveness of formats for collecting, organising & presenting data.
Join Professor Lea Waters, leader in the field of positive psychology, for our Term 1 PEP Talk on the evening of Wednesday 1 March in the Senior Campus Hall from 7pm.
Prof Waters will introduce you to the strength-based approach that informs the teaching and learning at Woodleigh School, and highlight the research underpinning this approach, including:
- higher levels of resilience and well-being;
- more effective stress-appraisal processes
- and higher likelihood of growing through adversity.
The strength-based approach has been shown to help adults be happier at work, children be happier at school and parents be happier at home.
It's FUNORAMA time! Festivale Du Minimbah, Minimbah's County Fair will be full of wonders and fun for all, thrilling attractions and activities!
Games, challenges and stalls will provide the fun, delicious food and drinks will keep tummies happy, and heaps of live music, including the return of our fabulous class performances, will keep everyone entertained!
This PFG-sanctioned event will occur on our Minimbah Oval after school on Friday 3 March.
Your ticket purchase will award you with MINIMBUCKS! To be used on the attractions and activities!
Purchase your family ticket or single today!
Get your Fair tickets here