Year 5, 6 and 7

Today the students experimented with Black Out poetry on the theme of Remembrance Day. Using letters from WW1 soldiers, the students read the texts before selecting words to highlight and string together into poems. Unused words are blacked out or covered with artwork. The students enjoyed the activity and the poems they created are touching, challenging, creative and visually beautiful.  
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Our wonderful student teacher, Miss Heazlewood, has introduced us to the creative work of Brazilian artist Romero Britto. His unique style combines Pop-Art and Cubism. After studying Romero Britto’s techniques, the students set out to create their own colourful self-portraits. Admire them below!
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The 5/6/7 class is busy getting ready for their Ancient Greece Museum, which will open its doors on Friday morning for the school’s other classes. The students have been researching different aspects of life in Ancient Greece. Displays will be varied and take the form of posters, mannequins, artefacts, an archaeological site reconstruction, a live play, a short film, games, Powerpoint presentations followed by Kahoot quizzes, as well as food dishes! We are all excited and looking forward t...
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In Science, we have been investigating circuits and electricity. Using “Makey-Makeys”, little invention kits that allow us to turn everyday objects into touch pads that can interact with computers, we tested different materials for their conductivity. We also experimented with creating circuits that will allow electrons to flow through them. Zac’s question: is human hair a conductor or an insulator? Jorja and Ava were the first pair to successfully create a circuit incorporatin...
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Last week was National Science Week, and to celebrate it we ran some special activities. In Design & Technology, the students were given a challenge to design a toy car powered by a rubber band. This task was given without any concrete instructions, and it was fascinating to see the students work in groups to arrive at a solution: And here are a couple of movies showing the two vehicles that actually managed to move beyond the starting line: https://cdos.run/u-0/sites/813/2018/08/...
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Students in Year 6/7 have been given nomination forms this week. Please ensure the nomination forms are returned as soon as possible to be emailed to Tony O’Connell. If you have faxed or emailed these forms directly to Tony, please let me know so I can check this against student names. With thanks, Suze Ricketts
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Last week we practised our fluency and expression through a readers theatre exercise. The students chose pieces to practise and read out in groups. Their aim was to create an entertaining rendition of their chosen piece for their audience. The performances were enjoyed by all and Mrs Harradine’s costumes were very much appreciated, once again! https://cdos.run/u-0/sites/813/2018/08/12160116/My-Movie-1.mp4
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At the end of Term 2, the 5/6/7 students were introduced to the Barpapapas: French cartoon characters who can take on any shape they want to solve problems. The students’ end-of-term assignment was to create a Barbapapa character out of clay, paint it, and create a bedroom for it reflecting its personality. They had to develop simple descriptions of their character and their room. The descriptions were recorded on audio and linked to a QR code displayed on the side of the bedroom. On the l...
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During Term 2, the 5/6/7 and 2/3 classes buddied up for a 3D Printing project. Their brief: in small groups, identify a fairy tale and in it, a character who has a problem. Design a 3D object to solve this character’s problem. The 3D objects designed are very creative. It was fascinating to watch the objects become a reality thanks to the school’s amazing 3D printer. The objects were coloured by their creators. They will be displayed in the front office for the first week of Term 3 i...
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“Letters And Numbers” is a game show that used to be shown on SBS. In this Australian adaptation of a French TV show, contestants battle to form the longest possible words out of letters picked at random, and to reach a given number target using only specific numbers also drawn at random. In our class, we use the free web-based program “Countdown Maths” to warm up our brains each morning. Students draw 6 numbers at random. They can choose between “big numbers”...
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Last week the 5/6/7 students were given a real job by The Mount Gambier Theatre Group: to come up with a poster to advertise the one-act play “Blue Murder”. The theatre group were urgently looking for a poster, and to thank the students for their work, offered to run a mini-competition with the winning designer(s) to receive two free tickets to the “Blue Murder” play on either Friday 17th or Saturday 18th August. Ashley in our class is playing the part of the landlady in ...
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Today was a very lucky day for the 5/6/7 students, as they were visited by marine biologist Simone Ramage, an alumni of Mil Lel Primary School. We have been learning about the ocean for two terms now, focusing first on the impact of the ocean on climate, and then on its importance as a living environment. The students brainstormed questions to ask Miss Ramage before her visit. Simone presented the students with very interesting information based on her personal experiences. Her presentation answ...
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Since our beach excursion a couple of weeks back, the UP students have been busy analysing the data from our rubbish collection. Using Excel, we sorted the information into tables and generated percentages and graphs. The first one shows the breakdown of the different types of rubbish we found on the beach: 64.2% of all rubbish was plastic! The second one drills down into the different types of plastic we found: Of all plastic, 52.7% was made of packaging items (bottles, wrappers, lids, tops, ...
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On Monday this week, our excursion to Brown’s Bay was back on! The 5/6/7s enjoyed a tremendous day at the beach. The students all had a lot of fun whilst doing their bit for the environment and consolidating their Science learning. Since the start of the year, we have been focusing on the ocean and its importance to humans. We’ve explored the mechanisms of ocean currents, the impact that the ocean has on climate, and the impact that Climate Change is having and will likely have on t...
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Lovely Autumn Art produced by the students last week. A three-step project, including white paint impressions of dried leaves, cool colour background and soft & oil pastels in warm colours over the white leaf prints. Some artworks burst with loud and joyful colours, others are more subtle – all are a delight to look at. Come in to our classroom to admire them – they look so much nicer in real life!
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Oh, it felt very nostalgic for me today in the 5/6/7 class! I introduced the students to the art of making creatures with conkers. Conkers – “marrons” in French – are the seed of the Conker or Horse-Chesnut tree. These trees are extremely common in France – indeed, just about every French schoolyard boasts at least one Conker tree. French kids love creating creatures out of conkers and matchsticks – I spent many hours as a child making small toys out of conker...
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On Thursday last week, Shaylah taught the 5/6/7 class how to weave Easter baskets. She’d had the idea to make them, so she was asked to research the method, trial it and organise supplies with the help of Mrs Jones, prior to teaching the class how to make the baskets. Shaylah did a fantastic job, explaining the method clearly and helping everyone through a task that tested all children’s motor skills and persistence. It was interesting to hear Shaylah’s peers comment on how ve...
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In Maths, we love using problems from the Nrich website: they’re designed to make you think, use visualisation and be resilient… it’s not about speed, it’s about making connections and developing our enjoyment of problem-solving. “Which Script?” is the title of a problem tackled by some students, in which they were presented with a table containing 6 numbers written in 5 different scripts… Here it is below: Students had to sort out the different scripts...
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Most weeks, our class participates in the “100 Word Challenge” global writing competition, using our blogs as a platform. Last week the students brainstormed in small groups how to “tighten the tension” in their writing, especially through the use of descriptions focusing on the five senses. The writing was published on their blogs, and the feedback we received this week was really exciting! Mrs McKenzie, a 100 Word Challenge commentator from New Zealand said this about ...
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The 5/6/7 class is about to buddy with another class… somewhere in the world! Part of our getting to know each other is playing the “mystery class” game. Both classes make short videos which are shared privately with each other and in which they drop hints about where they are located. Following the videos, we will ask each other yes/no questions and race to be the first class to guess where the other is located! We will be watching our buddies’ video on Tuesday. Here is ...
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