Stage 2 have been inquiring into a unit from the Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in Place and Time. Our Central Idea for the Unit is: Throughout history, people of diverse backgrounds play a role in continually shaping the local community. We have been looking at this idea through the concepts of Reflection, Connection and Change.

The boys began the unit with a provocation in the Bush Classroom. There were exciting reports that someone’s belongings (artifacts) had been scattered amongst trees and under rocks, in the bush. As a class we went quickly to investigate the situation. The boys carefully collected the artifacts, along with photographs of the scene and participated in an observation task to try and uncover who they might belong to.

This led the boys into our first Line of Inquiry about ‘How historians unlock the past’. They learnt about the skills that a historian uses and created thought provoking questions to interview our guest speaker, Mr Campbell Jenson. He has a degree in Ancient History and in his previous occupation travelled as a historian to explore Rome.

After learning these skills, the boys were given the opportunity to apply them in order to discover information (both past and present) about the Newington College Community. The boys were thoroughly engaged in this learning process and even found out that Newington College only had only 16 boys in the school when it first opened. They have thrived on the opportunity to create their own questions to deepen their inquiries.

In our second Line of Inquiry we are looking at the history of local communities. The boys are reflecting on the different communities that they are apart of. They have learnt how to create open and challenging questions to assist them in finding out about how their communities have changed over time. The boys are currently very busy interviewing community members, researching, visiting local communities and collecting information to answer their own personal inquiries. We are looking forward to seeing the changes and “action” that eventuate from this learning experience.

Miss Angela Tonkin – Year 3 Teacher