Young ICT Explorers Competition 2014

What is the Young ICT Explorers Competition?

Young ICT Explorers is a competition for school students to produce their best Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) related project. ICT is constantly evolving and it is considered to be an enabler of different activities and objectives for many areas of societies all over the world.  For instance, computer games can be designed to educate people on a topic and websites are widely used to communicate and inform people all over the world. Whilst the simple mobile phone has evolved from being just a telephone to a multipurpose device with features like touch screens, global positioning and mobile apps etc.  The Young ICT Explorers competition aims to inspire and encourage school students to consider ICT as a career opportunity and gain a greater understanding of the diverse possibilities available through ICT.

Our Entrants…

At the beginning of last term, boys in Years 3 to 6 were invited to enter the Young ICT Explorers competition and join the associated lunchtime club. Over thirty boys expressed an initial interest in joining the club and entering the competition and after some early conversations the number remained high at 28 boys.  Over the past few months, the commitment the boys have had to demonstrate (together with the support of their parents) has been extensive and it has been truly exciting to see the enthusiasm and collaboration that these boys have demonstrated as they have worked in small groups on their projects.

The Projects

In total, nine groups were formed and their chosen projects relate to a wide variety of issues connected with the environment, cyber safety, education and economics.  The boys are currently working on finishing their projects in preparation for the judging event at the University of NSW on August 16.  There will also be a mini exhibition at school later in the term.

The Judging Event

As a part of the competition each group prepared a report outlining their project.  Based on their report, preliminary judging was conducted to determine which groups would be invited to the judging event. The majority of our groups were successful in gaining a place at the judging event, which is an excellent result given the competition for these positions.  The boys are now eagerly preparing for this final stage of the competition where they will get the opportunity to showcase their projects to experts in the field of technology as well the opportunity to see the many other projects that students across the state have prepared.

Pascal Czerwenka

Junior Primary Cooking Club

Each week a group of 10 enthusiastic cooks from Junior Primary meet in the ‘Club Headquarters’ to learn new skills, taste new sensations and explore some different recipes as they work on their creations.

Ice cream making in Week 1 proved to be a fitness session as well as a cooking class as 10 eager boys followed directions using only one ingredient inside their hand made ice cream churns and shook, shook, shook with yummy results.

Our next session saw boys making pizzas from scratch using a two ingredient dough recipe and a choice of interesting toppings …… the quote of the day being ‘that funny green stuff actually tasted ok’ ……. The ‘stuff’ was baby spinach and made it onto the top of several pizzas including Mr Wyatt’s who has been elected our unofficial guest taster!!

Next week we have something for those with a sweet tooth – gluten free and nut free as are all our recipes.

Katrina James and Sue Gough

A Message from the Head of Lindfield Campus

Dolphin Style Parenting

As a fellow parent, I spend a lot of time considering how best to raise my children.  What is perhaps most challenging is that there are so many contrasting views about how to raise them. In the busyness of life it is often difficult to find the right balance of structure and playfulness, discipline and gentleness, challenge and nurture.  I recently came across an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald that resonated with me, it spoke of a new ‘style of parenting’ titled ‘Dolphin Parenting’, based on the work of Dr. Shimi Kang.

The article contrasts dolphin parenting with some other clichéd styles; ‘helicopter parenting’ – parents that hover too close to their children and don’t allow them to experience life on their own; and ‘Tiger Mums’ – parents (particularly mums) that drive their children through coaching to get optimum results.

It is worth acknowledging that within any style of parenting there are obvious strengths and limitations and ultimately it is up to each and every parent to determine how best to raise their child.

The article goes on to suggest that dolphin parenting seeks to provide a balance of playfulness and role modeling.  Much of what is advocated for by Dr Kang seems to be similar to the role of the teacher within the PYP framework; a guided inquiry approach to learning appropriate standards of behaviour and learning from each and every life experience.

The article finishes with five suggestions that I found to be very helpful in regards to parenting:

1. Be firm and flexible by having clear rules and consequences in place while respecting a child’s freedom and independence to choose.
2. Resist from over scheduling children into extra curricular activities.  Allow time for free play and relaxation to prevent burn out.
3. Allow children to make mistakes and learn from them instead of being overprotective.
4. Nurture a sense of community and connection to others and encourage children to help others out as often as possible.
5. Play with your children as often as you can; play helps a child develop social, thinking and emotional skills which cannot be obtained in any other way.

http://bit.ly/1qJwVrS

Year 6 PYP Exhibition

Each year across the world in nearly 1200 schools, students in the last year of Primary School participate in the PYP Exhibition.  The Exhibition is seen as the culminating learning experience for students as they make the transition from the formative learning years of Primary School to the new challenges of High School.  Last year was the first opportunity for our Year 6 boys to participate in the Exhibition and this year’s class is eager to build on last year’s work.

The PYP Exhibition is essentially a unit of work designed by the students to inquire into a local issue or problem. It provides the students an opportunity to conduct their own personal research and to propose possible solutions. An important aspect of the process is the requirement for students to take personal action as a result of their learning. The unit of work culminates in an Exhibition where each of the Year 6 students has the chance to showcase their work and to share their findings, solutions and action with the school community.  This year’s PYP Exhibition will be held on Tuesday 21 October from 6:00pm.  Please set this date aside to support our Year 6 students in their learning.

Since the beginning of this year, Year 6 have been discussing possible themes and issues that could be the focus of their Exhibition.  After much discussion they have decided that the Exhibition will explore the ‘How we organise ourselves’ theme.  This theme explores the following descriptor:

‘An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function or organisations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.’

At this stage the boys are considering focusing their inquiry on some of the disadvantaged and minority groups within our society and exploring how our community can support them better.

Enrolments – Year 5 and Kindergarten

Due to the extra Year 5 class we are in the fortunate position to have vacancies for next year. We are currently enrolling boys for Year 5 2015 and have begun interviewing for Year 5 2016.

I am delighted to announce that Kindergarten is full for next year, however, we have begun interviewing for Kindergarten 2016.  Limited vacancies also exist in some other year levels.  If you know families who might be interested, please encourage them to call the School Office on 9416 4280.

Parent Information Workshop – ‘Learning across the Curriculum’

On Wednesday 20 August  at 6:30pm we will be conducting our next Parent Workshop – ‘Learning across the Curriculum’. This term we will provide specific information about our specialist subjects (Art, Mandarin, Music, PE) and how these are integrated with the regular classroom learning.

We look forward to you joining us in The Lookout for this workshop.

Chris Wyatt

Year 1 and 2 – Excursion “Back in Time”

On Wednesday 16 July, Years 1 and 2 mastered the art of time travel and went back in time for a day at school in the 1800’s.  By that, of course, we went on an excursion to the Ryde Schoolhouse Museum as an introduction to our Unit of Inquiry about changes in society over time.  The museum is set up as a classroom from the 1800’s to give students a feel for what school was like in the ‘olden days’.  We arrived to dreary drizzle with little prospect of participating in any outdoor activities and were greeted by some heavily petticoated 19th century teachers. Luckily, the weather cleared within minutes and the boys were dressed up in very smart collars and treated to some maypole dancing.  They also completed military style fitness drills, complete with baton twirling and marching.  During morning tea, the boys discovered that not everything has changed dramatically over time as they were allowed to play with olden day equipment like skipping ropes and hula hoops.

The next stops in our busy day were the two historical classrooms.  On one of the coldest days of winter, the boys came to appreciate the heating system at Newington College Lindfield by gleaning warmth from the fickle fires in the high roofed classrooms.  In one room, the boys practiced writing using slate and rock.  They graduated to their ‘pen licenses’ remarkably quickly to use quills and ink on paper.  With inky hands, the boys noted that modern day pens are a little easier to use.  In the other room, the boys explored old school technology such as stamps and overhead projectors through going on a treasure hunt.  They investigated old fashioned toys and even got to use an old fashioned toaster! Well, the ‘toaster’ was really a fire, but either way they ate some yummy toast.

Thanks to Mel Hunter, Sam Watson and Jo Zammit for accompanying us on the day and helping out.  The boys in Year 1 and 2 really enjoyed themselves!

Nicola Rusten

Year 2 Teacher

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Year 4 – Mining for Fossil Fuels

It All Started With A Chocolate Chip Cookie!

“Stop playing with your food!”

A command all our boys are very familiar with. Which is why Year Four’s first Unit of Inquiry lesson this term was taken on with a bit of apprehension, but a lot of enthusiasm as well.

The boys were provided with a piece of environment (a chocolate chip cookie), mining tools (a skewer) and given the task to extract all the fossil fuels they could find (chocolate chips).  With a lot of self-discipline to resist eating the fossil fuels as they were extracted, the boys successfully began to mine through their cookie.

After it was time to put our tools down, the boys then converted the fossil fuels to energy (by eating them) and we came together to discuss our learning.

As a class we identified issues surrounding:

– impacts of mining for fossil fuels on the environment (the cookie no longer represented a cookie)

– fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy (once the chocolate chips were gone, a new cookie would be needed to find chocolate chips)

– the issue of the planet running out of fossil fuels and a need for renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, water power etc.

This activity was just the instigator to a deeper inquiry into Climate Change as a result of burning fossil fuels for energy. The boys demonstrated research and thinking skills as they inquired into:

– What is Climate Change?

– Cause of Climate Change

– Impacts of Climate Change

– What can we do about Climate Change?

It didn’t take long for Year Four to see a need for more alternate sources of energy and make clear links to our Central Idea: Energy may be harnessed and produced from various sources, changed, stored and used for our benefit.

The boys described the need for energy sources that are renewable and have a low impact on our environment.

Year 4 have now split into small groups and have chosen a renewable energy source that they will inquire into throughout the term.  They will use our Key Concepts of Form, Function and Responsibility to drive their inquiry process.  The boys will share their learning with the class through their own ‘Energy Grid’ on our classroom wall.

It has already been an engaging and informative unit for the boys and we are all looking forward to where this Unit of Inquiry will take us as we investigate sustainable energy sources and their impact on our future.

Who would have thought that a chocolate chip cookie could do so much!

Shayne Pollard

Year 4 Teacher

Faith Matters

Living with Mess

MH-17, Gaza, Syria, personal tragedies etc. etc. the mess in our world is too big for us to sort out completely on our own … we need help!

Maybe we should stop trying to figure out things that should be left in God’s hands!  When you put something on the shelf that’s bothering you and say you’re going to trust God with it, don’t take it back because you don’t like the way He’s handling it or the length of time He’s taking.  Speed doesn’t equal direction, especially when you’ve lost your way! Paul says, Do not be anxious about anything.  That’s hard to swallow if you’re insecure, or a make-it-happen person depending on your own resources.  We don’t like unanswered questions but one of the tools God uses to help us to grow is unanswered questions!  When we don’t know, we can trust God, worry, or try to figure it out for ourselves.

God doesn’t always give us answers to our questions.  Why? … He’s training us in trust.  Learn to live with loose ends and trust God!  This is not mere fatalism as trusting God is an active pastime involving praying and loving.  If you want growth you’ve got to be at peace with the messiness and mistakes that accompany it.  If you are one of God’s obsessive-compulsive children who needs to put everything into a neat little package, this Bible verse is especially for you: Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Term Dates 2015

Each year much thought goes into term dates to ensure the most appropriate balance across the year with a focus on the boys’ learning from Kindergarten to Year 12. This process, conducted by the College’s Senior Executive, takes many hours to ensure all options are considered. By now, you have probably realised that next year we have only a two week break between Terms 2 and 3 and a three week break between Terms 3 and 4.

Every year the calendar gets challenged by a number of factors. They include when Australia Day lands, when Easter lands, not wanting to start too early when it is hot, not wanting to finish too early at the end of the year with working parents, ensuring state school holidays coincide with our holidays, getting a balance of days between each Semester right (the aim is for 92 in one and 93 in the other), and finally getting maximum time possible for Year 12 for Terms 1, 2 and 3.

This balance is illustrated in the following summary:

2014 – Semester 1: 92 and Semester 2: 93

2015 – Semester 1: 93 and Semester 2: 92 (based on 3 week break between Terms 3 and 4)

2016 – Semester 1: 92 and Semester 2: 93

2017 – Semester 1: 93 and Semester 2: 92

Given the unusual situation of 2015, if we had a 3 week break between Terms 2 and 3 it would have resulted in 88 days in Semester 1 and 97 days in Semester 2 and Year 12 would have effectively lost a week.

It is important to understand that each school has different organisational and learning structures and requirements, thus the difference between other independent schools next year.

Please note that the change in holidays is only for 2015.  In 2016 we will return to a 3 week holiday break between Terms 2 and 3.

TERM DATES – 2015 

Term 1                  Thursday 29 January – Thursday 2 April

Term 2                  Monday 20 April – Friday 26 June

• Monday 27 April – ANZAC Day Public Holiday
• Monday 8 June – Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday

Please note this is a 2 week vacation for 2015 only 

Term 3                  Tuesday 14 July – Friday 18 September

Please note this is a 3 week vacation for 2015 only 

Term 4                   Monday 12 October – Tuesday 8 December

• Tuesday 8 December – Annual Prize Giving

New Furniture for The Lookout

It is with much excitement that I provide an update on the latest P&F Donation to our school; new furniture for The Lookout (Library). After the success of last term’s Walkathon and associated fundraising we have been able to purchase some new, innovative furniture for the Library space. Our goal was to create a unique learning space providing the boys with increased opportunity for flexibility and creativity in their learning.

The new furniture consists of some adjustable tables and benches providing the boys with choice and all of the tables have a whiteboard surface allowing the boys to record their thinking and research in a different manner. We have also purchased a number of ottomans to provide choice in seating.

On behalf of the boys and teachers, I would like to express our sincere thanks to all members of our school community for the extremely generous support that is provided in an ongoing way and specifically towards this new furniture.

Chris Wyatt