Faith Matters

With yet another Greek financial crisis and recent tumbling markets in China in the news, some people are finding it difficult to discern in what to invest. But really it’s a no-brainer.

Think back to your best moments: your highest highs, your greatest victories, your most daunting obstacles overcome. How many happened to you alone? Very few, right? When you understand that being connected to others is one of life’s greatest joys, you realise that life’s best comes when we invest in solid relationships. Of the people you know, who seems to enjoy life more – the negative, suspicious and anti-social? Hardly! The Scrooges of life don’t enjoy much of anything.

Jesus summed up life like this: “Love the Lord…with all your heart…Love your neighbour as yourself.” People who love God and love people on the whole, tend to live joyfully as they experience love in return. If you love God and people you’ll find friends wherever you go. And you’ll get further in life too!

Natural talent, intelligence, a wonderful education – none of these guarantees success. Something else is needed: the sensitivity to understand that we all crave love because God made us in His image as relational beings. So, if you want more out of life, start investing in even more deep relationships!

Peter Morphew – College Chaplain

Stage 2 – Who is Mrs Gren?

Stage 2 have been exploring the central idea: Ecosystems rely on maintaining an interdependent balance between living things and their environment. Recently we have been focusing on one of our lines of inquiry: Ways living things and the environment are interconnected.

In class, the boys discovered that there are seven characteristics of a living organism:

– Movement
– Respiration
– Sensitivity
– Growth
– Reproduction
– Excretion
– Nutrition

(M.R.S. G.R.E.N.)

The boys classified a variety of living and non-living organisms based on these seven characteristics. These discussions became quite heated, as the boys asked questions like: Is the sun living? What about soil? If an animal can’t reproduce (Mule) does that mean it is not living?

The boys then chose an animal from an ecosystem and used Popplet to prove it was living, based on these seven characteristics.

It was an intense and engaging learning experience for the boys (and the teachers).

Shayne Pollard and Angela Tonkin – Stage 2 Teachers

Junior Primary – 100 Days

Junior Primary had a fantastic day celebrating our 100th day of school where the boys were involved in some fun classroom activities. The day was most rewarding for students and staff. The boys were asked to write about what they thought it might be like and how they would feel when they’re 100 and we got some interesting responses! They also completed a craft activity visualising what they would look like! Other activities were also completed which all involved the number 100. The boys got to use their creativity and had a fun time doing so.

After recess, the sun shone on Newington as all the Junior Primary boys were engaged in an exciting word hunt in the playground. They worked collaboratively in their mixed year levels to find the letters and it was great to see the bigger boys taking care of the little ones. It was a wonderful culmination of a period spent counting the days to the big event. 

Belinda Smallhorn, Sam Watson and Leonie Russell – Junior Primary Teachers

Stage 3 – Newington Armory Excursion

In Week 1, Stage 3 visited the Newington Armory, near Bicentennial Park, as part of our learning within the ‘Sharing the Planet’ unit of inquiry. Despite the freezing weather (there were snow dumps up at Katoomba) we had a really interesting day. The boys were able to explore how electricity can be generated and also conducted their own experiments and critical analysis of renewable power options through hands on testing experiences. Here are some of the things the boys had to say:

“I liked it because we got to learn about lots of energies in fun ways.” (Angus B)

“It was very interesting. The experiments were really diverse and not like the sort you could do at home.” (Connor P)

“It was a fun experience and it taught us a lot of things about energy.” (Xavier)

“I liked how they used the trenches, where they used to store ammunition to do the Science experiments and how they kept the old train tracks there. It showed what it was like before.” (Eddie H)

“I really liked how we got to actually connect with the stuff and use the stuff. It was hands on and we able to use lots of different gadgets that we weren’t sure about but they taught us.” (Jarrah)

The role of concepts and inquiry within the PYP

Having worked with the PYP for some time now, I think that the two linchpins holding the program together and also differentiating it from other educational frameworks are; the role of inquiry and the focus placed on conceptual learning. Sometimes it takes a bit of deep thinking to understand how it all fits together as a curriculum.

Last term we ran a parent information session helping parents to understand more about how and why we use an inquiry approach here at Lindfield. An ‘inquiry methodology’ is the active construction of meaning so that learning is purposeful. Inquiry learning allows students to build on current understandings through interesting provocations (often provided by the teachers), provides time and opportunity for reflection and consolidation of thinking and finally encourages students to form new and deeper levels of understanding.

Concepts (big ideas) are also central to our curriculum and are presented in the form of questions to guide the boys’ inquiries and shape their learning experiences. Since the main pedagogical stance of the PYP is inquiry, posing broad and open-ended questions for the boys to learn through seems a very natural approach. At the beginning of this term all our teaching staff enjoyed a wonderful two-day PD, which helped to deepen our understanding as educators as to the importance of conceptual learning.

Within the PYP there are eight main concepts, which were chosen by early developers of the program for their universal significance. The boys revisit these concepts time and time again in a variety of different ways and through different subject areas. This enables students to deepen their understanding and construct meaning through improved critical thinking and being able to transfer and applying knowledge into a large range of contexts.

FORM – What is it like?

FUNCTION – How does it work?

CAUSATION – Why is it like it is?

CHANGE – How is it changing?

CONNECTION – How is it connected to other things?

PERSPECTIVE – What are the points of view?

RESPONSIBILITY – What is our responsibility?

REFLECTION – How do we know?

At Newington Lindfield, all of our learning experiences for the boys are planned with the above in mind, which we think makes for a very engaging, challenging and enjoyable time at school.

Christina Lowe

Stage 2 and 3 Logo Design Competition

Google has invited Newington College, among other Australian schools, to be involved in the 2015 Doodle 4 Google Competition. Stage 2 and 3 have been registered to take part and the ideas and designs that are in the making are incredible!

All the boys have been very busy imagining, brainstorming, discussing, sharing and designing ideas relating to the theme: If I could travel back in time I would … Visits to the Jurassic dinosaurs, early space travel, scientific and archaeological discoveries are among some of the exciting historic adventures that Newington boys are taking. From these, students are creatively incorporating their time travel into a design for a potential logo for the Google homepage.

There are some pretty extraordinary prizes to be won – including the National winner’s design on the Google homepage for an entire day!  It will be fantastic to see the boys’ final designs as they develop their sketches further.

Phoebe Burnett – Art Mistress

Maker Movement

Over the past semester, we have started to explore the ‘Maker Movement’ in greater detail, with several staff attending workshops and participating in online professional development experiences. Whilst ‘making’ in the classroom is certainly nothing new, the Maker Movement harnesses creativity to develop solutions to an issue or problem through an authentic use of materials and technology.

The philosophy behind the ‘Maker Movement’ is strongly aligned with our constructivist approach (students making meaning out of their learning experiences) to learning and teaching and serves to enhance the PYP Program at Lindfield. You just need to watch Caine’s Arcade or Lion Lights  to see the value behind encouraging students to be creative, curious and purposeful learners who take action and contribute positively to our world.

If you have any resources that may assist us in further developing this movement at school please don’t hesitate to send them into your class teacher.

Wise educators are always on the lookout for new pedagogies and materials that expand classroom-learning opportunities and amplify student potential. The global maker movement poses exciting opportunities to transform the classroom. The maker movement is a growing community of artists, scientists, craftspeople, amateurs, professionals, tinkerers, and engineers celebrating personal creativity, ingenuity, and empowerment. 

Taken from http://innovationtoolbox.intel.com.au/

The shift to “making” represents the perfect storm of new technological materials, expanded opportunities, learning through firsthand experience, and the basic human impulse to create. It offers the potential to make classrooms more child-centered: relevant and more sensitive to each child’s remarkable capacity for intensity. Making is predicated on the desire that we all have to exert agency over our lives, to solve our own problems. It recognizes that knowledge is a consequence of experience, and it seeks to democratize access to a vast range of experience and expertise so that each child can engage in authentic problem solving.

Taken from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758336

We’ve also started several new clubs this term targeted towards promoting the maker movement within our school community. Our Junior Primary and Primary ‘Maker Spaces’ Clubs at lunchtime and our after school Coding Clubs have been received with great enthusiasm and high attendance.

In addition to this we continue to support interested boys in Years 3 to Years 6 with their participation in the Young ICT Explorers Competition which promotes the development of an innovative solution to an issue, through the use of ICT. This year, seven of our teams have made it through to the final judging event, which is an excellent achievement and we look forward to sharing their experience in our next edition.

Pascal Czerwenka

A Message from the Head of Lindfield Campus

Social Emotional Learning at Newington, Lindfield

It is not difficult to imagine why being able to manage one’s own emotions and having the ability to build positive relationships can make a person generally happier. Maslow’s popular theory outlining the hierarchy of human needs puts love and belonging on the third rung of a pyramid, above it only our most basic physiological needs and safety.  However, without our needs of love and belonging being met, it’s much more difficult to reach the higher rungs of the hierarchy such as esteem (self-respect and gaining respect from others) and actualisation (being the best person we can be in a variety of domains).  If we don’t feel physically and emotionally safe, it’s almost impossible to achieve our academic potential. Therefore if schools are going to support the development of individuals who are happy and successful, social/emotional learning must be at the forefront of the curriculum, along with academic learning.

There is much research outlining the benefits to children of learning how to manage emotions, how to build positive relationships and how to make responsible and ethical decisions.  Managing emotions requires the ability to identify one’s own feelings, as well as the feelings of others.  This allows us to have empathy and compassion, skills that are required for making and keeping friends.  Building positive relationships supports a feeling of belonging to the wider community.  At school, this includes relationships with both peers and adults.  Decision-making abilities are increasingly important as students become more independent in navigating our complex and ever-changing world.  A school culture that supports this learning requires a shared vision and also a shared language by all involved in the education of the child.

Second Step is a program developed in the United States that addresses the social and emotional needs of young children in modern society.  It allows us as a school to be on the same page, and equips us with a common language in order to achieve these goals.  Through a multi-modal approach that is tailored to the age of the children, students engage in learning experiences within the units: Skills for Learning, Empathy, Emotion Management and Friendship Skills and Problem-Solving.  Lessons may include puppets, videos, songs and singing, movement and dancing and thinking strategies depending on the grade level.  There are also links between home and school to ensure continuity in the different environments in which the children operate.  

Kindergarten and Grade 4 have enjoyed a few lessons already and we look forward to partnering with families as we build the social and emotional learning of the boys so that they have the skills necessary for success in school and in life.

This new initiative will enhance our existing weekly Positive Attitudes and Life Skills (PALS) program. The PALS program currently consists of lessons that are team taught by class teachers and our Year 6 students and weekly circle time sessions that allow the concepts taught to be explored further.

Benjamin Barrington-Higgs

Earn & Learn

We are again collecting the Earn & Learn stickers from Woolworths to help others.  This year we will be supporting Redfern Jarjum College.  Please join with us in this gesture of community spirit by collecting the stickers and placing the completed sticker sheets in the box in the School Office.

Redfern Jarjum College is situated at the centre of Redfern, Sydney and is a unique primary school dedicated to the growth and well-being of our local students.