bandicoot bugleterm two 2012milestones, memos and musings from mylor primary school

Refugee WeekWeek

From the principal’s deskAs another term draws to a close,I’m reminded why working at Mylor Primary School is such an honor.

Mr Haines has just come and told me about some of the light-bulb moments that have been happening in his Civics and Citizenship lessons. A student has celebrated a birthday and shared a cup cake. The rain outside is tinkering on the roof. Learning opportunities are aplenty and the smell of freshly brewed coffee from the local café is permeating my nose. Who wouldn’t want my job?

Term two is often a challenging term, as it is during this time that we hold our annual Bonfi re and Fireworks night. As a small school, we’re reliant on everyone being involved in order to make it a success. Once again, the Mylor Primary community rose to the occasion, putting on another great night - this year in very diffi cult weather - to raise additional

above: Aeddan taking part in a role play, along with Jack P and Jacey, right.

By Jacey, Maggy, Aeddan • year 7 & Jack P • year 6

For Refugee Week Jacey, Jack P, Aeddan and Maggy went down to the Migration Museum to learn about immigrants and refugees. Along with us there were students from Heathfi eld Primary School. We did a role-play with the points of view, of the governments, the refugees, the press, the locals, asylum seekers and the Prime Minister. After the role-play we watched stories of the refugees and we talked about a comic. We found out that most of Australia’s real illegal immigrants are actually from the UK and America because they come over for a holiday and they decide they like Australia so much they would like to stay.

All in all, it was really fun, we learnt lots and we hope the opportunity comes for us to go again.

funds for our school. I would like to sincerely thank all of those people that were involved, whether that was on the night, or in preparation. Without your donation of time, money and effort, the night would not have been as successful as it was.

Term three will see some further tweaks to our program, with the introduction of teacher-choice masterclasses. Here, student’s iplans have been re-visited, trends identifi ed and small-group learning opportunities planned. These will happen on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. A whole-of-school Math program will also be introduced.

Have a great break and we’ll see you next term!

Ngari

We did a role-play with the points of view, of

the governments, the refugees, the press, the

locals, asylum seekers and the Prime Minister.

By Maggy • year 7 & Savannah • year 1

On Saturday the 23rd of June Mylor Primary School hosted Bonfi re night. This is an event where families can come and enjoy a pleasant night out with music, fi reworks, a massive bonfi re, many wonderful stalls and games including the fi shing game, laser skirmish, a jumping castle, lolly stall, hot donuts, glow products, a BBQ, pancakes and ice cream. There was a beautiful lantern walk before the fi reworks. Many of the school children participated in this. It looked great.

Even though it was a bit rainy at the beginning, it seemed like a thousand people turned up and it was great fun to play with our friends.

I can’t wait to go next year!

By Ella F • year 7, Shane • year 5 & Kaitlin • year 2

On Wednesday the 25th of April 6 students represented the school at the ANZAC Day dawn service. When we arrived there was a man playing the bagpipes. First we sang a song to remember the people in the war. Ella recited the remembrance prayer and we sang more songs. A lady came and read a poem about young boys who fought in the war. It was sad. We then put small candles around the memorial alongside the wreath to remember the people who fought for our country.

Bonfi re Night

Earlier in the term, families were given the opportunity to meet with their child’s mentor teacher to revisit, review and plan for this year’s student iplans.

Earlier in the term the staff from Mylor, Lobethal and Nairne Primary Schools came together for a day of learning. Focusing on making the learning personal, staff began the day listening to Val Westwall, the Adelaide Hills Math’s Facilitator, sharing her thinking about the new Australian Curriculum and the impact this will have on each of us continuing to be successful Maths teachers.

At the conclusion of this, staff attended numerous optional learning sessions that tailored from beginning learners to advanced learners in Mathematics.

Whilst the students are learning about science in Discovery and Inquiry I thought it was appropriate to share a story I heard recently about Thomas Edison:

Edison was working on his new and exciting invention, the light bulb, and it took a whole team of men months and months just to put together a prototype. When the very fi rst light bulb was fi nished he gave it to a young boy to carry upstairs. The boy, though trying to be very careful, managed to drop the bulb at the top of the stairs. It took the team of men 10 months to make another. When the second prototype was

iPlan Meetings

Learning together with other Adelaide Hills Schools

A second chance

Some of the sessions included; Using Maths equipment effectively to help learners, Quicksmart – The links to better learning, Tracking students’ learning in Mathematics, Questioning and Task design.

Staff reported feeling empowered to make the decisions about what learning they needed to focus on, and enjoyed coming back together at the end of the day to discuss – What next, for us at Mylor Primary School.

Next term staff will be given the opportunity to continue some of this learning, with additional twilight sessions offered across the three schools.

completed, Thomas Edison went and gave the bulb to the same young boy to carry upstairs. Edison could have never allowed the young boy to touch the light bulb again for fear his precious invention would again be broken, but Edison also understood that giving the boy a second chance and an opportunity to learn from his mistakes was more important than his invention. Such a powerful lesson for us all.

I pray you and your family have a refreshing holiday. Can’t wait to see you all again next term!

Blessings always, Kelsey

In most cases, iplans for 2012 have taken on a Literacy and Numeracy focus, enabling teachers and families to refl ect on where each individual is up to, the progress they have made over the last couple of years, and future directions. Teachers have noted any trends identifi ed across the school, and will provide targeted small-group learning in these areas next term.

Staff encourage families that haven’t had the opportunity to set up an iplan with their mentor teacher, but would like too, to make contact at their earliest convenience.

ANZAC Day

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

Widening Horizons - BiodiversityBy Braydon • year 7 & Jack P • year 6

“Ahhh.. get it off me!” screamed Aeddan. The spider came from the tree when I was pulling off bark looking for bugs, spiders and ants. The spider had climbed up Aeddan’s shirt. He looked really scared even though he says he wasn’t.

Our task was to fi nd plants and animals and list and classify them. We made posters about the different plants and animals we found around the school. The younger students learnt about the difference between plants and animals and living and non-living things.

above (l to r): Moss Emma, Meigan and Logan on the hunt for critters.

right: Asherah and Jack T are on the trail.

Below: Moss and Emma - got one!.

By Jonah Haines

All teachers have been involved in ongoing professional learning with Tierney Kennedy in a mathematics program called Back-to-Front Maths. It is an approach to Mathematics teaching that uses problem-based situations to examine students’ concepts, understandings and thinking about Maths and, importantly, to highlight misconceptions which can then be focused on.

Tierney Kennedy explained her pedagogy and shared her experience and supporting research. Over two days we were able to observe a lesson with upper primary and lower primary students. By encouraging students to do all the thinking by asking specifi cally targeted questions, students work out new mathematical concepts themselves rather than relying on algorithms

Back-to-Front Mathsand formulae without a strong base of understanding behind them. As the name suggests, Back-to-Front Maths pushes students to work on a problem involving mathematical ideas that are new or just beyond what they can already do. The thinking and reasoning are more important than a correct answer and the process is used so teachers can observe the skills and misconceptions they have and plan future learning experiences to cater for each individual’s specifi c learning needs.

Teachers and students have already begun the Back-to-Front journey together. It has proved challenging for students who fi nd themselves working out of their comfort zone, and for teachers to develop their skills in questioning.

However, at this early stage the benefi ts are clear, as students are able to fi ll gaps in their learning, which has a ripple effect across all their Maths learning.

It is a pedagogy that supports teachers to transform numeracy teaching from memorisation and repetition to experimentation and investigation.

Back-to-Front Maths makes strong links to the Profi ciency Strands of Fluency, Understanding, Reasoning and Problem Solving, which are essential elements of the Australian National Curriculum for Mathematics.

above: Gemma and Jeanne working through a maths problem

top (l to r): Ricky, Shane, Benjamin and James utilise strategies learnt to solve a problem (above).

centre: Garth works with the calculator, yep the old technology is still useful! While Velouria, Ella B and Liam B marvel at the old-fashioned device...

Mr Haines’s groupStudents in our Numeracy group have continued to work heavily in number. Skills, understandings and strategies are being developed and built upon those established last term. It has been wonderful to see students making giant leaps forward in a short period of time as they become better at using strategies and their understanding of number, place value and operations becomes deeper.

Students are using refl ection on their learning and one-on-one conversations with me to set goals and the direction of their own learning. This has allowed students to focus specifi cally on the area in which they need more experience or support and to clear that hurdle before they are confronted with one they are not ready for.

Some students have found it frustrating at times to be working on an area, such as addition of two-digit numbers, for an extended period, but the knowledge and skills they have established, with skills such as place value/number splitting and using the chunking strategy, has allowed them to move faster on future learning.

This was very evident when we focused on long multiplication. Students worked hard

Miss Boehm’s groupNumeracy this term has been about exploring areas in maths where we might not feel too confi dent, or feel as though a “crash course” would help us better understand the concepts. As a result, each of us has been working on different areas of Maths, at our own level and at our own pace.

There have been lots of examples given, and we have been challenged to record all of our thinking, rather than just getting concerned with the right answer. This way, when we get it wrong it is easier to see where we have gotten mixed up.

We have also been able to talk to our friends, and ask them for help. This is good, as not all of us are good at every part, and sharing the confusion helps us to come to a better conclusion.

on their chosen multiplication fact, and when they were ready for the next step most were very surprised to move so easily to multiplying with two- and three-digit numbers (and some even four).

All the hard work using chunking strategies and building strategies around multiplication meant long multiplication was a smooth transition to make. The student refl ections showed how pleased and proud they were of all their hard work.

I have enjoyed seeing students collaborating on problems. By supporting and teaching each other during our sessions students are increasing their mathematical language, as well as strengthening their understanding and reasoning skills, by articulating their thinking and discussing and testing differing ideas, strategies and processes.

Understanding and Reasoning are two of the Mathematics Profi ciency Strands in the National Curriculum and it is wonderful to see students engaged in this way in Numeracy sessions.

Our group is really starting to see our numeracy learning snowball and we are excited about what we can achieve in the remainder of the year!

Term 2 Numeracy

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

The children in Ms Schirmer’s group engaging in various Numeracy tasks

Miss K’s group work hard with various Numeracy tasks.

right: Ned and Savanna playing a number game.

above: Jack T investigating different shapes.

right: Moss measuring.

Miss Schirmer’s groupThis term in numeracy we have been using the strategies used by Ann Baker and Tierney Kennedy to fi nd out children’s understandings and misconceptions.

This has been extremely informative and helped immensely with our programming. Our numeracy group has been focusing heavily on number and the skills associated with it. We have been practising subitising, counting on and counting back by playing different games and working in small groups. We have also been working on problematised situations where children need to show their thinking using pictures, numbers or any other method they feel comfortable with.

As a result, the children are beginning to articulate their thinking more clearly and we are able to use this to extend their learning or to revisit previous learning.

Miss K’s groupThis term we continued in the area of number, learning concepts such as place value, addition, subtraction and multiplication. We have also learned about shapes and how to tell the time.

We have used a variety of strategies in our learning, including using concrete materials to count and model new concepts, playing dice games, using games on the computer, repetitious styled learning and board games. We have really focused on going deeper and exploring ‘how to do the problem’ rather than having the focus on getting the right answer.

Students also completed problem-solving activities that reinforce the concepts taught and put our learning to the test.

This term we did science. We have been watching Backyard Science and making different things. One day we all made spy phones, then we all made straw kazoos. We worked out that sound waves bounce through the air.

My favourite thing was making the straw kazoos. Jack T also liked making the

Discovery & Inquiry - Science

At the beginning of this term we had Elyce Wold form Tabor College complete her 3rd-year teaching practicum with us. During this time Elyce worked with Ms Boehm’s literacy and numeracy group and a variety of learning groups for Civics & Citizenship, Discovery & Inquiry and Widening Horizons.

During literacy, Elyce assisted the children in their preparation for NAPLAN by working on their exposition writing.

Tabor Student TeacherThis ended with the children participating in a debate in front of the rest of the school arguing that “Technology is making us lazy”. During numeracy, she worked specifi cally on their skills and understandings to help prepare them for NAPLAN questions.

One of the highlights of Elyce’s time with us was when a spider crawled up Aeddan’s t-shirt during a Biodiversity activity. Right on cue!

By Jack T, Savanna • reception & Ned • year 1

kazoos and Savanna liked making the spy phones. The older children are working on their own projects like military science and bone density.

right: Hi Velouria is that you...Benjamin testing

his spy phone.

below: Jack M and Shane racking up the bill!

below (l to r): Aedden, Jack P, Braydon and James also readying their ballons.

above: Jack M, Kaitlin and the other children

prepare the ir ballons for another experiment.

right: Hi Benjamin, yes it’s me Velouria.

far right: Crossed line...call Telstra

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

By Adam • year 3 & Liam R • year 2

On Thursdays Miss Schirmer and Mr Haines gave us different numeracy challenges to complete. One of these was when we had to make a box out of straws or other materials.

The width had to be half of the height and the depth had to be half of the width. At fi rst we didn’t really get it, but we worked together with other people to help. Jack P said we should try by cutting a box in half.

We showed it to a teacher and they helped us a bit more so we cut it a different way. We made sure the sizes were right by measuring it with a ruler. We learnt some new things about 3D shapes. It was really cool making stuff in Maths. It is awesome getting to do this problem solving because we get a chance to work together.

R-7 Numeracy

top left: Ellen building her shape.

above and top right: Adam constructing and then proudly showing Mr Haines the result.

centre (l to r): Benjamin, Byron and Shane discussing a solution.

far left: Jack P beginning construction.

left: Emma and Savanna.

By Jonah Haines

On the 1st of June I was fortunate to have an opportunity to spend a day working with an expert in the fi eld of Geometry from the Mathematical Association of South Australia.

The day focussed on spatial sense and geometric reasoning, which covers four main ideas:

• What makes shapes alike and different can be determined by their geometric properties i.e. lines of symmetry, sides that are parallel or not

• Shapes can be moved i.e. translations (slides), refl ections (fl ips) and rotations (turns)

Geometry Professional Learning• Shapes can be described in terms of their location. Coordinate systems can be a way of doing this accurately

• Shapes can be seen from different perspectives. This in turn assists us with our ability to understand the relationships with 2D and 3D shapes

I was guided through a number of activities that support students in developing their skills in shape, and allow them to move from using just physical shapes to working with representations, as they move through the primary school years.

The content of the day aligned well with our ongoing professional learning in other areas of maths that focuses on developing

a deep understanding of mathematical concepts as a base for further learning.

I am always pleased with the positive response students have when they are working with shapes and the experience I had at the conference showed me there are opportunities to build on this enthusiasm and make important links to other areas of Maths, including pattern and algebra.

With the virtual world increasingly part of our lives, geometric reasoning and spatial sense is becoming more and more an important area of Maths for students to have a strong knowledge of, and not just so they can build excellent things in Minecraft!

Term 2 Literacy

Miss Boehm’s groupThis term in Literacy the students in Miss Boehm’s literacy group have been working on formulating an opinion that supports whether or not they believe that their chosen book or fi lm is better.

Equipped with both book and fi lm, the students have had to create engaging synopses for each medium, write an exposition arguing which medium is better and why, and research and present a biography on either the author of the book, or director of the fi lm.

Along the way, students have utilised each other as resources, gaining valuable feedback from their peers as to how they might improve their writing to convince someone else of their opinion. Whilst some of us have found the drafting process tedious and challenging, it

Miss K’s groupAt the beginning of the term much of our focus was to prepare our Year 3s for NAPLAN tests in Reading, Writing (persuasive writing) and Language Conventions. Following this we learned about putting words in alphabetical order and how to search for words in a dictionary or in an index in the back of a book.

One lesson each week was dedicated to spelling, with students having individual spelling lists according to their learning needs. Some of the favourite spelling tasks were writing words in shaving cream, making words using play dough and writing words with chalk.

In reading our focus was on information books, where we compared the features of non-fi ction books with fi ction books.

This guided us to look at how to read information books, such as using the contents or the index, how headings help us locate information we need and the glossary helps with words we don’t understand.

This then led us into a research-and-writing task where students chose a topic, highlighted important facts from a text suitable for their reading level and made notes. We then looked at the structure of an information report and students wrote a report about their topic and made it into their own self-published information book.

has defi nitely helped to ensure that we are handing in our best work.

This way of teaching (pedagogy) fi ts in closely with our Assessment for learning work with Scott Creek and across the Adelaide Hills region. It provides students with instant and relevant feedback that is able to help move their learning forward, whilst being a non-threatening and inclusive practice for the whole group.

Along the way,

students have utilised

each other as resources,

gaining valuable feedback

from their peers as to how

they might improve their

writing to convince

someone else of

their opinion.

above: Braydon proudly shows the DVD and book he chose to discuss.

left: Ebony working through a test on the computer.

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

Mr Haines’s groupNarrative has been our focus this term and everyone has spent a lot of time and effort writing an original story of their own. We have tales of Robot Teachers, evil villains in space, loggers who save their forest and a boy who just wants to be a ballet dancer!

The drafting process is an important one and students have come to know my “DRAFT” stamp very well! Students start with a strong plan of their story, which they can then use to write independently. With the students working in this way, I have had the opportunity to have long and regular one-on-one conversations with students to support their developing narrative, writing structure and approach to developing setting and characters.

I have also been able to identify some spelling, punctuation and grammar issues

and work on these with individuals. It has been wonderful for me to step inside everybody’s imaginations!

I have been so pleased with the level of engagement and passion the students have had writing. Some just want to keep going through fruit time! Look out for a copy of their published stories coming home soon.

Roald Dahl has been a favorite author this term and a number of students have been reading his novels. I am working hard with each individual to help choose a book which is right for them; one at an appropriate level, but that is also of high interest.

A sign of success is the silence we have at the start of our reading sessions, as all students are engrossed in their books. The next sign of success is when the conversations about their books start up without prompting. Throughout term one we used a shared text to learn how to think about books and discuss them.

This term the students are showing these skills amongst themselves and talking about characters, settings, plot, an author’s style and their opinions of the book. It has turned into an enjoyable Book Club, full of rich learning.

Miss Schirmer’s groupThis term in literacy we have been focusing on Fairy Tales. We have learnt about the different ways stories can be told and have listened to Fairy Tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Billy Goats Gruff and the Gingerbread Man through different mediums.

We have listened to them being read, by watching digital movies and through song. We have then worked on different ways to recreate these stories. We have written them, acted them out, and created puppet shows.

This term we have been using a “Writing Box” to help with our writing skills. The box contains different paper and different materials to write with, such as sparkly pens, glitter pens, crayons and bendy pencils. By allowing the children free writing time we have already seen an improvement in their skills and attitude.

We have been reading different text types and working in small groups to work on different comprehension tasks. We have all enjoyed using Fairy Tales as our base for our learning this term.

top (l to r): Jack T and Savanna proudly show their

Gingerbread Man posters.

top right: Henry and Ned busily writing a story.

far right: Moss with his plasticene letters.

right (l to r): Moss, Savanna and Alex.

right: Jack T - The big bad wolf.

below: Asherah and Henry, then Ned and Meigan act out

a Nursery Rhyme.

left: Ricky engrossed in his book

By Velouria • year 4 & Benjamin • year 5

This term we held Mylor Parliament. Aeddan was the Prime Minister and Jacey was the opposition leader. We made laws for ‘Uber Awesome Ville’ like rules for what the Special Ops were allowed to do and a ‘No Fighting’ bill. To learn about the government we formed our own parties. Some of these were the ‘Puppy Dog’ party, ‘Animal Savers’ and ‘Fizzes’.

Each party gave a speech and everybody in the school voted for the party they thought had the best ideas. We had a voting paper and we had to write 1, 2 or 3. If you ticked the box your vote would be disqualifi ed.

We also had a Year 3 – 7 parliament where we would sit on the benches. There was a sergeant of arms, a clerk and a speaker. We discussed the bills and in the end we passed it.

By Ethan, Ella B & Ebony • year 3

During term 2 we wrote to the Prime Minister or the Queen.Once we thought of an issue we found out who we needed to write to. Some of the issues we wrote about were the Great Barrier Reef and asylum seekers. Some people wrote to Julia Gillard about NAPLAN. Another group wrote to the council about the potholes in the carpark, and the next week they were fi xed!!

Mylor Parliament

Letters to Parliament

right: The Mylor Parliament is in session.

below: Jack P delivers a speech.

below right: The opposition leader - Jacey and the Prime Minister - Aeddan

listen intently to Jack P’s proposal .

left: Velouria delivers her speech.

far left: The Prime Minister addresses parliament.

Action Groups help keep the school running and organised. Everybody is involved in one. Here is what we have done this term.

Events – have organised events and have sent notes to people to tell them about the events.

Chickens – have helped keep the chickens alive, check their food and water and tidied up the yard after them.

Twitter – Kept an eye on the twitter wall to see if any of the ideas can happen.

Sports – Have taken care of the sports equipment and sorted out the sports shed.

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

Action groups

Just a couple of examples of the projects created by

the Advanced Learner group - Ella F (top) and Jack P

The various action groups, meeting and organising. The groups are made up of

a mix of year levels.

This term the Advanced Learners have been busy working on their projects on islands of Indonesia. Each student chose an island to research using various websites, covering topics like music, food, animals, geography, history, the arts, sports and hobbies. They have enjoyed using a rubric to guide their projects and learning outcomes.

The Novice Learners have been busy learning how to express daily activities in Indonesian. They have also looked at how children in Indonesia help at home and the different games and activities they do.

The Beginner Learners have all written their own books based on the story “Ulat Bulu” (The very hungry caterpillar). They have done a fabulous job at writing their own Indonesian sentences and using food and animal words.

Indonesian

By Jacey • year 7

This year we have 6 people going to the festival of music (6 sopranos & 6 altos). We have had to work very hard for the past few weeks. In week 5 a woman called Robyn assessed us. After a few songs she had decided the grade we were going to get. Due to all of our hard work she gave us a B. We were ecstatic!

Festival of Music School Choir

By Garth • year 6, Liam B • year 2 & Logan • reception

‘Uber Awesome Ville’

Widening Horizons Mylor Masterchef

By Will • year 3 James & Byron • year 4

At the end of last term Will and Jack M made a game where you had a house in the adventure playground. Then at lunch that day Aeddan and Jack P came and made another village called ‘Uber Awesome Ville’. At the end of the term we had to wreck the village.

This term we made it outside the adventure playground. There were Special Ops (who were the police), a bank, and a shop with pens made by sticking clay to a stick. Everyone had a job and got paid from the money tree. We even elected a president and voted him out!

By Ella B, Jack M • year 3 & Velouria • year 4

During week 5 we had a Mylor Masterchef competition. We had to make something that would be suitable for a lunchbox, one of our ingredients had to be apples and it could only take 1 hour to prepare and cook. We got put into groups, and then we found a recipe that we got to prepare. We pulled numbers out of a hat and that was the order we got to cook in. When we started cooking Jack and Velouria’s group made apple and oat muffi ns, Ella’s group made apple toffee cake.

After a lot of hard work the judges decided the winner was... Apple and Oat Muffi ns!

By Cordy & Kaitlin • year 2

This term the R-2’s made apple and sultana muffi ns. First Miss Schirmer cut up 3 apples and peeled them. We put fl ower, eggs, apples, sultanas, sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil and cinnamon and mixed it altogether. Then we put it in a tray and cooked it.

They were yummy!

top: Jack M puts the fi nishing touches on his groups muffi ns.

above: It was a tough job for the judges.

right: Benjamin tests out one of the shelters created.

above: Jack M & Will set up shop.

below: Byron & James negotiate with Kodi for some essential tools.

below left: Moss peruses the items for sale.

below right: Jack T busy making ochre.

above: The girls discuss the plans for their shelter.

far left: Ethan works on his shelter.

left: Byron & Shane work hard at the ochre quarry.

Masterclass 150 Dance Club

By Ella B & Ebony • year 3

On the 31st of May we had 150 Dance Club come to our school. First they showed us two dances and everyone thought they were very good. After they did their dances they taught us a dance. It was fun and easy. After they taught us the dances we got to make up our own dance moves with 2 of the dancers. We fi nished by showing them our moves. At the very end they showed us one more dance.

What was it Young MC said? Bust a move!

Widening Horizons - ClaymationBy Garth • year 6 & Kodi • year 2 This term the R-2 made claymation fi lm and movie versions of the Mem Fox book ‘Where is the Green Sheep’.

The younger students made Green Sheep movies. We drew different sheep like alien sheep, mountain sheep and the cyclone sheep. After we drew them we stuck them on card and took photo one at a time. We recorded ourselves telling the story.

The older students chose picture books and worked together to make the characters out of plastacine. My groups did Mr McGee and the Biting Flea. We took about 600 pictures using the laptop and in between each picture we moved the characters a little tiny bit. When we pressed play on all the pictures it moved just like a movie.

clockwise from top left: Byron creating animal fi gures. Velouria carefully attaching the charactors arms. Will storyboarding the action. Ethan busy making fi gures.

By Ellen • year 5, Ricky • year 4 & Asherah • reception

In week 4 the Year 8’s from Heathfi eld High School came to do Personal Time with us. We split into Magpie groups and 4 Year 8’s came with us. Over three weeks each of the four Magpie groups did 4 activities.

The activities were: lego challenge, card games, outdoor games and drama. Each Friday we would do something different. In the last week we did 2 activities each. Altogether it was a fun experience.

By Jim • year 5 & Kodi • year 2

In week 4 Nat Betts taught us how to get the DNA out of a strawberry. First we got into groups of 4. Secondly we put 4 strawberries into a zip lock bag and smashed up the strawberries. We added some mixture into the strawberries and then we put all of our strawberries together. We each got some strawberry mush in a test tube and added some ethanol, then shook it gently. We took the visible DNA out on a skewer and tipped the ethanol out except a small portion and put the DNA back in and sealed the lid. We then took our strawberry DNA home.

Heathfi eld HS Visit

Strawberry DNA

top: Will, Ned and Alex working with the Heathfi eld students creating lego models. As does Ebony, Kaitlin and Jack M, above.

left: Emma and Ella taking their turn to make a lego house with a Heathfi eld student.

right: Adam making pizza with the lads from Heathfi eld.

below: While Asherah, Velouria and Savanna boogie down.

clockwise from above: Liam R, Ethan, Maggy, Jack P, Kodi, Byron, Braydon, Jack T and Logan

extracting the DNA from the strawberry.

By Jacey • year 7 & Emma • reception

This term for active after school we have been doing Zumba. Our instructors name is Brenda. During Zumba we play fun games and exercise to music. Our favourite dance is the fl amenco because we get to wear costumes.

At the start of the lesson we warm up so we don’t injure ourselves. Brenda is very fun and energetic. The dances we do are very fast and the songs are very loud.

We all enjoy Zumba and if the chance comes again we would like to do it because we think it is one of the best after school activities we have ever done.

Next term Adi and Wynter will be joining us at Mylor. This term they have been visiting on Tuesdays and Fridays. They have been welcomed into the school community by all students and it has been great to see them fi t in so well.

While they have been visiting school they have been involved in activities such as making Gingerbread men, making playdough, using the digital cameras, community service and personal time. To support their transition to school I spent the afternoon with them both at Aldgate Kindergarten.

While I was there they showed me around the Kindy, taught me a new song and I played with the seed mixture with Adi and the vet corner with Wynter.

We are all looking forward to having them join us at Mylor next term.

Kindy Transition and Visit

Active After School

Zumba

Widening Horizons

Kindness PledgesBy Jeanne • year 7, Aile • year 2 & Moss • Reception

This term we found a website called 1 million acts of kindness. The goal of the website is to reach 1million acts of kindness across Australia. They do it by asking people to add their acts of kindness to a list. We thought it was a really good idea so we decided to have our own goal of reaching 500 acts of kindness at school.

First we brainstormed what things we could do that were kind to others. We then chose 1 pledge to commit to and recorded this on a video. Some people pledged to walk the dog every night, some people pledged to help bring in the fi rewood. At school every time someone does something nice for someone else you write it in a special book. These have been things like helping tie someone’s shoelaces, playing with someone if they look lonely, lending someone a spoon at recess.

We will keep doing this until we reach 500 acts of kindness.

above: Ailie, Cordy, Asherah, Ella B, Velouria and Jacey, get in touch with the latin rhythm

below: Wynter proudly shows her gingerbread man picture.

above: Adi creating her gingerbread man.

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

mylor primary schoolStrathalbyn Road Mylor SA 5153 | phone 08 8388 5345

Principal Ngari Boehm | ngari.boehm@mylorps.sa.edu.au www.mylorps.sa.edu.au

Term Three Dates

2nd August Ngari attending Australian Government Biennial Forum

31st August 5-a-Side Soccer competition

18th - 24th August Book Week Celebrations

Week 9 - from 11th SeptemberFestival of Music Choir Performance

What’s on the horizon

above left: Meigan helped by Micheal, while Alex looks on.

above: Velouria, Cordy and Logan dig through the chook poop.

right: Chris explains how to plant the

seedlings to Alex, Logan and Meigan.

below right Jacey and Kaitlin planting.

below: Gemma, Maggy and Kaitlin clean up the bed ready for planting.

Masterclass

GardeningBy Ella F • year 7 & Alex • reception

Every fortnight Michael (Alex’s dad) and Chris (Meigan’s dad) have given up their time to come in and give us a gardening Masterclass. Our aim is to have a wide range of vegetables and fruit to cook with. We have planted beans, caulifl ower and asparagus. We also hope to plant rhubarb. Before we planted any seeds we had to put in chicken manure and use tools to blend it in the soil.

Then we pushed our thumbs into the soil and dropped in the seed. We used Chris’ special fertiliser and watered it in. Everyone has had a great time getting their hands dirty and learning about gardening.