It was my absolute pleasure to be a part of the Children’s University Graduations at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) last week. A wonderful group of children from Springfield Gardens, supported by Janine Dodge have been participating in a variety of independent activities over the course of the school year to accrue hours for graduation.

Activities include Learning destinations (museums, art galleries, wildlife parks and libraries), sporting activities, music lessons and volunteering just to name a few. The hours are collected and then children graduate – in full graduation gowns at UTAS with recognition of these hours.

Children’s University is a wonderful opportunity to foster a love of learning and an understanding that we are all life long learners.

Interested in supporting your child to sign up – please feel free to inquire at the office.

It’s also a great way of getting them off those devices – imagine doing some of the activities as a family!

1/2B’s Science Materials Exploration

1/2B students have been actively engaged in our science materials unit, participating in hands-on activities, group investigations, and outdoor explorations. We experimented with a variety of materials, including household items and school equipment. Using their expanded science vocabulary, students identified and described the properties of different materials:

In Grade 4/5 we have recently completed our unit on narrative writing. We explored how characters, settings, genres and plots are used to create interesting stories. The class have had opportunities to explore different styles of genres and consider which ones interest them the most. They planned, drafted and published their own stories that focussed on their genre of choice, and considered interesting characters and exciting story lines that could strengthen their writing. Now our class has moved into learning about information reports. We have looked at many examples and identified the key feature in an information report. We have been practicing gathering information and writing it in our own words, and will use this skill soon to create some information reports on natural disasters.

Our Mathematics focus this term has been fractions. We have been learning to represent fractions in different ways, order fractions on a number line, and identify equivalent fractions. Recently we have been exploring how fractions can be found on flags, and students were given the task to design their own flags that represent different fractions.

In Science, we have been investigating the water cycle. We have explored evaporation, condensation and precipitation, and where they occur in the water cycle. We have been discussing other situations where we have seen these occurring. We will continue to explore this topic throughout term four.

Entering the last half of Term 4, 5/6B have been busy! Maths has had a large focus on measurement of length and angles. In literacy we have been creating and analysing poetry, with a particular focus on messages within “From Little Things Big Things Grow”. We have also worked closely and collaboratively with 5/6A and spent time planning and maintaining our schools garden beds. Our Children’s University students attended graduation and Ruby and Blake were flag bearers for our Interschool Swimming Team.