PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL
Out of School Care
Out of School Care launched the year
doing what it does best: Fun! The January
holidays were busy and productive as the
children ventured out and about visiting
new destinations and returning to some old
favourites. The vacation periods are times
for making memories with the children
who spend time with us. To achieve this
the programs reflect the endeavours to find
places to go and things to see. To ensure
that the children experience all of the things
that they might be exposed to if they weren’t
in the Centre, much emphasis is placed on
visiting touring exhibitions and productions.
For example, in January we went to see the
Earth show at the Heath Ledger Theatre – a
touring theatre production of mechanical
pre-historic creatures. If you add this to a
soccer incursion, a trip to the movies, a visit
to the State Library and a session at Bounce,
you can see how varied the program is and
how we cater to tastes that are as varied as
the children.
Our focus this year is growth, to reflect
the focus in the Preparatory School. Quite
literally we continue to plough efforts
into our vegetable gardens and green
spaces, also developing an indoor garden
to enhance the interior of the Centre. We
are also contemplating personal growth
with an emphasis on skill building. We are
embracing elements such as cookery, wood
work, knitting and sewing. We have made
chutney from the tomatoes we have grown;
baked foods to reflect different cultures we
study; written letters via the Warrior Mail
organisation; created in the mud kitchen;
made movies; built houses, caves and castles;
danced and sung; taken nature walks and
sometimes, just sometimes, we have quietly
sat under a tree and read a book. Once we
have climbed it, of course! – deciding the menus; suggesting ideas for
the program and giving us the feedback we
need to ensure that it meets their needs.
Coming up this semester will be The Great
Beyblade Challenge, explorations of ancient
Greeks, and dinosaurs; virtual trips to Spain,
Africa and France as well as the variety of
sports, crafts and creative elements we do
daily. From the safety of our Centre we travel
the world, through time and space!
We continue to make sure that the children
are fully involved in all aspects of the service Mrs Melanie Berrington
Out of School Care Coordinator
Engaging students in STEM education
Experts in education and industry all agree that the personal
and learning skills that will make our children successful in the
future pertain to those in the arena of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM). Chances are that the jobs
our children will undertake do not even exist yet, however based
on what is emerging and changing now, we can safely say that
far more jobs will be working intimately with digital machines and
intelligent systems.
As we work to prepare our children for an uncertain range of
possible futures, Preparatory School teachers are using the process
of STEM to equip children with critical and creative thinking skills.
STEM is much more than a subject area, it is really a philosophy.
STEM is actually a way of thinking about learning that caters for the
integration of knowledge across disciplines.
Equipped with a set of Spheros, a fusion of robotic and digital
technology, students as young as Pre-Primary have been inspired
to think abstractly. The Spheros can be controlled via an App
that allows a user to control them like a remote-controlled car,
but teachers have taken it one step further and encouraged
students to use block-based code to program the robots to move.
Students work in groups to achieve the task and must attend to
precision to progress. A vital part of the process is reflection and
evaluation of their attempts to meet the challenges and one of
the most rewarding outcomes is their increased capacity to work
collaboratively.
Ms Bethany Tracey
Preparatory School Teacher
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