How the World Works

Central Idea:

Living Things Have Needs

Lines of Inquiry

• Living and non-living things 
• Healthy Growth
• Caring for Living Things 

Concepts:

• Form
• Connection
• Responsibility

Learner Profiles

• Knowledgeable
• Caring
• Principled

Provocations and Learning Experiences

We welcomed the Hatching Chick Program into the ELC this Term and watched with delight as the ducklings and chicks hatched. We learnt to care for their needs and wondered about the characteristic of living things.

We identified and sorted living and non-living items into groups. We immersed ourselves into the natural world, exploring and adventuring into the local green spaces. We took our time to identify some of the plants and animals unique to our local community.

We collected HEAPS bottle caps to re-use and re-purpose into a class art project.

We planted seeds and hypothesised as to which seeds would sprout first. We learnt to care for the young plants and provide them with their needs. We used nature and natural products to inspire our creative pursuits and our learning. We had Cid from Global Worming visit to teach us how to keep our worms productive and happy and what happens to our food scraps from school.

We engaged in some botanical drawings of leaves and flowers that have bloomed during Spring. We have focused on developing our pencil grip and refining our skills of observation.

In our school we water and care for our gardens, pick up and sort our rubbish into waste, recycling and compost. The food scraps we cut and feed to our worms, caring for them and using their juices to fertilise our gardens.

To the Holy Trinity Community, 

Welcome to our Term 3 edition of 'Inspiring Connections Magazine'. This is a wonderful platform to share with you some of the amazing learning that has been occuring inside the 'Unit of Inquiry' from ELC to Year 6. The UOI Overviews have been published at the top of each grade's article. Our hope is that this will assist you to see, through a snapshot, the connection between the planned learning and what occurs in the classrooms and beyond.  

In this edition, we wanted to share with your some information about the central idea and lines of inquiry. This is particularly pertinent as our Year 6 students have just commenced their PYP Exhibition and have each written their own lines of inquiry.  For those who are new in our community The PYP Exhibition is all about ‘Student Learning’. It is a culminating event of a primary students’ education. It represents the culmination of who our students are as learners and demonstrate what they achieved in all areas of the Primary Years Programme. An IB PYP student learns to be an internationally-minded student who progresses through a collaborative, critical thinking journey of inquiry throughout the primary years. They explore local and global issues as well as learn to make connections and dig deeper. In the final year of PYP, this exhibition involves students working together to conduct an in-depth inquiry where they identify, investigate and find solutions to real-life issues and problems. Our 2020 PYP Exhibition will be held on Tuesday 24th November. As a community we look forward to celebrating this wonderful event. 

CENTRAL IDEA AND LINES OF INQUIRY

* ENGAGING - Of interest to the students, and involving them actively in their own learning. 
* RELEVANT - Linked to the students' prior knowledge and experiences, and current  circumstances, and therefore placing learning in a context connected to the lives of the students. 
* CHALLENGING - Extending the prior knowledge and experience of the students to increase their competenties and understandings. 
* SIGNIFICANT - Contributing to an understanding of the transdisciplinary nature of the them, and therefore to an understanding of commmonality of human experiences. 

Another exciting new venture here at Holy Trinity has been the establishment of our very own Podcast. Led by our ICT Coordinator, Mrs Beck Casey, episodes recorded to date include interviews with Year 6 students regarding Exhibition, sets of twins and how they think differently, our PYP leaders and an insight into some very cute Kindergarten inquiries.

Tune into the latest episode of the ‘Holy Trinity Highlights’ Podcast available on all good podcast apps.

Search for 'holy trinity cast' on the following apps:

Subscribe through Apple Podcast or PodBean

Stay tuned for Season 2…….

Wishing you all a very safe and relaxing break,

Katie and Brendon

PYP Coordinators 

Provocation 

In Week 9, the Year 6 students started their 2020 exhibition journey. They participated in provocation week and were exposed to a range of resources that provoked and inspired them to choose a global issue they are passionate about. We were lucky enough to have several members of our community come and talk to the students about their passion and purpose in life. A special thank you to our guest speakers: Hariett Morel, Lisa Capezio, Carmela Pavlic Searle, Sonia Di Mezza & Craig Waggstaff. 

Below is a list of the Exhibitions themes the students will be inquiring into

Liam W- Coding and programming 

Miles B- Electric cars/energy

Ben K- Space Radiation 

Hayden H- Renewable energy and how it can change the future and how those systems work.

Sam M- How robots will change our future

Iva S- Medicine 

Stella W- Jail and law punishment

William Mc- How animals have adapted and changed to avoid danger

Asha W W - How animals are helpful to our world

Coen R- Graffiri

Isaac A- Street art

Sienna T- Interior architecture 

Lefteri P- How different arts express different emotions

Eliza R- Drugs in Sport

Lachlan H- Human Rights

Ben S- Drug lords/gangs

George M-Technology in Sport

Tom J- Gangs 

Serena C- Social Media Body Influence 

Rose J- How social media affects our mental health

Maeve L- How social media changes young girls bodies

Tess N- Space Pollution

Felicia C- Protests

Samuel C-How we as global citizens can create healthy, low cost and easy make meals for refugees and the homeless

Patrick W- Different tribes

Eleanor C- How production links to child labour 

Charlotte W- The events that led to the moon landing

Gabriella N- How wars start

Harris G- How prosthetics have evolved overtime

Will C- treatment for diseases

Tamera T- Gender equality

Olivia M- Why do people abuse one another

Alyssa M- Physical abuse

Evelyn C- Domestic violence 

Harry O- Anxiety 

Isabella K- Addictions

Georgia R- How the brain works. Mind tricks

Annie H- PTSD 

Maya Mc- Disabilities 

Finn A- What drugs do to you

Alessia G- Mental Health 

Georgia B Mental Health

Ginger P- Disabilities in sport 

Emma P- Race

Charlise W - Autism

Layla W- Adoption 

Austin T L- How mental health affects behaviour

Sophia R- Anorexia

Madeleine H- disabilities sport

Charlotte S- Music and how it can affect our brain and change our thinking

Karl S- How medicine affects human behaviours 

Where we are in place and time 

An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.

Central idea: The past shapes unique stories

An inquiry into:

1. Family history (Form)
2. Where we live and who came before us (Connection)
3. How people tell their stories (Perspective)    

To begin learning for this unit, students travelled back to school in the “olden days”. 

Chalkboards, desks in rows, not speaking unless spoken to, learning by rote, cursive writing, and of course the cranky, old, strict teacher “Miss” or “Sir”, were the order for the day. Students enjoyed this experience, and acknowledged the differences between classrooms of the past and modern classrooms, appreciating the lovely bright and collaborative classrooms they work in. 

Students shared stories from their family about what school was like, taking great pleasure in sharing their parent’s school photos. All children were delighted that the cane is no longer used as a form of discipline. 

We explored the meaning of “the past” and agreed that the past is something that happened long ago, and also something that happened recently. This led us to looking at items from the past and exploring how they have changed over time. We also discussed how technology has developed to make tasks easier. Students created artworks to compare and contrast a household object. They were inquirers when they asked “What did this object do in the past? How has it changed? How has it made tasks easier?”

Students were given the opportunity to share their own family heritage. All students were proud to be Australian, but that each family comes from a different county, making the students who they are. The students were given an opportunity to create their own family tree, identifying those who came before them. The children were excited to see photos of the teacher’s family history.

We explored stories from the past such as fables, nursery rhymes, songs, parables of Jesus and Indigenous stories. We explored how parables are Jesus’ teachings to guide us through life. We also looked at how fables teach as a moral and to make positive choices. 

Kinder Red cooked using traditional Australian herbs. 

100 Days of Kinder Party 

In Week 6 we celebrated our 100th Day at school. The party happened a little later than expected due to remote learning, but it was worth the wait for the wonderful celebration we had. When reflecting on the year so far we agreed that we have learned so many new things such as reading, writing, counting, stories from Jesus, survival of living things, seasons, days of the week, family history, PMP, Italian, Music and so much more! 

PYP - Primary Years Programme, the elementary program in IB

Transdisciplinary Themes - The name of the six unit themes, i.e Who We Are, Sharing the Planet, etc. 

Inquiry - student centred learning guided by student questions and exploration 

International Mindedness - One who recognises the common humanity and shared responsibility for caring for the planet in an effort to create a better and more peaceful world

Approaches to Learning -  AtL - these are the executive function and thinking skills students need to succeed (researach, communication, self-management, thinking, social) 

Attributes of Learner Profile - the ten traits that make up the learner profile

Agency - when students have voice, choice and ownership

Key Concepts - form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective and responsibility, students build connections to the world around them when they learn conceptually. It allows them to apply what they learn from content knowledge to other experiences or understandings they develop 

Central Idea - CI - conceptual statement that drives a unit of inquiry 

Lines of Inquiry - LOI-  statement that defines the scope fo the unit of inquiry

International Baccalaureate - IB - International Baccalauretate Program 

Transdisciplinary Theme - How We Organise Ourselves

Central Idea - Systems are Created to Meet Needs

An Inquiry into:

The types of human-made systems (Form)

The considerations involved in creating human-made systems (Function)

The impact of changing systems in response to needs (Change)

Provocation: Many of our classroom systems were disrupted! We realised very quickly that it was hard to go about our day without systems in place to help us organise ourselves. We recognised that there are systems all around us!

Changing the Classroom systems 

Students worked in small groups to evaluate current systems in our classrooms, determine how they may be improved, and design a plan to improve them. Then they set off to work to implement some changes. Some of the groups realised the importance of keeping the parts of the system that worked and making changes to the parts of the system that were no longer working.

Proposing changes to schools systems that are not meeting our community’s needs

We have been working extremely hard to improve two major systems in our school that have been identified as systems that have ‘broken down’. We evaluated the systems and identified the positives and negatives of each system. Individually, we chose either the schools “lost property system” or “line up system” and created a design proposing changes to the current system. We are hoping to persuade Mrs Brearley to implement some of our suggestions!

This term in Italian Kindergarten has inquired into living and non-living things, how to take care of pets, life cycle of a chicken and habitats. Year 1 studied various types of transport and looked at how people in Venice get around. Year 2 has been busy inquiring into Italy’s river and lake systems. 3/4 have continued learning about Italian culture by looking at Italian artists, particularly Giuseppe Arcimboldo. They have even created their own masterpiece based on his style. 5/6 looked at Italian migration in the 1800 and 1900’s especially to Australia and its cause and effect.

Questo trimestre in italiano l’asilo ha indagato su cose viventi e non viventi, su come prendersi cura degli animali domestici, sul ciclo di vita della gallina e sugli habitat. L’anno 1 ha studiato vari tipi di trasporto e ha esaminato come le persone a Venezia si spostano. L’anno 2 è stato impegnato a indagare sui sistemi fluviali e lacustri italiani. 3/4 hanno continuato a conoscere la cultura italiana studiando artisti italiani in particolare Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Hanno persino creato il loro capolavoro basato sul suo stile. 5/6 ha esaminato la migrazione italiana nel 1800 e 1900 in particolare in Australia e la sua causa ed effetto.

Transdisciplinary Theme: Sharing the Planet

Central Idea: People can make choices to support the sustainability of the Earth’s resources

Lines of Inquiry:

• Earth’s finite and infinite resources 
• The effect of human activity on water 
• Our responsibility to be good stewards of earth’s resources 

Provocation:

The students of Yr2 were involved in a thought provoking experience that required them to carry a bucket of water around a designated course.

“Carrying the buckets was so tiring and I needed help at the end.”. Sebastian

“It was hard, I’m not use to doing that. I couldn’t have done that for even a half hour.” Audrey

“That was quite hard for me. I couldn’t do that every day.” Elsa

What if you and your family only had a bucket of water to use each day?

How would you use it?

Guest Speaker - Mr Bryant

We were so lucky to have the opportunity to have Mr Bryant from icon Water come in to talk to us about the water supply system around Canberra.  He showed us some great photos he had taken in our local area and answered all our questions to help us better understand where our water comes from, where it goes and our responsibility to make sure we try to keep it as clean as possible.

Young Scientists in the Making

Yr 2 had a great time doing lots of experiments involving water. We learnt to hypothesize, use various equipment, measure, draw conclusions and consider how we could use the information we learnt in our everyday lives.

Central Idea:

People use different forms of expression to convey uniqueness.

Learner Profile: Communicators, Open-minded, Risk-takers

Lines of Inquiry:

An inquiry into:

• Different ways of expression 

• Diversity of culture and the way people express themselves 

• Artistic representation to convey a message 

Concepts: Form, Connection, Perspective

Provocation Gallery Walk & Student Reflections 

Students were exposed to a variety of experiences for the Provocation. Students

viewed a range of artworks from famous artists in our gallery walk. Students also

viewed a mime, dance, nature art and music experience via video clips.

Students recorded their thoughts and reflections after the provocation. Students were able to articulate what they observed and made connections to their own experiences.

‘The gallery walk had realism and abstract artworks.’ Abigail G

‘There were different messages in each painting.’ Alice M

‘The paintings made me feel appreciative that we all have imagination.’ Tom B

‘This can also show that we all see things differently and can learn from others and everyone is unique.’ Mary B

‘In the Dance video they communicated with the audience by movement.’ Miguel G

‘Lots of the different paintings in the gallery were australian landscapes’ Leo M

‘I noticed many of the artists used paints’ Josip S

‘In the dance video the dancers were trying to be different parts of nature’ Mathilde S

Breaking Open the Central Idea 

Students unpacked the language of the Central Idea: ‘People use different forms of expression to convey uniqueness.’ They inquired into what the words ‘expression’ and ‘uniqueness’ mean. Students demonstrated their understanding in their own definition and explanation.

What do I know about art? 

Students brainstormed ‘What do I know about art?’ Students were able to list some of the different forms of artistic expression and how people can express themselves. Students spoke about how not everyone responds to an artwork in the same way - some may like a particular piece, some may not.

Mood Meter - Emotions & Their Impact 

Students discussed effective strategies to move your ‘mood meter’ and change your outlook on a situation / feeling.

Art Appreciation 

Students viewed a variety of famous paintings and shared their unique perspective of each one. Students described what they saw. This also included religious paintings

Students discussed:

• Which parts of the piece do you think are most important?
• What ideas do you have about this piece?
• What message or idea is the artist trying to give the viewer?
• Can you name any elements of art in this piece?

Guest Speaker - Harry Laing 

Students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop with poet Harry Laing. Harry read and performed some of his poetry. Students wrote their own poetry pieces, including ‘My Life As A Dog’ poem, guided by Harry. 

Guest Speaker Reflections 

Students reflected on something they learnt, something they want to know more about and something they liked.

Dance Central Incursion 

Students were fortunate to have Georgie from Dance Central visit Holy Trinity. Georgie spoke about her dance experience and different styles of Hip Hop. She shared some clips of different dance crews and asked students to comment on the message conveys, costumes, movements and effectiveness of the overall performance.  

Dance Central Reflection 

Students completed individual reflections about their learnings and wonderings from our Dance Incursion.

One Point Perspective Drawing 

Students were introduced to drawing with one point perspective, including a horizon line and a vanishing point, as well as 3D buildings. 

National Gallery of Australia Virtual Excursion 

Students participated in a Digital Excursion from the National Gallery of Australia called 'Art in Focus.' This program focused on the role of art and artists in our society. Students investigated well known artworks including Jackson Pollock’s painting Blue poles 1952 and Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s The Alhalkere Suite 1993.

Virtual Excursion Reflection 

Students completed a See, Think, Wonder Reflection after the Digital Excursion. Students were prompted with the following questions:

What do you see?

What do you think is going on?

What does it make you wonder?

Photography

Students viewed images and nature artworks created by Andy Goldsworthy and how used various photography skills to create interesting and engaging images. Students took inspiration from these artworks and created their own taking into account line, colour, framing and angles. 

Students also took inspiration from forced perspective images. Students thought about how they could use others to create interesting forced perspective imagery. Students had to focus in perspective, line and frame to ensure their images conveyed their intended message. 

Landscapes 

Students investigated Sidney Nolan’s famous art series on Ned Kelly. Nolan wrote that the Ned Kelly saga was a story arising out of and ending in the bush. This made the landscape of his paintings crucial in sharing the story. It gives meaning to the place that the painting is set. Despite the historical grounding of the paintings, the Ned Kelly Series were not intended as a literal illustration of the story. Rather it somewhat shared the circumstances of Nolan’s own life at the time he was painting. Nolan uses simple, bright colours. He produces his paintings quickly, often in a single session. He keeps forms big and bold and across the main plane of the painting. 

Students used paintings from the Nolan collection managed by the Canberra Museum and Gallery to match Ned Kelly puzzle figures to landscapes. 

Students also painted a background that reflected meaning to them. They were asked to consider:

• The brush strokes you make; which way will the strokes be made?
• How wet or dry your paint brush is; what kind of texture does this create?
• What colours will you use? What does this say about your image? What mood does this give?
• Why have you chosen this background? What story is it going to tell?

Students then sketched an outline of a silhouette of themselves on black paper, to cut out and paste onto their landscape. Students wrote an ‘Artist Statement’ to accompany their artwork. Other students focused on the foreground, middleground and background of the paintings and created a three-dimensional Australian landscape inspired by Sidney Nolan’s paintings.

Students also looked at Elioth Gruner’s landscape that emphasised the rolling hills and silver glow of the river. Students incorporated a variety of papers that were torn and cut to create their own layered landscape. The landscapes were then displayed inside a golden frame from The Art Box provided by the Canberra Museum and Gallery.

Reader’s Theatre Performances 

Students prepared a Reader’s Theatre Script to perform. Students were encouraged to use voice projection and take on the role of their character through their expressive voice and facial movements.They enjoyed performing a variety of scripts to their audiences that entertained and evoked emotion.

Dance 

Students participated in two Dance sessions per week led by Mrs Jan Simpson. Students improvised ideas for dance sequences using the elements of dance and choreographic devices. Students found that dance required lots of physical effort and also included expression and feeling. 

Artist Portfolios

Students prepared an Artist Portfolio of their artist works created throughout this UOI. Students completed an accompanying artist statement for each creative piece and received feedback from their peers.

Student Voice 

‘I learnt about some paintings from artists and how they expressed themselves in different ways.’ Orlando P

‘You can also express and show your feelings through drawing, painting and also by dance.’ Mary B

‘Art is about being creative and expressing ourselves, because we are all different in our own ways.’ Amelia G

‘I learnt that art isn’t just splashing art onto a canvas, and it will always have meaning!’ Abigail G

‘I learnt that as the artist you can make your art mean anything you want’. Tiana C

‘I learnt that art can be lots of different things, not just drawing and painting’. Jackson B

‘I really enjoyed being creative and getting to try some new art styles’. Libby F

‘I worked collaboratively with others and respected them. Drama was my best creative work.’ Owen

‘I think my creative work is best of all but I can always do better.’ Rigsel

‘I really like expressing myself doing dance. I really liked the landscape one because I have a connection to the land.’ Reuben

Well things have definitely settled down this term – thank the Lord and classes are back to normal. The children are borrowing lots of lovely books and always tell me if they have read a book that has really ‘got them’. I monitor who borrows each week and tend to give a little poke to those who haven’t borrowed for a while. Reading is a great way to learn, grow and escape to another world.

We finished up the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge (CMRC) at the end of July and were lucky enough to win the ELC – Year 2 section and the 3/4 section. We received two certificates for our school and two hundred dollars in vouchers from the Paperchain book store in Manuka.

During the first 6 weeks of this term, library lessons complemented the Units of Inquiry being completed in class.

From Week 7 this term until Week 2 next term we are exploring all the wonderful books in the 2020 Book Week Competition (which was moved to Term 4 due to Covid). The theme this year is….

Last but not least, the HT Senior School Book Club has taken off this term – we have 10 girls from Year 5 come along every Thursday. They absolutely love reading and devour anything I suggest. We have purchased lots of fabulous new books for this group (using some money from the Book Fair last year). The girls are currently all preparing for an Interschool Remote Readers Cup in Term 4.

Happy Holidays.

Student Voice

It was great that we got to explore deep meanings into privilege, bias and even prejudice, because they are in our society and our world globally. It is important because of how much it can relate to us and our community. We discussed a class definition that we could look back to when we forgot what it means or just when we just need some revision. By Georgia B

I want to know more about what the children and people living in the slums realise what position they are in or their circumstance I want to know if there’s more then just fundraising that can help safeguard their futures and most importantly that they are able to live amazing, healthy, happy lives.I think that this inquiry unit really opened our eyes and our minds to what is really happening beyond our happy world we call Australia and our home, I think this inquiry unit is most definitely going to stay with us for the rest of our lives making us think deeper than ever before, I think this inquiry unit will influence our decisions and their consequences greatly. By Freya H

I noticed that most people have been discriminated against because when we did an activity and we split up into two

groups and more people were in the group that where for people that have been discriminated against.I want to know more about the types of people that get discriminated against because it’s not good to just assume that someone has been discriminated against. By Austin TL

   What is Privilege?

What is bias and where do I see it in the world?

If the world were 100 people...

Students wrote and performed a rap to illustrate a global issue relating to privilege and bias

Student Voice

This inquiry unit has really expanded my knowledge on everything to do with Refugees, Migrants, Asylum seekers and many more. I have learnt about their sometimes treacherous journeys on their way to find a forever home in a foreign country. I have also learnt the reasons they move. For example, a Refugee is forced to leave because of things like, war, persecution, human rights, violence, e.t.c. Overall I absolutely loved this PYP unit and want to further expand on it, I also loved the creative element in this unit. Freya

One thing that I really enjoyed during this UOI was unpacking all of the main ideas and interesting words to create a better understanding of them. I enjoyed the BTN episodes and the creative piece gallery walk, because it helped me learn the differences of a refugees and migrants, and why they leave there home country. I enjoyed this UOI and all the elements within it. Alessasndra

For the refugee UOI, I have learnt that there is a difference between refugees, migrants, immigrants e.t.c. I know this because a refugee is someone who is forced to flee their country for reasons like war, violence and many more. Where as  a migrant leaves for work, money, jobs, marriage e.t.c. One thing that I really enjoyed about this UOI is watching all the different videos about refugees, migrants and asylums seekers. I really found it interesting how some of the different people that are refugees have become a citizen of their new country, that they fled to. Hollie

Mapping the Global Crisis-Cause and Effect

Cause and Effect in Science

Historical Narrative Writing - Planning