Curriculum updates

This week our students from Prep to Year 4 completed their final units of inquiry. We place students at the centre of learning and supports the development of knowledge and skills that will enable them to be successful learners throughout their lives.

Student reflections provide important information that enables a school to refine and develop their programme of inquiry. Here are some reflections that have been collected from our students:

Which unit of inquiry did you enjoy the most and why?

  • I love learning about the weather, I love the different types of weather-sunny, rainy. We were little investigators. I built a rain gauge and when it rains we go and find out how much rain has hit.
  • We got to do lots of art with Mrs Nebauer in our How we express ourselves unit. I love doing art and it’s the thing I do best-you can relax and draw anything. I got to perform a dance from my culture with my best friend. 
  • I like to tell stories and I like to know about things in the past and I did this in our Where we are in place and time unit.
  • We did lots of experiments that showed us how things work. We explored why things happen. Experiments are scientific and I like science because you learn a lot more. We designed furniture and I loved that!
  • I liked learning about people’s cultures and how they present their culture
  • We could decide what we could create. It was fun and we learned things we didn’t know about
  • We learned about Australian history and we could understand the past. You could feel and imagine what the people in the past experienced. We wrote a diary about the kids’ experiences
  • We learned about other cultures and their art, food, fashion and dances
  • We got to learn about Aboriginal culture and what the Aboriginal people ate. They only took what they needed.

What is something important that you learned?

Working in groups

We learned that not everybody wants the same things. We didn’t always get what we wanted and we had to agree on things. Everybody has to be included when we make decisions.

Research

We learned to take notes and interview people. We used knowledge from our research to present to the class. We researched ecosystems and biomes, endangered animals, cultures and places, Australian history, architecture.

Demonstrating our understanding

We can show what we have learned by writing and drawing. We made a website. We built a model of a community. We made designs. We created artworks. We did presentations.

Looking after our world

We learned about reducing, reusing and recycling. We learned about endangered animals and how human action can make animals endangered. We learned about the balance in biomes. We learned about looking after oceans and being guardians of the planet.

What was your experience of the exhibition?

The exhibition was a great opportunity to learn new and different things that I probably wouldn’t have learned about otherwise. My thinking really changed. For example, before the exhibition, I would walk into a pharmacy and think everything was fine but after it, I would walk into that same pharmacy and know that many of the products would have been tested on animals. This made me feel concerned and I wanted to spread awareness of animal testing.

In the exhibition of 2022, I worked with a fabulous partner and we investigated diseases and how dogs detect them. It was interesting and it extended my learning. Having the opportunity to do an Exhibition meant that my thinking went beyond where it would normally be. I was challenged to go further. I loved being able to share my learning with the community.

Karen Campbell
IBDP Coordinator