Barbreck News
A 2018 “Book Week” Thank You
With the intriguing theme of “Find Your Treasure”, the 2018 Book Week activities in Barbreck were well enjoyed and celebrated by students from ELC to Year 6.
Author Jane Godwin spoke to Years 5 and 6 students about developing the very popular “Our Australian Girl” series.
Thank you to our teacher librarian, Mrs Victoria Baldacchino and library technician, Mrs Judy Hoole for once again planning and organising a wonderful array of engaging activities. Reading is a well-loved activity in Barbreck.
Visiting authors, Jane Godwin and R.A. Spratt, and a theatre group performance presenting one of the shortlisted books entitled Boy, all added a richness to the week. Dressing teddies and dolls as a book character who visits the library, Year 4 and the four year old Early Learning Centre Four Leaf Clover friends shared stories and participated in a competition called “Match the Teacher to the Treasure”.
Hollie Pringle reading with Four Leaf Clover friends Catie King and Josiah Koh.
Volunteer ambassadors from older classes read to students in Prep to Year 3, and the “Book Swap” opportunity was extremely popular.
Bodyworks: Health and Wellbeing Program
During Terms 3 and 4, Junior School students will be participating in the Bodyworks Health and Wellbeing program, as part of the School’s Health program. The Bodyworks program has been specifically designed to be sequential for the seven years of the primary curriculum.
This year, the program will be delivered by Amanda Parsons, who has been working closely with Marion Church to deliver the program for a number of years at other similar girls schools. Marion Church has decided to step back from teaching the program to spend more time with her family. We thank her for the wonderful delivery of the program over so many years. She will be greatly missed.
The program is linked directly with the existing Physical Education and Health curriculum, as well as being tailored to the needs of the Junior School students. From Prep to Year 6, the sequential program covers understanding through age-appropriate discussions and activities across four units:
- Understanding the human body
- Healthy living
- Substance use, misuse and abuse
- Personal growth and development:
- Feeling OK – Prep to Year 2
- Taking Care – Year 3
- How I began – Year 4
- Puberty and Adolescent Development – Year 5 and Year 6
Ms Catherine Samuel, Deputy Head of Junior School
Student Reflections from the Year 6 Canberra Tour
Year 6 students on their visit to Canberra.
The morning air was chilly as we stepped out of the plane in Canberra. Wind was buffeting our faces all the way through us collecting our baggage and arriving at the steps of the National Exhibition Centre. The building was nestled in the bank by Lake Burley Griffin. The glazed surface gleamed hungrily as small waves lapped onto the concrete. The weak sunlight had dappled the floor through the windows. The High Court filled us with excitement as we stepped into the ornate building. Courtroom 1 was filled with elegant timber and leather chairs. This was the room where cases have their final hearing. Parting from the High Court filled us with awe as we speculated with one another about the thrilling question, who was going to be in the room with us? Our arrival at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) answered this question. After a dinner supplied by the AIS, we headed out to Questacon. We were guided through science experiment upon science experiment in a multitude of rooms that boggled our minds. – Nadia Mohamed
On day two, we hopped on the bus and our bus driver Greg drove us all to the Museum of Democracy (Old Parliament House). Ms Ching signed us in and a woman took us into a room, where we all sat down and she explained what we were going to do. Finally, the woman told us to put some thick white gloves on to protect the heritage items from the oil in our skin. The first thing we did was a treasure hunt. They gave us a swipe card, which we used to scan screens that gave us clues to our next destination. After half an hour, we went to the House of Representatives and we did some role-plays. It was time to leave and go to the National Portrait Gallery. As we walked around the gallery, we saw several paintings. The highlight of going to the National Portrait Gallery was that we had to try to draw a sculpture and finish other people’s work. We left the Gallery and continued on our tour of Canberra. – Brooke Sharman.
On the second night of our trip, we went to the Dinosaur Museum. We learnt about how dinosaurs evolved through the Triassic, Jurassic and Crustaceous periods. We found the session very interesting.
Government House was a 54 hectare property that is the accommodation of the Governor General. After a short introduction video we were fortunate enough to get a tour through the house. There was a beautiful jewellery cabinet with intricate woodwork details that had been made as a gift for the Governor General. In the ballroom, Lydia Hu played the beautiful piano. The gardens were full of native Australian flowers and beautifully manicured, sweeping lawns.
Cockington Green was filled with adorable miniature buildings from all over the world. Tiny stadiums, houses, castles and famous land marks. After looking through the gardens we had a train ride that gave us a bird’s eye view of the area.
Parliament House was very interesting and most educational. We learnt how the House of Representatives and the Senate work. We met two people who worked with the Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann. We did a role play in the House of Representatives, and we passed a bill about farmers giving up a portion of their land to create a habitat for animals. The vote for ‘Yes’ won!
The Royal Australian Mint is where all the Australian coins are made and have been made since 1965. We enjoyed learning about the history of coin making.
The War Memorial was most enjoyable where we learnt many interesting facts and many true stories about wars and conflicts around the world. We visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and placed poppies on the names of soldiers who have been killed in wars.
Our Canberra trip was amazing and everyone would have to agree that it was incredible. Every Year 6 girl had to go beyond their comfort zone and we all achieved and took something away with us. We learnt so much about the Australian Government and a bit about ourselves! Canberra was definitely one of the highlights of Year 6. – Georgia Hennessy and Jessica Paterson
Year 3 Excursion
As part of their History unit, the Year 3 students went on an excursion to the Melbourne Museum to participate in the educational program, The Melbourne Story. They also went to the 88th floor of the Eureka Tower to see the famous sites of Melbourne from a bird’s eye view perspective.
Below are some of the highlights from the excursion.
My two favourite things at the Melbourne Museum were Phar Lap the horse and Little Lon House. I especially liked Phar Lap because he looked so realistic. I really liked Little Lon House because it looked very old and interesting. Then we went to Eureka Tower. We got to Level 88 in a whopping 38 seconds, it was so fast. Then we all got to do an activity about all the things we could see. I especially loved looking at the MCG. – Catelin Varasdi, Yr 3H
Lexie Giangnorio and Frankie Vasilopoulos share what they found in the toy box as part of the Melbourne Story.
I particularly loved Little Lon House because it was old-fashioned and simple. At the Eureka Tower, I loved looking out from the terrace because I could feel the wind. – Fleur Angenent
The Eureka Tower was fantastic because the lift only took 38 seconds to get up to Level 88 and that’s fast! I liked using the binoculars because some of the buildings I had never seen before. – Chloe Handbury
My highlight from the excursion was looking from a bird’s eye view down to the famous places in Melbourne. I loved looking down at the MCG because I saw the Geelong Cats running around on the field! – Anna Shears
We went to the Melbourne Story and learnt a lot. I liked everything but I especially liked the Coles Book Arcade. I loved it because it looked old and it was very inspiring. We also went to the Eureka Tower. I liked seeing all the sights of Melbourne but I especially liked the Westgate Bridge because I had never seen it before. – Mietta Barrington
The highlight of our excursion was walking around the museum and seeing all the statues and figures. I especially liked the statue of Phar Lap. I also really enjoyed the cinema. It was really cool because you got to experience what it felt like being in the olden days. My favourite bit was when we went into a house. It looked like it was from the 1900s. I really, really enjoyed the Melbourne Museum. – Clara Calvert
