Champions!

chris hope

I know it’s not all about the winning and that we should promote the idea that to participate is the real goal (which we do), but it’s great to see the beaming smiles on the faces of the students when we win. Last week we took part in a sports carnival against several other teams in soccer, modcross, netball and Aussie rules football. It was an amazing day (thanks to our legendary Phys. Ed. specialist Mr Jones) and we managed to come away with most of the trophies on offer. The Aussie rules team were successful, as were the modcross team, whereas the netball teams came a solid second and the boys’ soccer team had some very impressive wins. However, the team that I was in charge of, the girls’ soccer team, won the coveted trophy. This was a trophy that our school has never won, but we knew following our practise games (a previous post) that we were in very good shape. The girls were magnificent, winning 5 out of their 6 games, but what stood out for me was their team spirit, their sense of fair play and their desire to run themselves into the ground, draining their last drops of energy to make sure they gave their best.

It was a great moment when the girls were called up to receive the trophy and I can say that I was absolutely proud of each and every one of them.

The Champions!

The Champions!

The Secret Me

chris hope

Our 2014 photographic exhibition is now on display in our library. Each year we have a different theme to concentrate on and this year’s was “The Secret Me”. The students had to think about the type of person they are behind closed doors, what they’re like when no one else is watching them. Okay, this was a little personal, though no one had to do anything they felt uncomfortable with. It was also a bit of a contradiction, after all, by showing your secret side to the world it’s no longer secret!

Deciding on a photo that would show their secret side was quite a challenge for the students and involved a lot of thought and planning. However, that wasn’t the end of it. “The Secret Me” is a depiction of how we change once behind closed doors, the side of our personality we keep more private, so the students had to take a second photo that would act as their “door”, a symbol of privacy like a “Keep Out” sign. Yes, this was even trickier! The two images were then combined using different layers and different degrees of opacity so the finished image gave the impression to the viewer of seeing through the “door” to the private person hiding behind.

To complement their photos the students wrote a free verse poem. We looked at alliteration, personification, simile and metaphor, onomatopoeia, line length and punctuation. The poems could only be short so the students had to get their emotions and feelings across quickly and efficiently. Despite this the results were quite exceptional and totally complemented the photos. Check out these two from Demi and Kianne.

Demi - Impatient

Demi – Impatient

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel Impatient (Surrounded)
It surrounds me,
wrapping me
in it’s slimy fingers.
I shake.
I move.
But I can’t get out of
it’s locked clasp.
Which one shall it be this time.
Impatient?
Annoyed?
I’m getting used to the pain now.
It almost seems funny.
Almost.

Kianne - Angry

Kianne – Angry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Feel Angry
No one knows.
Chains surround me,
trying to get my soul.
Crushing me,
smothering me.
Anger comes out
from my mind,
trying to break it.
Tried and tried,
but it’s too strong.
I can’t breathe,
it’s too hard!
What have I done?
What did I do wrong
that made people scared
to help me with this
situation?

Boys’ Blogging

chris hope

For a great “boy” read this week take a look at Macca’s blog. His latest post where he talks about his recent visit to the Toodyay skatepark is an excellent example of the type of topics perfect for boys. Sometimes it can be tricky to get boys interested in writing, which is why I think blogs are a really useful tool for teachers. Instead of limiting students to write only on the topics they are given in class, blogs allow them to indulge in their own interests. Take a look at Macca’s blog, but be warned,  it may not make sense if you are as old as I am!

School Sports

chris hope

This week our boys and girls soccer, football (Aussie Rules), modcross and netball teams played practise games against the students from another local school. This was in preparation for our major interschool sports competition next week where we will play against teams from across the district. Unlike our previous outing where all our teams won every game, this time we were tested a quite a bit more. Unfortunately, most of the teams didn’t fare well, though none of them were actually thrashed. However, the incredible girls’ soccer team (of which I happen to be the humble coach) enjoyed a 5 to nil win. This comes after our previous game where we won 15 to nil. So far our plucky goalkeeper, Jen, has kept a clean sheet (let’s hope this continues), but that is in a large part down to the outfield players who have demonstrated skill, tenacity and courage in what have been some very physical, hard fought contests. Check out the photo’s of the girls in action.

Aimee drives the ball forward.

Aimee drives the ball forward.

Chloe makes a dash through the centre.

Chloe makes a dash through the centre.

Year 1 Art Buddies

chris hope

Last week the caring, sharing students from LA19 buddied up with our wide eyed year 1 classes to produce some art on the iPads. This was very exciting for both groups, but particularly for us. Every time our year 7 students buddy up with the younger students they come over all caring and parental, it’s great to see (though I don’t think they’ll thank me for writing that). The point of the activity was to give the year ones an idea of the creative potential of the iPads and to help develop their skills in using them. We used the Brushes app (as we have on many occasions) and used layers to create a painted picture of a photo that was also taken with the iPad. The year 7s are only allowed to use their voice to explain things to the year ones, in that way the year ones will gain the most from their experience. It will take us a few weeks to work our way through the year ones, but check out the examples below of what we’ve achieved so far.

Photo 6-06-2014 9 29 24 am (HDR)

Photo 6-06-2014 9 31 11 am

Blogging Task #4

chris hope

This post is one for the students.

For Blogging Task #4 I want you to watch this video and tell me what you think. Do you think it’s a good idea or a bad idea? Do you agree with any of the reasons behind why it’s being done? Would it be good for you and your family? What about the teachers (very important)?

Give me your opinion along with your reasons. You might want to put forward a compromise; perhaps some points are good and along with your own ideas you could make the situation even better.

Sports Stars

chris hope

Last week some of our year 5, 6 and 7 students travelled to another local school to compete in several sports, which were: girls soccer, netball, boys soccer, modcross and Aussie Rules football. To say we were successful would be an understatement as we actually won every game. I personally am the coach for the girls’ soccer team who won with a resounding 16 – 0 score. They were absolutely brilliant, despite getting soaked by a sudden torrential downpour. I’d like to say that, as the coach, the victory had something to do with my incredible coaching skills, but these girls would have won even if they’d never been coached by anyone. For a great write-up of the game check out Aimee’s blog and her post called Inter School Soccer. Well done to all the teams for such an amazing effort.

Swimming

chris hope

The annual fortnight of swimming is upon us which means our usual timetable has taken a dive. Not that we’re going to complain; following a very intense run up to our NAPLAN testing, including a week of the tests themselves, a break from the serious business of school life comes just at the right time. Learning to swim is also an essential life skill, especially for a nation that enjoys spending their long hot summers at the beach or in the backyard pool. All in all, even though term two is pretty mixed up, it’s still going swimmingly!

Goggle Eyed

Goggle Eyed

What’s New?

chris hope

Well, there’s plenty, really, I’ve just been so busy trying to ensure NAPLAN went well, starting reports and keeping the activities flowing that my blog has simply had to wait. Working days, evenings and weekends is just a teacher’s typical lot, but it can mean we get a little wrapped up at times.

Anyway, the list of new “stuff” (our term for the work we do) is quite substantial. We’ve started a couple of new Art projects, a class one and another in partnership with our inspirational Art specialist Ms Sveinbjornsson. Both involve photography, though I can’t yet divulge the details of the class project. However, Ms Svein has introduced the students to the wonderful work of Roy Lichtenstein and we are deep into our attempts to recreate his art using our own photos. As usual, I’ll post the results as soon as we have them.

In History we’re continuing our Roman theme and have recently watched a Time Team video to learn about the scientific process that the archaeologists follow in order to achieve accurate results. The students are using Google Drive to collaborate on their responses to the questions I set for them.

Geography is also plodding along with students using their knowledge from the first term to determine the liveability of a random suburb selected from the real estate papers. Using Google Maps, they look at the facilities in their suburb (schools, parks, public transport, location away from main roads, shops…) to determine its attractiveness to potential residents. They also use Google Maps to look at the images from street level. Although these are now some years old they still have use and add to the information the students collect.

Maths and English are back into normal mode (following NAPLAN test prep) and we can now get back to addressing the requirements of the Australian Curriculum. All in all we are getting back to our usual busy selves, learning, developing and having fun whilst we do it.

And Finally…

chris hope

Finally, the waiting’s over! Mothers’ Day has finally been and gone. Until it was over and the gifts were delivered I couldn’t post the final instalment of the surprise the students had been making for their mums. If you’ve been following us you’ll remember how they’d been sawing and drilling some wood to make their gift. Well, the results were awesome and the lucky mums received their hand made candle holders last Sunday. They’d been sanded, waxed with an antique coloured wax and then polished to create that final sheen. The photo’s below show two examples of the fabulous, finished products. I’m sure you’ll agree, they did a great job.

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