During the Term 3 school restrictions, Ms Bouchier invited students to be involved in a virtual Minecraft Garden challenge and our school community responded! Instructions were posted on Compass and students created a variety of big, little, indoor, outdoor, fenced gardens that featured flowers, plants, birds and animals. What a create lot you are – just a remindar that Minecraft Club will be run by Ms Hawkins and Ms Bouchier at school every week upon your return. One of the founding tenets of the TAP is to provide applied learning opportunities and to link our curriculum to community and agriculture whenever real and relevant opportunities present themselves. Case in point re COVID Lockdown 7.0, check out the home schooling ideas provided by TAP champion, Dr Zoe Vogels, from The Vet Group. This term our Year 8 Science classes are studying the science of cheesemaking including chemistry, food science, scientific processes, and researching aspects of the Australian dairy industry while they wait for their Camembert cheeses to mature. As the students are currently learning remotely, today they watched a TAP pre recorded interview with artisan cheese maker, Julian Benson, from Apostle Whey Cheese. Julian described how Apostle Whey was created, the planning and training prior to the new business commencing, the types of cheese produced and the production methods used. He described the pathway of the milk from the dairy through pasteurization and it is then made into cheese or bottled for milk or churned for gelati. The impact of COVID on the business was outlined as it was primarily tourist dependent, but Julian explained that the business could pivot and include their products in Cheese Therapy packs, on the Click for Vic site as well as on site as part of the 12 Apostles Artisan Trail. He was most proud that Apostle Whey Cheese cheese has been awarded international recognition and encouraged students to believe in yourself, talk to positive people, set your goals and work for it. Thanks Julian! Yipeeee we finally finished our ice-creams with the Year 3/4 classes! Here are a lot of photos but too many crazy amazing action photos to choose from. I always tell my classes its often just as important how and where you choose to showcase your art so we had fun posing for different shots around the school. Yes we did make puffy paint out of shaving cream flour, glue and food dye (boy it was messy, sticky, and some bags popped but boy it added dimension, depth and character to our ice-creams). All students showed so much persistence and patience, first building their armature (skeleton) to which they could add 4 layers of paper mache. They then added 3 coats of acrylic paint using their own paint palette (thanks to those parents who donated all those butter lids they worked perfectly) where they mixed their own unique colours. Puffy paint was then made and added followed by a coat of supergloss varnish to add shine. An 8 week project interrupted by 2 lockdowns. I'm so proud. On display at school but soon to be moved down hopefully to our ice creamery for all to enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Sarah Mackieson During August we celebrated National Science Week. Science Week aims to encourage an interest in science and STEM. The 2021 theme, 'Food: Different by Design', provided endless opportunities for students to explore concepts around food production, alternative protein sources, food experiments and so much more. Secondary students were encouraged to participate in a daily science quiz. This became a hotly contested form assembly activity and provided a true test of scientific knowledge! Do you know how many taste buds the average adult has, or the common name for Sodium chloride?! Some families also participated in the ‘Epic Family Science Quiz’. Well done to all involved. Lots of fun activities happened in the Primary school to celebrate Science Week. The Preps investigated colour changing milk while Year 3/4s did lots of fun activities such as the science around making a lemon fizz drink and melting, freezing and heating yoghurt. The Year 5/6 students created objects that would keep an egg safe if the egg was dropped from a height of two meters. Well done to all students who participated in our Virtual Science Week in some way. We hope we can hold our annual Family Science Night later in the year pending COVID restrictions. Over the last 2 terms the Year 5/6 students have been investigating different types of Natural Disasters including tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, volcanoes, local bushfires and even Flood Maths! Students also uncovered a lot of information whilst researching their own various topics such as mud slides, plagues, droughts, cloudbursts, landslides and avalanches. Their challenge was to recap the unit by choosing three Natural Disasters to summarise and present in Natural Disaster Triramas, or pyramid shaped dioramas. What a great way for our students to showcase their learning and teach their peers - aren’t they brilliant! |
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March 2024
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