Fire Station Visit

After 3 years of further study, I am pleased to return to blogging!
The children have continued to use the site but as you will all be aware, I have not updated the blog for some time. Hopefully, things will improve from now on.
Let's tell you about our recent visit to the Fire Station which was a great hit with our very keen children from rooms 13 and 14.
Our boys listened and took in every detail the Fire Fighters told them about. The water hose was of course a super hit and we all managed to cope when the siren was played.
A very special thanks to the Fire Fighters who gave up their time to show us around.
Well done, everyone! A sensational excursion, enjoyed by all.

Beechworth Honey Shop

All the children and adults had a fantastic time visiting the Beechworth Honey Shop last Wednesday.

As well as looking at the bees with magnifying glasses, on the big screen and in a small hive, the children got to taste some honey and bring some samples home. Hope everyone has enjoyed these.

Afterwards the students purchased lunch at the Beechworth Bakery and then went to the Chinese Gardens and Lake Sambell for a play before returning to school.

Many thanks to Belinda, Bree, Thomas, Jo and Nicole for making the excursion possible.

Hi everyone,
We welcome Christina to our room for a four week placement. She is learning the craft of being a special education teacher and doing a fantastic job.
Speaking of which, we have had many visitors to our room this week and our children have been sensational.
We have had lots to keep us busy as we explore our theme, Part of a Pattern.
We will be going to Beechworth Honey Shop to learn about bees and how honey is made.
Some of the boys are learning how to download the photos they have been taking and to insert them into powerpoint or word documents.
Christina has had the children making patterns in lots of different ways and learning about 3D shapes.
All of us have been learning about iPads and what a wonderful new exciting world this is!!!
From using the iPad as a communication device to literacy, numeracy activities and lots of apps that are just for fun. Talking Carl is very popular as is the many different GrasshopperApps.
We have also learned how to make our own books by adding photos and drawings with sound affects. Heaps of fun and very impressive learning taking place at the same time.

Dear Parents and Carers,
I have removed some songs linked to Youtube as parents have told me their child has followed the link and then gone on to explore youtube, accessing other inappropriate material.
Thank you for letting me know. We aim to provide a safe site for our children to access so I do need to know if you are experiencing any difficulties.
There are some wonderful songs and stories on youtube which you might search for yourself at home. As our children are becoming more competent at using their computers and iPads to access internet sites they will need close monitoring by adults to ensure they stay in safe spaces.
Equally, please let me know if you find another site that is worth sharing with everyone.
Thank you
Jill

Welcome to term 3.
What a wet, cold holiday we experienced. On the plus side the snow on the mountains has certainly been exciting for those who enjoy being wet, cold and having lots of fun at the same time!!!
Others of us have enjoyed the opportunity to keep warm and complete inside jobs.
I know there are many parents who are thankful school has once again resumed.
This term our theme is " Part of a Pattern."
We will take a very broad look at this theme over the course of the term and include activities such as looking at patterns in nature and man made patterns. We will cover curriculum areas such as Literacy, Numeracy, The Arts and Science. Should be lots of fun.
Stay tuned to see what we get up to.
Jill

Welcome Nadi Special School

We are so delighted to welcome our friends at Nadi Special School to our blog.

We hope the children will enjoy using our site and especially look forward to continuing friendships after our visit.

Belinda, Sue and Jill had an amazing time getting to know the fantastic, hard working staff and the very eager children at Nadi, Ba and Sigatoka Special Schools. We were so impressed to see how well the children and teachers are doing, despite a significant lack of resources. Truly inspiring and humbling for us.

We went expecting to be teaching the staff how to use our curriculum and found they are already using it and doing a fantastic job. The staff quickly learned how to write goals and ILP's with PD from Sue. It is very exciting to see that the Hume Region Special School's Curriculum is relevant not only in Australia, but also to Fijian children. We look forward to future partnerships in teacher professional development.

We were treated to lots of wonderful meals and learnt how to make roti bread. Room 13 children will definately get to experience this.

The entire Nadi, Ba and Sigatoka staff were so generous, welcoming us to come into their classrooms and shared their experiences of teaching and learning with a high level of professionalism. Truly commendable.

Our thanks to Master Naiker and Belinda for organising such a wonderful exchange of professional practise. May there be many more exchanges, such as this.

Hope everyone has a great holiday and Happy Easter. This time the holidays are a bit longer with Easter and Anzac Day at the end of holidays. Belinda, Sue and Jill will be going to Fiji to work in the Special School at Nadi. We'll keep you posted with some photos so you can see what we get up to. Enjoy the break and see you all on April 27th . Keep safe and have a great break.