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LEARNING STRA TEGIC PL ANS - LEARNING Year 6: The power of migrant stories

STRATEGIC PLANS - LEARNING

Year 2: The power of a question
The Year 6 cohort was engaged in a learning project that
In Year 2 the boys have been provided with opportunities
spanned the learning areas of HaSS, English, Art and
to engage with content in a playful and inquisitive
manner. This effectively built upon and deepened the
have had on Australian society, the boys were tasked with
understanding of the curriculum, aided the boys in
creating a carefully curated exhibition for a migration
recognising connections between learning areas, and Technology. When investigating the impact migrants
ultimately ignited their curiosity about the world around museum. After visiting the Maritime Museum in Fremantle,
them. they began to gather information by interviewing an
Australian migrant to find out about their own personal
Learning in Year 2 often follows the boys’ ‘lines of inquiry’, migration experience. Many boys chose to interview family
where the learning is guided by the questions the boys members. In preparation for the interview, they had to learn
generate to further explore their wonderings. An example the skill of crafting ‘open’ questions to ask their migrant, for
of such a line of inquiry was, “What is life like in space conversation to be generated, and richer and more detailed
and how do we know?” – a question that easily spanned information shared. As the interview was conducted, boys
learning across Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS), captured highlights of the migrant’s story in both written
Science and English. and digital form (see ‘The art of conversation’, page 30).
The development of this question enabled a series of This interview was the springboard to creating a portrait
learning experiences to reflect the History curriculum of their interviewee throughout their Art lessons, writing
where changes in technology were explored through a biography, producing and recording a monologue,
the lens of changes in space exploration over time. and designing and creating a suitcase containing their
In addition, the Year 2 Physical Sciences as well as migrant’s artefacts. Migration naturally also edged into the
Design and Technologies curriculum were reflected area of Mathematics as students compared various global
through the exploration of forces, motion and gravity migration statistics.
via hands-on investigations into rockets and simple This learning project culminated in an Open Classroom
machines. The making of catapults was student driven afternoon to showcase their learning. Many of the
as the boys explored their Maker Space inspired by their interviewed migrants attended and were able to see their
newly acquired scientific knowledge. Catapult making life story before their very eyes. The boys so proudly
was the perfect segue into procedural writing and units displayed a collection of their learning, all of which
of measurement as the designs were put to the test. stemmed from a conversation with a migrant.
Technical vocabulary connected to space was explored Vanessa Hallett, Deputy Head of Junior School
through the sharing of picture books and non-fiction texts
during reading lessons.
Year 3: The power of puppets
The boys in Year 3 enjoyed a Collaborative Arts Day,
exploring the art and theatre of puppetry performance
in a day designed to integrate learning across Art and
Drama. The boys were enthralled by a Spare Parts
Puppet Theatre presentation of Hachiko the Loyal
Dog. The students participated in a hands-on
puppetry workshop before designing and crafting
their own unique fabric puppets. In the days that
followed, the puppets provided inspiration to the
English curriculum as script writing was explored
in response to the boys being so keen to deliver a
theatre production with their very own puppets. Boys
collaborated in small groups to develop their puppets
as characters, prepared scripts and invited parents
to watch their production during the Middle Junior
Learning Centre Open Afternoon. This learning culminated
in the boys’ puppets being on display in the Junior School
Art Exhibition.

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