Buddy Time maths

Room 4 teamed up with Room 10 for a buddy maths challenge this morning. We were trying to calculate who's name had the highest value and the lowest value in scrabble points. We then worked together to see which groups value totalled the most!

Room 4 then presented some of our speeches, and we even got the opportunity to learn a bit of Chinese!

Rainbow: Skiing in Year 5

Rainbow Year 5 2015 from Mr Skiperoo on Vimeo.

Last Thursday, year 5 had a marvellous day on the slopes at Rainbow, near St Arnaud. The weather was perfect; milky blue skies, with whispers of cloud cover and crisp white snow conditions.

All the children attempted skiing lessons on mixed ability. The majority of children pushing themselves, to make some excellent progress. 

A big thankyou to all those parents that volunteered their services, as drivers and supporting the children in their learning. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day with no injuries to report; just some incredibly happy exhausted faces!

Maths Week

Challenge #1- Estimate how many balloons it would take to fill the school van?
To introduce a fun packed maths week, several challenges have been set to the children of HSS. Each day, a new task requiring problem solving and using a range of strategies will be set. Each day the teachers are also rotating classrooms and introducing fresh maths activities to a different syndicate.

Today's task required the children of HSS to estimate how many balloons will fit in the new school van? We used our understanding of shape, area and volume to calculate a total of 896.... We then decided to take off 200 for the space taken up by chairs etc. Unbelievably, our initial guess wouldn't have been far off!

Congratulations to Room 16, that got the closest estimate to the correct amount of 897!!

The teachers of HSS were completely worn out after spending most of their Monday staff meeting inflating balloons!

Challenge # 2 - Using the value per letter on a scrabble game - Which member of your class has the highest, and which has the lowest?

Challenge # 3 - If every child at HSS stood side by side with fingertips touching, estimate how far the human chain would reach?

Speeches

Room 4 have been preparing and performing their speeches this week. It feeds forward to a syndicate speech competition to represent HSS in the speech finals.

There was a great range of topics discussed throughout Room 4. Some chose an environmental argument, the impact of war, animal cruelty, Does less mean more? Do we really need physical money anymore? There was also a range of informative speeches about immunisations, the landrover defender, selective mutism and a comical speech by Jonny about Pies!

The class did a marvellous job in preparing there speeches, and presenting them clearly and confidently to the rest of the class. Well done Room 4, another super piece of literacy, and some great feedback to your peers.

Science Fair in the Senior Syndicate

Well the day finally arrived, when the children of the senior syndicate got to present their projects, ideas and findings to an enthusiastic audience. 

Visitors ranged from supportive parents, curious teachers, and a medley of HSS children from various classes eager to witness all the excitement. Expert scientists from the Cawthron institute were also their to judge the entries, alongside a merry band of proud senior syndicate teachers.

The projects were diverse; with projects involving organisms, plants, chemistry, psychology, forces and sound... The list seemed endless. With some high level entries, a list of students will get selected to compete against a range of schools in mid September at the Cawthron institute.

From a teachers perspective, it's been great to see the independence, initiative and organisation adopted by Room 4. The level of investigations has been varied, with a lot of key questions along the way. But the persistence and tenacity shown has been really impressive to see. From a proud teacher, I thank all those parents that have taken time to support/ question and listen to their child's scientific ideas. There has been a huge progression in discovery science, both in an experimental sense and creating a approach to science about taking risks and giving it a go.

Well done to room 4 for all your hard work over the last few weeks, and smiling throughout. I know theirs some very proud class members, and rightly so!

HSS has got talent!

The last few weeks has seen HSS has got talent progress to the finals. Girl group 'The Midnight Breakers: Part 2' breezed into the final with a well self-choreographed routine. They had 2 days to rehearse their piece for the final producing an incredible performance in the final. Unfortunately the competition was so high that they didn't prove victorious this year. However, credit has to be given to the other finalists and overall winner: Ocean in Room 5 for a deserved win, for her well-choreographed solo dance performance. I'm sure the girls will bounce back for the 2016 finals, well done girls for the hard work and dedication...

Midnight Breakers part 2 final from Mr Skiperoo on Vimeo.

Class assembly

The finale of Room 4 and Room 10 school assembly

Room 4 and Room 10 performed a faultless school assembly, adapting a short story by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?'. The children worked in small groups to construct small verses involving HSS staff and the lively events that take place during a typical week at HSS. They then worked cooperatively to choreograph a routine involving dance, music or action. The children then performed with loud voices, great expression and big HSS smiles; a very proud Mr Marston and Mrs Cain-Townley.

Syndicate assembly witnessed a confident and lively performance by the HSS band. This was followed by a comedy skit, which had been scripted, practiced and rehearsed within Book club. A humerous finish saw Cherry coated in a custard pie!

Science Fair projects

Room 4 have been working incredibly hard on their Science projects this week. Here's a sample of some of the exciting experiments going on. Children chose an area of science in which they were interested in and wanted to explore. They are set to present their projects at the science fair in school on Monday, 1:45-2:30pm. All parents/carers and children from other syndicates are encouraged to attend and question all our budding scientists about their investigations.

Does age affect fitness?

How does different pitches of sound effect the pattern created with sand?

Which ingredients create the biggest crystals?

Does the type of liquid effect how it is absorbed by a flower?

Which material is the best conductor?

Does the type of liquid change the speed it takes for Blue-tac to sink?

Which sole has the best traction with different surfaces?

How does the size of the crater effect the height of reaction?

Using a choice-chamber; which area do the organisms choose to reside?

Which is the best material to muffle sound and why?

Does the material and size of the base effect how a balloon hovercraft works?