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From the Desk of Ms Jess Fritz Preparatory Principal and Event Co-ordinator

In a project-based learning environment, children gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended length of time on a question, problem or challenge. Projects provide a flexible and sustainable platform for children to explore and discover and to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

The final week of term 2 was packed with exciting learning opportunities for our students with PBL (Project Based Learning) projects.

GRADE 4- PBL ‘EVERYDAY ACTS OF COURAGE COME FROM THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES.’

Students in Grade 4 watched video clips and read articles on everyday examples of courage in the real world. They looked at the circumstances in which people act courageously, how courage is presented and what it takes for someone to be courageous.

Our students watched and read fables that displayed acts of courage. Afterwards, they discussed whether some people were more courageous than others, and the words and phrases used to describe courage. Students had to define the word courage based on what they had watched and read.

GRADE 5- PBL ‘COULD YOUR TOWN BE MORE LIVEABLE?’

Our Grade 5 students looked at the characteristics that make a place liveable, ie. when it has suitable living conditions for all residents. Our students were tasked with how we can make our town or city the most liveable place on Earth.

The students created their own proposal for how to redesign their town or city, to maximise its liveability. They had to convince their classmates that their ideas should be implemented, giving attention to sustainability, convenience, purpose and design.

GRADE 6- PBL CHOOSING KINDNESS- ‘I SEE YOU.’

The movie ‘Wonder’ explores the need for kindness and empathy in our interactions with others. Without it, we often cannot look past their differences to ourselves. This can often lead to conflict or a feeling that we don’t belong. Our students were challenged to answer the question:

How can we choose kindness?

Their project was to imagine a new way of running orientation for new students at school. As a team, they had to think about how they would plan the first few days of that new person’s time at school. Their goal was to help everyone choose kindness, and get to know and accept them.

GRADE 7- PBL ‘A BLANK PAGE’ AND ‘BUSTING RUST’

The Grade 7 students worked on two themes last week. The first involved the recycling and upcycling of paper. They did experiments in the college Science laboratory to find the best methods for decomposing paper in order to make a mache that they could then make recycled paper from.

On the second day they worked on a theme of ‘Busting Rust’. They conducted exciting experiments in the college Science laboratory in regards to preventing and reversing rust.