Year 3W News

It has been an incredibly busy term for us and the boys have thrown themselves into a multitude of activities with energy and passion.

Last week the Year 3 cohort participated in an Inter-School Cross Country event which was a magnificent showcase of sportsmanship and commitment. Every boy gave their best, cheered everyone home and wore their Scotch uniform with pride. Yet again Mr Whiston had managed to secure beautiful weather, amidst a week of blustery storms, so the boys were blessed with another lovely morning on the Scotch Ovals.

As part of the action component of our inquiry into equal opportunities, the boys baked cookies and organised a sale during recess. We raised $190 dollars, which we added to the impressive funds that was collected by selling our beautiful hand printed dog cards. All monies will be donated to the Love Angels initiative who are raising funds for the Ubud Birthing Centre in Bali.

As our new unit investigates how products go through a process of change before they are distributed and consumed, the cookie baking session provided an ideal segue into this inquiry. We baked cookies and cupcakes, discovering how many ingredients there are in simple products and also how far they travel. Using the fabulous Middle School kitchens, we quickly realised that failure to follow instructions can end up in disaster! However, these epic fails in the kitchen have provided valuable reflection opportunities.

In the classroom we have continued to explore and research the concept of change, making bath bombs, smoothies, Lego cars, plastic from milk and ice cream without a freezer (many epic fails in this lesson, with some interesting flavours of ice cream that will never hit the shelves). It has been extremely messy, the teachers have a few more grey hairs, but the learning has been hands-on, fun and hugely interesting.

It will all culminate in our Teacher Chair Project, where the boys will be organised into small companies that plan, budget, design, build and market a chair modelled only from cardboard and duct tape. More grey hairs are guaranteed for the teachers, as we have to sit in the finished product without ending up on the floor. However, the final Exhibition promises to be a fitting end to what has been an engaging, inquiry-driven period of research and activity and the July holiday will be well earned by all parties involved.

Mrs Alison Webster
Year 3 Teacher