Bryony Dixon

Hello parents and carers of Grade 4! In the classroom currently, we are learning about Geography.   As an introduction to the topic of the links between Literacy and Geography we read a book called Australia: Illustrated by Tania McCartney. This book helps to familiarise students with the many terms and concepts going into this unit. The book discusses the many different types of landscapes we have within Australia such as deserts, bush-land and beaches. As a class, we then went on to discuss further the different landscapes we have in Tasmania and then narrowing it down to our local area. Adapted from "Mallee Bushland" by CSIRO, 1989. ( https://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/tag/tree/i/5911/mallee-bushland ). Copyright (1989) by Willem Van Aken.    Students wrote a short reflective piece of their favourite landscape: this included why it was their favourite, if it had any special meaning to them and what made it important in relation to our ecosystem. ...

Hello Parents/Carers of Year 4s! As you know, we are currently focusing on citizenship in our classroom. We have previously learnt about democracy and are now learning about how citizenship and geography can relate to one another. The year 4s have decided they are passionate about our forests and have a keen interest in learning more about the different parts of a forest. We will be going on an excursion to the Hollybank Reserve to learn more about forest and the environment within it. We will also learn about how we can help the environment through helping our forests through regeneration and protecting the environment that lives within. This promotes active citizenship through the active involvement of the students who have decided that this I something they are passionate about. From/Adapted from “Hollybank Forests” by Green & Dale Associates, 2008, ( http://www.greenanddale.com.au/hollybank-forest/ ) . Copyright (2008) by Green & Dale Associates. The exc...

Students in the school are currently learning about Civics and Citizenship from the Australian Curriculum. Our class, along with the other year 4 classes have a specific focus on learning about democracy within our society. This includes strands of democracy such as local government and the services they provide, the importance of laws within our society and how they affect students. By the end of year 4 students are expected to be able to 'identify structures and decisions that support their local community and recognise the importance of laws within our society' (ACARA, 2016). We as a school believe that the earlier students are encouraged to ask questions and learn about their community, the better. Mellor, Kennedy and Greenwood (2002) conducted a study on fourteen-year-old students which showed that although most of these students had a basic idea of the government roles and responsibilities, some were still not clear. We want to change this. This gives them more oppor...