From the Head of Primary
Plans for school reopening in January
The primary team is working to make sure we can offer all primary children physical classes in January. We are following MINED guidelines as they are released. We are also committed to offering a full online curriculum to any students that are unable to attend physically. Our plan will balance the safety of our community with the best possible provision for student’s well being and academic success. Thank you to those parents who have completed the survey, once we know how many students intend to return in January we can then finalise and share with you more detailed plans for consultation. In the meantime please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions.
Learning: Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
You may or may not have seen the following poster which is our primary definition of learning.
This model for describing learning is taken from the International Primary Curriculum (IPC).
What is KSU?
Knowledge - Knowledge is commonly viewed as ‘awareness of bits of information’... things you just know! When you can recall important dates, multiplication facts or the ingredients of a recipe. We acquire knowledge through listening, observing, experimenting, reading and discussing things.
Questions we ask students: When did ... happen? Where was...? What is ...called? Who ...?
Skills - Skills are the things that we can do, we acquire skills through practice. We know children need to employ a broad range of skills across the curriculum. They include academic skills, motor skills, interpersonal/communication skills, problem-solving skills, creative thinking skills, teamwork skills and independent learning skills.
Questions we ask students: What can you do better than before? What have you been practising? How do you do this? Write instructions for how to…
Understanding - Understanding is something that we acquire once we gain new knowledge and practice new skills. We are able to understand things when we can, make connections, explain ideas and concepts in our own words. Understanding is usually defined as the moment when you make connections between different pieces of information or apply both knowledge and skills to allow reflection, adaptation and creativity.
Questions we ask students: How would you apply…? Explain in your own words… Write your own version of… Design/Create your own… Find a new way to.... Find the differences between…
Why do we use KSU?
To support children with their learning we need to be really clear about what we want them to learn so that we can break it down into easily manageable steps, and provide the right support and resources for each part of the learning process. Especially when we think about individual children, what type of learning they find easy and try to analyse how to help them when they are struggling. For example, when a lower primary child is struggling to write, is it because they don’t know the letter sounds, they haven’t mastered the skill of holding a pencil comfortably or they have not yet understood the purpose of writing. Thinking about Understanding as a different type of learning ensures learning is more challenging, encourages deeper thinking skills, creativity and independence.
Dates for your diary
PRIMARY
November
Monday 30th: Start of Wellbeing Week
December
Friday 11th: Last day of Extracurricular Activities
Monday 14th: PK Christmas Show 2pm
Monday 14th: Kinder Christmas Show 3pm
Monday 14th: 2nd Grade Christmas Show 5pm
Tuesday 15th: 3rd Grade Christmas Show 5pm
Wednesday 16th: Prepa Christmas Show 2pm
Wednesday 16th: 1st Grade Christmas Show 3pm
Wednesday 16th: 4th Grade Christmas Show 5pm
Thursday 17th: 5th Grade Christmas Show 5pm
Friday 18th: Last Day of Term
Monday 21st: Christmas Holidays start
January
Monday 11th: School resumes after Christmas Holiday
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