Primary News
Sophie Poisel | Innovation Leader K – 6
Kindness Spreads Competition – Primary Madrichim initiative
During Weeks 8-9 students in Years 3-6 are invited to take part in a video competition. Participants will need to create a short video as an extension of their learning from Anti-Bullying Day. The theme is: Kindness Spreads. The Primary Madrichim will select the top 5 videos that demonstrate the strongest ‘Kindness Spread’ message. These will be featured at a special assembly. Please submit your competition entries by the end of Week 10 (April 5) to Miss Carroll by email (mcarroll@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au), using Airdrop in person or USB. Good luck and thank you in advance for your participation!
Open Day in the Primary School – 27 March
Open Day in the Primary School was a huge success thanks to our incredible staff and students. The morning began with magnificent musical items which set the scene and provided an inviting entry for the large contingent of prospective parents. After a number of informative presentations and a stunning choir performance in the Millie Phillips Theatre, the large group was split into six smaller groups for the tour of the School campus. Many teachers opened their classrooms to our guests, who were then able to witness the many talents of our staff and witness the learning taking place. Throughout the day a number of calls and emails were received, filled with compliments and words of praise acknowledging how special Emanuel is and how amazing the students and staff are.
Year K Pathways program
It was wonderful to celebrate and welcome Year K and their families to the Emanuel School community with our Year K Pathways Shabbat Ceremony. This was the first of 4 Pathways ceremonies and mark stages in the students’ Jewish learning and growth through their Primary School journey. Parents presented their child with a framed, decorated hamsa inscribed with special a special blessing and message they composed for their child. Students and guests celebrated with a beautiful morning tea provided by the year 10 D&T students under the guidance of Mrs Lara Sperber Ephron.
‘A Day at the Museum’
Rolene Silver and Emma Buzo – Year 1 Teachers
The great day finally dawned! ‘A Day at the Museum’ has been the culmination of a long, wonderful process. Over the term, Year 1 has studied ‘Technology in Family Life: Now and Then.’ As part of the unit, the students made ‘Me Boxes’ that illustrated their personal history, went on an archaeological dig with Year 11, conducted research including interviews with their grandparents. Students also went on an excursion to Vaucluse House and learnt about the Wentworth Family who lived there in the 1800s. ‘A Day at the Museum’ was the final piece of the learning over the term, where the students curated an exhibition of artefacts belonging to family members. Overall, the favourite artefacts were a juicer from 1910, a typewriter from the 1960s and a gramophone from 1940.
Thank you children and parents who contributed to such an amazing event. We had such fun learning about the past and guessing what the future might hold! Watch this space!
(Digital) Life
Our lives are increasingly digital, but how adults and young people view the digital world is very different. Last week I had the opportunity to hear from Amanda Third (UWS) speak about being young and living in a digital world, from the lens of cyber psychology.
Amanda Third opened her talk with a quote from Douglas Adams (2002),
“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
- Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
- Anything that’s invented between when you are between fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
- Anything invented after you are thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
This set the tone for understanding for how people view technology and led to several suggestions as highlighted in her research. Third’s research suggests that we need to focus on growing an understanding of the benefits of the digital world and not focus on terrible risks. She said that by focusing on risk and harm, we are not doing our children justice, as this leads to a failure of imagination as young people aren’t exposed to what is possible digitally. Our students will need a deep understanding of the digital world to solve problems now and in the future. They need to be prepared for their digital futures and need space to dream up new and positive uses of digital technologies, which I am excited to say happens regularly in our K-6 classes. Most recently we have been exploring Google Tour creator to simulate VR experiences and creating a variety of digital solutions to problems we see in our world, within and beyond the curriculum.
Third suggests we move towards a rights based approach that focuses on provision, protection and participation and called for a different dialogue to explore the benefits of the digital world. She said that a number of studies had shown that kids don’t go into a moral vacuum when they go online, and that we should focus on developing students with a strong moral compass so they can transfer this to their digital life. Third also called for flexible responses to challenges, that it is not recommended for all schools to ban phones, as each school is different. By navigating some risk, our students build resilience which can lead to teachable moments and benefits. She also highlighted that what children worry about is very different to what parents worry about online, and that our Digital Citizenship education needs to reflect this. This included: “that nobody will respond or comment on my post”, “about others oversharing information about me”, “about running out of credit” and “about wasting my time”.
We want our students to be safe and independent learners who explore advanced digital practices. Digital technologies have much to offer the world’s young people. Digital Technologies are embedded in our students learning experiences at Emanuel. I look forward to sharing some of these throughout the year, and at our annual Innovation Festival in Term 4.
Read more about Amanda Third’s work at UWS: www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1451641/10_Digital_technologies_and_the_Young.pdf
Some other ways you can support your kids development of positive uses of Digital Technology:
- Set up a screen time contract: www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/when-kids-call-the-shots/201804/the-best-technology-screen-time-contract-kids
- Talk to your kids about the idea of Digital Nutrition, designing a digital world that nourishes them: www.digitalnutrition.com.au/