Understanding by Design
Southern Vales Christian College is an 'Understanding by Design' school. This is an inquiry-based approach that places the understanding of the learner at the centre of education. This has enabled the College to harness innovative practices such as Student Agency, Philosophy, Visible Thinking and Design Thinking among others; which inspires teachers to deeply understand their own practice.
UbD is 'backward design', which is the practice of looking at the outcomes in order to design curriculum units.
Understanding by Design helps students to apply what they learn at school to the real world, which deepens and enriches their learning experience."
Part of the planning includes determining 'Essential Questions' for the unit. An Essential Question helps students engage with their existing knowledge base and draw new patterns between ideas. Essential questions are designed to encourage further questioning about a particular subject. They are intended to spark a conversation about the subject rather than simply providing a factual answer to the question.
Teaching for understanding requires that students be given numerous opportunities to draw inferences and make generalisations for themselves (with teacher support). Understandings cannot be simply told; they have to be actively “constructed” by the learner.
This issue of the College Chronicle focuses on the wonderful learning opportunities that our students are currently engaging in as part of our Understanding by Design curriculum.
Jenny Nelson, Principal
CreativITY in Maths & SCIENCE
The UbD unit this term for Year 1 is about 'Celebrating Differences'. In Maths, we have been looking at 'place value' and the different ways we can represent and see patterns in numbers. In the activity pictured, we created monsters with 'ones and tens' made out of coloured paper. We have gained understanding that each place value 'house' can only hold one digit and the location of a particular number, contributes to its value. This activity is one of the many different ways that we have been exploring numbers.
Ester Manego, Year 1 Teacher
In Science, the Year 1 students took part in a playdough experiment called 'All Dried Up'. Their Essential Questions for this unit are:
Can objects change their state? How do things around us change? Will all materials combine?"
The students investigated how the properties of a material (playdough) can change as they dry. They used playdough that had been left out for two weeks, playdough left out for two days and fresh playdough. The students tested how easy it is to change the shape of a ball of playdough depending on how long it has been left to dry out; then discussing their observations and the results of the investigation.
Katie Rex, Year 1 Teacher
Practice Makes Perfect
Year 8 MuSIC
Year 8 Music students at Aldinga have started class band lessons playing a concert band instrument of their choice. They are currently learning playing and practice techniques as they listen carefully to each other, try to keep in time and refine their sound and music reading skills. The Year 8 Music UbD unit for Term 1 is 'Music Band Foundation' and focuses on the Essential Question of:
If 'practice makes perfect', what makes perfect practice?"
We are looking forward to seeing their performance skills grow and have them take part in future school assemblies!
Janette Mayne, Music Teacher
Musical Instrument Tuition
Is your child interested in learning piano, guitar, voice, violin, drums, saxophone, flute or clarinet?
We are currently in the process of organising private instrumental teachers to deliver lessons for these instruments on site for a fee of approx. $27 per half hour weekly lesson.
If you are interested can you please visit the SVCC Music Program section on the website. Go to the bottom of the page and fill in the details on the contact form including the instrument of interest and campus so that we can get in contact with you.
Learning an instrument is a fabulous skill that not only sustains and feeds the brain, but it also improves so many other cognitive and physical aspects of the human body. It's been widely studied and proven that learning a musical instrument improves memory; it not only improves your cognitive memory but also muscle memory as well. Students develop confidence and can perform at a range of assemblies and concerts and enjoy using their music skills for the rest of their lives.
Katie Rex, Performing Arts Teacher and Janette Mayne, Music Teacher
CREATING WITH PERSPECTIVE
The Year 7 students at both campuses have been investigating how artists use perspective and create a feeling of depth in their artworks. Perspective in art refers to the representation of three-dimensional objects or spaces in two dimensional artworks. Artists use perspective techniques to create a realistic impression of depth or ‘play with’ perspective. The students have been exploring the landscape artworks of Vincent Van Gogh and how he created a feeling of depth with his unique painting style. This is part of their UbD unit, 'Creating Perspective' which focuses on the Essential Question:
How do artists create the illusion of depth?"
Melody Parker, Art Teacher
SEVEN Steps to WRITING SUCCESS!
We are banning the boring when writing at Southern Vales Christian College. Throughout the Primary years, students are learning the Seven Steps to Writing Success. These steps include: 'Planning for Success', 'Sizzling Starts', 'Tightening Tension', 'Dynamic Dialogue', 'Show Don’t Tell', 'Ban the Boring' and 'Exciting Endings/Endings with Impact'. Students are empowered as “authors” by learning each step through collaborative, fun and engaging writing tasks.
The success of this method is found in five secrets:
1. Collaborative learning
2. Verbal not just writing
3. Chunking and learning steps rather than full writes
4. Repetition of steps
5. Thinking before writing
Since implementing this methodology, we have seen an improvement in the overall writing quality of our students, especially in our NAPLAN writing results.
Suzanne Harvey, Year 5 Teacher
Convincing the Community
This term, the Year 3 class at Morphett Vale are investigating communities for their unit of inquiry. This UbD unit incorporates a range of subjects and looks at how past communities shape future communities as well as how diversity in communities is acknowledged and celebrated. For this learning experience, the students were divided into teams of 2-3 and tasked with setting up a new community. Each team represented one of the following groups and worked to persuade the other teams of the add value they add to the community:
• Medical professionals (Doctors, Nurses, Dentists, Pharmacists, etc.)
• Teachers and Academics (School Teachers, University Lecturers, etc.)
• Tradies (Builders, Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters, etc.)
• Farmers (Graziers, Dairy Farmers, Poultry Farmers, etc.)
• Shop workers (Butchers, Grocers, etc.)
• Politicians (Councillors, MPs, Mayors, Prime Ministers, etc.)
One team went out on their own and chose to write about 'God' being the most valued part of their community. Using skills learnt through the Seven Steps to Writing Success program, the students created formidable and entertaining persuasive arguments and enjoyed presenting these to the class. We are sure there are some budding politicians or future lawyers amongst our Year 3 class this year!
Kylie Prange & Rebecca Varnas, Year 3 Teachers
SPACE: The Final Frontier
Year 5 & 6 INTEGRATED UbD UNIT
The Year 5 and 6 classes at Morphett Vale are working on an integrated UbD unit titled 'Space: The Final Frontier' for Science and Design & Technology. Our Essential Questions are:
How is our universe a 'system'? How can we create products that improve our quality of life and increase our ability to explore?"
In Design & Technology, the students are creating solar system models known as "orreries" to show what has been learnt about different planets in the solar system. They have worked in groups and used different materials to try to accurately represent the planets. After the models have been have completed, the students will be exploring technology in space and the way it has impacted our everyday lives through technology advancements. Check back in a future issue of the Chronicle to see the final results!
Ashleigh Taylor, Year 5/6 Teacher
Halogen Leadership Conference
College Captains
On Wednesday 9 March, the newly appointed College Captains attended Halogen Leadership Conference at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The Captains were inspired by the presentations given by Lachie Smart, Jessica Trengrove, Alex Ross, Guy Edmonds and Matt Zeremes.
The College Captains were particularly impressed with speaker, Lachie Smart. In 2016, Lachie became the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world. He completed the 54-day journey at just 18 years of age. The journey took two and a half years to plan, including a huge fundraising effort.
I learnt a lot about the importance of setting small and realistic goals so that you can reach your ultimate goal in the end." Edwin
At the leadership conference, we were able to listen to great speakers well-known across Australia. I learnt that as a leader, you will not please everyone, as trying to please everyone will only end up with you pleasing no-one." Armand
The 5th Annual Bright & Quirky Child Online Summit
Click here to register for FREE: https://brightandquirky.com/summit-2022
The summit will run from April 4 to 8 and this year’s theme is: Discover What’s Possible!
We’re expecting about 30,000 parents, teachers and clinicians, from over 150 countries, to learn how to help bright kids thrive, even with learning, social, emotional and/or behavioral challenges.
The line up of top psychologists, educators and child development experts is incredible!
Grab your free seat and see which experts will be joining us this year: https://brightandquirky.com/summit-2022
So happy to share this with you!
🥳 "This summit is the best online summit I have had the pleasure to attend. The calibre of expertise is amazing. The content is so specific and spot on. Already getting so much more than I predicted.” - former Summit attendee