Cosmic Cluster Review 2

Do you want an opportunity that will add spice and experience to your life? Well this camp is for you. 

The main things about the camp are intelligence and social skills. Obviously the intelligence is meant to be applied to the new topics, thus creating a new mindset and set of knowledge. Social skills are essential throughout the camp from speaking to people in your dorm to using sufficient manners during meal times. There are many topics including, music, art, drama, forensic science, medieval history and digital storytelling. With most schools you will get to choose the core you would like to be in. These will require thinking, knowledge and optimism, and in the end it is fun as well as interesting in many ways. You will be assigned to a group called a “core”, which you will be with for a chunk of the camp and you will work with them for a common goal and do things from speaking to them to doing the dishes with them, and of course you will get to know them. Early on it is about introducing you and growing confidence but it will unfold into a fully grown excellent social and learning experience. You will be doing things from building to geocaching to solving complex riddles and dilemmas. The operation is situated in a place called Woodhouse, around 2 hours away from Adelaide city. It is fairly remote, far in the country. For some reason it is in winter so it will be rainy and you may not be able to do all of the physical activities unfortunately. The dorms are not luxury but not complete trash. All you get is some bunk beds which people will argue over, a small room and a nearby bathroom if you’re lucky. If you do get a bathroom next to your dorm you will likely be sharing it with a teacher. The food is excellent you will get a good quality course with dessert for dinner. There are a range of selections for breakfast and maybe lunch and all the different foods are great tasting. They also give other food options for those with eating disorders or conditions such as that.

In conclusion it is a great experience for those who would like to learn something that is not provided at school. It is also fun at the same time as achieving this goal. I guarantee that you will find this enjoyable in some way or another. It is like a normal camp except is rarer and hosts more opportunities. It is excellence and elegance in one camp. Do it.

Lawrence G

Cosmic Cluster Camp

Last week 5 students attended the Cosmic Cluster Camp. This is a camp hosted by Lutheran schools in the region to provide further learning experiences for children. There are a range of subjects or "cores" that the children can participate in. Through the week we hope to share some of the experiences the children had of the camp. Here is the first review:

Cosmic cluster camp was a great experience for me and my peers. Our core groups taught us a lot of new skills and it was great to meet other people that have the same interest.

The core groups were – Forensic science, Creative writing, 2D Art, Drama, Medieval Histories and Digital Storytelling.

It was great because each core got to experience something they wouldn’t normally be able to do at school.
My core was Creative Writing, in my group I got to learn about all different types of poetry and learn how to write more advanced narratives using the scenery around us. Some of the poetry I learnt was:

Book Spine Poetry:  It’s a kind of poetry that you don’t really write from scratch – instead, you “find” it by arranging book titles to make a poem. This type of poem can be serious or funny, just like in regular poetry. To make a book spine poem, you would start by moving these books around into stacks with the spines together so that the titles are like the lines of a poem. You would keep moving the book titles around into different stacks until you find the “lines” that go best together to make a poem.

Black-Out Poetry: Also known as newspaper blackout poetry, the author uses a permanent marker to cross out or eliminate whatever words or images he sees as unnecessary or irrelevant to the effect he's seeking to create. The central idea is to devise a completely new text from previously published words and images, which the reader is free to interpret as he wishes.

Thumb Print Poetry: Thumb Print Poetry is a type of descriptive story/poem about yourself or things that you like. You start but taking your thumb print and enlarging it with a printer. You then trace around the lines of your thumb on a separate piece of paper and write about yourself on the lines creating an amazing affect.

Over all this camp was a great opportunity for everyone there and it was not only a way to improve your knowledge but it was an awesome was to meet new people and make some new friends. The staff and students are very enthusiastic about their core groups and are extremely nice people. I would definitely go again. 

Bianca .S

Welcome to Week 5

Week 5 is upon us and the time keeps moving on. Looking ahead this week there are a few things to think about.

Monday - If you baked a cake on the weekend bring it along for the Big Cake Bake. Cakes can be taken to Miss Clark's room in the morning. This is to support the Australian Red Cross.

Monday is also going to see a focus on concert and the practise and development of the Senior Unit item. It will be a creative day.

Friday - On Friday we begin our book week celebration with our dress up day. Children can come to school dressed as a character from a book. There will be a parade and sharing of the costumes.
This leads into Movie Night which is also on Friday. Come along with your family and enjoy a viewing of Shrek.

Check back for more as the week goes on.

Unit of Inquiry

We are full swing in our Unit of Inquiry sessions. This term the Year 7's are working with Miss Butter and Mr Jones, while the Year 6's work with Mr Semmler.

The Year 7's are looking at human interaction in the world and it's influence.

The Central Idea is: Scientific advancements influence change. 

 

The Lines of Inquiry are:

- Ways classification organises diversity

- Impact of human activity on organisms

- Understanding leads to change.

 

The Year 6's are looking at disasters and the influence they have in the lives of people.

 

The Central Idea is: The ability to survive is challenged by disasters.

 

The Lines of Inquiry are:

- Extreme events create disasters

- Disasters impact communities

- Preparation and response to disasters continues to evolve.

 

 

These topics have lead to some great discussion and sharing of information. As we move towards our final pieces of work on the topics we look forward to finding out more about these areas.

Week 4 Already

Week 4 is upon us and there is plenty of things happening in the Senior Unit. I hope to elaborate more on the events and happenings as we go through this week. Usually I have a lot to say but have found myself not getting here to share so I am trying short bits of information regularly.
Let's start with 2 things.

Cosmic Cluster Camp
Cosmic Cluster Camp starts on Wednesday and is a chance for selected students to participate in a camp where they will be extended in an area of learning or interest. It is a great chance to meet people from other schools and enjoy learning together. We look forward to hearing about the experience when they get back form camp. Camp is Wednesday to Friday at Woodhouse.

Club Kidpreneur
Another initiative in the Senior Unit is the Club Kidpreneur. In this a couple groups of students are embarking on running a mini business and are creating products to sell to the public. While the groups create a business they are developing valuable teamwork and organisational skills. Products from this endeavour will be available later in the term.

That's all for now but stay tuned for more as the week goes on.

Reminders

Sports Clothes are to be worn on Monday as it is a sport day.
Make sure you have a novel/book to read. If you need to go to the library you can do it on Tuesday or Monday lunch.
Think that's it!

Set Sail for Term 3

 

Welcome back to Term 3. It will be an exciting term with many different events happening. This term will be a busy one as we start a new Unit of Inquiry and new topics in Maths and Literacy.

Here are a few of the highlights from the coming semester.

 

- Unit of Inquiry: Year 7's will be with Miss Butter and Mr Jones, Year 6's will be with Mr Semmler. Our topic is "How the World Works"

- Maths: A lot of our focus will be on fractions and decimals as well as continuing to improve our numeracy skills

- Literacy:  For writing we will be focussing on Discussions for the first part of the term. We will also be investigating picture books. Premiers Reading Challenge is due this term and teachers will support you in completing it. Continuing to read is important!!

- Concert: Will be in Week 7 and more information will come out about this in the first 2 weeks.

- Cosmic Cluster Camp: For selected Year 7 students.

- School Photos are at the end of term.

 

It will be a busy time for everyone.

 

Year 7's

During the holidays the Year 7 tops have been printed. Your class teachers have the tops and will be able to give them out to you on Monday. Wear a casual top to school and when you get your top you can get changed into them. Here is a sneak peek at the top.

 

Thought it looks good!