Celebrations!
This is the theme interwoven throughout our classroom on a daily basis! Not only do we celebrate the end result of our learning but often it’s the journey itself that we celebrate!
Celebrations of Learning, no matter where they take place, have the student at front and centre. They encourage a creation of a positive learning community. Reflection and celebration go hand in hand. In order for our girls to communicate their achievements and learning, they must have opportunities to assess and articulate their learning and path forward.
Journals are a very important part of this process and in our class, we have introduced Reading Journals, Gratitude Journals and Maths Reflective Journals. The girls have the opportunity to draw, write, celebrate and share their learning. They have the opportunity to express their inner thoughts and to experiment with metacognition…… Thinking about my learning .
With our Student Progress Meetings at the forefront of our minds currently, the girls and I have set individual goals and will revisit them in June this year, to see how our journey is unfolding in terms of achieving our goals. Please enjoy each student’s personal celebration over the last few weeks. Enjoy the joy, fun and excitement that our achievements and celebrations bring about, small, medium or large!
What Does Celebrating mean to us?
Audrey – Celebrating means achievement and it can be doing anything depending on who you are. I felt proud this week when I solved difficult maths problems quickly.
Briana – Celebrating means to be proud of who you are and don’t be ashamed because that makes you special.
Mackenzie – Celebrating means when you achieve something, little or big. You can celebrate all kinds of achievements no matter the size. We celebrated neurodiversity week by doing a lot of activities to get to discover how brains work.
Elle – Celebrating means when you feel proud of people who win or lose. It’s about loving yourself and everyone’s achievements. I feel proud when I help people that need help or when I give people my hair.
Mia – Celebrating means to achieve your goal. It’s when you stop and think that you feel proud of yourself. It’s also about birthdays and Christmas. Lately, I have celebrated neurodiversity week by doing a colour run and International Women’s Day.
Lucy F – Celebrating to me means being happy for everyone when they achieve a goal. I felt proud when I talked to the class about autism and people with ADHD.
Lucy T – Celebrating to me is achievements! I celebrated when I finish tests. I get a bit anxious with tests and I celebrate getting through camp.
Stella – Celebrating means being happy with who you are and no one else. I celebrate my ADHD and that I am different.
Serina – Celebrating means to achieve something or maybe to be pregnant and give birth. It could also be celebrating birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Neurodiversity or Hanukah.
Gilber – Celebrating means achieving a goal or celebrating something good that has been done. You can also celebrate a special event like your birthday or Christmas. We celebrated International Women’s Day at school by doing a colour run.
Naomi – Celebrating means recognising someone you love that has worked really hard to earn money for your family and takes care of everyone in your family. It’s about celebrating people who have autism and different brains who have a hard time concentrating and can’t control themselves. I felt like celebrating when I got all my dictation correct this week.
Evelyn –I think celebrating Is about acknowledging the task you have finished. I felt like I really celebrated lately when I got a second personal PB for breaststroke.
Kayla – Celebrating means that you are showing respect to someone’s achievement and also when you achieve a goal, you celebrate it. I have celebrated when I came first in my freestyle at House swimming and first in backstroke.
Olivia – Celebrating to me, means BE WHO YOU ARE! I celebrated when I came second in my freestyle and backstroke at house swimming.
Emma – Celebrating to me means being happy and celebrating my achievements. I have recently celebrated my learning by finishing my 4 times tables and finishing my How Does My Garden Grow? Project.
Kairi – Celebrating means being happy for someone, being joyful, being proud and celebrating happy moments in your life. I felt proud when my friend won something, when I achieved running in the cross country.
Sarah – Celebrating means you or someone else, achieving a goal. I feel proud when I solved maths problems recently.
Belinda – Celebrating to me is to celebrate anyone’s achievements no matter who they are! I like to celebrate when I feel proud of what I’ve done.
Deni – Celebrating means to celebrate our differences and feel happy. I celebrated when I did my best work I could do even though I didn’t get it all right.
Charlotte – Celebrating means setting goals, having a positive mindset, celebrating special events, holidays and celebrating who you are. I have recently celebrate my swimming success with ribbons and a state champion certificate.
Nicky Thomas | Year 4 Teacher
Prep and Year 6 Buddies
The roof lifts in the Prep A classroom when the word ‘Buddies’ is mentioned! The Prep girls absolutely love any opportunity to spend time with their assigned Year 6 buddy. It is a wonderful program which provides rich experiences for the Prep and Year 6 girls alike. This special relationship provides the Prep girls with a role model, friend, mentor and occasional playground support person. The Year 6 girls learn about taking on a role of responsibility and care and learn the importance of being a good role model and mentor. Learning to navigate this relationship in a mutually respectful manner where both parties feel valued is a significant aspect of the program and the bond that develops as the year progress can be a joy to observe.
The girls have some recess time together weekly and then each fortnight spend time on a specific activity; listening, thinking, asking questions, communicating and possibly creating something together.
Here are some of the Prep girls’ responses, when asked for their thoughts about their Year 6 buddies:
Eva – I love sitting with my buddy.
Evelyn D – My buddy makes me laugh.
Ellie – I like playing games with my buddy.
Aubrey – We can learn things from our buddies.
Jasmine – It’s fun!
Eleanor – I like playing in the fairy garden with my buddy.
Alissa – They play games with us.
Sarah – I like telling stories to my buddy.
Noa – Playing outside on the bars with my buddy is fun.
Aanika – Playing tag with my buddy is great.
Emerson – I love doing cartwheel and handstands with my buddy.
Zoe – My buddy makes me feel happy.
Hannah – I like drawing with my buddy.
Evelyn S – I like seeing her a LOT!
Charlotte – Dancing with my buddy is fun!
Leah – I love talking to my buddy.
Vachi – My buddy is funny!
Thea – I like playing on the monkey bars with my buddy.
Lucy – My buddy surprises me sometimes when she comes to visit the playground.
Ruby – I like that my buddy is a ballerina!
Amelia – At first I was a bit nervous and my buddy made me feel happy.
Mary Whitcher | Prep A Teacher
