Our Prep and Year 1 students meet on Tuesday afternoons in the Lilly Pilly Learning Centre and our Year 2 and Year 3 students meet on Wednesday afternoons. Our Term 2 group of students are led by our ‘Green Jackets’ – a group of Senior School and upper-Junior School volunteers who help run our Prep and Year 1 and Year 2 and Year 3 Makerspace programs.
We are always filled with gratitude for these student-volunteers. It is their involvement that makes the program as successful as it is. Our youngest students enjoy collaborating with our oldest. Most lovely, is how our ‘Green Jackets’ often remark that this is one of their favourite parts of their week as well!
The programs always highlight the festivals and events that the term brings. Being project based, we developed our fine motor skills while exploring the concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. We worked to create seven different projects, each week of the Term 2 program.
Bubbles and bubble wands started the Term. We had a bubbly blast experimenting with pipe cleaners and various home-found ingredients to make the perfect bubble.
Secret surprises were made for the women in our lives. We made beautiful glass bead necklaces and were proud to report the number of mums who were pleasantly pleased on Sunday morning with a new piece of jewellery that they “actually would wear” (to quote a mum)!
Orange slime was the experiment of the week – with orange being the colour of Harmony Week. We added in Orbeez to represent the diversity of people who we live and learn with.
To celebrate the book The Speedy Sloth, we had sloth races. Decorating balloons to look like sloths and using balloon power to race them along a string. This was a tricky task, and we all used our perseverance to race our sloths – the same perseverance ‘The Speedy Sloth’ used to complete her race!
Being Reconciliation Week, we learned about Australia’s deadly First Scientists – First Nation people and the science behind the boomerang. We read some books and watched a short documentary before finding our connection with country and decorating our own boomerang to remember the week and our learning.
We always ensure we have a technology aspect to our program – by allowing students to develop their skills with the College iPads – and enter new dimensions with our Virtual Reality goggles. We also gave student the options to create – putting out a variety of craft and building supplies to truly ‘Makerspace’ – (which also could be called MakeaMess)!
The tradition ended our Makerspace program by making ice cream and discussing the Science behind this. The delicious final project is created with basic ingredients, plastic bags and kid-power. Despite the start of winter, this does not slow our Makerspacers down from getting in on the cold action to create their very own ice cream treat!
Once again thank you to everyone who has supported our Prep to Year 3 Makerspace program in Term 2. Our Prep to Year 3 Makerspace program will begin again in Week 3 of Term 3. Please look for a registration email at the start of Term 3 if your child would be interested in joining. We look forward to working with a new group of students to create together next term.
Stephanne Siberry | Head of Library Services
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