Year 5 Science

Year 2 Excursion to Tea Tree Gully Heritage Museum

Our Year 2 students recently stepped back in time during their visit to the Tea Tree Gully Heritage Museum. This historic building, originally opened as the Highgrove Hotel in 1854. Over the years, it has served many roles including a post office, school room, and residence before becoming the museum we know today in 2015.

Students were immersed in life from the 1850s to the 1950s through hands-on activities such as candlelight living, old-fashioned games, and traditional laundry practices like scrubbing and wringing. These experiences brought history to life in a fun and memorable way.

We are incredibly thankful to the museum staff for their warm hospitality and engaging presentations. We’re also grateful to God for blessing us with beautiful weather after a week of rain, and to our wonderful parent/guardian volunteers who generously gave their time to support the excursion.

Battle of the Books

During library time, in the lead up to Book Week, each class has been reading a variety of picture books that are nominated for the upcoming CBCA Book Awards. These awards celebrate Australian Authors and Illustrators and recognise the contribution that they make to children's literacy in Australia. Each class has voted on their favourite and when the official announcement is made at the end of next week, they will be able to see if the book they chose has won. Our Battle of the Books competition has been a fun library activity where students have had the opportunity to reflect on what they like about a book, and discuss a variety of different topics including belonging, change, family dynamics, imagination, grief and worry.

Collages in the Sand

Returning from the holidays to find friends playing in the yard and enjoying some welcomed sunshine, describes the setting for our first couple of nature plays of Term 3. The 1pm bell sounds and children literally gallop across the grass, slowing down only by their curiosity of what they find at the nature tables. Gumnuts, rocks, sticks and feathers? With a sand filled tray, their imaginations took them to different habitats, various creatures from land, sea and sky, and opened conversations about the world around them and how our God created it all. It’s been said before and I’ll say it again;

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.". "The best way to learn is by doing.". "Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.".

There are bare trees lining the streets of Adelaide now that Autumn turned to Winter. I am watching a bare pear tree that once was leafy, begin to bud in my backyard and it gently reminds me of the journey that living things embark on. Just like the trees that change and grow according to season, our little people also grow and develop new “buds” as they embrace the changes that come their way. What a privilege it is as parents to plant them in fertile soil, water them, nurture them when unexpected events come their way, and embrace the growth and purpose they are intended for. Enjoy nature this week with your “budding” beauties!

“Are you judging the balloon competition?” 

On Monday, two Foundation girls came up to me as I was walking past the library.  They had just spent some of their lunch time in the library submitting their coloured hot-air balloons.  Once completed, these hot-air balloon colouring sheets are handed in to the librarian and after the competition ends, the artwork is judged by classes. The winners get a voucher to purchase a book during Book Week.   All the students are doing their best work having fun in the process and hoping to win.  These girls wanted to know if I was going to be judging the balloons.  At that point, I wasn’t even sure what the process entailed but the girls were aware someone, possibly me, was going to judge their work. 

My thoughts are going into how many times we, as humans, are conscious of someone judging our actions, processes, states of being and many other things we do in life.  I wonder how the conscious knowledge that whatever we do is judged by others around us and how that controls our actions.  Do we act out of our own desire to be useful members of our community?  Is the motivation for our actions based on other people's opinions of us?  Do we base the artwork of our lives on the prize we hope to win, or do we focus on doing our best work regardless of the outcome? 

The balloon artwork is going to be displayed in the library, and the students will get to see their own work and the work of others.  On the bigger scheme of things, the “artwork” of our lives is equally visible to us as to those in our communities.  When you take stock of how you have coloured your life, would you be proud to point out what you have done to make it colourful, and would you be able to explain your choice of colours? 

At the end of Book Week, everyone will have something to celebrate.  For some it will be the voucher from finishing the coloured balloon judged as prize worthy, for some it will be how many pages they will have read and dozens of other achievements.  As we gear ourselves up for reading and all the joys that brings to us, may we remember that God cares about us and is interested in our best work.  How are you colouring the hot-air balloon of your life?

All the students seem to have settled into this term so nicely despite some of the CRAZY weather we’ve been having. In our staff worship over the past few weeks, we have been looking at Jesus’s sermon on the mount. Specifically, Matthew 7:15-20 where Jesus talks about trees, fruit and people?

Jesus shares that there will be many people who say that they follow Christ or believe in Him. And many people may say they are good people and do good deeds, But Jesus warns that like a tree bears fruit, people bear actions. A bad tree, one that is perhaps poisoned, or sick cannot bear healthy good fruit. And a good healthy tree doesn’t bear rotten sickly fruit. For if the health of the tree is good, then it’s easy to predict that healthy fruit is on the way.

Jesus uses this analogy to describe people and their actions. Those who say they believe in Christ but do evil, do not truly believe in Christ. The bad fruit represents our actions. The entire sermon on the mount shares the idea that our actions alone are not may get us into heaven, but they sure are a good marker as to weather or not you’re on the right track. If you have a good and pure heart, your actions will reflect that, and if you have hatred or evil in your heart, then your actions will be a mirror that reflects that. Let us strive to constantly bear good fruit. The key is by focusing on our own core, our own beliefs. And from that, good fruit come.

The Liking Gap: Helping kids feel more confident in friendships

“I wonder if my friends really like me.”

This challenging question isn’t only asked by teens – but by kids and adults of all ages. It turns out that it’s a very human challenge.

We meet someone (or catch up with someone), and walk away from an interaction wondering if we said something silly or if the other person even liked us.

Psychology researchers call it “the Liking Gap”—the tendency we have to underestimate how much others like us after an interaction. And research shows this gap starts young. Even children as young as four or five experience it – boys and girls.

Why it matters for your child

Think about your child at school:

• They meet new classmates.
• They wonder if they’ll be liked.
• They say something awkward—or worry they did.
• And then, they assume the worst.

This can lead to anxiety, loneliness, and even social withdrawal. Many kids believe their peers tolerate them rather than truly like them.

The tragedy is, most of the time, this belief is wrong. The science is clear: people generally like us more than we think.

What the research shows

A recent study from the University of Toronto found that across thousands of conversations, people consistently underestimated how much their conversation partners liked them. And the more anxious or insecure a person was, the bigger the gap.

In other words, your child is probably more liked than they realise—but they don’t know it.

So what can we do?

3 Things Parents Can Do to Help Close the Liking Gap

1. They’re Likely More Liked Than They Think

Children from about age 5 onward tend to underestimate how much others like them. When your child worries “nobody likes me,” they’re probably wrong! They won’t believe you, but if you tell them to reverse it and ask them how much they like other people, they’ll get your logic. When they understand the science, they are more likely to believe it.

Remind them that their natural tendency to miss positive social signals from peers becomes more pronounced as they get older, making tweens and teens especially vulnerable to social insecurity.

2. Focus on connection, not perfection.

Teach your child to stop keeping an invisible “friendship scorecard” in their head. Encourage them to focus on being present—listening, showing interest, and sharing kindly. Those are the traits people like most.

3. Build their confidence at home.

Self-esteem plays a huge role in the liking gap. Children who believe they have something valuable to say are more likely to connect with others and feel good doing it. Let your child’s voice be heard at home. Ask their opinions. Validate their thoughts. Confidence in relationships starts in the lounge room before it shows up in the classroom.

One final thought

Most kids aren’t struggling with being unlikable—they’re struggling with believing they’re likable. That’s a mindset shift we, as parents, can gently guide.

Your child is probably doing better socially than they think. Let’s help them see it.

(Source: Dr Justin Coulsen, Happyfamilies.com)

Prescott College