W are very excited to be back for Term 3. It looks like it will be a busy term full of exciting and engaging learning. I’m pleased to announce two new initiatives for this term: our Year 2 Transition Program and the Year 3 Science Program.
Year 2 Transition
Our Year 2 students have commenced their transition to Maitland Campus in preparation for their move to this campus as Year 3’s in 2023. They are starting their school day at Maitland joining Ms Whittaker’s class before joining their Literacy Groups for the morning session of InitiaLit.
They are then spending recess at Maitland before travelling back to Point Pearce Campus for the remainder of the day. It’s a big change for our students attending both campuses everyday but they are looking forward to getting to know their future teachers and classmates. A big thankyou to Ms Whittaker and Ms Webb for the warm welcome they have shown our Year 2’s and also to Ms Jacki Luciani who is supporting our students in their transition.
Science Time
The Maitland campus is lucky enough to be getting some of Ms Linda Cooper’s science expertise on Fridays when she will be taking the Year 3 class for Science. Before coming to Central Yorke School Ms Linda was an advisor for the CSIRO Indigenous STEM Program, ‘Inquiry for Indigenous Science Students’.
Her responsibilities included developing online STEM Inquiry resources for teachers that link to the Australian Curriculum, advising on cultural considerations for teachers of Indigenous students, creating links with Indigenous knowledge within STEM curriculum and pedagogy and developing and facilitating working relationships with local Aboriginal community.
Another exciting initiative that Ms Linda previously worked on was Burrara Gathering Online: an internet exhibition about traditional knowledge and technologies of the Burrara people, Central Arnhem North Land.
This digital exhibition is featured in the Primary Connections programme used at Central Yorke School which links science and literacy in the primary years.
We hope that this is just the start of a focus on two way learning for STEM and embedding Aboriginal perspectives into the curriculum at Central Yorke School.