have to do a Spontaneous [ challenge that€¦ · Their written script is scrutinised as part of the judging process. They also have to do a Spontaneous [ challenge that they are

CLIPPINGS – NEWSLETTER FOR TREETOPS Volume 52– September 2015 241421

Last Saturday, three teams each of 7 students travelled to Joondalup Campus of Edith Cowan University to take part in the annual Tournament of Minds competition.

Tournament of Minds is a problem solving programme for teams of students from both primary and secondary years. They are required to solve demanding, open-ended challenges from one of the disciplines of Applied Technology, Language Literature, Maths Engineering or Social Sciences over a set 4 -5 week period. They then present this challenge as a short, timed drama to a panel of judges . Their written script is scrutinised as part of the judging process. They also have to do a ‘Spontaneous’ challenge that they are presented with on the day. It is one of the fastest growing inter-

school programmes in Australia.

Treetops has offered this programme this year as part of our Enrichment provision. We chose the Social Sciences challenge this first time. All students of eligible age have taken part in the training and selection activities and more than a quarter of these students were involved in the challenge and took part on the day. The program fits well with many aspects of our ethos.

Students receive the information on the challenge question and then have to work as a group, independent of teacher help other than the most minimal facilitation, to research their information and write the script for the presentation. The most important part of the program has been the journey to

PREPARING THE INDIVIDUAL TO MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE WWW.TREETOPS.WA.EDU.AU

http://www.treetops.wa.edu.au/

CLIPPINGS – NEWSLETTER FOR TREETOPS | Issue 52– SEPTEMBER 2015

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the point of the presentation. The adults involved, including parents of the students who ranged from Year 2 to Year 10, have witnessed that journey, beginning with a certain amount of self-doubt and confusion as they grappled with the problem solving and moving through to co-operation, wonderful team work, working under pressure of time, and sheer fun as they enacted the scripts of which they themselves had complete ownership. Prior to going to Joondalup dress rehearsals were held in front of the whole school.

The TOM teams did a wonderful job on Saturday. All groups did their best ever performances. Their joyful, lively presentations went down very well with the judges who commented very positively on their performances, on their humour and on the entertainment value. Considering we were doing this for the very first time it was delightful to see that Treetops spirit of co-operation, team work and joy in learning shine through so effectively and be appreciated by others. The team scores were very high. The judges also commented to Fletcher and Lily that they were the youngest students that they had ever seen participating in TOM!

It was also lovely to have a full attendance of parents and friends - we filled the auditoriums each time and the teams watched each other and were beautifully behaved and enthusiastic while doing so. I was not aware of other schools having such as wonderful level of support on the day. Well done everyone and congratulations to Liz and Fiona for facilitating this great enrichment of our academic programmes.


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There are 3520 Woolworths Earn and Learn

Stickers in our office. THANK YOU! The

promotion ends on 8 September, so please drop

your stickers in soon!

Some comments from the student’s written reflections:

“I gained group work skills and how to work with people. I also gained ‘out of the box’ thinking.” Madi

“I liked making my costumes. I enjoyed acting and being with the big girls” Lily

“When I first started I was shy.” Fletcher (and he wasn’t on the day! J)

“I gained time management skills and the experience of performing in front of an audience.” Jemma


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“Can I enter again next year? I’d love to.” Ethan S

“I learnt a lot more about being a team and how to get past arguments.” Kaiden

“I liked expressing my mind” Laura

“It doesn’t matter if we win or not. It was awesome!” Piper D

“Please let me do it again because it was so exciting and when I was at the university I got really excited.” Riley

We did not win the competition, but we certainly got an enormous amount out of it and will definitely consider doing it again next year!

As part of the Karri project with Healthline Children’s Literature and Book Illustration Festival, Karri students wrote and illustrated their own books.

Some Karri students had their book bound and now have the enviable title of ‘published author’.

The book creation process began with a workshop with author Jen Banyard, who has written the Riddle Gully series. The students drafted initial ideas, brainstormed plot developments, followed an editing process and then waited (as patiently as can be expected) for the publishing procedure.

During this time, students attended a second workshop with published author and illustrator, James Folley. James helped the children develop ideas for images and illustrations of their books.

It was very exciting to see the final product of the books, including the first published book by new author, Denny Banfield, ‘Space Cats’.

Jayne Simpson and Peter MacLean

CLIPPINGS – NEWSLETTER FOR TREETOPS Volume 52– September 2015 241421

Calendar Snapshot

Friday 11th

September

Annual Music Night

Tuesday 15th

September

Children’s House Kings Park Excursion

Thursday 17th

September 2.15pm

P&F Meeting – All Welcome

Peter to attend

Friday 18th

September 3.00pm

IBDP Art Exhibition

Be-YOU-tiful is a free research study created by professionals at Curtin University. It is for female teenagers (14-17 years old) and female young adults (18-19 years old) living in Australia. It is designed to help you beat perfectionism or stress, improve your state of mind, well-being, and be a happier YOU! If you are interested, you can read more or sign up here: http://www.be-you-tiful.com.au/ Treetops is not associated with this study.

Enrolments 2016

We are at that stage in the school year where we are looking at enrolments for 2016. Due to new enrolment enquiry, some of the class waiting lists are starting to fill up. To assist with our planning, we would like to know whether you have any plans to enroll another child in the school. A reminder that if your circumstance has changed, all withdrawals must be in writing to the Principal prior to Friday 16th October (First Friday of Term 4) to ensure that enrolment deposits are refunded without penalty. If you know of a family member or friend, who may be interested in a Treetops education and would like to come for a school tour, we would encourage them to contact the school office at their earliest opportunity to maximise their chance of gaining a position at the school.

Fundraising Opportunity

The school is taking part in the Rotary Community Raffle again this year. Tickets are $2 and Treetops gets to keep 50% of all sales made. If you are willing and able to sell some tickets, books will be available in the office from Wednesday.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS MEETING

Please come along to the

next P&F Meeting on

Thursday 17th September at 2.15pm. Peter

will be in attendance.

http://www.be-you-tiful.com.au/

http://www.be-you-tiful.com.au/


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Jarrah Science and Mathematics

This term Jarrah students have been extending their knowledge and fluency in algebra. Algebra enables us to use symbols

to describe and generalise patterns that occur in our world. Year 7 have written expressions and done calculations by

substituting into formulas. Year 8 students have investigated patterns in mathematics and practised writing rules for

patterns. Year 9 students have learned the rules for indices, improving their ability to manipulate algebraic expressions.

In Science year 7 and year 8 students have considered the Earth’s resources and are currently investigating the use of

renewable and non-renewable energy sources in Australia. Year 8 have also studied how plants reproduce and have set up

an experiment to look at how an onion, garlic and a potato reproduce. Year 9 students have looked at heat sound and light.

They now know that sound cannot travel through a vacuum (why do those science fiction movies have sound in space?).

Currently they are investigating the electromagnetic spectrum and have chosen two different kinds of waves from radio,

microwave, gamma, X-ray and infra-red to research in more depth.

Zoo excursion

All Jarrah and year 10 Tuart shared the bus with Karri to the Zoo recently. Students took part in some team building

activities as well as looking at the many animals. They were asked to write a report on one animal at the zoo and consider

what changes had occurred to its natural habitat, and what the zoo was doing to preserve the species.


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International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) Update

The submission dates are fast approaching! Our year 12 students, James and Kieran, are putting the finish touches to their 4000 word Extended Essays, Theory of Knowledge essays, and Language & Literature writing tasks, ready for upload before the deadline of September 15. All work in these areas will be marked by IBDP practitioners living and working in other countries. Previously, Diploma students’ work was marked by people in Cardiff, Geneva, Marseilles and Singapore. James and Kieran won’t know how well travelled their work will be by the time they get their results in January.

As previously mentioned in Clippings, the Theory of Knowledge essay involves interrogating one of six prescribed titles, and the real-life situations exemplifying their ideas. James has been looking at the advantages and disadvantages of constructing knowledge through models, including various models of the atom, the Standard Model in physics, culturally-dependent models of beauty, and the social model of disability. Kieran has been examining whether (or not!) knowledge is simply the by-product of attempts to problem-solve. He has been looking at the Mars Curiosity project, maintaining social order by playing classical music at railway stations, levitating frogs (really!), the development of penicillin, and shortening shower length through inflatable sculptures.

Thank you to everyone who responded to Kieran’s questionnaires about the security of online and checkout payment systems. The surveys were part of Kieran’s research for his Extended Essay: To What extent are ease of use checkout technologies such as PayPass, Eftpos machines and online stores responsible for credit card theft and fraud in Perth, Western Australia? Kieran has analysed the data, and found that over 64% of respondents had experienced some form of theft or fraud while using these systems. Kieran’s essay has been supervised by Mr Rakesh Pandey through Pamoja, the online IBO provider. Rakesh works in India, so the supervisory process has been managed entirely via online platforms, including email and skype. James’ extended essay, entitled To What Extent were the musical innovations by The Beatles reflected in the music of Oasis?, is also nearing completion. Our Treetops’ music teacher, Mary Pollard, has been supervising James’ essay.


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Did you notice the bin-on-fire last week? Kieran was using the ancient technique of pit firing to complete the ceramic sections of his Emotion sculptures (see pictures). The bin was filled with a mix of materials – eggshells, banana peels, wood chips etc – to create different glazes. You can see the results at the IBDP Art Exhibition, from 3pm on Friday 18 September, 2015 (in the exhibition space next to the art room).

Treetops Courses

Programme (TCP)

From 2016, Treetops will be offering a second programme for year 11 and 12 students, complementing the existing Diploma programme. The Treetops Courses Programme (TCP) is designed to meet the needs of students who want a year 12 graduation, but who do not intend to go to university directly from year 12 and want the potential of vocational, work-based education. Parts of a TCP involve the student taking IBDP subjects, with the TCP allowing for a negotiated course of study. There is also the potential for a student to work with external training organisations in lieu of school subjects. Students taking a Treetops Courses Programme still work over two years within the framework of the IB Learner Profile, and need to meet subject requirements to achieve a graduation. Please contact Peter (Principal) or Jodi (IBDP co-ordinator) for more information.


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Year 10 Update

Year 10 students have been planning their 2016 study and looking at subject options. We are sadly farewelling one student at the end of this term. Rohan will be leaving to start year 11 within the WACE system at Helene College. We will miss his wry sense of humour and interest in arcane South American archaeology, and wish him all the best for his future.

Jarrah Investigations

The challenge: how to meet the demands of the Australian National Curriculum in History while meeting the needs of our wonderful, varied, dynamic students? In most schools, this problem is resolved by the teacher selecting certain aspects of the curriculum and leaving out the rest. While this is an efficient approach in terms of delivering content, it tends to present “history” as a linear progression (as if democracy went straight from the Greeks to Westminster Palace to Canberra) and makes it difficult to encourage intercultural and critical thinking. At Treetops, we approach History as an investigative and interpretative skills set. Each student completes three investigations into the same topic, sharing their findings with others and discussing commonalities. Sometimes the discussions are not about commonalities as such: one student’s presentation on the benefits of Imperialism highlighted the differences in opinions amongst out student

group.

Individual year 7 students are looking at various aspects of ancient Egypt, China, Greece and Rome. Two students have been using Minecraft to present their findings. Once student built the Great Wall of China, showing how the structure was built on a vertical axis, with strong, straight outer walls and an interior filled with rubble, rubbish and soil (and, possibly, some of the workers who died on the project). This building method is now causing problems for the Great Wall, as trees have started to grow through gaps in the masonry. As the students looking at Chernobyl as part of their science work have discovered, nature always finds a way. Another year 7 student has been demonstrating his understanding of ancient Roman life by building a Roman town and farm in Minecraft. The Roman emphasis on right angles, grid systems and straight roads has proved challenging.


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Year 8 students are looking at Norse (Viking culture), the Mongolian Expansion and the Italian Renaissance. One year 8 student is completing his investigation whilst living with his family in Canada. Year 9 students have been focusing on the Industrial Revolution, migration patterns and the impact of European development in Australia. Later this term, they will examine Federation and World War 1.

Jarrah Poetry

While year 7 and 8 students have been working on feature articles, year 9 students have been analysing and writing poetry. One of the challenges was to write a short, two line poem based on the adaptive haikus written by Ezra Pound. Here are three different examples of the work produced.

Jodi Kerslake and Sue Flewellen

High School

A message from Jayne

This year participation in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for school students with a ‘disability’ (learning, health or physical) is compulsory for all schools. The information gathered will be the way in which schools acquire their funding from Federal Government for the provision of Learning Support. It is aimed at enabling Australian governments to better target support and resources to benefit students with a disability.

At Treetops we have already taken place in the trial collection of data in previous years and our system is already in place. I determine the level of adjustments that we have been making for students who have already been identified through consultation with parents, carers, teachers and have sometimes received medical or professional diagnoses. Personal details such as student names or other identifying information will not be provided to education authorities in the collection of this data.

Further information is available in a fact sheet that can be obtained from Kate in the office.

Jayne


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Body Bike Fit

COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY

A Treetops parent is beginning a free community cycling program called Body Bike

Fit. This program is for girls aged 10 – 18 years and aimed at encouraging participation in the

sport of cycling. Sessions will be held at the Midvale Velodrome for 16 weeks (July –

October) and registrations are open NOW!

(For a larger version of this image; please visit the school’s Facebook page).

From time to time Treetops shares community notices as a community service. The inclusion of any advertisement is not necessarily an

endorsement by the school.

Documents

have to do a Spontaneous [ challenge that€¦ · Their written script is scrutinised as part of the judging process. They also have to do a Spontaneous [ challenge that they are