June 2019 archive

Convict Day

The 4T students were nowhere to be seen on Monday, in their place were dirty, untrustworthy First Fleet convicts! During the day, the convicts participated in many different activities. 

The convicts, smiling on a rare occasion!

They completed water colour paintings of their ship, re-enacted scenes from the 18th century and created their own love tokens. Outside on Cluny, students mapped out the actual size of one of the First Fleet ships. Safe to say we were all mystified as to how they fit so many convicts on ships that were not that big!

 

In the afternoon, the convicts were relieved from their duties for a short time to share their expertly written convict diaries and other learnings throughout the term with the free settlers (parents).  Some convicts were even sentenced on the spot by a special guest appearance, Magistrate Mitchell himself!

Be sure to check out the individual student blogs for their own recounts of Convict Day.

What is the most interesting thing you learnt about convicts?

An Author Comes To Visit!

Guest speakers…lunchtime festivals…author workshops…poem in pockets…
These are just a few of the engaging and inspiring events that our school had to offer during Literature Week. 

We were so fortunate to have author George Ivanoff speak to us about being an author. Did you know he has written 119 books in total, including take home books for Preps, non fiction books, educational books for teachers and of course ‘You Choose’ novels which the year 4s have been reading in Library.

He was inspired when he was younger by fan fiction such as Dr Who and computer games such as Space Invaders which influenced his early writing.

George told us about how he creates his books. He uses a story map to outline each chapter on a huge whiteboard. He figures out the ending first so he knows where the story is going.
No book is ever published after the first time it is written. Each book goes through approximately 10 drafts before even sending it to a editor.
The process of writing his ‘choose your own adventure’ books was a little more confusing…

George showing us his plan for a Choose your own adventure story

George also read an excerpt from one of his choose your own adventure books, ‘The Night of the Creepy Carnival.’

The students in Year 4 have written their own Choose Your Own Adventure stories. Check out their blogs to see how you survive!

Leave a comment with your favourite part of Literature Week and why.