Our new Unit of Inquiry ‘How we Express Ourselves’ has had an exciting start with the children being immersed in story world. In Language Arts, we have focussed on Michael Rosen’s classic story, ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ which has enabled the children to explore the central idea ‘Through play we can express our feelings, ideas and develop new understandings.’ The story is full of repetitive refrains such as “We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no, we’ve got to go through it!” The rhythm, rhyme and repetition enables the children to actively participate in the retelling of the story because they can anticipate the text.

The children will experiment with different ways of retelling the story using their voice, body, percussion and puppets. This will support their development in Mathematics where they will be exploring repeating patterns. In PHE, the children will be using their gross and fine motor skills to express their feelings and ideas when they go on a bear hunt.

Kindergarten embarked on a new transdisciplinary theme this term - How We Express Ourselves. During this unit, the learners will have the opportunity to explore how The Arts help us to express ourselves in different ways. In our specialist Art lessons, Ms. Lauren had the learners recreate Vincent Van Gogh's famous Sunflower painting by working on a small section of the piece each and then they put it all together to reveal the final image. The learners used oil pastels to create their stunning artwork. In class, we have also been exploring the work of Russian Artist Kandinsky. Learners explored the Concentric Circles pieces he created and have worked on their own piece also, connections to this piece have been made through our work in maths too.

We have also asked the learners to share their favourite story and art piece from home during our weekly Discover and Discuss sessions. This activity ties in with the Line of Inquiry - Our responses to different forms of the arts. We will be exploring well-known Fairy Tales throughout this unit and looking at ways in which we can create our own experiences through these stories by retelling as a puppet show and rewriting parts of these stories too.

Our UOI How the World Works has the central idea ‘People can apply their understanding of forces to invent and create’. This unit is linked with science skills. The learners will observe carefully in order to gather data and use scientific vocabulary to explain their observations and experiences. Learners will begin to identify or generate a question to be explored which will facilitate inquiries. They will make predictions which will be tested and explored.

This is supported through exposure to focus books in Language Arts and learners will develop their procedural writing skills when writing their investigations. Mathematical language is used throughout their independent inquiries such as measuring how far a toy car will roll. The unit provides opportunities to discuss the approaches to learning (ATLs), including self-management, research and thinking skills.

This week, Year 1 learners discussed aspects of the story ‘The most magnificent thing’ by Ashley Spires. Through the lens of the ATLs and Learner Profiles, the learners were able to recognise areas where the little girl showed ‘resilience’, where she was a ‘risk-taker’ and how she displayed being ‘open-minded’ to making different decisions. The learners reflected on the story and made connections with how the girl planned and organised her ‘magnificent thing’. We will delve further into the processes of research-based and thinking skills over the coming weeks through this very hands-on and practical unit of inquiry.

Year 2 learners are continuing their inquiry into "Who We Are" through the Central Idea ‘Lifestyle choices affect health’. This is a wonderful unit for developing scientific skills. In PE, the learners have monitored changes in the body during exercise. They made great observations such as the connection between the intensity of exercise and heart rate.

In UOI this week, we set up an experiment to discover the importance of good hygiene. The learners tested the effects of touching bread with clean (soap), sanitised and dirty hands to see if there would be any differences in the growth of mould on bread. We are looking forward to checking in on our specimens after the weekend! In Language Arts, we are developing our understanding of explanation texts to enable the learners to share their learning about healthy lifestyle choices with others. Over the next few weeks, our transdisciplinary learning will also extend into Maths with our new unit on Measurement.

For transdisciplinary learning to occur, there needs to be authentic connections made across the subject areas. In our current Unit of Inquiry ‘How cultures are expressed through the arts’, we are integrating our unit with Language Arts, Music, Art, PHE, LOTE and BML classes. Through this unit, the Year 3s have been learning about the elements that make up culture, different art forms from around the world and looking at the importance of preserving culture.

In Language Arts, we are supporting this by teaching learners research skills that they will use to find out more about their home culture. In our reading, we are focussing on reading non-fiction texts about culture and learning how to use text features, find facts and ask questions to guide research. The information they find in their reading will then be used in their writing as they learn how to take notes, write summaries and learn the importance of referencing sources.

All of these will be put together into an informational slideshow to present their new understandings. Alongside what is happening in the homeroom classes, Mr. Russell in PHE is teaching the Year 3s dances from around the world as part of the dance unit. In Music, Ms. Natassja is introducing them to songs, dances and instruments from different cultures, and in art, Ms. Aletia is teaching them about different techniques and styles of art from different areas of the world. Through this integrated approach, the learners are not learning skills in isolation, but are applying their learning in a meaningful way which builds a much deeper understanding.

Year 4 is in their second week of exploring our Central Idea 'The fashion industry tells a story'. This Unit of Inquiry falls under the transdisciplinary theme of 'How we express ourselves.' Within the unit, we have three 'Lines of Inquiry'. The first is an inquiry into the meaning of 'fashion'. Learners have explored the different meanings of fashion. Is fashion an individual style or is it a style that is popular? Is fashion influenced by our own tastes or are our choices influenced by advertising or by famous people?

Learners have considered the array of factors that impact our clothing choices including function, climate, culture and cost. Our second line of inquiry will focus on how the clothing industry impacts the environment. Lastly, we will explore how people can help reduce the negative environmental and social impacts. In Art lessons, learners are considering sustainability by upcycling used T-shirts. We will explore how sport wear have changed over time and the impact clothes have had on the elite sports competitors.

In Maths, Year 4 will be learning how to construct timelines in order to record changes over time. In some LOTE and in BML classes, our Year 4 learners are developing their vocabulary to describe clothing. Through this transdisciplinary approach, learners use and apply their learning across the curriculum. Together with our focus on developing learners,' approaches to learning, skills and conceptual understanding and application become lifelong learning tools.

In Year 5, we have continued to inquire into our central idea 'Systems influence the lives of people'. Learners have had the opportunity to integrate and apply their thinking and social skills in a range of curriculum areas. This week, we have used Mind craft as a platform for learners to design innovative systems to support their survival on a deserted island. They have applied prior knowledge of how governments function including: keeping order, security, services and living standards. Through collaboration with their partner, they have further developed their social skills by focusing on: turn taking, listening respectfully to ideas, making equitable decisions, encouraging each other, being positive and problem solving when they are faced with a challenge.

In Language Arts, learners have written an explanation about 'how to survive on a deserted island'. Through their writing, learners have explained ideas that they chose to include in their Minecraft challenge. The integration of Language Arts and Unit of Inquiry has helped learners to clarify and justify their decision making and thinking. Next week, each learner will complete a screen recording of their island design. Families will be taken on a tour and hear how each system supports the survival of their community.

With a new term, a new Unit of Inquiry begins - Different mediums allow us to reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity. During this unit, learners will have the opportunity to explore different mediums of expression within most specialist subject areas, as well as the homeroom. Art is seeking to continue to explore how symbolism is expressed by different cultures. PHE and drama will be looking into how movement is an amazing way in which to express ourselves. Music will be looking into how to create soundscapes to support our future Film Festival which we hope to hold at the end of the term. It has provided a wonderful opportunity to develop our transdisciplinary skills across year 6. It is sure to be an exciting time. On a side note, if anyone has a form of expression they are particularly passionate about and would like to share with our learners, please contact your homeroom teacher as we would love to hear your personal stories.