Mrs Sharyn Bomford | Prep Teacher

As part of Science and Geography units, our Prep students are investigating the places they live in and belong to. They are discovering that places vary and people have different views about the use of places.

To learn and question these topics in more practical way, the Prep class went on a walk through our College grounds to see what buildings we had and how they are used. We popped in to see the main office and enjoyed visiting with Ms Woodgate and Mr Thompson. Prep then wandered into the Science lab and noted the chairs and tables were much larger than we were used to in our Prep room. We had a lovely visit with Mr Keevers who showed us some very interesting rocks and big maps. The students were excited to discover we had the Condamine River hidden right behind our Dining Hall. It was a big walk and we still have more places to visit on campus later in the term. We all agreed we have a wonderful environment to learn and play in – even when we get into Senior School and are taller than Mrs B. (Prep noted our Year 9 Science class were taller than me. I said they were little once too!)

As a class, we have been sharing photos of places we know and love. Google Earth is a favourite tool we love using to see where our friends have been. We love it when the Earth spins and takes us to an exciting place overseas or throughout Australia. Saani talked about her visit to Pakistan and Maddie shared she has family in Norway. We have also read some wonderful story books about places in Australia too. Our class favourite – Are we there yet! by Alison Lester.

This week we got messy and started making our papier-mache globes. The Prep room was filled with squeals of delight and laughter as we swam in flour and water to cover our balloons with blue paper. A big shout out to Mrs Stephenson and the Year 7s for coming to assist our Preppies (and rescue me) from the hilarious chaos as I realised perhaps we had bitten off more than we could handle. One layer down and two more to go! We wanted to make our globes so we could use a torch for the sun to show night and day. Our Preps think it’s pretty amazing that while we are having lunch at school, children in other parts of the world are fast asleep.

We are also recording daily weather patterns over a month. The boys and girls have been drawing weather symbols and viewing the BOM website each day to look at weather forecasts and learn to read weather radars. We were quick to work out the different symbols and keys.