Do you like poetry?
-Sylvie
-Sylvie
Christmas is celebrated on 25 December, every year. It’s to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We put up a Christmas Tree, which is a fir tree decorated with lights and ornaments. On Christmas Morning there are presents under the tree. I see all my family, there is a big feast and then we give gifts.
Easter is on a different date every year, because it’s on the Jewish Calendar, which is based on lunar cycles.
On Easter my grandfathers whole family has a big gathering. There are red eggs, and there’s lots of food. We give Koulourakia, which are home made butter cookies that you make into different shapes. You can dip them I’m sugar, and rose water.
New Years is the celebration of, well, a new year. On New Years Eve there is usually lots of partying and social gatherings. People celebrate the year they’ve had, and the year to come. There are lots of fireworks, the main ones are at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Many people stay up to watch them.
Some people make New Years Resolutions, which is something that you will try change or do in the next year. Eg. Not eating junk food, or always being punctual.
-Sylvie
I stepped off the bus, and the heat hit me like brick. This was it, what I’d been looking forward to for 3 years. Toonallook camp.
Camp was surreal.
It was the first time it was only my class going, not the whole Year Level.
On our camp we had Coco and Jazz, two Year Elevens come with us. For two of the days we were split into groups. I was in group 2, ‘Jazz (and Jesse’s) Jellybeans’.
One of my highlights was kayaking, because it was new to me and was really fun. In our groups we got into pairs and with our partner we kayaked around Point Turner to a beach. Everyone played on the beach and since it was such a hot day the cool water was great. We then kayaked back, and packed up for expo.
I also LOVED the spend boat ride. We did donuts and the water splashed in our faces, it was really fun.
Now I will tell about the amazing game that is Kingball. It’s somewhere between volleyball and down-ball. The rules are not solid and they change depending on who’s playing. You can play by yourself or as a double, I think it’s better to be a double since you can cover more space, but others disagree. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve watched a game, but I can assure you it’s great.
I was quite lucky in the way that I got barely any mozzie bites, but others….. weren’t so lucky. Goldie got 71 bites, and that’s only in her legs!
I thought I should mention the food. Awesome is an understatement. We had burritos, burgers, lasagne, biscuits, scones, cupcakes and much more, all homemade by Trish. I’ve got my fingers crossed Trish will cook for us next year.
Before camp the thought of the bike rides was pretty intimidating, but after I did them I realised they were actually really fun.
I made stronger friendships with multiple people, and I’m really sad it’s nearly the end of the year, because I might not be in their class.
Toona is my favourite camp so far, and I can’t wait to go next year!
What is your favourite place to go camping?
-Sylvie
This is my avatar, or digital me. I made an avatar last year, but that’s a bit old.
I have reasonably short, brown hair, hazel eyes and olive skin, all which I tried to depict in this avatar. I’m wearing a navy blue hoodie, since that’s the colour of one of my favourite hoodies, and I’m smirking slightly, as I prefer to be. The background is green, because it’s a colour I love. I’m quite tall in ‘the real world’, but I couldn’t show that in an avatar.
-Sylvie
On Monday 22 of July we went to camp at Sovereign Hill. Some of my favourite parts were when went to the gold smelting, it was very interesting. I also think just dressing up and being part of the museum was awesome!
Women were treated differently in the 1850’s. Girls got married extremely young, most girls were hopefully to be married by 15. Women didn’t have the right to vote, and were treated like they were lesser than men. Women couldn’t mine or pan for gold, even if they had a gold license.
There were no laws to do with child abuse, so it was fine to beat children. Most people and teachers would beat the kids if they misbehaved, sometimes there was no reason and they would get a regular beating anyway.
There was no respect for children.
There was not much medical knowledge, so sometimes the doctors would just chop your legs or arms of with a saw. It was very painful since there was no anaesthetic.
There were very different beliefs and ways to deal with sickness. Some people thought that bad smells were what made you sick, so they used nice smelling soaps.
When we went to St. Peter’s Denomination School at Sovereign Hill the things we were taught were very different. Girls were taught sewing and boys were taught drawing. Everyone had to write in a small writing book with a nib, ink and blotting paper. You had to be careful not to blotch the ink.
All schools in the 1850’s only had one class and one teacher, which was also the Headmistress/master of the school.
It was a ramshackle stockade that some of the miners made. There was a flag made by some of the women that was flown in the stockade.
The battle of the Eureka Stockade was on the 3rd December 1854. It was a brief battle, that only lasted 20 minutes, but 30 people died, 8 soldiers and 22 miners.
Peter Lalor was a very important figure in the Eureka Stockade. He was the one who led the miners, and was of the main people that fought for the miners rights and license change. He also became governor afterwards.
James Scobie was murdered by James Bentley, the owner of the Eureka Hotel. This was a crucial event because it was what made the already angered miners even more annoyed. Since James Bentley was let free after his court case, the miners burnt down his hotel. The diggers were so angry they started a rebellion, hence the Eureka Stockade.
I studied the Apothecaries Hall with my partner Wells. The Apothecaries Hall is similar to, or what you might call an older chemist. It was where medicines and men’s grooming products were sold. There were doctors rooms out the back were you could visit the doctor. Since Wells was my partner, we had to communicate our ideas so that we both had input. We used knowledge to find the best way to make or put things. For the diorama I would make mine smaller, because it was larger than everyone else’s.
Me and Wells were challenged when we were behind most other people making the diorama, so I had to take it home to work on it. Everyone also figured out that Wells is really good with a box knife.
In the end I had fun doing my diorama although it was somewhat stressful.
We had to create newspaper articles that might have been published in the 1850’s. For that I had to use vocabulary that would have been used in the 1850’s.
We also did a big compare and contrast activity, which I learnt a lot from.
At the start of this term we learnt about angles, there are acute, right, obtuse, straight, reflex and a revolution angle.
Near the end of the term we learnt about mapping with grid references and a compass.
We also did a lot of fractions work this term.
I find it difficult to remember specific dates and names, so I was challenged with learning all the events and when, where and why they happened and who was involved. I had to read or write something multiple time to make myself remember something.
I really enjoyed going to Sovereign Hill, it was a very different experience. We went to the gold smelting, school, and I got to spend time with my awesome friends.
I learnt a lot about the Ballarat Goldfields and Eureka Stockade, like when and what is was. I didn’t know anything about the Gold rush before this unit.
-Sylvie
This term we have been studying the Ballarat Gold Rush. We made dioramas of Sovereign Hill, so for maths we did a mapping activity about our diorama. We used directional language such as North, South East and West. This is my video.
Hope you enjoyed!
-Sylvie
This term in library we have been learning about nonfiction books. There are two types of nonfiction books, expository and narrative. Expository books are completely factual, they are true. Narrative nonfiction book are stories, so they aren’t always true, but they are based/written about real and factual events.
Last week was the CBCA book awards. The Year 4’s, 5’s and 6’s all voted on the information book category, or the Eve Pownall award. I voted for ‘Make Believe: M.C. Escher for Kids’ by Kate Ryan and M.C. Escher, which was actually one of the runner-ups. It was about drawing, and M.C. Escher. I thought it was a great book because it was easy to understand, interesting and hooked in the reader. It had a great layout that was clear and easy to read and it seemed suitable for all ages.
The other runner up was ‘The Happiness Box’ by Mark Greenwood and Andrew McLean. It was about a war where the soldiers made gifts for children, one of the gifts was a book. They buried it and a year later they found it. This is a true story, you can find the book from the story in a museum.
The winner was ‘Sorry Day’ by Coral Vass. It’s about the Stolen Generation, and Sorry Day.
The other shortlisted books in this category were ‘Bouncing Back:An Eastern Barred Bandicoot Story’ by Rohan Cleave, ‘Waves’ by Donna Rawlins and ‘Our Birds’ by Siena Stubbs.
This is ‘Make Believe: M.C. Escher for Kids’
This is ‘Sorry Day’
-Sylvie
This term Year 5 went on camp to…. Sovereign Hill! We went there because this term we are studying the Victorian gold rush. I had a cabin of five, Goldie, Tori, Jaime and Holly. Every cabin had an inspection, to see which was the tidiest. My cabin had a joke that when the teachers came to inspect we would yell “Tori get out of the fridge!!!” Since we had a mini fridge in our room.
Some of my favourite parts were when went to the gold smelting, it was very interesting. In class the girls did sewing which I enjoyed, and writing with the nib. I also think just dressing up and being part of the museum was awesome!
I learnt a fair bit, like what people wore and acted like, that women were very young when they were expected to get married, what differences there were between boys and girls, and much more.
Every class went to a different school, and pretended to be a child from the 1850’s. We were split into different age groups, since I am the tallest in my class I was one of the older students. Because of my teachers great acting, I felt intimidated when you inspected she work, and proud when I did something right. Even though I knew it was acting it felt real.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Sovereign Hill.
What was your favourite camp?
-Sylvie Ferris
Every year Carey celebrates literature by having a festival. This year the festival was planned by volunteer Year 5 and 6 students, with help from the teachers. There are activities at lunch, and authors come. I didn’t help plan the festival but lots of my friends did and they did a great job! An author comes to give a speech and do a workshop with each year level, and Mark Wilson came for the Year 5’s. He writes and illustrates picture books.
My favourite parts of the festival were when Mark Wilson came and we got to draw. We drew lots of random things, like shells, eyes and flowers. Then we drew his friend, Charles, who was an ANZAC. I also enjoyed spending time with my buddy, Ben, he’s in Year One. We did the ‘Book Hunt’ which was a lunch time activity, and some drawing in the Library.
Mark taught us how to draw a silhouette, I was surprised by how simple they are to draw. You draw a stick figure, then fill it in to make the body, hat and we added guns since our silhouettes were ANZACZ’s. It looked pretty realistic.
He also taught us what an ANZAC going into battle looks like now. They have cameras, a microphone, a computer to help guide and locate soldiers, and more.
-Sylvie
I’ve been to five ‘Year 5 Markets’, but this, was very different. This year I was behind the counter.
Every year Carey has a market run by the Year 5s, we were put into groups to do the market. My group was called LUX, the members were Goldie, Laura, Dylan, Jack and myself.
We sold dreamcatchers, orbeez stress balls and ‘Happy Rocks’, which were spray painted rocks with writing on them. We made about $415, and as a whole year level made over $6,000. I was extremely proud!
All of the money we made is going to the JMB Foundation. (James Macready-Bryan). James was a past Carey student therefore we have decided to support this charity. This foundation provides financial support for care, rehabilitation and a public voice for young sufferers of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and their families. You can find more information about the foundation on their website: https://jmbfoundation.org.au/
Some of the ‘Positive Learner Attributes’ my group and I used were communication and collaboration, because you had to share all of the jobs and make sure everyone did their bit. Resilience was used because in the middle of market preparation we came across a major problem, but we pushed through it and kept going. We also had to use knowledge to find out which products would sell, and for what prices.
This term I learnt how to make a persuasive ad, using camera angles, lighting, symbolism and a catch phrase. I also learnt how to make a good product that will sell, by surveying people and graphing all of the information.
I was challenged when one of our main products didn’t work out because the materials were too expensive, it was hard to find a substitute. We also dropped the orbeez so many times.
Some of my highlights were when younger kids would come up to my stall, and they would buy our products. The morning of the market getting up early for Bel Canto and being so excited was another highlight. Then in general working with my group and the sense of satisfaction when you get something done.
My advice for the Year 4’s would be make products that have been successful before, but if they’ve been made most years, most people already have one and they’re not going to buy another one. So try make some original products as well. Also although it sounds cheesy, keep a positive attitude, there were multiple times I wanted to give up. But mostly have some fun, you’re only going to do one ‘Year 5 Market’ make the most of it.
I had an amazing market! I learnt a lot and had heaps of fun.
-Sylvie