LOTE - Mandarin

Welcome to our Mandarin-Language Other Than English (LOTE) program. At Truganina South Primary School, we learn Mandarin through Chinese cultural contexts. Our linguistic aims are to develop useful daily communication skills and a sound understanding of the language systems of Chinese: both the spell-out spoken Chinese- Pinyin and the writing system of Chinese characters. We learn to write Chinese characters with a Chinese brush pen and calligraphy fabric.

Our program follows the traditional Chinese festivals calendar which helps us gain cultural understanding of some of the most significant Chinese festivals and traditional values. We have Chinese New Year Dress Up day each year at the beginning of Term 1. We sing many well-known Chinese songs and play lots of word games both online and in the class to help consolidate our Chinese vocabulary. We actively participate in community events such as the local Lunar New Year Festival in Point Cook, when a group of our students sang the Mandarin ‘Happy New Year’ song to the wider community, along with our school’s hand-made dragon. Our school will continue to utilise this kind of opportunity to practice our Mandarin skills in the future.

Truganina South Primary School has a sister school in China called Nanjing Gulou Shiyan Primary School, which a small group of our students and parents visited in October 2019. We intend to continue our international exchange program through China Trip excursion when international travel becomes possible again.

Come and join our adventure of learning Mandarin through the immersion of Chinese culture.

See you in Mandarin class!

 (zhōng wén jiào shì jiàn!)

   中文教室见！

Physical Education

What a busy and exciting year it has been in Sport and Physical Education at Truganina South Primary School. Students from all communities have had the opportunity to develop their techniques, values and understanding around a variety of different skills and sports. Students in prep, grade 1 and 2 have explored many of the Fundamental Motor Skills and have applied these in modified games.
 
All students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 have completed units of work around Target, Striking and Fielding, Invasion and Net and Wall games. Many sports fall within these categories, which give our students the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills with the goal to become passionate and active lifelong learners.

Science

Our school is lucky enough to have a dedicated science building for students to use to explore the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth and Space science. This space is equipped with a vast array of hands-on materials as well as a specific science focussed classroom library.

Students in this space learn through a balance of experiments, theory, and resources. Students are taught that science is everywhere around them; from the materials making up their favourite toys, understanding local animal species, how things move, to the processes that create weather.

The science program allows students to explore and wonder about and question the world around us, as well as understand how things work and use this knowledge to develop their own ideas and models.

Performing Arts

This year in Performing Arts we started the year off strong with introducing our newest students, the preps, to the Performing Arts space. We have had fun dancing, singing, playing with costumes, and a unit in puppet play.

The junior years have been focusing on the elements of dance, with the children exploring both indigenous dance, as well as sharing dancing from their own cultures.

Jenn and Bec have both worked hard at bringing the students out of their shells and raising confidence levels to an all time high.
The middle and senior years have enjoyed learning about the elements of drama and improvisation. They have had the opportunity to write and perform scripts for their peers.

We have also had a strong focus on Rhythm and Instruments this year, with all year levels learning to read and play rhythms.
Performing Arts has a great buzz around it from the students and teachers so I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Visual Arts

Our Visual Arts program provides students with opportunities to view artworks, research ideas, and design and create artworks, using a range of mediums and techniques. Students are encouraged to develop their observational skills and take inspiration from artists from a variety of eras and cultures, including the work of historical and contemporary Australian and Indigenous artists.

They experience art making through the creation of drawings, paintings, collages, textiles and sculptures, including ceramics. Students are encouraged to share and discuss their art making journey and final artworks with their peers and members of the school and local community.

At Truganina South Primary School student artwork can be found on display throughout the school and school grounds, celebrating the amazing work they create.