FOUNTAIN GATE PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

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1 p School No JUNE 2015 FOUNTAIN GATE PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Prospect Hill Road, Narre Warren 3805 Telephone: Fax: Website: Tuesday 23 rd June DIARY DATES Discovery Day Grade 5 - FGSC 8.55am 1.00pm Wednesday 24 th June Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews 1.15pm-6.00pm & 6.30pm-7.30pm Student Classes finish at 12.30pm Friday 26 th June End of Term 2 Free Dress (Gold coin donation for school production) FRIDAY 26 TH JUNE END OF TERM 2 STUDENTS FINISH AT 2.30PM Monday 13 th July Start of Term am Wednesday 15 th July Lightning Prem (backup day) Friday 17 th July House Athletics Grades Wednesday 22 nd July R.A.C.V. visit Preps 9.00am-12.00pm Wednesday 29 th July Zoo Excursion Grades 3-4 students..

2 Principal s Comments Dear Parents, here is an interesting article from the Age, June 7 th. Our students learn coding in levels 5 and 6 using a program called Hopscotch. Learning early: Grade one students in Estonia learn simple computer coding as part of the Estonian Tiger Leap Foundation which aims to teach students coding from the early to final years of schooling. Photo: Christian Stokes What is happening? The teaching of digital literacy in the classroom is a global education trend on the rise. The inclusion of "coding" the algorithmic language of computers in school curriculums around the world exemplifies a shift away from the focus on instructing children how to use computers, applications and programs towards teaching them about how computers are built, how they work, and how to instruct their function and behaviour through coding. The subject received a great deal of attention in Australia recently when Federal Opposition leader, Bill Shorten announced that if elected, coding would become an integral part of the national curriculum and taught in every primary and secondary school by Why is it happening? As computer technology becomes increasingly embedded across many aspects of life, business and industry, many have come to consider digital proficiency as a vital "foundational skill" upon which the jobs of the future indeed the prosperity of nations will depend. By teaching coding in schools from an early age, it is widely believed that children will acquire the skills necessary to create, design and adapt technology to meet future requirements as well as unlock talent to address the "skills gap" that already exists between the growing number of technology jobs available and the people qualified to fill them. However, while economics is a major justification for the introduction of coding, others say a moral obligation exists to properly prepare children for the technology-focused world and job-market they will inherit. Where is it happening? Estonia and the United Kingdom are leading the charge: coding has been taught in Estonia since 2012 and was introduced in the UK as part of its national curriculum in September Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece include coding in their school curricula, while Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore are in the process of introducing it. The Code Club network, founded in the UK, also runs volunteer-led after-school programs that have taught coding to thousands of children in countries including Brazil, Ukraine, Norway, and Hong Kong.

3 In the United States, coding is reportedly taught in one in 10 schools. However, numerous initiatives are underway including "Code as a Second Language", aimed at minority groups, and Google's "Made with Code" program, geared toward girls in an effort to address the stark gender imbalance that exists in tech industries. For example, while women make up 50 per cent of the total US workforce, they occupy only 25 per cent of tech industry jobs; even in the "home of technology innovation", Silicon Valley. Coding "boot camps" for university graduates have also sprung into existence to fulfil current job industry needs. What about Australia? Mr Shorten declares that all Australian children should have the opportunity to learn "the literacy of the 21st century" so that they can "design, create and operate the apps and computers" that will drive Australia's future economy. However, while some say Australia has been slow to respond to this trend, some schools have already begun to teach the subject: Tasmania, for example, is set to become the first state to introduce coding into its primary school curriculum; code clubs exist as extracurricular activities in a number schools, and in Victoria, "Algorithmics" is a freshly minted VCE subject for students wishing to pursue computer science. Some say there is a broader issue at play: the dearth of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates. Many hope that by introducing coding into schools, more students will be attracted to STEM subject areas including Information and Communications Technology (ICT) thereby ensuring a more solid "pipeline" of students and university graduates to better meet current and future demands. What do proponents say? Many argue that coding should be taught on equal terms with reading, writing and mathematics in schools because the jobs of the future will have more deeply embedded computer technologies that span business and industry from fashion and farming to medicine and manufacturing. They say that success in the digital age will utterly depend upon the ability of children to solve problems and create solutions in algorithmic and programmatic ways. Others say digital literacy has flow-on benefits across disciplines: that it helps students become more articulate, improves their problem-solving skills, enhances their critical thinking and logic skills in ways akin to the benefits of learning a musical instrument or foreign language. Are there challenges? In Australia, a major challenge in implementing coding on a national scale is the shortage of teachers trained in the field, a factor exacerbated by a scarcity of STEM teachers in general. It is reported that around 60 per cent of ICT teachers and 40 per cent of science and maths teachers are not qualified to teach these subjects. Furthermore, an increasing number of students are opting out of STEM subjects. According to Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, only half of all year 12 students are studying science, down from 94 per cent 20 years ago. Citing the example of Morse code in the past, some argue that computer coding taught today is not worthwhile because it will quickly become obsolete as technology and computer programs evolve. The counter-response is that if taught properly, the coding skills learned will be highly transferable and easily adapted from one language to another. In conclusion While it is widely acknowledged that not everyone will wish to become computer scientists or software creators, it is nonetheless argued that acquiring coding skills will make for smarter farming, enhanced tools for trade and manufacturing, and more efficient business practices. Many say that digital literacy has benefits for everyone in a world in which technology features so profoundly in everyday life. Kind Regards, Jenny Duggan

4 Prep B Prep R Prep S Hadiya Mohammad Gemma Cardoso Lay Charitopetris Talataina Student Achievement Awards Both of these girls have had a wonderful week. They have both worked hard and been kind and happy friends. Always presenting her work beautifully & persisting with challenging tasks. Well done! 1M Mustafa Jawlan Writing some good instructions to find the treasure 3G 4M 1P 3/4E 1V Sanna Hasani Thinking deeply and making fantastic text to text connections 5/6B 4P 4R Sasha Guselnikov Swaraj Arora Angus Vickery Tyron Pillay Zuli Jafari The thought they put in to develop an appropriate game to assist them and others to practise their step on the place value learning sequence. For developing great maths problem solving strategies and sharing them with his classmates. You are a great role model, Tyron. For using different strategies to work out new words during Readers Workshop. Your reading is improving so much Zuli. Well done. 1/2C Yen Tran Working really hard to create an excellent picture story book. Well done! 2H Tiffany Joachim Her awesome effort with Learning sequences in maths this week. Well done! You are a place value superstar! 5/6C Rory Conroy Enthusiastically participating in classroom discussions and expressing his ideas and thoughts. 5/6J Caitlyn Griffin Writing a thoughtful reading response about the author/illustrator Jeannie Baker. 2M 5/6L Beheshta Azizi Persisting with her readers workshop including finding the main idea. Well done! 2W Tyrese Pon Demonstrating dedication towards his written narrative. Well done Tyrese! 3C 5/6T 5/6M Jem Sprague Working hard in maths this week and displaying an excellent understanding of comparing and ordering fractions!

5 MAD ON MUSIC AWARD Congratulations to Tran Vo 4P who has received the Mad on Music Award for this term for most practice

6 MAKE A CUT PAPER ANIMATION!!!! Use your own paper designs to create an amazing digital animation! You won t believe the wonderful animation you can make exploring colours, shapes and collage in this amazing animation workshop. Children aged 8-12 years can learn about the animation process and will leave with their own paper designs and a link to the finished animation to show all the family. Date: Friday 3 July Time: am or 2.00 pm Venue: Balla Balla Community Centre, 65 Berwick- Cranbourne Road, Cranbourne Cost: $5 per child Bookings: Online at casey.vic.gov.au/winterarts or call City of Casey on The Department of education & Fountain Gate Primary School does not endorse the products or services of any private advertiser. No responsibility is accepted by the Department of Education or Fountain Gate Primary School for accuracy of information contained in advertisement or claims made by them.

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