Let's Take a Peek!

I decided today that we need to have some photos of what the old schoolhouse looks like inside. So I went down with my trusty camera and took some photos for you to have a glimpse of the rooms inside.

Here is the Kitchen where student will make traditional lemonade and see the different equipment.

 Here is the dining room and the bedroom where the children will participate in quiet activities...

.... and this is the classroom and museum!

So make sure you book to attend the Professional Learning (11th August 2014 - 5-7 pm) so you too can bring your class here for a Victorian Classroom Experience. Check the IPL website for details.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!
Go to: http://www.sawyersvalleyps.wa.edu.au/schoolhouse/Old_Victorian_Schoolhouse/Welcome.html to find out more!

That's all for now!
Mr Stephen Powell
TDS Coordinator

Welcome Back! Term 3 is HERE!

Welcome back everyone and if you are anything like me, did we have holidays??

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to the staff of South Ballajura Primary. Sawyers Valley Sharing had a wonderful morning exploring assessment in History! We had a lot to get through in a small amount of time, fantastic work by all! I a big "Aloha!" to our happy travellers!

Reminders!

Old School House

Thinking of bringing your class up to Sawyers Valley Primary School to experience the Old Victorian School for the day? Well, make sure you have registered to come along to a training session on Monday the 11th of August from 5-7 pm! Go to the IPL website to register. For non-government schools, please email me directly on stephen.powell@education.wa.edu.au. The session will equip you information about what to do with your class when you get here and make the links to the curriculum. 

Hike through History (K-6) 

Time is running out if you haven't already registered for our next Hike through History (K-6). Please go to the IPL to register for the 5th of August. You will have the opportunity to watch teachers from K-6 teach a lesson in History. Registrations close next Tuesday!

SHACC

Our first SHACC will be on Wednesday the 13th of August at Greenmount Primary School. The sessions run for 1 hour (4-5 pm) and we look at a specific skills and have opportunity to share what is happening in your classroom. Last time we talked about different ways to present information and we encourage people to go away and have a go and then bring back what they did or have tried. The first session will be talking about what has happened since the last session but if you didn't come along, that is great too! We will select a new skill to discuss. Please go to the IPL website to register!

Centra

Our next online learning session is on Monday the 18th of August. Please register on the IPL website to take part.
Speaking of online, don't forget to be part of our Facebook group or follow us on Twitter! 

That's all for now!
Mr Stephen Powell
TDS Coordinator

New Lesson Plans!

New Lesson Plans!
You can now download and use lessons from Kindy, Pre-Primary, Year 1, Year 2/3, Year 4/5 and Year 5/6 from our Hikes Through History Plans Page. Click on the links and you can download a PDF version of our lessons from the last 3 History Hikes. Click on the image below to go to the lessons! There are 24 new documents to download....so check them out!

NEW lessons are being developed for Semester 2 and the next History Hike will be on Tuesday the 5th of August (Week 3). Go to the IPL website via the portal to enrol!

New and Exciting Event!

The Victorian Schoolhouse Experience is ready for business and if you are interested in bring your class to the school you can go to the website to find out more. 

BUT THERE IS MORE!

To make the most of your visit, we ask teachers to attend a 2 hour workshop to show you what you can do with this fantastic resource as well as make the History Curriculum. The workshop is free and will be on Monday the 11th of August from 5 pm to 7 pm. Go to the IPL website to find out more and register!

Thank you!

We come to the end of another semester and the TDS team at Sawyers Valley Primary School would like to thank the wonderful teachers who have come to the school or have asked us to come to them. I would also like to thank the wonderful TDS team at the school for their willingness to share. 
We are so excited that we have had over 10 000 hits on our blog! Don't forget to join our Facebook group or follow us on Twitter. Have a wonderful restful break and make sure you check in to see what we have to offer at Sawyers Valley.

That's all for now!
Mr Stephen Powell
TDS Coordinator

So Busy....Reports done?

It is that time of the year where every school is SO busy and I hope you have managed to take some time to care for your health and try and enjoy some of the sunshine between the rain.

Hike through History
We have our next History Hike next Tuesday (24th of June 2014). If you would like to come along please email me, there is room! stephen.powell@education.wa.edu.au
It is a half day event (8:30 - 1:00) where you get to visit K-6 classrooms engaging in History lessons. 

SHACC!
We had our last SHACC session at Greenmount PS yesterday and we are keen to see more people come along next term. The dates for the next series are:

Term 3

• 13th August 2014 (Week 4)
• 10th September 2014 (Week 8)

Term 4

• 12th November 2014 (Week 5)

Come along and have a great afternoon with wonderful teachers who share wonderful ideas and information about History in their classroom. Please register on the IPL website. 

Lesson Ideas and Plans
Watch this space for some wonderful lessons created by the TDS staff at Sawyers Valley. These lessons will be added to the 'Hike through History Plans' tab. They will be uploaded before the end of term.

Centra
If you know someone who is looking to participate in an introduction to History professional learning via Centra, please let them know that our next one is on Monday the 30th of June. Please direct them (or you) to the IPL website to register. I hope to virtually see some of you there!

Thank you!
A big thank you to the staff of Mundaring Primary school. we had a great afternoon exploring the History Curriculum with a lot of laughs and a lot of terrific insights! A big thank you also goes out to the staff of Greenmount Primary who explored the resources that are easily available via the portal to support them in their planning for History next semester! Happy 50th Birthday Greenmount PS!

That's all for now!
Mr Stephen Powell
TDS Coordinator
Level 3 Classroom Teacher

Thank You Great Southern Network!

An early start to my day heading south to the Great Southern Network. Teachers from K-10 participated in a day of Humanities looking at the History Curriculum, Resources, Snapshots and Judging Standards in Katanning. They engaged in a variety of tasks one of them looking at multi-age groups and how to plan. They looked at one of the Historical Skills across the years and then selected a split grade to be a focus. The teachers worked together to select one Knowledge and Understanding from one of the year levels and brainstormed a range of tasks/activities they could do straight away. Brilliant!

A great experience and thank  you for inviting Sawyers Valley Sharing to the Great Southern to share what we do!
That's all for now!
Mr Stephen Powell
TDS Coordinator
Level 3 Classroom Teacher

Week 5 Term 2....so how are YOU travelling?

SHACC Sharing!
Another wonderful session with the SHACC members but we have room for more! Our next SHACC is on Wednesday the 18th of June (Week 8) and we discussed our jigsaw activity, with people having great success! The use of the question matrix to help students pose questions really supported the inquiry process in History. We are focussing on Timelines for our next session so if you have a great timeline activity, please come along and share!

Hikes through History!

We had our first History Hike last week with 2 wonderful teachers visiting from Quairading and Gosnells! They saw a range of lessons from the teachers in the TDS team and went away full of ideas! we also welcomed the fabulous History Team of Bertrum PS. They enjoyed the brisk, clean, fresh air in the valley. Semester 1 lesson plans will be uploaded soon. 

Watch this space!

The next Hike is on Wednesday the 24th of July (Week 9). Register NOW!

Sawyers Hits the Road!
Sawyers Valley Sharing is excited to be travelling to the Great Southern Network next week! It is going to be awesome meeting teachers who are engaging in History in the classroom!
I will update the blog on return and share what we did!

That's all for now!
Mr Stephen Powell 
TDS Coordinator 
Year 1 Level 3 Classroom Teacher 

South of the River!

Sawyers Valley can be a long way to go for some, however Campbell Primary School might be just what you need. Please see this post published in Connect by the TDS team at Campbell Primary.

History Coffee Club @ Campbell PS

The Campbell Coffee Club is a great opportunity to network with teachers from other schools. These sessions provide an opportunity to examine the curriculum, share ideas and successful classroom practice, apply strategies in the classroom and reflect on these activities. Participants will explore the WA Curriculum History investigating ways to plan, teach and assess by sharing teaching and learning plans and samples of student work including assessment tasks.  

Date: 20 May 2014

Time: 3.30pm to 4.30pm

Where: Campbell Primary School, Staffroom

Register at the IPL

TeachMeetWA - Check out the YouTube History Presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV5uwmPYURg

Hike through History (K-6) Tuesday, 20th May 2014, Week 4.

Registrations for our first History Hike close today. Go to the IPL website to register.  If you miss the enrollment please email stephen.powell@education.wa.edu.au to see if there is space available. 

The feedback from our Hikes have been brilliant. Here is a sample!

"Thank you for a great morning. I got lots of ideas that I can't wait to implement in my classroom."

"I learnt so much from this History Hike. It is by far the best and most effective form of PD that I've been exposed to for quite some time!"

"It was really great to see the process in action...Thanks for providing this great opportunity to see the lessons and for sharing your school, classrooms and students."

That's all for now!

Mr Stephen Powell 
TDS Coordinator 
Year 1 Level 3 Classroom Teacher