Our Specialists
Art
Our Art room is a large, inviting workspace. The Art program encompasses the teaching of skills and Art appreciation whilst promoting individual creativity. Throughout the year the children are exposed to a variety of focus areas. Drawing, painting, construction, threads and textiles, modelling and printing are all examples of the areas presented to the students during their Art classes at Mano.
Our students’ Art work is prominently displayed throughout the school and beyond. Manifold Heights is always part of the Geelong Show and student work has been on display at the Geelong Art Gallery and other locations in the city.
Every second year, our School Art Show invites the school community into our school to delight in the work of our students. We aim to promote the Visual Arts to the community and engender an appreciation of Art amongst the children.
Once again the Senior students are in the process of making Indonesian puppets. It has become somewhat of a tradition that every second year the Seniors undertake this very challenging task. The puppets take many weeks to complete. The students use a polystyrene egg, a piece of dowel, newspaper, cardboard and wire to construct their puppet. They cover this with Modroc which is the same plaster that is used for broken bones. Small strips are dipped in water and then applied to the headpiece, arms and body. Great Fun!
Indonesian
At Manifold Heights Primary School, the L.O.T.E. program (Languages other than English) focuses on Indonesian language and culture. Students also get involved in activities related to Indonesian festivals and customs.
All students from Prep through to Grade 6 learn Indonesian during their weekly Art lesson.
Physical Education
The Physical Education (PE) and Sport Program at our school encompasses fitness, skills, movement, dance, gymnastics, games, aquatics, recreation and sport. It also aims to promote the enjoyment of physical activity by providing interesting and motivating activities while improving the student’s knowledge, skills and behaviours. Our PE program also aims to develop our values – resilience, respect, motivation and inquiry in all children as well as develop their personal and social skills.
PE introduces the children to many forms of physical activity ranging from individual involvement to non-competitive activity through to competitive team games. Emphasis is placed on combining motor skills and tactical knowledge to improve individual and team performance. Students also learn how developing physical capacity in areas such as strength, flexibility and endurance is related to both fitness and physical performance.
Students in Grades 3 – 6 are given the opportunity to participate in Athletics, Cross Country, Swimming, Inter-school Sport and Lightning Premierships throughout the year. Students in Prep – 2 also have an Athletics Day during Term 4.
Library
The Library program at Manifold Heights Primary School encourages students to develop an appreciation and a love for reading books. The Library has a broad selection of picture story, fictional chapter and non-fiction books to meet the interests of our students from Prep to Grade 6. An older readers section, incorporating more complex themes and language has been established to cater for the Senior students in the school. The Library is an engaging learning environment that openly welcomes students and teachers to browse and read books during lunchtimes.
The Library program provides students from Prep to Grade 2 with a one-hour, weekly literacy lesson based on the Victorian Curriculum. Students are presented with opportunities to take part in discussions about book themes, characters, illustrations, language, author studies and the relevant connections to personal experiences and world events. Students’ work and achievements are regularly acknowledged with informative displays around the Library.
The Library program provides students with clear guidance in locating and selecting the appropriate book to borrow and read each week. It supports the Inquiry projects across the school, classroom libraries, Book Week celebrations and the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.
The Scholastic Book Fair at Manifold Heights Primary School is a worthwhile community event that is organised twice a year. All proceeds from the fair go towards purchasing new resources to extend and enhance our school Library.
Performing Arts
The Performing Arts program teaches skills associated with the performing arts disciplines, music, dance and drama. The program is based on the Victorian Curriculum. Each year level is fortunate enough to participate in a one-hour performing arts lesson every week.
In dance, students use the elements of dance to explore choreography and performance and to practise choreographic, technical and expressive skills. Students respond to their own and others’ dances using movement and other forms of communication.
In drama, students learn to think, move, speak and act with confidence. In making and staging drama they learn how to be focused, innovative and resourceful, and collaborate and take on responsibilities for drama presentations. Through role and dramatic action students explore, imagine and take risks to communicate ideas, experiences and stories.
Through continuous and sequential music learning, students listen to, compose and perform with increasing depth and complexity. Through performing, composing and listening with intent to music, students have access to knowledge, skills and understanding, which can be gained in no other way.
Every second year students dedicate a lot of time to practicing and performing in a whole-school concert and every year, a whole-school Christmas concert. These situations allow students to experience the hard work and dedication required to be part of a large scale performance.
Science
The Science program at Manifold Heights Primary School teaches skills based on the Science Victorian Curriculum and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The curriculum covers four areas of focus including biological science, chemical science, earth and space science and physical science. Each term has a different topic of focus, based on the Victorian Curriculum and often coincides with a topic the students are learning about with their classroom teacher.
Underpinning each science lesson, STEM is used on a weekly basis to create a student-centred learning environment in which students investigate and engineer solutions to problems, and construct evidence-based explanations of real-world phenomena. Students use the Scientific Method when completing experiments by asking questions, creating a hypothesis, following a procedure, creating an observation and concluding. Students suggest explanations for observations and compare their findings with their predictions.
On a regular basis students are developing their communication and leadership skills by working in groups to take on varying roles to solve problems and complete experiments. They use formal and informal scientific language to communicate their observations, methods and findings.
Students also have the opportunity to participate in ‘Science Week’ which is held every year in August. It is an opportunity for students to complete tasks and/or experiments related to the year’s theme.
