Oil Pastel drawing

Spent another day at work today getting ready for next term. I've collected all the new information I want on the new web page. I'll update that all first week back. As well as working in the office I completed some more work samples of art for our next unit and also prepared some science tasks for all of the units we are covering in the first few weeks back

Below are some photos of an oil pastel picture of an African animal camouflaged in its surroundings. I chose a lion but a leopard or zebra would probably be better.

Step 1 Draw the mountains and sky

Step 2 color the ground orange and draw the outline of the lion.

Step 3 Finish coloring in the lion and add some tall grass.

I also painted a paper doll of Sir Henry in his battle outfit which I'll put together.

Million Dollar Men

On the ABC news this morning there was a story about the top universities having vice chancellors earning $1 million. This is astounding given the cut backs in staff and the increase in student fees. No wonder the top 5 university heads are keen to see the deregulation of fees.....to help pay their wages.Even those below the top five are close to 6 figures.It is hard to fathom how their wages managed to increase to a point that dwarf other public service salaries. 

Report Cards

Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon has urged schools to provide reports that best suit students and parents rather than conforming to rigid standards.

In a speech today Dixon said schools had been told to make the decision on reports that best suited the needs of their "learning community".

In a speech at the Australian Council for Education Leaders conference in Melbourne, Mr Dixon said schools had been told to produce reports "in a way that suits you".

"So there's no 'one size fits all' reporting standard or report card or program that has to be used," he said. "We're saying to schools,'You pick something that works best for you that is understandable to parents'."

Mr Dixon said the government would not tell schools how to deliver their curriculum, assessments, teaching styles or student reports.

"You need to … make a decision about what you want to do and why you want to do it and I will respect that," he said. "And it's up to you to deliver it individually at your school."

This is quite bizarre. DEECD revels in the practice of one size fits all for everything! Especially when it comes to red tape.

Schools being able to create their own report format is a great concept if you have the expertise and the time to do that. In a one teacher rural school like Glen Park that is not the case. The current practice of grading students from A to E was introduced by conservative politicians after they claimed parents were demanding it! 

Early this year the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority released new reporting guidelines, which said there would not be a "centrally prescribed single template for reporting student achievement to parents". 

The guidelines said schools must produce "summative reports" twice a year but they would be free to provide parents with assessments of student work online. However, schools would be able to retain the A to E grading scales. 

What will happen to the consistency that DEECD wanted in student reporting if everyone goes there own way? This has more to do with DEECD not renewing the contract for report writing software from QuickVic that we have been using for years. Schools are expected to find the money to pay for it themselves if they want to continue using it and it doesn't come cheap.

At Glen Park we will continue to use the format introduced by DEECD 7-8 years ago and review it in 2015-16 following suitable professional learning and consultation ( if it is provided!) with my Network colleagues.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/schools-free-to-choose-their-own-report-cards-20141001-10oiun.html#ixzz3EsV1Xcsp