Secondary News

Dear Families,

With Term 2 well and truly underway students and teachers have engaged in robust and interesting learning across all curriculum areas.  Our classrooms have been filled with enthusiasm, dedication and significant progress in both academic and personal growth. 

Reconciliation Week was celebrated this week. It is a time dedicated to celebrating and honouring the rich cultures, histories and contributions of Indigenous peoples of Australia. Reconciliation Week serves as a platform to recognize and appreciate the diverse traditions, languages, arts and spiritual practices of Indigenous communities.

This week in our classrooms, Reconciliation Week has provided an opportunity to shed light on the issues and challenges that Indigenous people continue to face today, including land rights, cultural preservation, language revitalisation and social justice empowering students to share their thoughts and views on how we can better recognise and embrace indigenous culture and peoples in our community. 

We are immensely proud of each and every student for their commitment to learning, their resilience and their achievements thus far in the academic school year. It is through their collective efforts that our school community continues to thrive and grow.  

As parents are aware, staff at Lakeside pride themselves on supporting the whole student, not only in the area of academia, but social, emotional and spiritual health. We also extend our gratitude to parents and guardians for their unwavering support and partnership in ensuring the success of our students.  Due to high demand for additional support, we hope the following information is of some assistance for families wanting additional information about supporting their child at this stage of their academic journey in secondary school. 

Helping children learn – the secondary years

The difference you can make

How you support your child’s learning matters. You have a key role in shaping their values, attitudes and approaches to learning at home and at school. It’s important that you continue to stay engaged with your child’s learning in secondary school.  There are simple things you can do to help your child thrive and become independent learners.

Why it matters

There are real benefits when you stay involved in your child’s secondary school education. The benefits include:

• improved academic achievement
• higher completion rates
• young people have stronger aspirations for post-school learning and employment
• positive student attitudes and behaviour at school
• increased self-esteem and healthy relationships
• reduced mental health issues
• improved attendance rates.

What matters most

Research shows that a young person’s development in secondary school is strongly influenced by how a family values school and their education. This includes a family’s expectations and aspirations for their child’s future. If your home is a place that encourages and supports learning, it affects how your child learns. Research shows this has more influence than your direct involvement with the subjects your child is studying.

What you can do

Be sensitive and give structure

Be sensitive. Young people want to be more independent. Give them structure and support.

• Think about your parenting style. Be supportive, warm and responsive.
• Encourage your child to do their own or joint decision-making.
• Help your child make their own schedules to manage school and homework.
• Let your child solve their own problems.
• Maintain a consistent level of support and supervision.

Discuss aspirations and expectations for your child’s learning

• Talk about why and how you value education for your child’s future.
• Set high but realistic educational goals for your child.
• Have aspirations for your child.
• Talk about post-school education options, courses and careers.
• Be positive. Talk with your child about the things they are good at.
• Encourage your child to learn from their mistakes.

Talk about learning

Talk about school, learning and education. Talk often and listen. Discuss big ideas around politics, society, science and culture. Link these to schoolwork if you can. Talk about books, movies, documentaries, television and online media. Talk about what your child is reading or watching.

• Ask questions in a way that encourages a discussion. Try to avoid questions that only need a ’yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Use example open-ended questions.
  • What did you enjoy…?
  • What do you think about…?
  • Why did you like…?
• Give encouragement.
• Develop influence through questioning. Helping your child to develop their views and opinions by exploring different aspects of a topic.

Keep connected

Stay in contact with school. Have discussions with teachers in formal and informal ways. It could be at a parent-teacher interview, through an email conversation or over the phone.  Be present for conversations about your child’s future.  Together, talk with the school about your child’s education and career opportunities.  Attend course counselling sessions with your child.

Make contact with as many of your child’s teachers as possible. Find out the best ways to keep in contact.  Some secondary schools use apps that help parents to see their child’s learning and communicate with teachers.

Find out who the key contact person is for your child. It might be the care group teacher or home group teacher. This teacher will have an overview of your child’s wellbeing. They will keep track of their progress and achievements.

Give your child appropriate homework support

Support your child with their homework. Help them develop their own schedules for doing homework. You can also help them to manage other activities like sport or work. If you can, make sure your child has a quiet and organised space for doing their homework. Your local library might work if there isn’t space at home.

Avoid direct involvement in doing your child’s homework if they are struggling.  Help them problem-solve the issue, and work out what they will do next. This is more important as your child grows older.

Show interest in what your child is learning and doing at school. Ask about what homework they have. Follow your child’s schedule through the school.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Joanne Rothwell                                                                                      Mrs Amanda Trewin 

Head of Middle School                                                                                  Head of Senior School

 Calling all secondary students! 

Market day is just around the corner! Our Year 9 students have been busy preparing their businesses this semester and are ready to open shop! There will be plenty of hot foods, drinks, toys, beauty products and sweets to purchase! 

This is not to be missed! Come down and support your fellow students!

 Mark your calendars: Tuesday the 6th of June at Lunch Time and in the Middle School Courtyard!

See you all there! 

Poetry in Action

The English Faculty are thrilled to share with you the exciting Poetry in Action incursion that took place on Monday, 22nd May. This incursion marked the first performances of the year in Victoria and left a lasting impression on our Year 10 and Year 11 students. The Poetry in Action incursion allowed our students to immerse themselves in the world of poetry, embracing the power of words and the beauty of diverse perspectives. 

For our Year 10 students, the International Anthem show took center stage, helping students to make connection between poetry and contemporary song writing. The performance was set in the final moments of an extravagant International Poetry Extravaganza, where our talented performers faced the daunting task of selecting a poem that would truly represent Australia on the world stage. The show exposed our students to a remarkable range of poetry from Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. With its blend of humour, emotion and cultural diversity, the International Anthem show provided a rich tapestry of poetic expressions that resonated deeply with our Year 10 students. The Year 10 students walked away with a range of new ideas on how to approach their Australian Story thematic unit in English. 

Meanwhile, our Year 11 students had the privilege of experiencing Herstory 101, a show that delved into the disappearance of one of the world's leading poetry experts just moments before his highly anticipated TED talk. Herstory 101 celebrated women's journey from outsiders to leaders in the literary space, exploring the works of renowned poets such as Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Wordsworth, and even contemporary icons like Beyoncé. This high-impact performance shed light on the contributions of women in literature and left our Year 11 students inspired and empowered. VCE English students walked away with new perspectives on how they could approach their crafting texts writing task and the VCE Literature students connected with their previous poetry studies. 

Ms Megan Ball

English and Humanities Coordinator

Social Clubs

This term we have a lot of extra curricular activities available for students. These groups are a fantastic opportunity for students across year levels to form new and strengthen existing friendships over similar interests.  Our student groups align with our College values 

• Homework Club/Maths Help (Years 7 - 9) - Thursday 3 - 4 pm - Mrs Rothwell S4
• Maths Help (Year 7 -12) - Tuesday Lunch - Mrs Sultan S8
• Maths Help -  Senior Students - Monday 3.00 pm -3.30 pm - Mrs David V3
• Biology Club - Friday Lunch - Mr Jones S5
• Psychology Help Tuesday Lunchtimes - Mrs Trewin  V2
• VCE Chemistry Help - Tuesday Lunch - Mr Bonsall S20
• Chess Club - Monday Lunch - Mrs David V3
• Mindfulness Colouring - Ms Roberts (details to follow)
• Art Clubs - Ms Page (information on notice boards)

Student Leaders Initiative 

This term our student leaders across the secondary school are organising a Food Drive.  Our student leaders, as part of their community service have identified a need in the community to support Foodbank and the work they do in supporting members of the community.  

Families are encouraged to send to school with their child canned goods each week.   The homeroom that has collected the most cans of food at the end of the term will win a prize. 

Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge