Secondary 9/10
A Message From the Secondary 9/10 Team
It has been a very unusual Term 2 at Concord. Given all the challenges we experienced what has remained a constant is how proud we are of the student’s achievements regardless of where they have been learning. Each of our students have continued to aim to be the best they can be and given the circumstances throughout this term, the Secondary 9/10 team have certainly seen this in action.
With remote and flexible learning we have seen a rise in the level of maturity from our Secondary 9/10 students. The majority of students were able to navigate the world of remote learning with differing levels of support. Teachers were thrilled to see so many faces on their screens during WebEx meetings and teaching sessions. I was especially proud to see the quality and quantity of work being submitted.
When we returned to school it was brilliant to see how genuinely excited students were to be back and embraced the transition back to face to face teaching.
Our English program this term has focussed on a variety of topics. Our reading groups have continued to explore comprehension strategies, targeted to each student’s point of need. During our whole class discussions in our mixed classes we have explored texts that entertain, transact and persuade. Identifying the techniques authors use for these purposes and how we can use them within our own writing. The Secondary 9/10 PreCAL classes have focussed on texts that describe, entertain, recount and retell and transact.
The students have worked from experiences, whether they be audio clips, visual texts or identifying a time when they have been somewhere or seen something. As a team we continue to build student’s stamina and ability to read independently throughout the day and expose them to texts that they might enjoy.
Throughout the term, our Mathematics program has built students ability to investigate and solve number problems using a strategy that is efficient and effective for them. Both PreCAL and mixed classes have been exposed to addition and subtraction problems and patterns and algebra based investigations. Students have worked towards identifying what strategies they naturally lean toward when working with numbers. From there deciding if there is another way that the problem can be solved. Working with 2D and 3D shapes and mapping and location tasks rounded out this term’s learning in Mathematics, providing students with more opportunities to complete hands on tasks.
When we returned to school our students competed in a marble run challenge in STEAM. Using our Discovery Centre as inspiration we were to work in teams to plan and create our own marble run! Students enjoyed using this time to work with peers and challenged themselves to create a structure that would allow them to move a marble the quickest (or slowest) in the class.
To round off an amazing effort this term our students earnt their first reward of a free dress day! We have been collecting our success passes throughout the term, working as a team to reap the reward of their hard work. As you can see in the picture below, we aren’t too far off our next milestone, an afternoon of fun in the section. Stay tuned!
More than ever the team and I thank you for your support this term. We all look forward to an amazing Term three!
The Secondary 9/10 team