9-12 Community News
Students and staff in the 9-12 Community have continued working hard over the last two weeks and have focused on completing the numerous assessment tasks and class activities leading up to the publication of reports and the end of term.
There have certainly been lots of exciting and valuable learning opportunities happening around the school and many positive examples of students giving selflessly to their communities.
NAPLAN
For the first time, NAPLAN tests were held in Term 1. The Year 9 students are to be commended on how well they conducted themselves through the testing period. Results will be available in Term 2.
Years 9/10 Agriculture/Horticulture
The Years 9/10 Ag/Hort class paid a visit to Tatura Fresh last Tuesday. The class has been learning about technology in agriculture and how it can help solve issues such as food waste, climate change and global population growth. The class were lucky enough to have a tour of all the greenhouses, saw (and tasted) many different varieties of cucumber and tomato and saw the new 6ha greenhouse that is currently being constructed. The class is thankful to head grower, Amy, for giving her time so willingly to assist the students in their studies.
Year 9 Close the Gap
Year 9 TA groups have spent time exploring ways in which they can contribute positively to their communities. They have discussed the issues raised in considering Close the Gap Day, raising awareness of an important social issue, the gap in socio-economic conditions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Students pledged to make the effort to help bring about changes for the better in their local community and beyond.
Caritas Fundraising
Laxmi's story - Nepal
After losing her father at a young age, Laxmi was at risk of falling further into extreme poverty. But with the support of Caritas Nepal, Laxmi joined a child's club, where she became a leader and mentor to other girls in her village and in her school. She developed the skills and confidence to advocate for clean water taps at her school and now all the students have access to clean drinking water.
To help inspire fundraising for Caritas, the Year 9 TAs have created a “Tapitas Water Wall” with a picture of a tap at the top and then water droplets cascading down. Each of the droplets represent $1 and $2 donations that have been made to the Caritas donation box in the classroom.
The picture featured is Felicity Lewis’ Year 9 TA display. Her 11 students have donated $56.00 so far. What an amazing effort!!
Year 12 English Language and History Revolutions
In a change of pace from essays and equations, the Year 12 English Language and History classes took their studies in some different directions. In English Language, students engaged in a friendly competition to see who could match the definitions to their key terms the quickest.
And, in Year 12 History Revolutions, Mrs Moore and her fellow 'Students of Liberty' engaged in a very important meeting, to discuss the actions of the recently implemented Tea Act. With cups of tea in hand, to toss at the ready, they debated the need for action against the British. The class vowed to stop the Loyalists and boycott all things British Tea!
In modern terms, students enjoyed some tea and biscuits, as they explored the Boston Tea Party and the consequences of the British Parliament's implementation of different acts in the 1770s. Students are about to undertake the next part of their SAC, and this was a fun way to revise old content and learn new things. We are inching closer towards a Revolution!
In closing, as we move towards the end of term, we would like to congratulate all members of the 9-12 Community on a great Term One and we encourage all students to enter Term Two with purpose and enthusiasm.
With that in mind, we particularly commend our VCE students to make the most of their break. While it is important for students to enjoy some rest time, it is vital for VCE students to view this time as a ‘non-instruction period’- a time in which they can prepare for the up-coming term by doing the pre-reading and activities that their teachers set them, making use of the variety of online and textbook resources that staff provide to support their coursework.
Also, as highlighted in the Elevate Education seminars presented earlier in the term, students should take the opportunity to develop their revision notes from the course content from Term One. Revision notes prepared soon after the teaching/learning, which are then revisited on a regular basis, will help with the long term retention of the content.
Michelle Downie Brad Downie
9-12 Community Leader 9-12 Community Leader
Wellbeing Student Learning and Professional Practice
Summer Bolognese Recipe
This is a great recipe to use up the summer produce that you have growing in abundance in your veggie patch. You might even be able to omit the tinned cherry tomatoes and just add some passata or tomato paste and additional pasta water. Even if you don't have a veggie patch, cherry tomatoes are in season - a punnet costs around $3.
This recipe serves two, so please remember to adjust for your needs.
Amanda Clohosey
Teacher
