Junior School Report

As Semester 1 comes to an end, it is an opportune time to reflect on the fantastic work of our junior school students and celebrate their achievements. This semester has seen our new Year 7 cohort adjust to high school, and begin their journey with Year 7 camp. This was such a memorable experience for all, and it was great to see so many students challenge themselves and gain new friendships.

Students were lucky enough to gain valuable study and learning tips from the team at Elevate Education. In a targeted seminar for each year level, students gained the knowledge to help with their study habits and succeed with their learning.

Another highlight in Term 1, was the first - place award given to one of our Year 7 groups in the Unboxy Challenge as part of the Top Achievers Program. In this challenge, students were tasked with developing a community-based space within the redevelopment of Knox City Shopping Centre.

Overall, it has been an exciting and productive first semester with many students achieving great things both inside and outside the classroom. We look forward to sharing with you the highlights in Semester 2.

KIOSC – Mission to Mars

On Thursday 16 June, Year 7 students went on an excursion to KIOSC to participate in an activity called Mission to Mars. It was about humans travelling to Mars and what challenges humanity might face there. Mission to Mars consisted of three main activities: drone flying/coding, a STEM activity about building homes suitable to Mars, and VR.

In drone flying and coding, everyone had to make their drone fly a course using block code in an app. This activity was challenging, as it took a lot of re-writing code, but it was also very satisfying.

The STEM activity was to create cubes out of various materials (like wood, plastic, and metal) and see how well they retained their warmth inside when tested against freezing temperatures. It was to experiment and find out what materials would make the best, most temperature-stable houses on Mars. One of the highlights of this was the dry ice. Although it would give you third degree burns if you touched it, it was insanely cool to watch it.

Lastly, VR: VR was a replication of what life might be like on Mars, and it was incredible, albeit weird at first. In VR you had to do tasks like repairing robots. One of the most difficult tasks was driving a small, virtual robot to a specific spot. It was hard because it kept running into rocks.

Overall, the KIOSC excursion, Mission to Mars, was a fantastic experience and thoroughly enjoyed by all. A big thank you to Mrs Wood and Mr Eddy for accompanying us on the day.

Sammi Willems - Year 7

The Alpine School for Student Leadership

In Term 3, the following six Year 9 students have been given a rewarding and challenging opportunity to attend the Alpine School for Student Leadership in Dinner Plain:

Sam Dunbar
Lachlan Mactaggart
Emma Foden
Anna Harper
Shaelah Caruana
Mikayla Rogers

This residential camp provides students with an opportunity to build on their personal leadership skills by developing and leading a team project on an area of their passion. We wish the students all the very best and look forward to hearing and sharing their experiences on camp in Term 3.

The Junior School team wishes our students, parents, and families all the very best for a safe and relaxing term break. As you would have seen Mr Sam Eddy is leaving our team, we will all miss Mr Eddy and wish him all the best in his new profession. We are looking forward to seeing you all return refreshed and ready for many learning opportunities in Term 3.

Mr Sam Eddy – Year 7 Coordinator

Ms Sylvia Wood – Year 8 Coordinator

Ms Su-Nhi Kim – Year 9 Coordinator

Miss Emily Phibbs – Head of Junior School