In & around the school
Welcome Ms Sambell
This term we welcome Ms Merriki Sambell, a pre-service teacher from Federation University in Ballarat into our English faculty. Ms Sambell is with us for a number of weeks this term, as well as some random days here and there, and another block later in the year. Ms Sambell is teaching the Year 7s and 8s persuasive language, and will be popping into other areas of the school to make sure she is able to see a range of teachers in action before she becomes fully qualified herself. Ms Sambell hopes to become a familiar face to our students and wider community, and is incredibly passionate about all things reading and literature. She has also recently moved to Hamilton, so make sure you give her a wave if you see her around town!
Fibre, Fabric & Fashion
During Term 1 students learnt some hand stitching and machine sewing skills. They then used these skills to design and create their own pillow. Here are some of the fabulous results.
MUSIC
In Term 2 our music department will be starting to break out some public performances for the first time since the mass interruptions of 2020.
Our new ensembles are coming together nicely and gearing up for our first dungeon concert which will be on Thursday the 27th of May at 7pm in the Creative Arts Centre.
Careers
Term 1 and the beginning of term 2 has seen a sustained focus on securing work experience places for all year 10s.
About 35% are locked away and the careers teachers are working hard every Tuesday to further support each and every student to participate.
We will have guest speakers this term in year 10 careers every week to showcase a range of career pathways for our students to consider. So far, we have had representatives in from Finchett’s pluming, WDEA, and WestVic staffing solutions.
Next week they will hear from people who are involved in nursing, hair and beauty and barbering. Further on we have a visit from the armed forces lined up as well as hospitality and architecture.
The VCE Tertiary Camp will take place next week. A mixture of year 11 & 12 students will leave Hamilton on Tuesday evening headed for Bendigo. On the Wednesday morning students have the option to visit Kangan TAFE and Monash Medical school. In the afternoon they will attend the Bendigo Careers Expo and afterwards will take a tour of the Latrobe campus.
We will travel from Bendigo to Ballarat that afternoon to stay in the student accommodation at Federation Uni Mt Helen. On Thursday students will have tour of the Mt Helen campus and then go into Ballarat city to tour either, Fed Uni TAFE, Fed Uni Arts College or ACU. That afternoon we will travel to Geelong.
In Geelong we are touring the Deakin Waterfront campus, the Waurn Ponds campus, and the Gordon TAFE campus. By this time students should be full up with ideas and options and hopefully, aspirations for all of the great opportunities that are ahead of them. We will be back in Hamilton in time for buses home.
From next week, Michael Absalom from the Jobs & Skills Centre Warrnambool will be partnering with us to conduct post-secondary interviews with the year 12s. Michael is a qualified careers practitioner, and his presence gives our students a valuable opportunity to make connections outside of the secondary education space.
A year 11 & 12 VCAL industry excursion is being arranged for either the end of term 2 or early in term 3. Watch this space.
As always, students are strongly encouraged to visit the careers room and to make a time with me to discuss any career pathway options or ideas they might have.
Reading Stamina Tools
Year 8 students using timers to build their reading stamina. Each time they get distracted / mind wanders they have to re-set the timer. They are tracking their weekly progress towards improvement.
9/10 Literacy
The 9/10 Literacy classes were busy in the very last week of term 1. A local excursion was organised to the Sir Reginald Ansett Transport Museum – this tied in very nicely with their artefact work that they had been working on. All students agreed, that it really is a wonderful museum and deceivingly small from the outside! Students listened to the history of the Ansett airways and were able to admire the vast range of items on display with the highlight being, sitting on the Greyhound buses.
9/10 History
At the very end of last term, our Year 9/10 History group were incredibly fortunate to have Mr. Paul McCallum visit their class. Students have been studying World War I and as part of this, Mr. McCallum spoke about his experience of the Centenary of Anzac commemorative events at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli in 2015 where he was the photographer for the Royal Australian Navy. Mr McCallum, who served for over twenty years in the Royal Australian Navy, spoke about his personal experience in the Royal Australian Navy, his ties to Gallipoli with members of his family having fought in WWI as well insights into the difficulties faced at Gallipoli. The students found this to be a very informative and interesting presentation and this has inspired some to further research the Gallipoli campaign in their upcoming CAT. It is always appreciated and helpful to have members of our community come into school and share their expertise – adding interest and authenticity to our learning.
Tennis B Grade Champion
Year 9 student Maddie Mayne competed in the Hamilton Lawn Tennis Club’s annual Club Championships. Maddie played very well in the cold weather, with her partner, winning the B Grade Doubles Club Championship.
Intermediate Girls Volleyball Team vs Staff
A number of brave staff members took on our intermediate girls volleyball team as they prepared for the GWR Volleyball tournament in Horsham later that week. The young players were inspired by Mr. Banfield’s serving and Mr. Zhang’s swift moves at ground level. The Teachers came out victorious in a closely contested set.
Year 7 Art
The year 7’s have completed their first big learning task of Anime drawing. All the students did a fantastic job! The Anime task required students to draw on their research skills by finding inspiration for their Anime character that they would create. The students character needed to have seven key traits being a Name (also in Chinese), Age, Occupation, emotional state, friend’s names, where they live and their favourite music. Students then learnt how to draw their characters face using seven steps, getting the shape right and using a facial grid to get the eyes, nose and mouth in the correct spot. Once the students had mastered these skills they put it all together and created their final artworks. I think you will agree they did a great job!
Maths News
What a hectic Term 1 we had! We are so proud of the way the Year 7s have adjusted to secondary school and the way they have approached secondary school Maths. Middle Years have also settled well with the redesigned electives – Numeracy, General Maths, and Advanced Maths.
Senior students have shown great financial literacy skills and this was evident in the VCAL BBQ fundraiser at the school’s Inter House Sports as well as the Wood Raffle and Chocolate Raffle events at the end of last term, well done to these students and Mr de Man for their efforts in this.
Students are encouraged to participate actively in class discussions and volunteer to share their mathematical skills on the whiteboard. Maths is not always about numerical worksheets, complex calculations or having brain farts when working on Maths questions – students are provided a range of other activities to assist in their learning of Maths. Such activities include hands on applications like constructing 3D models or colouring activities which students of Mr Zhang’s classes have thoroughly enjoyed.
QUICKSMART and Tutoring Programs
Our school is lucky enough to have QuickSmart and tutor funding to support students in classrooms. Remote learning in 2020 impacted student learning; these programs play a vital role in ensuring students have assistance in learning where needed. We thank Mrs Wilson, Robyn, and Mr Churchill for their efforts in running the QuickSmart program and we thank our tutors for their continuous hard work. We also commend Mr Tan and Mr Hong for their role in organising Maths activities during lunch time.
SHOOL MATHEMATICS COMPETITION
Baimbridge College is participating in this competition organised by the University of Melbourne. The competition provides students a great exposure to Mathematics at a national level. We thank our Careers Coordinator, Mrs Vincent, and Maths Learning Area Coordinator, Mr Chen, for their assistance in communicating with the University of Melbourne in arranging this competition.
Competition is on May 5th, we wish our students the very best.
