Middle Years  News

2023 Recap

Congratulations to all members of the Koonung community of an incredibly successful 2023. We have seen a huge amount of success in the community this year in student learning and their development. I want to congratulate all students within the Middle School on the resilience and positive attitudes they have displayed throughout this year. 

In true Koonung style, the tail end of the year has been incredibly busy. We have seen our Year 7 students complete their first year of high school, the Year 8s continue their development and consolidate their learning; and the Year 9s complete their first round of exams, AND completed their journeys as Middle School students! We wish them all the best as they start their journeys in Senior School!

Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to all the Middle School award winners who were celebrated at our recent Presentation Evening who achieved excellent results this year. Congratulations on your excellent work this year.

I want to thank each and every student for their contributions and the work they have undertaken this year. I hope each one of you takes the time throughout the upcoming break to rest, relax and reset for 2024.

Introducing the 2024 Middle School Team

The Middle Years Team will undertake a significant change of structure in 2024, as members of the 2023 team move on to new and exciting challenges.

The team for 2024 will consist of:

• Mat Delaney – Head of Middle School
• Regan Garner – Middle Years Administrator
• Lauren Hughes – Year 7 Coordinator
• Nikita Natsis – Year 8 Coordinator
• Stuart Kofoed – Year 9 Coordinator
• Trevor Vanden Driesen – Middle Years Support (Term 1) 

I want to thank the outgoing members of the Middle Years Team – Ms Sharyn Paspa and Mr Jordan Dunn for their tireless work and contributions and support to the Year 9s and their programs across the year. Best of luck in your new ventures, be they at Koonung or further afield!

Ms Kirby Sens will continue to work with the Middle Years team; however, she is taking on a new role as the Student Engagement Programs Leader. We wish her well in this new role and can’t wait to see what she will achieve in this space.

Introducing your 2024 Middle Years Captains 

The Middle School Captaincy role is an integral role to our Middle School program, and the selected Captains represent the voice and views of the Middle Years students in the wider school sphere. I want to thank and congratulate the 2023 Captains - Jude Crouch, Latitia Moar, Olive Porcaro and Aliyah R-Shakeel for their work and contributions here, and welcome the 2024 Middle Years Captains – Stephanie Coleman, Izzy Johnstone, Ryan Li and Zarah Shepherd. We know you’ll achieve great things in this role!

Year 8 Picnic

On Wednesday 22 November, Year 8 students relaxed, and furthered deepened their connections to each other and to Koonung by participating in the Year 8 picnic. The picnic saw students engage with each other in a highly positive way at Elgar Park. Students organised food to share with their friends, played game and caught up with their peers and teachers.

Thank you to Ms Sens for overseeing the organisation and running of this event.

Year 9 Transition to Senior School

Across their final three days as Middle School students, the Year 9 (soon to be Year 10s) participated in a range of workshops to equip them with skills to assist them in their transition to Senior School (and beyond). Students are now trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid, have learnt how to be a supportive peer, know the Senior School team, have started their preparations for Work Experience, learnt some basic and practical First Aid, and, have been able to further foster their connections to each other through workshops facilitated by our 2024 Student Leadership Team. We hope that these newly acquired skills will help you as your move forward on your journeys.

Middle Years Celebration Day

The students who attended the School for Student Leadership have led and organised their Community Learning Project as a Middle Years Celebration Day (mini-Koonung Day). Across periods 3, 4 and lunch, we were able to gather as a whole Middle Years cohort for the first time in a long time, and we were able to celebrate the successes of all Middle Years students, their growth and their learning across the year. Mr Kofoed, Ms Sens and Mr Dunn shared their final reflections on the year with their cohorts, and students were introduced to their 2024 Year Level Coordinators.

The day continued outside, with a sausage sizzle, bake sale, clothes swap, disco, mini games and a concert, organised by Ms Latham and the music team. The atmosphere of the event was highly positive and celebratory. Congratulations to all students for their efforts this year. And a HUGE thank you to Justin Bao, Matthew Kealy, Inara Leeuwenburgh, Tiana North, Poppy Taylor and Harry Veal for their organisation and coordination of the day.

Orientation Day

On Tuesday 12 December, we welcomed our 2024 Year 7 cohort to Koonung for their Orientation Day. It was a fun filled day, with students interacting with their future peers and teachers. The future Year 7s participated in some team building activities in PE, conducted an experiment in Science, created a collage in Art, entered the virtual space in Digital Technology and wrote a letter to their future self in English. A highlight of the day was definitely the music concert, where current Koonung students were able to demonstrate the skills they’ve learnt and acquired throughout their time in the music program.

The Year 9 peer mentors did an outstanding job in making the future Year 7s feel welcome, and will continue to build and foster these relationships in Positive Classrooms next year. Well done to all, and welcome to all new Koonung students!

Middle Years Team 

Geography excursion to Toolangi State Forest

Article from 7E students, Josephine Mander and Barsin Alinaghian  

This year for Year 7 Humanities, we are learning about Water in the World. For our Assessment Task, we went to Toolangi State Forest. Toolangi is a forest located in Victoria. Going to Toolangi was such an amazing experience and we got to learn about so many new things including bushfires, water in Toolangi, how some animals survive bushfires and we even learnt about different types of trees in Toolangi. On the day we received a booklet that we filled out on the way. we then used them to revise for our test. While we were in Toolangi we also learned about water, and we even experienced drinking the fresh water from the river. We toured two forests in Toolangi, learning about the fire hazards in each of them, what caused a fire and methods used to put them out. Toolangi was such a beautiful place and we got to experience so many fun activities and made so many memories with our friends.