Secondary School

Message from the Head of Secondary

Farewell Year 12, one week to go!

Our year 12 students are currently experiencing the realisation that the secondary schooling chapter of their lives is rapidly drawing to a close. The return of trial examinations, the preparation of assemblies and the Valedictory dinner bring with them a sense of sorrow, as well as the first sigh of relief for many parents!

With this realisation comes movement from Year 12 students out of the common room. Students "cut laps" around the school, return to the oval and basketball courts to reminisce about their earlier school days, which for many will be filled with great "remember when..." moments. For four students of this cohort, it is the culmination of thirteen years at our school. A great achievement! We look forward to hearing their reflections at our assembly on Friday.

With the impending final exams looming ever closer, our students may feel the pressure and require support to get them through this time. We do have many staff to turn to if this is the case and suggest if your young adult is having any issues, that you make contact with Year 12 Coordinator, Ms Duncan.

We would like to wish all of our year 12 students the best of luck for their final examinations and remind them that over the coming weeks they should be using their teachers to ensure no stone is unturned in preparing for the final examinations.

I would also like to thank the staff that have worked tirelessly to provide these students with the opportunity to achieve their best on the HSC. We extend an invite to our school community to celebrate our year Twelve students as we send them off at our assembly at the Under-Cover Area next Friday at 11:00 a.m.

Leadership

With the exiting of one group of students, opportunity for the next begins. We would like to thank our 2023 leaders for all their work over the last twelve months and congratulate our newly appointed leaders for 2024:

School Captains

Isabelle Barber and Ella Bowler

Vice Captains

Lucas Jettner and Riley Main

SRC

Breanna McLeish and Mikayla Johnson

Cocurricular Sports Captains

Kody Kendrick and Kiarra Egan

Cocurricular Academic

Penny Cowin and Tahlia McMaster

Cocurricular Arts

Kithmini Kumarasinghe

We will be having a service early next term to complete the leadership handover.

Greg Cadd

Head of Secondary

Tri Series Cup

On Monday, the staff and Year 12 students competed in game 3 of the Tri-Series Cup, featuring the sport of Netball. With the series tied at one win apiece, this game held significant importance as the victorious team would earn the coveted title of Tri-Series Cup champions for 2023.

The match commenced with a frenetic pace, with many turnovers occurring. Despite this, the staff managed to regain their composure and struck first by scoring. After a brief period, the Year 12's netted their first goal, prompting cheers from the crowd. This moment proved to be a turning point, boosting the confidence of the Year 12's, who then scored three consecutive goals. Unfortunately, their efforts fell short, as the staff emerged victorious by a comfortable margin.

Congratulations to the staff, who have earned the title of Tri-Series Cup Champions for 2023. We eagerly anticipate the challenge from our next contenders in 2024.

Year 8

Year 8 Cross Curriculum Activity

As Amy Winehouse said “Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.” This term, in Music and English, our year 8 students have been exploring storytelling through the composition of Blues songs lyrics related to themes from 'The Outsiders'. The overarching themes of stereotyping, identity, violence and friendship relate strongly to many Blues classics. Students will perform their songs in Music towards the end of term showcasing their unique voices.

Invisible connections

(Golden Sunset with Cherry Valance- Human connection- Red thread of fate)

Verse-

We saw the very sunsets that nobody thought was the same

They thought it was theirs to claim

Chorus-Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different

The two worlds we lived in they weren’t so different

Why is this damn world so indifferent

Verse-Two different lives on a single earth

Two different lives on a single earth

How do I prove to her what I’m worth

Verse-Sunsets I saw from my back step and her patio were the same

Sunsets I saw from my back step and her patio were the same

Too bad our lives are so blocked with shame

Chorus-Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different

Maybe the two worlds we lived in weren’t so different

Why is this damn world so indifferent

Verse-Is there even a string to connect us together

Even a single string to connect us together

But still I’ll think of you always, always forever

Evie Bassett

Year 8 Community Service Program

Participating in Community Service activities has been a very popular choice amongst our Year 8 students as part of their elective program. The students have demonstrated that they are keen to give back to the community, and it's been great to see them purposefully engaged in enriching the lives of others.

During the two-week rolling program, we have had students assisting in our primary school classes, in the library and with the maintenance team. Outside of the school we have had students volunteering at Southern Cross Aged Care and the Echuca Specialist School.

We've received very positive feedback from the organisations we've been assisting. With such enthusiasm for the program, we look forward to it's ongoing development and reaping the rewards of it's positive impacts for all involved!

Year 9

PASS Report

The last two weeks have seen our Year 9 PASS classes embark on their journey to Gunbower. The students were up bright and early, gathering at school to pack the trailer with all the supplies they'd need for their three day journey. Over the past two terms, our students have been diligently honing their bike riding skills which played a pivotal role in the journey.

The first leg of their journey involved a challenging 70km bike ride along the Murray River, leading them to the Gunbower racecourse. Along the way, our students made multiple stops, with a picturesque lunch break at the Torrumbarry weir. Upon reaching the racecourse, they faced the task of setting up their tents for the next two nights. With an hour of free time before dinner, students were spoiled for choice: some went fishing, others enjoyed a game of footy, while a few simply relaxed around the campfire. Each group demonstrated their independence by planning and shopping for their own dinner menus. Popular choices included BBQ meats and pasta dishes. The evening was filled with campfire games and endless laughter.

Day two commenced with a 7am wake up call, and it was no surprise that bacon and eggs were the preferred breakfast options to fuel our students for the day's adventures. Canoes were launched on the Gunbower Creek, just a short walk from our base camp. To pass the time, our students engaged in a lively game of tag and tackled some brain teasers while navigating their canoes. Soon, they reached their lunch spot, approximately 7km downstream. After an hour break, students resumed their journey on the creek. After another 7km of canoeing, they returned to the launch point for a quick break. Students then resumed their canoeing traveling 2km in the opposite direction, arriving in the township of Gunbower. They paddled back to the launch point, completing an impressive 18km+ of canoeing. There was a great deal of wildlife to observe on the creek but unfortunately, we didn’t spot the famous Gunbower Creek platypus. Back at camp, students engaged in ball sports and a game of forty forty home base. Once again, they showcased their culinary talents by preparing delicious meals before diving into more campfire games.

With an early start required for their final day, our students were soon tucked into their sleeping bags. The breakfast menu once more featured the beloved bacon and eggs. After packing up their tents and tidying up the campgrounds, our students hopped back on their bikes, ready to tackle the long journey back to school. An alternate route was chosen for the return trip, completing their adventure with a challenging 53km ride back to school. Our students felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment after conquering one of their most demanding challenges to date. However, their journey wasn't quite finished, as they eagerly took on the essential task of packing up the equipment and ensuring the bikes were cleaned and ready for the next adventure.

Congratulations to all the students who completed this journey. We hope you found it to be an enriching and enjoyable experience, one that you will cherish and remember fondly. We'd also like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Townrow, Ms. Garden, Mr. Hall, Ms. Thompson, and Dylan for their dedication and support throughout this trip.

Leah Thompson

Head of PDHPE

Year 9 Forensic Science

Mrs Carmody's Year 9 Forensic Science students analysing the effect of launch angle on a projectile's trajectory.

Year 10

Year 10 Science

Yr10 Science students taking the opportunity to take part in a lunchtime extension prac. They carried out a series of DNA tests, using micropipetting and gel electrophoresis, to determine the genetics of a litter of 8 labradoodle pups, and then the paternity of the pups.

Geography Excursion

This term Year 10 students have been studying Environmental Change and Management in Geography and last Monday they participated in an excursion and fieldwork to learn about the Millewa Forrest and Barmah Wetlands. The Millewa Forrest is the largest Red River Gum forest in the world, is a RAMSAR protected site and is situated on our doorstep, so it made perfect sense to team up with NSW Parks and Wildlife to spend a day in the field learning about the forest.

Students spent time at the Reed Beds Bird Hide where they learnt about the importance of the tracking and observation of birds in the area and were exposed to a variety of methods, from recording sounds to using drones to observe and track birds. At Picnic Point they learnt more about water management and tracking of fish and the use of electrofishing to help understand fish migration patterns and the impact of water flows on the biodiversity of fish. At the Gulpa Creek Regulator they learnt about how regulators are now being used to help protect fish and not leave them stranded in rivers when regulators are closed. Then back to the Reed Bed Bird Hide for practical applications of water testing and conducting some other geographical observations and recordings.

The excursion was a good success and gave the students some hands on learning on which to base their current assessment task. Thank you to Brady Cronin from NSW Park and Wildlife for giving up his time to share his wealth of knowledge with us and Mrs Harley and Mr Webb for joining me in taking the students on the excursion.

Mrs McFadden