Classroom Reports

Foundation and Year 1

Hi there. 

I hope everyone is finding their 'Remote Learning Packages' easy to implement. 

The work set for Literacy is revision-type activities that children are very familiar with. If they have an older sibling at home, they could write out the 'Tricky' words on card size paper and play Snap, Memory or Fish. 

In Numeracy, the sheets on 'Mental Maths' for the Grade One students is a great warm up activity to the other tasks set.  So too is sitting by the fire, engrossed in their 'Readers' and 'Letters and Sounds Book'. 

If you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon. 

In the Foundation classroom on Thursday 27th of May Mrs Tanya and Ms Herrington worked together to closely observe the students in working collaboratively.

Looking at key components of collaboration at the Foundation level:

• demonstrating how to listen to others, showing interest and support
• sharing equipment or practicing taking turns in a game
• demonstrating attentiveness to others by asking further questions in discussion
• describing a range of interactions such as who, what, why and how did it make them feel
• reflecting on how it feels when someone does not share equipment or play spaces
• practising the language used to describe positive emotions experienced
• recognising negative emotions resulting from conflict

Mrs Tanya Chalmers, Teacher

Year 1/2

Our investigations have continued into what dinosaurs may have been like and how scientists know this. So fascinating! The students are much better at pronouncing their difficult names than I am! Last week we thought about what features different dinosaurs had and made models of our own. Did you know fossils of dinosaurs have shown evidence of feathers? 

In maths we have worked on different strategies to help us with subtraction.

Our reading is becoming very fluent as we become more aware of how we change our voice according to the punctuation.

We hope everyone is coping OK with the current lockdown. Your child will have brought home reading books and some writing ideas, also some maths games and number tasks. Please use these as you see fit, it is not intended for your child to do all activities. It is ideal if they do some reading, writing and number work each day but it really depends on what works for your family. You do not need to follow the times of the school day.

Perhaps I will get some great dinosaur stories?!

Stay safe.

Mrs Deirdre McKenzie, Teacher

Year 3/4

Well, LOCKDOWN has hit us again… 

Thanks to all the staff, students and families for taking the learning at home in their stride, especially our students who are working hard to keep up with their English (Reading & Writing) and Maths skills. Keep reading every day to show you are on working well toward our special pancake surprise at the end of term.

We came close to finishing our class text Wolf Girl before the lockdown began. Ensure you retell the story to your family at home and predict what you think might happen in the last 3 chapters of the story. 

Think about the Maths topics we learned over the last couple of weeks (Symmetry, Angles, Transformation – Slide/Flip/Turn). See what items you can find around your house and teach it to a family member.

Enjoy your time away from school so that you can return feeling refreshed!

Ms Jessica Higgins, Teacher

Year 8 Art

Year 8 Art are currently studying portraiture. They will complete multiple portrait studies before beginning their final portrait of a Wedderburn College staff member. The students are very excited about developing a painting style and representing a staff member at the college. The portraits will go on display at the Wedderburn Art Show at the end of the year. 

Ms Herrington

Year 9 Humanities Excursion

On May 21st, Year 9 Humanities students along with Elaine Soane and myself went on an excursion to Boort as part of their studies of Biomes, Sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Culture. Students were able to witness other biomes in the Loddon Shire such as the 83-hectare wetland at Lake Yando. We also saw a variety of crops being grown on farms in the area such as corn and irrigated crops. Local historian, Paul Haw, took us on a tour of his property and showed us the “Keeping Place" which is a special room housing significant Aboriginal artefacts of the Dja Dja Wurrung language group such as stone tools like the Yam Stick Sharpener. He also showed us the many indigenous plants he is growing on his property for food consumption, and we were lucky enough to try some. Paul showed us some significant Aboriginal history on his property including remains of cooking mounds and a burial site where remains of Indigenous persons have been buried. We also visited Little Lake Boort and saw scar trees.

Ms Steptoe

Humanities Teacher

Year 11 Food Studies

Last Wednesday as part of the work for Outcome 2 in Food Studies, we were lucky enough to have our KESO, Simon Briggs, take us foraging in the bush just behind the school. Bush Tucker is such an important part of the foundation of our food structure in Australia and it is important to keep connection to this vital source.

We didn’t have to walk far before Simon found our first seed/berry to taste.  It was on a ground cover as we walked up the stairs near the big shed.  Who would have thought a food supply was so close?

Even though it proved the wrong time of the year for a lot of foods, we still found some worth trying and we realised how dependent we are in our own diets on added flavours and sugars.  It was refreshing to get back to natural tastes and smells.

Simon brought with him some wonderful cloaks made from possum fur and a couple of us were reluctant to take them off because of the chilly morning.  He also had Lemon Myrtle leaves and Lily Pily fruit for us to try. The Lemon Myrtle numbed our mouths and Simon explained this would be used to numb a sore tooth or soothe a sore throat.  We later made Lemon Myrtle tea by boiling the leaves.  The result was very refreshing.

Thank you, Simon, for this very valuable experience and we look forward to doing it again later in the year when there will be more to find.

Mrs Woodman

Year 11 Food Studies Teacher

Year 11 Business Studies 

Due to the current Covid restrictions in place in Victoria, a decision has been made to postpone E&C’s Pop-Up-Shop until Term 3 (date to be confirmed). Please note: A new date regarding the final day orders will be accepted is still to be confirmed. In the meantime, order forms and money can be returned in an envelope to the front office when school reopens.

E&C’s Pop-Up-Shop is a short-term business activity being organised by Year 11 Business Management students. It is a fundraising initiative and all profits from the day will be donated to the Parents Association. The theme of the day will be

“D is for Doughnut Day”. Items available to purchase are Krispy Kreme doughnuts (both individually and by the dozen), toasted sandwiches, jelly, hot chocolates and coffee. Krispy Kreme doughnuts and toasted sandwiches will need to be pre-ordered but jelly, hot chocolates and coffee can be bought on the day. Coffee can only be sold to high school students and staff. 

* Pre-ordered boxes of doughnuts can be collected at the end of the day.

Ms Steptoe

Business Management Teacher

VCAL & VCE

This week has seen us return to remote learning and online WebEx classes for our senior students. We have our fingers and toes crossed that this lockdown is short and sweet, with us all returning to school in readiness for Week 8. 

Whilst working and studying from home, it is so important that we look after our health and wellbeing. Things that you can do to support yourself are:

• Make sure your workspace is free from clutter, has a comfortable chair and good lighting
• Take regular breaks from the screen, making sure to stretch your legs and have a short rest each hour
• Drink and eat well!  Keeping hydrated and well-nourished helps our minds and bodies perform at their best.  Choose healthy snacks to ensure you can keep working when you need to and don’t suffer from ‘sugar-crashes’.
• Exercise daily. Get out for that walk, kick the footy, do some yoga.
• Reward yourself; celebrate your successes and treat yourself when you achieve your goals through the day. Some ideas might include running a bath, paint your nails, bake a cake, play a video game (for a designated amount of time)

Year 11 Exams:

At this stage, our Year 11 exams will still take place next week for all VCE Year 11 students. All exams will take place in Room 21. Students are to wear full school uniform, bring only the equipment required for each exam (no pencil cases please, just pens, highlighters, pencils etc) and a drink of water. 

Please Note: 

Students not undertaking the GAT on Wednesday the 9 June are permitted to study from home with their parent or guardian’s permission. Please call the front office and inform them of this decision to make sure your absence from school is accounted for. 

General Achievement Test:

The GAT will take place on Wednesday 9 June at the Wedderburn Trotting Pavilion. Students are required to arrive at school no later than 9.30am for a 10am examination start. The exam will run until 1.15pm. 

Students and the general public are asked to be mindful of noise and potential disruptions to students during these times. 

All students undertaking the GAT met with Mrs Woodman and Mrs Barker through WebEx this week to discuss the VCAA procedures and rules. It is important that these rules are adhered to at all times. 

Students may take an English and/or bilingual printed dictionary into the GAT, but not a thesaurus or a combined thesaurus–dictionary. Electronic dictionaries and calculators are not permitted.

Students will also need pens, pencils and an eraser to complete the GAT. They must use either a blue or black pen to complete the two writing tasks and a pencil for the multiple‑choice answer page.

No special study is required for the GAT. The general knowledge and skills that are tested are those students have built up through their previous study in English, mathematics, science and social sciences. Each question provides all the information needed to work out the right answer.

Debutante Ball:

Due to our current lockdown we were unfortunately unable to celebrate the much-anticipated Debutante Ball with our Year 11 students, their families and friends last Friday evening. As devastating as it is to postpone, we must protect the health and wellbeing of our community alongside following government lockdown rules ad procedures. 

We look forward to re scheduling and celebrating with you all in the future 

Mrs. Lauren Barker and Mrs. Carol Woodman

VCE & VCAL Coordinators 

Math's Pathway

Congratulations to this fortnights Maths Pathway champions. 

Just a reminder that students achieving 100% growth rate each cycle is equivalent to one year’s growth achieved in the Mathematics curriculum. 

We are beginning to have more students reach the 25 module completion mark, which is fabulous to see. There are also a couple approaching the 50 module mark. Well done to all students who are working hard to reach these milestones. Keep it up! Certificates will be handed out at the next whole school assembly.

World of Maths

On Tuesday the 25th of May, we had our World of Maths incursion. The incursion involved students working together to solve a variety of hands on Maths problems. 

It was pleasing to see students working so well together within their mixed year level teams, hearing laughter and students sharing their theories behind how to solve problems.

Thank you to Karina for all the wonderful activities. 

Miss Emma Milne 

Maths Teacher

Compass

Don't wait for the end of semester to view your child's progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child's Learning Tasks. Children also received regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on you child's profile page.