9-12 Community News
It has been another busy few weeks for the 9-12 Community, with lots of curricular and extracurricular activities taking place.
For our Year 12s, the week began with their Retreat, a chance for the students to put aside their studies for a few days to allow them to reflect upon their lives to this point, and the experiences and journeys that lay ahead of them.
The purpose of a retreat is to afford students the time and space to stop and reflect on their lives so far, in addition to looking toward their future. Retreat activities were designed to open students to the spiritual dimension of their lives as well as fostering a sense of community and a heightened awareness of their own giftedness and that of others.
Using the metaphor of ‘Harvest’, the students progressed through a range of activities, from ‘preparing the soil’, ‘planting and watering the seeds’ and ‘keeping the pests out’ as a way to explore the ways in which they can navigate the challenges of life, and this year, as they nurture themselves and each other. The cohesion and support that the students showed towards each other was truly gratifying.
For some students in our community, the focus of the week turned to sport, as Years 9 and 10 students took to the courts for Inter-school badminton, with a number of successful teams. Yesterday, the House Swimming Carnival was a great success, with all those attending competing with spirit and energy. There were many outstanding individual and collective efforts on the day. Well done to all who competed and cheered and congratulations to Augustine House.
The week finished with valuable lessons and insights into the responsibilities of road safety for our Year 10 students as they attended The Road to Zero, a program that links to their Health curriculum. The incursion allowed students to have a hands-on experience and reflect on the road safety behaviours of 14-17 year-olds, which is a timely experience for our students as they ready themselves for the world of L-plates and driving.
Around the School
The Year 11 Biology class has been learning about how cells divide. This week, they explored the process of mitosis through dance. Check out our FaceBook page to see the video that so beautifully captures their enthusiasm for the activity! Thanks to Ms Challis for sharing this story with us.
Congratulations Ayden
Last week, Ayden Shepherd attended the Campaspe Cohuna LLEN Vet Awards Ceremony held in Moama.
Ayden was presented with an award that recognised his achievements and success as the award winner for the VET Animal Studies course that he studied.
Congratulations Ayden, we are so proud of your achievements.
Units 3 and 4 Outdoor Ed
The Unit 3 Outdoor Environmental Studies class participated in an excursion last week and engaged in discussion and conversations ‘on country’, with Aunty Hilda and Aunty Greta, about Yorta Yorta culture. They also visited the Port of Echuca to learn about what life was like for early European settlers. Students will take their findings and use these as examples in their SACs. They are looking forward to their canoe experience later this term. Thanks to Ms McIntosh and Kasey Cooper, for taking the students on this excursion.
VM Cafe - up and running!
VCE Vocational Major students have begun their learning in the Cafe. Students commenced practising their food preparation and cooking skills and are working on their barista skills. In the coming weeks, students will have the opportunity to further develop their skills when they participate in a short hospitality program.
Thank you to Tracy and Mrs Langley.
Food Studies
The Year 11 Food Studies students have been focusing on “Food Origins” and exploring the factors influencing the emergence of different food systems, food products and food practices around the world. Students have been learning about the development of early agricultural food systems, including those that enabled the cultivation of wild plants and the domestication of animals for farming. As part of their studies, Students were required to produce a recipe that reflected the cuisine of a particular region.
Reminders
The College policy on mobile phones - “Off and Away All Day”- is well understood by students. We congratulate the students on their continued positive approach to the expectations of the College on this matter. However, it is timely to provide a reminder to students and families about communications between the school and home. We ask parents to ensure that, if communication is required, that messages be directed through the Main Office. Similarly, if students need to contact parents, we ask that they approach their TA or other staff members and/or the Office staff to assist them in managing such situations.
Students are also looking impressive in their school uniforms, with most students wearing their uniform with pride.
However, at times, some students have struggled to comply with some requirements of our Uniform Policy. An aspect of uniform that we are finding some challenge is in compliance with our policy on school shoes and wearing a combination of academic and sports uniforms.
We seek the support of families in helping us reinforce the importance of all students wearing all parts of our uniform correctly. Students taking pride in the way they wear their uniform is an aspect of education that extends beyond the classroom. As a College community, our expectations of students are about enhancing their growth and development and together, the College and its community families, we can be so much more impactful in that space. We ask our families/caregivers to help us reinforce the importance of students wearing the required black, leather school shoes.
To help support students to wear their uniform correctly, we ask parents/guardians to familiarise themselves with students’ timetables, so that they can guide students in wearing their formal and/or sports uniforms on the correct days. Sports shorts being worn, instead of academic shorts, is another area for some of our students to address. Both the College Uniform (and Mobile Phone) policies can be found on SIMON if students, or parents, have any queries about these policies.
The link to our new uniform guide is also below for your reference.
Last week, an important VCE/VCAL/VET information session was provided to Year 11 and 12 students. A link to this information and presentation was provided to parents/guardians through an Operoo letter. We ask parents/guardians ensure that they access this letter and make themselves familiar with the relevant information, procedures and guidelines. If you have any questions relating to this information, please contact the College.
Finally, for our Year 9 students, a reminder that the NAPLAN tests will take place over the next two weeks, commencing with the Writing tests on Wednesday 15th March and continuing through the week, with Reading test on Thursday 16th, Conventions of Language on Friday 17th and concluding with the Numeracy test on Monday 20th.
Michelle Downie Brad Downie
9-12 Community Leader 9-12 Community Leader
Wellbeing Student Learning and Professional Practice
Year 12 Retreat Student Overview by Rose, Allanah and Indra
On the 5th of March, Year 12 students had the opportunity to take a break from our studies and retreat to Bendigo for two days. There we had the opportunity to bond as a cohort, contemplate our Year 12 experience and create memories that will stick with us for the rest of our lives.
On day one, following our arrival at Bendigo, we began our Retreat with some ice-breaker activities before we walked to the Holy Rosary Parish Centre nearby to begin our activities with its overall theme of, ‘Harvest’. These activities brought us closer together and were the highlight of our time in Bendigo. That night, we dressed up as a character or thing with the same first letter as our names and played trivia relating to our school and other pot luck areas.
The next morning we had an early start, eating breakfast, making our lunch and heading to Mass. We then went to the Botanic Gardens to reflect on our start to this year, the end, our lives and our friendships. We went on with this until our departure for home at 1.30pm.
This experience is something we will never forget and carry with us throughout Year 12 and the rest of our lives.
Year 9 TA
Our Year 9 TA time has started with a bang this year, with Mr Chapman, Ms Grieve, Mrs Lewis, Mr Thorpe and Mrs Moore as our fantastic TA’s. Check out the incredible displays!
During our Resilience Project lessons, students have been exploring the concept of Gratitude, and how they can be grateful people. One of our most recent lessons had students creating a visual representation of all the things in their lives that they are grateful for.
The Year 9s have also been lucky enough to engage with Mrs Baker and Jo in the library during the week. Students are starting their Reading Program next week; this involves the students engaging with the library services, choosing books that meet their personal interests and creating a Reading Journal, where they can track their reading progress. There were some fantastic books chosen, from the Spiderwick Chronicles, Wilder Country and even some great Autobiographies! Even the TAs have gotten in on the action as they read their own favourites like Schindler’s list, the Shining, Neil Crompton’s Autobiography, Tia-Clair Toomey’s Autobiography and The Deltora Quest Series.
We’re really excited to see what amazing stories the Year 9s dive into throughout the year, and a huge shoutout to Mrs Baker and Jo for all of their wonderful assistance and helping our students find books to suit their needs!
