Year Seven

English

It has been pleasing to see our Year Seven students display an increase in confidence and understanding when reading poetry. 

Students have been engaged in recognising different elements to unpack and analyse including the message or main idea, language choices made by the author, descriptive imagery, perspective, symbolism, and poetic devices.

Students were tasked with highlighting key words and phrases in the text as well as annotate the poem to show their questioning, clarification, connections, and information. This is shown in the image above.

From here, students have discussed their interpretations and reflected on other inferences presented from their peers. They also posed the question of 'What would happen if the author used different language choices for key words?' This was interesting to hear students experiment with the way language is used and how it impacts the reader.

This week, students have commenced the task of creating their own poetry to show their knowledge of ancient Australian lifestyle, culture, and values. 

Teachers have spent time conferencing with students to guide them in their learning and make improvements to their work. 

Food Technology 

During the first session of Food Technology, the Year Seven Gold group of students discussed the importance of hygiene and safety in the kitchen. They also received an introduction on accurately measuring both wet and dry ingredients. Following the theoretical portion of the session, the students had the opportunity to explore the Food Tech room, where they familiarised themselves with the functioning of a kitchen and learned about fire safety measures.

The students were thrilled when they discovered that they would be making muffins. With enthusiasm, they all successfully created delicious muffins, and some even shared their

 creations with their teachers and family members at home. The following week, the students practiced their measurement skills further by making doughnuts, which proved to be yet another popular dessert.

In the third session, the students were introduced to knife skills, including a discussion and demonstration of the claw and bridge method for using a knife. Afterwards, each student worked individually to prepare their vegetables for risotto. It was fantastic to see the students' positive attitude as some explored new foods for the first time.

Below is a selection of recipes that some year seven students prepared for the Minister’s visit last week.

Financial Literacy

Over the last month, Year Seven students delved into various professions, exploring their interests, hobbies, and the skills required for different career paths. They learned about the importance of education and training in pursuing their dream jobs. Our students gained invaluable insights into the diverse array of occupations available to them through interactive discussions and research tasks. Students explored the purposes of tax and how the progressive income tax system plays a vital role in supporting the infrastructure and public services we enjoy as a society. Case studies and worked examples allowed them to grasp the complexities of tax calculations and develop an understanding of how tax revenue impacts public services.

Moving forward, our Year Seven students explored the concept of borrowing money to purchase assets such as houses and cars, and the responsibilities that come with it. Students learned about interest rates, loan terms, and the importance of making informed financial decisions to avoid falling into debt traps. 

Here are some students’ work in progress from Financial Literacy so far from Term Two:

Emama Armaghan

Shako Masudi

Health and Physical Education

The Year Seven Students in Physical Education have started their invasion sports unit. We have looked at furthering our skills in Soccer, where students have worked on dribbling, passing and trapping the ball. This week students played round robin tournaments putting their skills into gameplay situations. For Health, Students have explored peer pressure and how it impacts our decision making. Students also looked at how we can build resilience when we are in challenging situations. Students also participated in Cross Country representing the school very well. We had a combination of Year Seven and Eight Students participating in the event. For Year Seven, Branson of 7F, Adhunya and Nimrat of 7A, all finished in the top 15 and will advance to the next round.

Robotics and Coding

Coding elective students have now covered all of the skills in the Python introductory course. They will now be applying these skills as they create a text based Adventure Game on a theme of their own choice.

Our robotics teams are finalising their robotic animals, portfolios and videos for the Spike Prime Challenge. This experience has allowed them to explore the new Spike Prime Lego robotics kits, and these students will be able to teach other students what they have learned.

Science

Year Seven Science Students have been focusing on Biological Sciences this term.

Students have been learning how “Classification of Living Things” helps organise the diverse group of organisms on our planet. 

They have learnt about our “Five Kingdom System” and discovered that “Cells” are the basic units of “Living Things” which have specialised structures and functions.

Students were introduced to 'The Microscope'. They learnt about all the parts of a Light Microscope and their functions. They viewed a variety of specimens in the laboratory and learnt how to calculate magnification. 

Species of the “Animal Kingdom” were investigated further where students were able to understand further that  classification was based on differences in their structural and physiological features. Our beautiful “Plant Kingdom” was also investigated further.

They have recently started to look at Ecosystems. Students will investigate how interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs.