Middle School Report

Message from the AP - Middle School

It has been a busy time in the Middle School for our students and staff. Students are currently working through their CATs and working towards the goals of their year level. Our Year 7s are now connected and confident members of our College community, our Year 8 students are engaging in a range of learning opportunities and extracurricular activities, and Year 9s are demonstrating their unique leadership skills by planning for their future pathways and careers.

We were very proud to be able to send some of our most innovative students to the recent Big Ideas Challenge at Strathcona Girls Grammar in Hawthorn, and the La Trobe Uni and Whittlesea Tech School’s Sustainability Challenge. Our students had to work together to create solutions and products to address the real world challenges of environmental sustainability.

Congratulations to the following students for representing our College in these challenges and for your achievements during the events.

Big Ideas Challenge

• Kristian 8B
• Shaela 7C
• Lavanya 7G
• Stefan 8G
• Petar 8G
• Owen 8B
• Sedra 7B
• Moin 8B
• Anhad 7C

La Trobe Uni Sustainability & Whittlesea Tech School’s Sustainability Challenge

• Lily 9C
• Sara 9A
• Christian 9A
• Muhammad 9I

Now that Semester 2 is well and truly underway, it is important that our students are prepared to perform in their upcoming CATs. The best way for students to perform well in their CATs is to ensure the following:

• They are attending classes
• They attend class with the resources they need - e.g. workbook, pencil case and device
• They know what CATs they have coming up and when they are due

A list of CATs for all Middle School students has recently been posted on Compass for families to see and use to support their child in preparing for them.

Attendance and Late to School

If you have or do receive a letter, email or notification about your child’s attendance can you please log into Compass to provide an explanation as to why your child was absent. Attendance documentation is important for schools but also for students. When it comes to applying for tertiary institutions like Universities or School Based Apprenticeships, attendance matters and if absences are explained it shows that there are legitimate reasons for absences.

When students arrive late to school, they enter the classroom missing the explicit teaching of new content that has just happened. This means they are behind in their learning. Students who are frequently late in the mornings, are more likely to fall behind and can struggle to catch up. They are also more likely to be late to several classes a day. If you receive a notification that your child was late to school, we encourage you to work with your child to set up a morning routine that helps them to arrive at school on time, before 8:45am.

Samantha Smith

Acting Assistant Principal - Middle School

Year 8 Spotlight

Term 3 has been an exciting term for Year 8s, with students completing a range of learning activities in their core subjects. From exploring how energy is transferred in the world around them in Science, to completing film analysis in English, and applying their measurement skills to building tasks in Mathematics, our students have certainly been busy!

House Points

The following students are currently leading the Year 8 house points. House points are given by staff members as a way to recognise the positive behaviour and/or influence students have on others by reflecting the school values. 

• Aarin A
• Rayyan H
• Leo R
• Ahmad A
• Jordan R

Congratulations to these students for being recognised for showing the school values every week! Keep up the great work!

Attendance

Everyday at school counts and helps with learning, building confidence, creating strong friendships and a sense of connectedness with the school community. 

Congratulations to the following students who had 100% attendance for Semester 1, this is an amazing achievement. These students went in the draw to win an iPad at the final Year 8 assembly of Term 2, with Rayyan H being the lucky winner. 

• Hadiya S
• Rayyan H
• Ethan S
• Arjit C

Activities

We have been lucky to be able to organise some excursions and incursions for the cohort, including a guest speaker to visit the Year 8’s. On Friday May 17th, we had Susan McClean come and present information about an individual's “digital thumbprint” when using apps (Snapchat, Instagram etc) and how to manage their content safely. Over 150 students attended the Term 2 excursion to Ice HQ in June. It was really fantastic to see so many students learning a new skill throughout the day.

50 Year 8 students were selected by their teachers for their consistent demonstration of the college values “Embrace Learning” and “Inspire Others” to participate in an Elevate Workshop on July 29th. The workshop presented to our students focused on study skills and feedback skills to enable our students to maximise their full potential in their school work outside of the classroom. 

The Year 8 students will have the opportunity to start selecting their subjects. In 2025 as Year 9s, students will do electives that they have selected. We are lucky at ECSC to have such a wide range of subject selections on offer.  

A big congratulations is due for the Year 8 boys soccer team that played in the regional round of the interschool sports in Term 3. All students played very well, showing the school value of ‘Respect All’.