Year 8 News

Term 1 has seemingly flown by, and since the last newsletter, Year 8's have participated in inter-school sports, athletics day and completed their Term 1 assessments.

The Year 8 team wishes a happy, restful holidays to the Year 8 Learning Community.

Student Leader Update

A few weeks ago, the Year 8 Representatives for the Student Representative Council underwent an interview process to be successfully appointed as the Year 8 Student Leaders. Prospective students had to complete an application, outlining why they should be a student leader and what ideas they had for our school. They then underwent an interview process with Miss Lewis, which lead to the following students being successful:

William Bailey
Keegan Emery
Jasper Seers
Oaklee McKay

The role of SRC is to assists in student agency, improved student learning and results, and happier and safer schools. Students involved in SRC/Student Leadership bring about change, be involved regarding decisions for our school, build relationships and community support and respond to student concerns and needs.

SRC responsibilities may also include; writing pieces for the newsletter/end of year celebrations, assisting with assemblies, attending school events and organising year level celebrations and events.

We are also considering taking on more student leaders to support as our cohort grows. This will occur in Term 2 or Semester 2 as needed.

Around the Classrooms

This week, students are busy completing end of term Common Assessment Tasks (CATs). The purpose of CATs is to consolidate knowledge and skills learnt over the term. At times, CAT weeks can be fatiguing and overwhelming, but the Year 8 cohort has shown great resilience in this.

“My favorite class is PE because it is fun and Mr Isacs is a good teacher.” - Jie Armstrong

“My favorite class right now is PE because it is good for your health to be active. We are doing PE, learning how to hit the ball and get it over the net as well as how to play in a team.” - Kiara Antrim

“I am really enjoying R&R (Resilience and Relationships) at the moment because it is a good way to start our mornings, and I enjoy being able to do some mindfulness colouring.” – Oaklee Mckay

“Culture is my favorite class right now because we are learning about different cultures and Ms Lynch is chill.” – Tyleisha Dunstan-Hoye

“In Visual Communication, we are currently drawing our own fantasy worlds and characters.” - Eztha Zerafa.

Year 8 Camp

Camp planning is still underway. In 2025, year 8 students will be embarking on a camp that is new to the college, Phillip Island Adventure Resort between the 28th-30th of July. Whilst we have elected to run a three-day camp in response to the ever-rising cost of living, it is looking like it will be jam packed with fun activities both at the camp and at the island on arrival and departure.

We are also looking at supplementing the year with additional free or low-cost excursions/incursions to ensure every student has an opportunity to connect with their peers and teachers in a fun, engaging and important way. Keep an eye out on compass for more information and consent early into term 2.

KPAs

As in previous years, we will be continuing the use of Kurnai Positive Acknowledgements (KPA’s), and Year 8 has well and truly smashed their KPA goals this term.

This this is how each form tracked for Term 1:

8A: 1446

8B: 1147

8C: 477

8D: 1041

These students also received the highest amount of KPAs in Term 1:

Ilomusa CHIRAU – 100
Jun Wei TAN – 90
Jaxon BULL – 85
Blake RUSSELL – 80
Lachlan LINDSAY - 80

This is a testament to their continued positive behaviors and encouraging influence on the cohort. These students will be invited to a celebratory lunch in the last week of term.

Contact Details

If you have any concerns regarding Year 8 students, please don’t hesitate to phone me on 51323700 or email at sarah.lewis@education.vic.gov.au

Sarah Lewis

Year 8 Team Leader