Classroom Reports

Foundation

What a wonderful week we've had to kick off the new term! It's been full of excitement, fun activities, and plenty of learning. Here's a quick recap of all the special moments from our week:

Math Fun – Addition and Subtraction!

This week in Maths, we've started exploring the exciting world of addition and subtraction. We kicked things off with a fun game of Cupcake Addition where the children practiced their addition skills. We had a very special treat when Mr. Forrest came to visit! He shared some delicious cupcakes with the class, which was a big hit with everyone.

Pizza Making with Miss Douglas

Speaking of food, we were beyond excited when Miss Douglas took us to the new Food Technology room to make real pizzas. The children had a blast rolling the dough, adding toppings, and, of course, tasting their creations afterward. It's safe to say we have some budding chefs in the class!

Robot Bees and Directions with Ms. McLean

We also had our first experience with robotic bees thanks to Ms. McLean. The children learned how to give clear instructions (left, right, forward, back) to guide the Bee to its destination. It was such a fun way to practice directional language, and the kids were so focused. It's amazing how much they're already learning about problem-solving!

Cheers 

Mrs Tanya, Classroom Teacher

Year 1 & 2A

What We've Been Up To!

It’s been a busy and exciting time in our classroom!

Bee-Bot Adventures with Miss McLean

Students have been exploring coding and directional language using Bee-Bots with Miss McLean. They’ve loved programming the little robots to follow paths, solve simple mazes, and even go on treasure hunts! It’s been a great way to build problem-solving and teamwork skills while having lots of fun.

Pizza Making Fun with Miss Douglas

Over in the kitchen, Miss Douglas has been helping students become mini chefs! We rolled dough, chose toppings, and created our own delicious pizzas. It was a tasty way to practise following instructions, working together and learning about healthy food choices.

Maths Games Galore!

We’ve also been working through a range of new maths games in the classroom. These hands-on games are helping students practise number facts, place value and strategic thinking – all while building confidence and having a great time.

We’re so proud of all the learning (and laughing!) happening in our classroom

Miss Anderson, Classroom Teacher

Year 1 & 2B

Year 3/4A

🌟 Welcome Back to Term 3! 🌟

We hope you all had a restful and enjoyable break! Term 3 is already shaping up to be an exciting one, filled with new learning, fun challenges, and engaging activities. It was also wonderful to meet with families during our learning conversations, thank you for the positive interactions!

This term for literacy we’ll be focusing on novel study, narrative and poetry writing. For maths we are continuing to build our confidence with times tables, and as for inquiry, we are exploring biological sciences, studying living things!

We are looking forward to another fantastic term of growth, learning and success. Let’s make Term 3 the best one yet!

Mr Campbell, 3/4A Classroom Teacher

Year 5/6

We are looking forward to a fun-filled term 3 with learning, effort and working hard. This term Mrs Turnbull and Mrs McKenzie are sharing the classroom role. Mrs Turnbull will be teaching on Monday to Wednesday and Mrs McKenzie on Thursday to Friday.  A new weekly timetable has been sent home. 

Our reading expectations will be the same as last term. Students will need to bring their diary to school on a daily basis. Homework will be given on a weekly basis. Homework will focus on the content taught in class from the previous week, so students should be able to complete independently. 

In Inquiry, we are learning about Natural Disasters. We will address a lot of the content and knowledge in literacy, so then inquiry time can focus on the applying, creating and designing aspects of learning. 

Have a great week

Regards, 

Mrs Turnbull and Mrs McKenzie 

Year 8 

Year 8  STEM Project

Both Year 8 classes are starting an adventure into the world of STEM using Microbits and coding. Many worked with the programmable cars and enjoyed building with robotics kits.

Miss Milne, Mr Pettifer, Mr Merritt and Mr Braybrook, Homeroom Teachers.

Year 9 

Ava Rose Koringamadji camp: 

In the second week of the holidays, I had an amazing opportunity to go on an Indigenous camp to Albury/ Wodonga. The camp was about connecting to culture and learning different dances for a big Corroboree. On Monday morning, I made my way to Melbourne to catch the bus to the campsite. We stopped in Shepperton first, then at the Melbourne airport to pick up more kids. There were about 25 of us all together. Once we arrived, we unloaded all our bags, and the boys started setting up their swags while us girls went over to the hotel rooms in Albury. 

Once we got back, we had a smoking ceremony to cleanse ourselves and get rid of all our negative energy. We all introduced ourselves, then we collected gum tree leaves to start our dance circle. Throughout the week, we practiced our dances; we did about 6 or 7. All the dances were mainly about animals like emus, kangaroos and goannas. After every dance session and day out, we had a big dinner and a yarn around the fire. On Wednesday night, we had our big Corroboree, and we all got painted up with ochre, and we wore emu feather skirts and our emu feather headpieces we made the day before. After that, we had a massive feed, with basically every type of meat and heaps of other great food. On Thursday, we packed up all our stuff and then went for a big walk while we waited for the bus to arrive. I am so grateful for this opportunity and would love to thank Kerry for getting me involved. 

Image courtesy of the Koringamadji Instagram page. 

Miss Emily Van De Wetering and Mrs Sophia Piccoli, Homeroom Teachers.

Year 10

The days are getting longer and the warmer weather is on its way! While it might still be a bit cold and damp, there's sunshine on the horizon. After a well-earned rest, our year 10s have started term 3 well. It is a shorter term, only 9 weeks, and there's a lot on: 

*Reading Olympics (weeks 3-5)

*House athletics (week 3)

*Work experience (week 9)

*Australian Maths Competition (week 3)

* NCD Athletics (week 4)

*Jill Millie Public Speaking Competition (week 7) 

We encourage our year 10s to stay organised during this busy term and to remember our core value of resilience. Your homeroom teachers are available if you need any support. Please don't hesitate to get in touch. 

Mr Watson, Mrs Barker, Mr Iser

Year 10 Homeroom teachers 

Year 11

Welcome Back to Term 3!

Wow — what an incredible end to last term! The 160 Years of Education in Wedderburn celebrations were a huge success, and we’re incredibly grateful to now be learning in our brand-new spaces. You have to agree — the new outdoor areas look fantastic!

We hope everyone had a restful and refreshing break. It’s great to have our Year 11s back and ready for what’s shaping up to be another big and exciting term.

A huge congratulations to Tyson, Chanelle, Indi, and Dakota for completing their Kokoda Trek over the holidays. They showed incredible resilience, teamwork, and determination in some very challenging conditions — a fantastic achievement and something they should be extremely proud of.

This opportunity wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the Wedderburn/Korong Vale branch of the RSL, who sponsored these students through The Albert “Knocker” Hayes and the Norman “Digger” Letts Kokoda Scholarships. We sincerely thank them for their ongoing commitment to our students and community.

Thank you to all families who participated in our Learning Conversations to start the term. It was great to see students engaging with feedback and reflecting on how they can continue to grow and improve their learning this semester.

A big shoutout to the Year 11s who helped run the Activities in Steel Stadium on Wednesday during the Learning Conversations. Your support, energy, and leadership were greatly appreciated by staff and had a real impact on the younger students. You demonstrated our school values in action — well done!

A reminder that our Athletics Sports Day is coming up on Friday of Week 3. We expect all Year 11 students to be there and get involved. Whether you're competing, helping out, or cheering others on, it’s a fantastic opportunity to live out our school values of Respect, Responsibility, and Resilience.

And of course, don’t forget Mr Lockhart’s Three Things: Turn up, dress up, and participate!

Mr G’s Study Tip:"Start strong this term by organising your notes from last semester. Even just 10 minutes of review a few times a week can make future revision much easier!"

Looking forward to a fantastic Term 3 ahead!

Mr G and Mr Fowles

Mr Gretgrix and Mr Fowles, Year 11 Homeroom Teachers. 

Year 12 

Who can believe that we have hit Term 3 already?  And reality is that we now have twelve weeks of formal classes left.  Time has flown and some of the students might lose time reminiscing of the past when school was stress free, no SAC requirements to meet and the hardest decision was who to play with at lunchtime.

Now our students are preparing next steps.  Week 3 sees VTAC applications being done and preferences being made for which university they would like to attend.  Some are busy applying for scholarships to make life a bit easier post-secondary and others are working on resumes and searching for apprenticeships. 

Students will be working on their Career Action Plans over the next fortnight to make sure they are locking in their pathway – remembering though that they can change this at any time.

This week in Huddle, we had a visit from Haylee and Asher from Headspace, so it’s a good time to discuss wellbeing.

STUDENT WELLBEING:

Students are reminded to be aware of their own wellbeing and ensure they are taking breaks, eating well and exercising. Stress can affect health-related behaviours like sleep patterns, diet, and exercise as well, taking a larger toll. Common causes of stress for students includes school, homework, online learning, friendships, relationships and work commitments. 

Many students feel a sense of needing to relieve stress, but with all the activities and responsibilities that fill a student’s schedule, it’s sometimes difficult to find the time to try new stress relievers to help dissipate that stress. These options are relatively easy, quick, and relevant to a student’s life and types of stress.

• Get enough sleep

Students, with their packed schedules, are notorious for missing sleep. Unfortunately, operating in a sleep-deprived state puts you at a distinct disadvantage. You’re less productive, you may find it more difficult to learn, and you may even be a hazard behind the wheel.

Don't neglect your sleep schedule. Aim to get at least 8 hours a night and take power naps when you need them.

• Practice Visualisation 

Using guided imagery to reduce stress is easy and effective. Visualisations can help you calm down, detach from what’s stressing you, and turn off your body’s stress response. You can also use visualizations to prepare for presentations and score higher on tests by vividly seeing yourself performing just as you’d like to.

• Exercise Regularly

One of the healthiest ways to blow off steam is to get regular exercise. Students can work exercise into their schedules by doing yoga in the morning, walking or biking riding, or reviewing for tests with a friend (online!) while walking. Starting now and keeping a regular exercise practice throughout your lifetime can help you live longer and enjoy your life more.

• Take Calming Breaths 

When your body is experiencing a stress response, you’re often not thinking as clearly as you could be. A quick way to calm down is to practice breathing exercises. These can be done virtually anywhere to relieve stress in minutes and are especially effective for reducing anxiety before or even during tests, as well as during other times when stress feels overwhelming. 

• Listen to Music

A convenient stress reliever that has also shown many cognitive benefits, music can help you to relieve stress and either calm yourself down or stimulate your mind as your situation warrants. Students can harness the benefits of music by playing classical music while studying, playing upbeat music to "wake up" mentally, or relaxing with the help of their favourite slow melodies.

• Get Organised

Clutter can cause stress, decrease productivity, and even cost you money. Many students live in a cluttered place, and this can have negative effects on grades. One way to reduce the amount of stress that you experience is to keep a minimalist, soothing study area that’s free of distractions and clutter.

This can help lower stress levels, save time in finding lost items, and keep relationships at home more positive. It can also help students gain a positive feeling about their study area, which helps with test prep and encourages more studying. It’s worth the effort.

• Eat Healthy

You may not realise it, but your diet can either boost your brainpower or sap you of mental energy. A healthy diet can function as both a stress management technique and a study aid. Improving your diet can keep you from experiencing food-related mood swings, light-headedness, and more.

• Use Positive thinking and Affirmations 

Did you know that optimists experience better circumstances, in part, because their way of thinking helps to create better circumstances in their lives? It’s true! The habit of optimism and positive thinking can bring better health, better relationships, and, yes, better grades.

Learn how to train your brain for more positive self-talk and a brighter future with affirmations and other tools for optimism. You can also learn the limitations to affirmations and the caveats of positive thinking, so you aren't working against yourself.

Mrs Woodman, Mrs Postle, Homeroom Teachers 

PE News

Welcome back! 

This term, we are very lucky to welcome Mr McCallum to the PE team. We have a busy start to the term with our House Athletics sports. Please check the sports noticeboard in the breezeway to sign up for the 1500m and 800m races. Where possible the Javelin will be completed during PE classes (VCE students, you will need to sign up for the Javelin). We may also look at getting some shot put completed prior to the day with some large age groups, so please keep an eye out on the noticeboard. For more information, please check compass.

Upcoming Sport Dates:

• 5th of August (Tuesday): House Athletics
• 14th of August (Thursday): Calder Athletics
• 15th of August (Friday): NCD Athletics
• 19th of September (Friday): Footy (any sport) Colours Day 

Miss Milne and Mr Pettifer, PE Coordinators

Literacy News

Reading at home 

This document is designed to help you to deepen your child's reading comprehension when they read at home. It contains questions you can ask to check how much was understood of what was read. It is based on some key, evidence-based comprehension strategies. 

Sometimes, young people can sound out all the words on a page but they are not taking in what they are reading. Sometimes their minds drift while they're saying the words. 

You could ask these questions after they read, or while you're reading with them, or ask the question before they read and then return to answer it when they're finished.  If they're unable to answer the questions, there will be be an evening session with strategies later this term (with dinner provided!) 

If you'd like to know more, please feel free to get in touch with Mr Iser.