Junior School News
Year 7 Term 2 Recap
During Term 2, the focus for our Year 7 student group was on giving students an opportunity to explore some of the different programs our school has to offer. It was really fantastic to see students participating in many different activities at our College.
We saw students participate in interschool sporting teams, EXCEL Sport Carrum Coast Guard Fun Run, Chelsea Rotary Art Show, performances by the Junior school band, rehearsal for the upcoming performance of Arabian Nights, student led assemblies and class activities. We also saw our students begin to really embrace their learning. As for our focus in Learning for Me, we continued to explore the topic of wellbeing. We finished up the term with each class having their own ‘Peer Support’ group consisting of leaders from Year 10 who joined their classes to facilitate teambuilding activities with the students. The Year 7s truly enjoyed this opportunity to connect with their older peers and were able to gain valuable strategies and insights towards navigating high school with their form group. It was fantastic to see so many parents, carers and friends of the College come down to view our Year 7 College Value Awards ceremonies as well. Well done to every award recipient, it truly is a reflection of your hard work and efforts so far in the year.
On behalf of the Year 7 Coordination team, we would like to thank each Year 7 student for a fantastic first Semester at the College and wish them all a well earned restful and relaxing break over the holidays.
At this point in their school year, let’s hear from some of our student leaders about how they feel they have developed since the beginning of Year 7:
So far my time at Patterson River Secondary College has been a blast! I’ve made so many friends and learnt lots of new things. Can you believe we get to learn about 3D printing!? So far at Patterson River I have been involved in so many things, such as: dance extension, Arabian Nights (the schools production) and of course, being a Year 7 leader. This Semester has been so fun, and I hope next Semester is as exciting as this one was.
- Jack H, 7H
The highlights for me this Semester has been doing activities that I’ve not yet experienced before, for example, I really enjoyed participating in the band and I’m currently learning the clarinet. This has been a really enjoyable experience since I didn’t get the opportunity to learn an instrument at primary school. I’ve also really enjoyed playing netball and volleyball for Year 7 sport and also playing netball at interschool sports in week 11. Plus I also had the great opportunity to create an art piece and entered it into the Chelsea Rotary Art show.
- Ruby R, 7I
Over the past year we, as a collective Year 7 group, have all grown as people and persisted through the changes that come when moving into a new school. I personally have grown to be able to accomplish more work, I have been able to accomplish this through my commitment to the EXCEL academic program. This program has allowed me to work to the best standard and efficiency in many different subjects and classes. Playing an instrument has definitely been one of the biggest highlights to my first Semester at Patterson River Secondary College. This opportunity has allowed me to perform my instrument of choice (saxophone) in front of lots of people and also gain a better understanding of music and how it is made.
- Ted C, 7E
Year 9 Learning For Life Term 2 Reflection
Term 2 in Learning for Life has been filled with academic opportunities in Health, English and Humanities and Year 9 Experiences to the Shrine and Holocaust Museum. Our Year 9 students have shown outstanding dedication and commitment to their studies. They have tackled challenging subjects with determination and curiosity, consistently striving for excellence.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this term has been witnessing the personal growth of our Year 9 students. They have developed resilience, set high expectations and worked towards achieving excellence through Goal Setting. Students are working towards developing a greater sense of responsibility. Through class work, collaborative tasks and individual assessment tasks, students have learned the value of community and persistence. The term's challenges have been met with a positive attitude, turning obstacles into opportunities for learning and improvement. At the end of this term, Year 9’s welcomed their parents and carers into the Year 9 Centre, to view student work on the Holocaust. Students will shared their acquired knowledge through the creation of an authentic stall of their choice, based on an aspect of the Holocaust, along with developing questions for parents and carers to ask them.
As we look forward to Term 3, we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. We encourage our Year 9 students to engage in the course counselling process for Year 10. As students explore future pathways, they will be asked to reflect about their goals for the future to choose the subjects that they might be suited for. In Term 2, students engaged in the Morrisby Online Assessment. Students will receive their Morrisby Report in Term 3, it will include an individualised career profile that Year 9 students can use to help them with their pathway choices
As students embark on their Semester 2 studies, I encourage them to keep embracing challenges, seeking knowledge and contributing positively to our school community. It was a pleasure to present the Collage Values awards to the Year 9’s at their College Values Awards Ceremony. Recipients of these awards have all worked really hard in Semester 1 to demonstrate our College values of Excellence, Persistence, Community and Respect. In Semester 2, we encourage all of our students to feel challenged and inspired to unlock their full potential as inclusive, respectful global citizens.
We are proud of our Year 9 achievements and look forward to seeing them grow even further in the coming terms. Congratulations on a successful term Year 9!
Community Health Campaigns
This term in Learning for Life, we focused on the Community Health Campaigns CAT as our first topic, which allowed us to explore a specific health issue affecting young people. Our topics included alcohol use, vaping or mental health and we developed our skills in research, critical thinking and creativity. We began with researching one of these issues and their impact on the various dimensions of health and wellbeing, as well as health status indicators. Our final task involved designing and presenting a community health campaign to raise awareness and provide resources targeted towards teenagers, emphasizing the importance of promoting health and well-being within our communities. Our campaign, developed in groups, was presented through a variety of mediums such as posters, PowerPoint Presentations, vision boards and filmed advertisements. Overall, it’s fair to say that we all learned a lot during the course of this CAT and we all completed it to a fairly high standard.
Kayla and Navya Year 9 Leaders
English ‘Sherpa’ Unit
In Term 2, Year 9's started their Sherpa unit where we learnt who the sherpas were and what they did for Mt Everest. After watching the documentary “Sherpa” we started writing our persuasive piece to an issue from the documentary as a stakeholder (a person with a concern or issue on the matter). This unit of work taught us how important sherpas were for Mt Everest and the tourist industry in Nepal, it also taught us about the impact of irresponsible tourism. Writing our persuasive text, it increased our skills in using persuasive language techniques and engaging the reader.
Charlie and Jack Year 9 Leaders
Year 9 Experiences
In Semester 1 of Year 9 we got to go on a few experiences relating to our Learning For Life history work. The first place we went to was the Shrine. We went to the Shrine in our World War 1 unit as we got to learn more about Gallipoli and the Anzacs in general. It was a great expedition as we all got to see different parts of the Shrine and combined our knowledge. The guides at the Shrine also gave us some more in-depth explanations about some of the artefacts in the museum and how the sun rays beam down on the pedestal at the top of the Shrine.
Just last week we ventured off to the Holocaust Museum. We got to walk around the museum and completed activities based on important photos of things from the Holocaust. At the end we got to speak with one of the Holocaust survivors. It was great to be able to ask them questions and get first-hand answers off someone who had experienced these events. We learnt about how they survived the Holocaust and what techniques they used to hide from the Nazis.
Overall, both of these experiences were vital towards our Learning for Life units and created new opportunities for us to learn.
Finn and Harry Year 9 Leaders
Holocaust ‘Ask Me Expo’- Friday 28 June
In Learning for Life, students engaged in a History unit of work to learn about the Holocaust and its significance. Throughout this unit of work, students explored and inspired with stories of courage and adversity, upstander behaviour and resilience. They were also encouraged to build an understanding and value of a diverse and cohesive society.
As part of their History studies, students engaged in activities within the classroom, visited the Holocaust Museum and participated in an ‘Ask Me Expo’ for parents and carers on the last day of the term. In the lead up to the ‘Ask Me Expo’, the Year 9 centre was a hub of activity and the Year 9 students were really excited to share their acquired knowledge with their parents and carers. Students shared their acquired knowledge through the creation of an authentic stall of their choice, based on an aspect of the Holocaust, and developed questions for people ask them. Some students also made models to explain, movies to watch and image collages and word clouds to display.
The ‘Ask Me Expo’ was a unique opportunity for parents and carers to engage in their child’s learning. The Learning for Life mentor teachers would like to thank all the parents/carers that came to support the Year 9 students. The Year 9 students were very excited to show off their displays and share their acquired knowledge. The feedback from parents/carers was extremely positive and the Year 9 students should be very proud of their efforts. It was pleasing to see the number of parents and carers engage with not only their own child, but with other students in Year 9 as well. The Learning for Life students look forward to offering more opportunities for parents and carers to engage with them in the year ahead.
Bee Hive Update
Late last year, our school installed bee hives in the Year 9 Garden. The hives will be used in Horticulture classes to produce honey.
As winter arrives, so did the need to close up the hives. The two hives at the College are 'Eight Frame' hives, meaning they have eight frames which the bees place the honey on and raise their hive numbers from. Closing up means covering the open vent-like bottom that allows free flow of air in the warmer months and closing all but one entrance. By doing this the bees who try to warm up the hive by flapping their wings don’t have to work so hard, therefore they don’t exhaust themselves to death or use up their winter honey to keep up energy. It doesn’t mean they do not stop collecting pollen, but less flowers bloom in winter, so there’s less work to do.
It will now be quieter around the hives, but you may possibly see more bees around the entrance stopping drafts and waiting their turn to enter back in. Until the weather warms not much will change in the next few months, but once Spring comes a new brood will be laid, (worker bees etc) and new levels will be put in place on the hives to collect honey for us humans over the Summer and Autumn.
