Year Eight 

Science

From August 10th to 18th, our school celebrated Science Week with a flurry of exciting activities that brought the wonders of science to life for our students. The week was filled with hands-on experiments, interactive demonstrations, and fun learning experiences that ignited curiosity and  a love for science among students of all ages.

The festivities kicked off with a special assembly, where the science teachers took to the stage to perform some fantastic experiments. Students watched in awe as we demonstrated the "Chemical Traffic Light," a fascinating chemical reaction that changes colour as if by magic! The excitement continued with the spectacular "Fire Bubbles" demonstration, where bubbles filled with gas were ignited to create a mesmerising display of fire that safely danced on the water. 

During lunchtime throughout the week, our science lab was abuzz with activities as students participated in a series of fun and engaging experiments. One of the highlights was the "Ice Cream in a Bag" activity, where students learned about the principles of freezing point while making their delicious ice cream. Another favorite was the "Elephant Toothpaste" experiment, which produced an enormous foamy eruption, illustrating the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and demonstrating an exothermic reaction.

In addition to these exciting chemistry experiments, students also had the opportunity to explore biology in an interactive way. One lunchtime activity focused on how different species have adapted their beaks to pick up various types of food. Using a range of tools and materials to simulate different beak shapes, students experimented with picking up different kinds of “food,” learning firsthand how adaptation plays a crucial role in the survival of species.

Science Week was a resounding success, thanks to the enthusiasm and participation of our students and teachers. It was wonderful to see our students so engaged and excited about learning science through hands-on activities and demonstrations. We hope that this week has inspired many budding scientists and fostered a deeper appreciation for the wonders of the natural world.

English

In Yr. 8 English, we have been busy exploring the creative form of script writing, as students are preparing to adapt a scene of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into a modern day context. 

Over the past few weeks, students have had the opportunity to engage in class read alouds and Readers' Theatre presentations of Romeo and Juliet, to further their understanding of the play. Discussions around themes, language and tone have been instrumental in supporting students with their understanding of this text. Character archetypes and tropes have also been explored, as students work to bring Shakespeare into the 21st century with their modern adaptations. 

This unit has seen students be open-minded and risk takers, by embracing Shakespeare’s language and contributing to interactive class reading activities. We now look forward to reading their scripts and their modern interpretations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet! 

In addition to our English study this term, we also had the opportunity to celebrate Book Week (17th - 23rd of August)! It was wonderful to see students take this opportunity to celebrate Literacy and all reading has to offer, which was highlighted through our Secondary Book Parade!

Math

Our Year Eight students started this term with algebra. They extended their knowledge of algebra by learning about expanding and factorising expressions. During Math sessions, students were able to see the relationship between expanding and factorising as the inverse of each other. Over the last two weeks, they have participated in two incursions from Talk Money. Our students were very engaged during these sessions and learnt about the importance of savings. 

Going forward, students will investigate the concept of data for the rest of the term. They will explore data collection and representation methods and investigate the effect of individual data values including outliers, on the range, mean and median. As the summative task, students will work on a project in the coming weeks where they will have an opportunity to display their knowledge and understanding of data concepts.