Middle Years  News

Middle Years End of Term Assembly 

The Middle Years  End of Term 1 Assembly was held on Tuesday 31 March to celebrate our Year 7-9 students’ achievements and efforts for this term. The assembly was led by our new Middle Years captains and we welcomed alumni Sofia Toumbas, who provided sage advice for our student cohort. Please see below the speech made by our Middle Years Captain Abigail Hahn and SRC Representative Victoria Moar:

‘Good afternoon everyone,

I’m Abi, one of your Middle School Captains, and I’m Victoria, your year 9 SRC representative

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your contribution to the world's greatest shave which was held last week. Whether you gave a gold coin donation, bought food at lunch, helped set up, or in Mr Tozer’s case, you shaved your head, it all goes to a good cause, and with donations for head shaving alone we raised around 7000 dollars, so thank you.

If you want to help plan these events, (and you’ll probably forget this over the holidays), but just as a reminder we have fortnightly meetings on Monday in A block. So come along with your lunch and your friends as we have many events such as movie nights and many more coming up in Term 2 (around week 6 or week 7).

Now we just wanted to quickly talk about what’s been really good for the first term in Middle Years.

Firstly for us year 9s,  it’s been a pretty chill term with the only new thing being Live Life. Otherwise, it’s been great seeing everyone get involved and starting to prepare for senior school.

To the Year 8s, well done on a great first term. I hope you all were able to make lots of memories on the Kinglake Camp, as well as continuing Interschool sports. I’m sure there were some challenging moments, but also a lot of fun ones you’ll always remember.

And to the Year 7s, congratulations on completing your very first term of high school. Everything starts out a little bit stressful, but you’ve all settled in really well, made new friends, and somehow managed to deal with the tiny lockers (which is one of the most impressive things.) I hope your camp was also a highlight and you were able to get to know each other better.

As we finish up the term, I hope everyone has a great Easter holiday and takes some time to relax.

Looking ahead to Term 2, Year 9s will either start or continue to think about subject selections, while Year 7s and 8s will have another Connect Day in the term to spend time together. We’ve also got the Athletics Carnival in Week 4, which our house captains, Olivia and Tom will talk more about when they come up next.

Have a great holiday, stay safe, and we’ll see you all next term.

Thank you.

-Abi Hahn & Victoria Moar

The following Year 9 Middle Years Captains all spoke at the assembly:

Term 1 Awards 

Congratulations to all the recipients of our Term 1 awards. These students have shown considerable commitment and dedication throughout the term and it was a delight to recognise their achievements at the Middle Years assembly. 

• Year 8 Excellence through Endeavour awards recipients
• Year 9 Award recipients 
• Year 9 Live Life awards recipients

Year 8 Camp 

From the 18-20 April, my peers and I travelled to Kinglake to attend Alexandra Adventure Resort. This survivor camp challenged our teamwork, competitiveness and outdoor skills whilst also helped us engage with others and learn new facts. After arrival, we were placed into groups that had an aboriginal name corresponding to a native animal. 

We had to make a chant and a flag which was essential for the competitive aspect of the camp. After completing activities, winning the games in the evening, or behaving well, we earned wooden chips. If we lost the flags, misbehaved or were loud, we lost chips. In the end, the group with the most chips won. 

There was a wide range of activities including leap of faith, free fall, rock climbing, mountain biking, bush walk, egg drop, giant seesaw and many more. This prompted many imperative skills such as leadership, coordination and courage. And to balance out the competitive and busyness, the camp staff led meditation multiple times a day to help us wind down and be in the present. 

In the evening after dinner, the camp held ‘games and tribal councils’ as an opportunity to earn more chips as a group. This was such a fun aspect of the camp and many people enjoyed it. The staff were incredibly kind, patient and engaging throughout the whole camp. 

The campsite is engulfed by greenery, flora and forests as well as gorgeous fauna. This was not only fascinating but also made us appreciate nature and wildlife. The small yet cozy cabins allowed us to befriend our cabinmates quickly. This camp was a great way to meet new people as we were divided evenly and spent a lot of time with people we weren’t familiar with. However, there was also a lot of downtime that you could relax, play games and catch up on the day with your friends. 

The camp worked tirelessly to provide delectable meals that most of the students and teachers adored. On the last day, we had ‘Wealth Creations’ which was the last push to earn more chips and collaborate with your group. Overall, the camp was an amazing and engaging experience. Almost every challenge pushed us in some way and the competitive aspect of it was so unique and enjoyable. I recommend this camp to others and I hope that everyone can experience the fun and connection to nature that it provides. 

-Juliette Perl-Gurovich  (8J)

Alistair Tuffnell 

Head of Middle School 

2026 Middle School Team:

• Alistair Tuffnell – Head of Middle School (alistair.tuffnell@education.vic.gov.au)
• Katrina Pumpa – Middle Years Administrator (katrina.pumpa@education.vic.gov.au)
• Lauren Hughes – Year 7 Coordinator (lauren.hughes@education.vic.gov.au)
• Kate Arnold – Year 8 Coordinator (kate.arnold@education.vic.gov.au)
• Stuart Kofoed – Year 9 Coordinator (stuart.kofoed@education.vic.gov.au)
• Sarah Ryan – Assistant Coordinator  (sarah.ryan@education.vic.gov.au)
• Georgina Russell-  Assistant Coordinator  (georgina.russell@education.vic.gov.au)