YEAR 8 CAMPUS NEWS

August tends to bring a sign of re-invigoration and renewal as we start to move out of a cold winter. This year will be different in many ways for not only our students but also the wider community. While there are many things in the lives of our Year 8 students that are different at the moment, we can be thankful that, for the most part, school has returned to something approaching ‘normal’. There will be some things that we will never see again in a school environment. However, we have been lucky at Year 8 to see our students again being able to go on excursions, spend time with friends at recess and lunch and continue their learning not only in the classroom but through year level assemblies, parent meetings and those little moments that were missed during the period of remote learning. 

As you can see in some of the images below, the work being completed by our students continues to impress and shows how adaptable they have proven to be during this time.

Historically, Term 3 is typically the time at the Mercy campus that is most challenging. Jenkin’s (2012) identifies that a typical student’s ‘love of school’ falls from a level above 90/100 when they are in Year 1 to an equivalent level of 37/100 by Year 9, with a huge drop occurring during Year 8. It is because of this evidence that we try to combat the feelings of helplessness, annoyance and disengagement that begin to develop at this stage of the year.

A 2017 PISA study of 14,500 students across 760 Australian schools identified that 44% of Australian school students indicate that their learning is interrupted by noise and disorder in the classroom. We at the Mercy campus attempt to avoid these all too common issues by responding to the matters as they arise and trying to be proactive when possible. Mr Lachlan Murdoch and Miss Taylor-Paige Wilkie have commenced the STRONG program for our female students and the Man Cave initiative for our young men. Programs such as these and the Social Thinking Program from the Learning Enhancement team will help us combat concerning trends before they take hold and leave the 2020 Mercy campus students better placed to achieve success in their future learning. Attached to this month’s article are some responses from students looking at both the positive and negative aspects of school at present, which provide valuable insight to all of us about what we can do to improve.

During week three, Year 8 students were taken through a presentation of what subject choices await them in Year 9 and the processes that they need to go through before finalising their choices. With their final selections being due on August 14, many students will now be close to finalising their choices. 

Until next month stay safe in these uncertain times.

Mr Marcus Parker

Head of Mercy Campus