KLA News
Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA)
Miss Melanie Sampson
Ensembles and Extra Curricular
Our ensembles are back in full swing this term, with some new additions. Students are preparing for a number of performance opportunities later this term. Rehearsals are at the following times:
Monday Break A - BEATitudes
Tuesday Break B - Clarinet Ensemble
Wednesday Break B - Jazz Band
Thursday Break A - Drama Club
Thursday Break B - Choir
Friday Break B - String Ensemble
Students wishing to use the practice rooms in Merici may do so at lunchtimes, please check in with Miss Suann or Miss Sampson first.
New England Sings
Good luck to all students who are participating in the New England Sings! concert this weekend. New England Sings brings together over 800 students across the region and has been lucky enough to work with highly regarded Australian composers Justine Clarke, Luke Bryne and Paul Jarman.
WORKSHOP WITH PAUL JARMAN: Paul visited O'Connor last Term to take our O'Connor choristors through their parts.
LUKE BRYNE WORKSHOP: Our vocal students were fortunate to be guided by Luke Bryne on Thursday in preparation for New England Sings this Sunday.
Max Buckland
Congratulations to Maxwell Buckland who over the holidays sat his L.Mus.A piano performance exam with the Australian Music Examination Board, receiving a distinction for his performance. This is a great achievement, with only 1% of candidates receiving a distinction. To give some context this level of performance is equivalent to final year bachelor of music/ postgraduate students.
Creative and Performing Arts Nights
We have two performance nights this term:
Thursday 17th November (Week 6) - A Music and Art Soiree, starting at 6pm in Merici. This will be a chance for our music students to perform their pieces, as well as an opportunity for Art students to display their artworks. All are welcome to attend this night.
Thursday 1st December (Week 8)- A Drama Evening starting at 5:30pm. Our drama students are currently working on a play which they will perform to family and friends in week 8. More information to come soon.
English
Ms Jessica Armfield
What is happening in English this term?
Year 7
Throughout, the unit, ‘It’s a Dramatic Life!’ our Year 7 students will learn about the role of drama in representing life experiences, historical events and cultural groups. Students have been engaging with drama terms and games as well as learning how these dramatic elements are used to create impact and purpose. The students will be reading the plays, ‘Hitler’s Daughter’ or ‘Boy Overboard’ or ‘Honeyspot’ to see how these elements are used when creating plays.
Year 8
‘From Kinglake to Kabul’ aims to expand Year 8 students' understanding of the powerful role of texts to explore issues within society. Students have been working on developing their understanding of Afghanistan through the creation of brochures and mapping activities while expanding their cultural awareness!
Year 9
This term Year 9 students are working on a portfolio of poetry where they will explore a range of composers, analyse poems and craft their own! The aim of this project is to understand the connection between storytelling and how the poetic form can be utilised to express one’s experience of the world.
Year 10
The question, ‘why do we create?’ is a central concept within the study of English, and Art more generally. As our Year 10 students begin the transition to senior schooling, they are encouraged to think critically and creatively about their place in the world and how they can represent their experiences through Art, more specifically literature. This unit is packed with conceptual discussions and skill-building to equip our students with success in their transition to senior English, no matter which course they choose to take!
Year 12 2023
All of the English courses for stage 6, Studies/Standard/Advanced, are undertaking a study of the common unit: Texts and Human Experiences. During this unit, all students will engage with a range of texts that examine the inconsistencies and paradoxes of the human experience and how texts are simply a representation!
Book Club
Book Club for both Stage 4 and Stage 5 continues this term and we encourage students to get involved! Book Club for Stage 4 runs every Thursday 1 and Stage Five runs every Thursday 2. Whilst many of our attendees are devourers of books everyone is encouraged and warmly invited to come and chat about all things books!
Attached is one review that Laura Lidgard wrote for the novel, ‘The Book Thief’ towards the end of Term 3:
PDHPE
Ms Camila Clydsdale
PDHPE
Welcome back to Term 4!! This term the PDHPE Department welcomes Miss Lillian Fryar to our teaching team. Lillian joins us from St Pius X College in Chatswood where she was highly regarded not only as an educator but also as the first female Rugby Union Coach at the College. We look forward to the skills and knowledge Lillian brings to our College.
As the weather warms up it is essential that your child is fully prepared for practical PDHPE lessons, this includes the correct OCC sports uniform, a school hat or cap, sunscreen and a drink bottle. We all need to slip, slop, slap and save our skin every day!!! Please contact the College uniform shop if you need assistance with uniforms. https://oconnor.nsw.edu.au/enrolment/uniform-shop/v
LET'S STRETCH: Limbering up before using the parachute in Year 8 PDHPE.
PARACHUTE FUN: Who remembers this from primary school days? An all-round exercise which entertains.
VOLLEYBALL ACTION: Year 8 were getting some great shots in on Tuesday on the court.
KICKING GOALS: A great way to improve footy skills.
Mrs Camilla Clydsdale
PDHPE Leader of Learning
Science
Mr Daniel Fittler
This Term will be a busy Term with lots of exciting material to learn about. In Year 7 students will be learning about space and ecosystems. In Year 8 students will be learning about body systems and plant systems. In Year 9 students are learning about plate tectonics and geological formations. And in Year 10 students will be learning about global warming and big systems.
At the end of last term, we farewelled a long-standing member of the Science faculty Mr David Lush who is currently enjoying retirement. Mr Lush was a very passionate Science teacher and particularly enjoyed the unique perspectives that students brought to his classes. Although, when one member of a faculty departs they can never truly be replaced instead we welcome Mr Luke Andrews to join the Science department. Mr Andrews comes to O’Connor from Uralla Central School and brings a wealth of expertise that will be very valuable to our students.
With only 8 weeks to go, this term is going to be packed full of learning opportunities and exciting activities. Let's get into it!
The Parallax Method
Students in Year 9 Science are currently learning about the vast distances relating to space and the techniques that are used to estimate these distances. One such example is to use parallax. An example of parallax is when you try to read a speedo from the passenger seat in a car, it will read a different speed than what the driver will read. This difference is due to the angle that it is being viewed.
Students can use this angle and shift to determine the distance to a distant object.
DETERMINING VARIATIONS: Mr Andrew's Science class gaining practical experience in using the parallax method in the classroom and the field.
TAS
Mr Jon Hawthorne
Engineering
Yr 11 Engineering class starting their first HSC Unit of Civil Engineering with a focus on bridges. The students designed and built different bridges, some of which were quite challenging. Later this term the students will each build a model truss bridge from balsa wood and destructively test them to assess the strongest design as part of their first official assessment task.
Year 9 Engineering
Mr Healy's class tested the strength of their straw structures recently. It is a great exercise to promote planning and problem solving.
