Year 8 News
Year 8 Trick Shot Competition
On Wednesday in the Year 8 Level Assembly online, the Year 8 Trick Shot Challenge was launched.
Entries are due in to Ms Attard by Friday 8th May and will be judged by a special celebrity !
Year 8 Assembly Summary
Dear Year 8 Students and Parents,
Thank you again for already showing amazing resilience as you have adapted to remote learning whilst in isolation. We are so pleased with the effort you have made with your work and want to say a big thank you to those students who completed the remote learning feedback survey for us. I am so happy with the 256 students and staff who made it to our assembly on Wednesday. I wanted to highlight some of the important information for those that missed out as we reached capacity.
Some common themes in this survey were that many of you are feeling you’ve been given too much work, some are feeling overwhelmed, many of you are feeling there’s just not enough time to get things done and the majority of you are really missing your friends.
The most common theme that was shared in your feedback surveys was that most of you are really missing your friends and the social aspect of school. Please take the time to check in on your friends and be active with your socialising when you can. It doesn’t all have to be on screens.
Remember you can:
- Ride a bike with a friend
- walk 1.5 metres apart with one person
- create a call then walk at the same time
- FaceTime while working out together
This information has been passed onto your teachers so that we can continue to adapt our remote learning curriculum and try to find the right balance for all students. Please get in touch with the Year 8 team if you continue to feel.
Mr Murray spoke about our school pledge and highlighted the word ‘empowerment’.
Remote learning gives us the opportunity to build student agency. This means that you have the power to work at your own pace and independently. It gives you the power to direct and take responsibility for your learning, which will help you to become an independent and self-regulating learner. This is a fantastic skill to build and will help you in your future studies at Viewbank College.
We also reminded you all to consider Microsoft Teams as Viewbank College and each of your meetings as a classroom. Remember we all need to be sensible and respectful in each of our meetings, chats and always conduct ourselves in line with the school pledge.
Libby said ‘Hi’ and reminded you all that the Wellbeing Space is alive and well. Students can access support directly or seek out someone from the Year 8 Wellbeing team to help connect them. Please make sure if you or a friend may be struggling at this time that you seek support.
Ms Butler has created a weekly template to help you organise your timetable and manage your meetings during remote learning. These have been uploaded to the compass newsfeed. She also discussed student leadership and that Middle Years Student Council Elections will be towards the end of the week. More information on this can be found on the Year 8 Level Team on Microsoft Teams Assembly Channel.
Mr Blair spoke about the need for creating a productive workspace to help you. His ideas have been posted on the Year 8 Level team, as has Ms Betts' ‘Keep Active’ workout that you can complete any time whilst in isolation.
Ms Attard has prepared the amazing Trick Shots Competition to be judged by Essendon’s Captain Dyson Heppell. We can’t wait to share some of these amazing clips with you all. Keep checking the Year 8 Level Team for more information.
Make sure you are using the direct Chat option on Microsoft Teams to contact your teachers directly with questions or to negotiate extensions if they are needed. You can also contact the Year 8 Wellbeing Team through Chat, we are all here for you.
If you are having any issues with your laptop or the internet please go to the Intranet page on your laptop and hit the help desk icon to contact IT directly. They will be happy to help you remotely.
In your remote learning feedback survey many of you were highlighting fantastic positive things that were happening to you each day. Remember to focus on these and enjoy them while you can. Some of these included - spending more time with your pets or family, not wearing a uniform and getting to eat whenever you wanted. This isolation won’t last forever so we just need to focus on moving forward and getting our work done as best we can. The Year 8 Wellbeing Team are here for you if you need us.
You have been amazing Year 8!
Thank you for the effort you have put into remote learning!
Best regards from Ms Pinney Brown, Ms Attard, Ms Betts, Mr Blair and Ms Butler
