Middle School 

From the Head of Middle School 

Save the Date: Thursday 25 November

Year Nine Picnic in the Park

We will be holding an end of Middle School event, the 'Picnic in the Park', for all Year Nine students and their families as a celebration of their time in the Middle School. After consultation with students and staff we want to provide a fun, sociable event that is inclusive and accessible to all Year Nines and their families.

Date: Thursday 25 November

Time: 4.00pm to 6.30pm

Venue: Park next to the Emu Point Café

BYO: Chairs and picnic blankets 

Food: Emu Point Café will be providing a variety of foods to order

Music: Year Nine Contemporary Music class

Games: There will be a variety of social games set up on the beach and the park. Students will not be able to swim as there will not be any supervision for water activities.

Invitations will be sent out to families next week with details of food available. Food will need to be pre-ordered to assist with catering. Emu Point Café will be open for ice creams, coffee and drinks. We hope that everyone can come along and enjoy a pleasant evening of music and food. In the event of bad weather the event will be moved to school but fingers crossed we get a nice evening.

Mr Adam Scott | Head of Middle School 

World Teachers' Day

Last Friday the School celebrated World Teachers' Day. The Middle School leaders wrote a personalised note to staff members thanking them for their contribution to school life. 

Without our dedicated and passionate staff we would not be able to run all the activities that we sometimes take for granted. From VACS clubs to after school academic support, art focus days to sports carnivals and everything in between. The leaders had a great time giving compliments and putting smiles on staff faces.

Middle School Leaders

Science 

Last Thursday 28 October, selected Years Seven, Eight and Nine Science classes got an insightful incursion about Earth Science from Mrs Cahill, our guest presenter. Year Nine students learnt lots of fascinating facts about the earth we live on today. We started off with a presentation about continental drift and seafloor spreading, followed by an engaging and interactive activity involving Mars bars! The temptation was high to instantly eat the Mars bars however, most students managed to resist with intrigue and eagerness to learn. 

We finished off the presentation with learning about Strato and Shield volcanoes watching some fascinating videos of lava, with the students identifying whether the lava was from a Strato or Shield volcano. Overall, it was very enjoyable and great to have the interactive and tasty demonstration!

Evie Woodall | Year Nine Student 

Year Seven Humanities  

In Humanities, the Year Seven students have been engrossed in learning a unit on Ancient Greece over the past ten weeks. They have been exploring the social structure, geography, and beliefs, values and practices of the people of Ancient Greece. As part of an assessment, the students developed a range of questions and conducted research into an important innovation or invention of Ancient Greece. After conducting some very thorough research the students then put their creative and artistic hats on to construct models to represent their research project. We had some amazingly busy lessons which involved lots of hot glue guns, saws, power drills, air dry clay, paint and paper mache. The results are amazing, and each and every one of the student’s projects are very unique and creative. For example, some of the constructions included the types of Greek columns, models of typical Greek houses, statues of Greek gods and goddesses, and a whole range of ancient Greek weapons. These projects are now on display in the Library, until the end of term. Please take some time to go and view how creative and clever the Year Seven students are.

Mrs Penni Berryman | Teacher

Year Nine ANZAC Centre Excursion

Over the past week, the Year Nine Humanities classes have been on an excursion to the ANZAC Centre on Mt Clarence. We have been learning about WWI this term, and the information provided by the Centre allowed us to expand our knowledge, especially relating to the ANZACS in Albany. When we arrived, we were all given cards with a different soldier on them, and throughout the visit, we were able to gain insight into who they were and their role during and after the war. My class went last Thursday, and fortunately had nice weather, so after we finished looking inside, we explored the various machinery and weapon models outside the Centre. We then walked up to the bunkers and trenches, before finishing at the lookout. The excursion was a great experience for people who hadn’t been to the ANZAC Centre before, as well as those who had, and was an enjoyable way to break up the term. 

Madeleine Warren | Year Nine Student

Hospitality

This term has been extremely busy in the Hospitality kitchen. The Year Eight class had fun designing quesadillas based on corn as the hero of their dish. They studied the structure and nutrition of eggs, producing delicious mini quiches using eggs from hens and quails.  Assisting Chef Nick with the packaging of fresh salads for the Valedictory Carnival allowed the students to participate in catering for a crowd, putting their food safety knowledge into real life practice.  

Our Year Nine students continued to study the six nutrients, learnt to make sweet shortcrust pastry and custard, then assembled a fruit flan.  We compared the cost and nutritional value of store-bought fish fingers and wedges with homemade ones, then students cooked low fat fish and chips for their lunch. Now, both classes are designing recipes to cook an entry into the Junior Cooking Section at the Albany Show in two weeks time.

Mrs Teresa McAllister | Hospitality Teacher