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Stage 1 Kangaroo Valley Pioneering Adventure

On Thursday 7 September, Stage 1 boarded a bus and went exploring at the Kangaroo Valley Pioneer farm. To make the day even more exciting, we dressed up in beautiful, and very hot, pioneering clothing. The children looked the part as we investigated the old school building, Rendall cottage, Chittick museum, dairy, old cottage, forge, machinery sheds, and suspension bridge.

As we adventured around, you could hear the excitement of the children and the constant ringing of the old school bell, that never seemed to not have a student ringing it. While exploring, the children were tasked with responding to some questions that required them to use a detective’s eye and record what they discover. After lunch, we played some olden games like elastics, jump rope, and relay races.

On the drive home you could hear the buzz of conversation about all the exciting things children had seen as well as the quiet contemplation of exhausted brains full of a day’s wonder.Thank you to all the parent helpers that attended and helped make the experience more wonderful by dressing up in fashionable pioneer clothing.

Mrs Hefferan, Mrs Longfield, Mr Thorn, and Mrs Twitchen

House Spirit

During the final three weeks of Term 3, 4L have been diligently painting to show their support to their House with a keepsake t-shirt. We've enjoyed every step in the journey and each student has created an individual design to call their own.

Every student understood the value of hard work and commitment to their task, even if they couldn't yet see the final outcome. Each lesson they built on their progress and delighted in watching it all come together. Not only that, they supported one another with encouraging words and there was always praise for each other. Their value and care of each other was shown if one of their friends were absent they stepped in to help complete theirs so everyone could each have a special shirt to own.

4L are very proud of their efforts and loved showcasing their hard work on the final Thursday of term. Other students of NCS offered praise and encouragement to 4L on a job well done. We're all looking forward to seeing these spectacular shirts during future swimming and athletics carnivals!

Kindergarten experience 'Possum Magic'

On Tuesday 19 September, all our Kindergarten students hopped on a bus and for some of us, this was the very first bus ride of our life. We only drove a short way to the Entertainment Centre where Hush and Grandma Poss were waiting for us to tell us their amazing story of 'Possum Magic' based on the book by Mem Fox. 

The performance was truly magical and it took us all around Australia even across the sea to Tasmania.

Even though many of our students were a little nervous about the big bus or climbing the stairs at the entertainment center, we came back to NCS, excited and full of wonder and questions about the fabulous performance by Monkey Boo Theatre Company.

On Wednesday, our very own Ms Tait, Mrs. Powell, and Mrs. Varga decided to surprise us with a big bake off, there were Anzac biscuits, lamingtons, vegemite sandwiches, and even Minties without the Mornay from Melbourne, just like the Possum Magic story.

Grandma Poss wanted to make sure Hush remained visible. We sure tried our bit to help during our end-of-term picnic party on Wednesday afternoon. What a magical way to end Term 3 in Kindergarten!

Maths: More than Numbers

Recently, Year 8 handed in their Ratio Maths projects. This project consisted of choosing an object and making it larger or smaller, according to a ratio of their choosing. The students then had to physically make this replica of their items. Some of the projects included a sized up lego brick, a shrunken Pringles can, a large Ritz box, a mini Woolworths shopping bag and numerous others.

One of the Year 8 students, Mia, made a Chupa Chup that was three times the size of the actual product. She said that, 'I found the project enjoyable because I got to mix the maths component with doing more art based work.'

However, that doesn’t mean it was easy, as Mia explained, 'Some of the challenges I encountered included finding a round object the exact size I needed for the lolly part, reproducing the letters to the exact scale and rolling the straw to be the exact size.'

Another student, Lottie, chose to downscale one of her family’s clocks. 'I made a fully working clock that was 3 times smaller than my family's clock.' She said she came across some difficulties, such as 'having to mould the clock out of cardboard and paper mache.' Despite these troubles, Lottie said that she 'found the project enjoyable and a little stressful but it really helped cement the maths concepts we were learning.'

'Doing the project helped me understand the maths concepts better,' Jaxon agreed. For his assignment, Jaxon made a 5:1 scale die out of wood. 'My dad helped me cut it down to the correct size using a drop saw and then we used a hole drill to make the holes,' he explained. 'I found it challenging to get the holes to the correct size.'

Year 8’s Ratio assessment was a great way to teach new topics and get the students to exercise their creative sides.

Robotics in Action

You may have seen us using the lego robots earlier this term in the TAS building. In the stage 5 IST elective, we have been seeing our code in action. We have been learning to write code (instructions that a computer can follow) and then apply this to automated systems that can be built with motors and sensors. The challenges were fun and there was lots of learning too!

Year 7 Students of the Week

The last two students of the week for Term 3 are Joe T, who is a persevering learner and kind and caring friend, and Jared H, who is consistently striving to do his best and who maintains a supportive, respectful attitude at all times. 

Well done boys on being exemplary members of the school community.

Year 10 attend Work Experience

During the second last week of Term 3, Year 10 attended work experience at a tremendous range of businesses and organisations. Miss Beazley, Mr Flippence, Miss Bignell and Mrs Edwards checked in with the students while they were on Work Experience.

Some interesting things students did: 

• Erik was pulling apart and cleaning helicopters
• Jackson was changing engines, tires and brakes. 
• Aiden did metal work.
• Millie Mc was working in the cafe. 
• Harrison was pulling apart different vehicles and changing mower decks. 
• Millie W was helping with art workshops and updated the signage at the front of the shop. 
• Annie was developing her customer service and organisational skills. 
• Tabitha was learning about the role of architecture and produced a PowerPoint on colour in Aged/Health Care.
• Emma washed puppies and observed how to feed scorpions and look after snakes. 
• Tom worked with a physio and learnt what kinds of exercises are needed after falls and strokes. 
• Joseph learnt about aeronautical engineering. 
• Micah was doing oil changes and learning how to fix suspension. 
• Hayley and Maddie learnt Adobe InDesign and helped design items for the Year 12 Graduation Dinner

Thanks to: 

Legionary Lessons in Elective History

For history week, the Stage 5 Elective History class recreated Roman weaponry. Using cardboard and hot glue, the students measured up accurate sizes for Roman swords (Gladius) and shields (scutum). The shields were then painted and decorated with a Roman crest. Once they were finished, the class took their creations to the Secondary Oval to mimic some of the Roman battle formations that they had learned in their elective history class, for example, the phalanx.