Year 8 News

Our Achievements

The term started cold and miserable, but we are beginning to see the sunshine and the days are seeming longer.  The students have returned to school, enthusiastic and ready for a new semester.  New electives have commenced allowing students to experience a change to Music and Food Technology, or Materials and Art.

Our focus for the start of a new semester has been on our ‘Ready to Learn’ expectations.  Over the term break, students were encouraged to ensure their pencil cases were re-stocked and stationery supplies were replenished so they have all the tools needed for learning.  Many students have been receiving merits for arriving to class with the proper equipment, including charged laptops.

We have been focusing on the importance of having all materials for learning to ensure success.  This is no different to what would be expected in a workplace, creating real-life learning for the students.  If your child does not have all materials for learning, it is highly important that these items are made available.

Our Next Steps

Our next focus is to address minor behaviours.  We are seeing an increase of students who are not meeting basic College Values by chewing gum, littering, not effectively maintaining their workspaces, not using lockers and carrying school bags around.

We will be focusing on compliance and the importance of contributing to a safe and fair environment.  Students will continue to observe the College Values – “Belonging, Understanding, Growth and Respect” and embed this in their daily school life. We will continue measuring this through our merit data and reward individual students and Form Groups for their effort in meeting expectations.

We look forward to awarding the form group who are the greatest achievers with a pizza lunch at the end of Term 3.

Learning Showcase

Police Education Visit

We were recently very lucky to have members from Victoria Police offer their time to come and present important information to the Year 8 cohort.  Acting Sergeant Gavin Williams, whose role is an education liaison officer, presented content focusing on various forms of assault, including cyber assault.

The students were warned about negative communication and harassment online, also known as cyberbullying, and they unpacked the potential risks of using digital technologies to harm, threaten, or manipulate someone. This type of abuse can occur through various online platforms such as social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, and email. Cyber assault can be particularly damaging because it can happen at any time, it is often anonymous, and it can quickly reach a wide audience.

The students were encouraged to utilise the following acronym to make an assessment of the online communication they may receive, or share - 

Before you share, be AWARE…

Appropriate - Is it appropriate?

Who - Who could see it?

Accurate - - Is it accurate?

Respectful - Is it respectful to others?

Environment - What could the environment of the post reveal?

Acting Sergeant Gavin Williams also highlighted the importance of understanding that assault is considered a chargeable offence that is prohibited by law and can result in legal charges being brought against the perpetrator, or any other person involved. 

Playground behaviour including physical violence and cyberbullying is also considered a chargeable offence.  Just because behaviour may occur within the school grounds, during school time, does not mean that it cannot be reported to Victoria Police. 

The Year 8 students were intrigued by this real-life information and asked many questions about consequences, crime in the community and what the police do in their daily work.

We would like to thank Victoria Police for giving up their time to support our school in ensuring that we take a zero tolerance to cyber bullying and physical assault.

College Awards Ceremony

The first Friday in August marked our College Awards Ceremony. It was great to see so many Year 8 students being acknowledged for the academic growth, effort in specific curriculum areas and for being exceptional citizens in our school.

We would like to congratulate our Year 8 award recipients once again for their continued hard work and achievements. We look forward to seeing more students this semester aspiring to receive an award. 

Discovery Day

There were plenty of stalls set up in the College gym on Discovery Day. Students were able to browse, ask questions and be informed about the various electives which will be on offer in Year 9.  Students tasted food tech products, observed science bug collections and explored musical instruments.  The students were able to make an informed decision about their pathway for 2025.

We are very fortunate to have such a vast range of subjects on offer because it allows students to sample the available options in Year 9, before they make specific pathway decisions for their later school years.

Well done to all students who have completed their online elective selections for 2025.  If your child has not completed their subject selections, please do so as soon as possible.

Important Reminders:

There are many students who are not utilising their lockers and are bringing bags to class.  It is highly important that students are utilising lockers to store bags. It becomes a health and safety concern when students bring school bags to class, as they are not stored effectively and thus become tripping hazards.  It is also important that bags are kept in lockers so that valuable items such as phones, money and devices can be properly stored.  Phones are strictly not allowed in classrooms, or in the school yard.  Could you please remind your child of these expectations. 

Year 8 Key Dates:

Year 8 Assembly – First for Term 3 – Weds 14th August