Senior School

WHAT'S ON

We've had a very enjoyable start to Term Three! It has been great to be back and straight into our regular routines. One major shift has been combining both grades in a 'team-teaching' style of learning. This has worked beautifully with our students adapting very quickly and enjoying mixing between the two classes.

We have also set goals for the term, which will be something we continue to monitor and reflect on as the term progresses. Students will have the opportunity to share their progress when we hold our first student-led conferences.

IN OUR LEARNING

Here's a little recap of what we've been covering in the classroom:

Reading: Our focus text this term is 'Huda and Me', a captivating story about two siblings who escape their babysitter to join their parents on the other side of the world. So far, students have made predictions based on clues, they've made text-to-self connections and they've analysed various elements of the story, determining how or why they are important for the story or the reader's understanding.

Writing: This term, we are participating in a Cardinia Network Writing Challenge. Students will develop a creative piece of writing throughout the first five weeks of the term, based on the topic of 'fantastical adventures'. The challenge is to create something truly imaginative, but also includes the necessary narrative features and incorporates high quality writing skills. This means that most of writing work will revolve around this project and working on ways to enhance the quality of the work we produce!

Maths: Our Maths focuses to begin this term have been number patterns and shape. We have explored various types of number patterns and the strategies we can use to help us count forwards and backwards to completed a sequenced based on a given pattern. In shape, we have been exploring properties of 3D objects and connecting these with nets. We have also explored symmetry and cross-sections.

Humanities: Our humanities topic this term is Geography. We will be exploring Native Australian Animals, focusing on the different Australian environments and the impacts of weather, threats and other factors. They will also compare these features to nearby countries. So far, we have explored the make-up of Australia and its different environments, as well as researching some of the animals we can find in each of the biomes.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Tiger PAWS Program – On Friday 1st August, we were lucky enough to participate in a Tiger PAWS program, run by representatives of the Richmond FC and Cardinia Leisure. Students participated in a practical lesson on football skills and a theory lesson on nutrition.

State Schools Spectacular –  Our VSSS performers participated in their final 'mega-hub' rehearsal on Tuesday. Along with 11 other schools, our students put all 7 of their dances together, getting an idea of the space they'll have to work with inside John Cain Arena. There is a lot of excitement in the air, with the next rehearsal being in the actual arena in about 4 weeks time! We can't wait!