Year 7 & 8

Connections on Camp

Our Year 7s were beside themselves with excitement as they arrived at school packed and ready to depart for the Swan Valley Adventure Centre on Monday morning. Camp was booked for early in the year with the goal to provide opportunities for students to foster new friendships and establish connections across the cohort. 

Students were divided into five activity groups and across the three days these groups rotated through raft building, canoeing, abseiling, flying fox, archery, team building games, a commando course and the crate stack. Free time saw impromptu soccer played on the oval and the two evening activities, the WALL-E movie viewing and a fun games night of musical statues, wink murder and bang were enjoyed by both students and staff.

On Tuesday we were treated to a special guest visit from Mrs Campbell who presented the swimming trophies and medals to our Interhouse Swimming champions and runners-up, along with the much-anticipated news of who claimed Interhouse Swimming Champion House for 2024.

A free half an hour before the bus arrived on Wednesday afternoon to take us back to school provided the perfect opportunity for a debrief in House groups of the individual highs and lows experienced across the three days. The feedback from parents, students and staff has been overwhelmingly positive and the Swan Valley staff were impressed with the behaviour and participation of our students. 

Well done Year 7s, your behaviour, participation and level of respect shown to those around you ensured a fun, safe and memorable Year 7 camp experience for all.

Swimming Carnival

I am incredibly proud of the level of participation and engagement shown by our Year 7 and 8 students at the Interhouse Swimming carnival held during Week 4. Whether it was through Sync Swim routines, the novelty events or the competitive races, they have set a high standard for Interhouse carnivals from which to build in the years to come.

Locker Security 

With the long weekend signalling the midway point of Term One it is timely to remind our students of the requirement for each locker to have a school issued lock securing the contents. If students misplaced their lock over the summer holidays or during these first five weeks of school, they should purchase a new one through Reception on ground floor.

Surf Online Safe

Extended PCG this week provided the opportunity for the Year 8s to learn from Paul Litherland who presented the Surf Online Safe presentation (SOS). As a former police officer working within the Technology Crime Investigation Unit, Paul provided real life experience and relevant examples to assist the students in understanding some of the risks associated with operating in the online world. There were many valuable takeaways from the SOS presentation and we hope students will think about these when “surfing online”. The eSafety commissioner website contains valuable resources for both parents and students to assist with initiating follow up conversations at home. https://www.esafety.gov.au 

Gandhi Sundowner

It was lovely to meet new families during the Year 7 Information Night and Gandhi Sundowner held last night and I thank all families their support this far.  Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable long weekend. 

Ms Taryn Sephton

Head of Year 7 & 8