Middle School News

Year 7 Anglesea Camp

We welcomed home our Year 7 campers last Wednesday and Friday depending on which group attended which camp. Wow, what an adventure!! It is amazing to see how galvanised the students come back after this camp. Getting out amongst nature, pushing their limits, stepping outside their comfort zone in the company of each other, really is the making of solid foundational relationships for many years to come.

Students participated in a range of activities including surfing, skateboarding, high ropes, mountain biking and other various adventure activities, with surfing the highlight for the majority of students. Night activities included either a beach walk or a movie and overnight the students were really well behaved. Master Chef Hans delivered some great meals in the YMCA kitchen, making sure all the students were well fed and happy.

Now that the dust has settled on camp, it is time for students to set their sights on making the most of the educational opportunities, which lay before them and strive to do their best.

City Experience

We’re excited to announce that the Year 9 City Experience is coming up during the first half of Term 2. This extended excursion involves our Year 9 students meeting in the city each day for a whole school week and participating in a range of educational activities at different venues around the city – designed to foster independence, teamwork and develop student’s knowledge of the Melbourne CBD.

Dates for City Experience are as follows:

Term 2 Week 3, 9A-9F: Monday 29 April - Friday 3 May 

Term2 Week 5, 9G-9L: Monday 13 May - Friday 17 May

There are also couple of things that we need students to start thinking about, as we plan for City Experience:  

Who will be your 'Travel Buddy'? This is the person you will travel with FROM HOME TO THE CITY IN THE MORNING, and FROM THE CITY TO HOME EACH AFTERNOON. A travel buddy can be from any home group that is going the same week as you (see above). You will not necessarily be with your travel buddy during the day. 

Who will be in your 'City Experience Team'?  This is a group of 6-8 people from your home group.  Students will travel around the city in their 'City Experience Team' throughout the week. Team selection will be completed during class time and respect, inclusion and fairness will be the college values expected from students as we arrange these teams. 

Please keep an eye out for the City Experience Payment/Consent Event, this will appear on your Compass later next week. 

The cost of the excursion will be $205.00 per student. Payment and consent will be due on the last day of Term 1, Thursday 28 March. 

For any questions, please contact the Year 9 Coordinators. 

Justin Bond

Head of Middle School

2024 NAPLAN Testing

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for Years 7 and 9 students will begin on Wednesday 13 March and conclude Monday 18 March. Catch up tests will be available for individual students who are absent up until Monday 25 March.

NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. Individual student results will be provided to parents and students later in the year.

To minimise any disruptions or delays, students are reminded to come to school each day with a fully charged device and to bring headphones for the Language Conventions test (headphones are also optional for the Writing and Numeracy tests).

The testing schedule is:

Students have been allocated the same classrooms for all of their tests. These are available to view on the Compass Event for each test and will also be communicated via the Middle School Office noticeboards.

Preparation:  Students have been provided with the opportunity to undertake practice to ensure that they are comfortable with the tools on the online platform.  Students and families can also develop familiarization with the online platform via this link: https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site

Jarrod Sturnieks

Acting Assistant Principal

Teaching and Learning

Student Lunches

Just a reminder to parents that we are unable to deliver lunches to students during school time.  If your student has forgotten their lunch, it can be dropped in to the General Office but it is the student’s responsibility to come and collect it. 

Hot food is not suitable to be left at the office.  PLEASE NOTE:- Take-away food is not allowed during school hours.

Under no circumstances are students to be ordering take-away food to be delivered to the College.

Student Compass ID/Library/PTV  Cards

Please remind all students that they must carry their Student Compass ID/Library/PTV  Cards with them at all times.

ALL students must sign in with their card at the Middle School Office when they are arriving late and sign out at the General Office when they are leaving early for any reason. 

The cards are also used for any student photocopying that is done at school. The EDSC Student Compass ID/Library card can be used as ID for student PTV (Public Transport Victoria) travel. They are required to carry this card as student identification while travelling on public transport.

If a student loses their card, parents/guardians are able to re-order a replacement card via the Compass parent portal.