Year 8 News

Our Year 8s are working well getting through their final Year 8 CATs and are getting excited about selecting electives for Year 9.  The Elective Handbooks have been handed out and the selection process will be finalised by the end of Week 9, in preparation for HeadStart. Students need to ensure that their elective preference sheets have been handed in.  The 2023 Year books have been handed out.  Students can collect them from their Homegroup teachers if they don’t have one yet.

Courage to Care Incursion

Year 7, 8 and 10 students participated a Courage to Care incursion.  The sessions provided background discussion of the Holocaust and other genocides to demonstrate examples of extreme racism and discrimination. 

Survivor speakers detailed their own experiences of being rescued by people with the moral strength and courage to stand up in the most challenging of circumstances.  These personal stories highlighted the importance of having the courage to care. 

Students were then engaged with discussions of their own personal circumstances and taught how to make a difference in their own community through 'upstander behaviour'.  Our goal for the sessions was to promote acceptance of diversity across society by

• Creating awareness of the dangers of prejudice, racism and discrimination.
• Educating to challenge attitudes and behaviours.
• Demonstrating that every individual can make a difference.
• Transforming “bystander” behaviour to “upstander” action.

Overall, we were impressed with the engagement and behaviour from students throughout the sessions.  We will be continuing the discussions in Homegroups and are hoping our students feel more empowered to be upstanders.

Congratulations

Mia Jones represented Kurnai in the Stratford Pony Club Interschool Equestrian Challenge.  Mia placed well, achieving 6th in Year 7 and 8 Best Presented, 6th in Year 7 and 8 Handler and 4th in Year 8 Obstacles.  Well done, Mia!

Gumbuya World

Celebration Day at Gumbuya World will be taking place on 13th December. Permission forms are available on Compass.  Please contact the General Office if you require a paper copy.

HeadStart

Year 8s will be beginning their HeadStart program on Monday 4th December.  HeadStart will conclude with the Celebration Day at Gumbuya World on the 13th.  Together with the Year 8 team, I would like to congratulate our Year 8s on their efforts this year and wish them well as they head into Year 9.

Awards

On Thursday, we celebrated the year 8 award winners' achievements at a ceremony in the language centre. Well done to our award recipients!

Art

Students have been working on a product range including a skateboard, T-shirt, and hat design, along with an advertisement poster to promote their product range. Students have worked in pairs, dividing the tasks to complete, and worked together to make decisions. 

Karen Anders

Year 8 Team Leader