F/1A - Foundation and Year 1A

his week we are celebrating ‘Education Week’, the theme is Spotlight on STEM. It highlights the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in our everyday lives, in the classroom and beyond. To help celebrate we have been budding engineers creating marble runs and lots of other interesting constructions. During the process, we have had to problem solve, try lots of different solutions and when all else fails……follow the instructions. We think we would be very good at putting flat packs together!!

There are also lots of other activities planned during the week that we are looking forward to.

Don’t forget to listen to your child read each night and record this the diary.

Mrs Chalmers, Classroom Teacher

F/1B - Foundation and Year 1B

Hello Parents/ Caregivers and Community Members

It is fantastic to see the students participating in the Reading Olympics and logging their reading in their diaries. Keep up the great work.

Our Inquiry sessions on old and new toys is still sparking interest, especially when Mrs T brought in her old toys. The questions were endless. We have also made pinwheels which the students thoroughly enjoyed.

We are drawing to a close on our Maths topic of Addition. The students have enjoyed this topic especially add up Pinball game scores and add shark’s teeth. We move onto subtraction next.

Please remember to do our homework to reinforce our learning.

Our Class Focus

Inquiry- A Toy Story- A Comparison between old and new toys.

Numeracy- Addition/subtraction

Foundation

Literacy- Introduction of Letter o and blending and segment words

Dates to Remember

May 23rd- Medieval Day

May 24th- Laugh like a Henya Day

Thanks for all your support.

Have a great day.

Mrs Torney, Classroom Teacher

Year 2

Grade 2 has gotten off to a fabulous start with the Reading Olympics!

As of Monday the 14th May, Grade 2 was in third place in the entire school, with an average 207 mins reading per student! Keep up the awesome reading routines, Grade 2s!

We are continuing with our focus on writing informative texts and poetry. Last week student wrote poems and information texts about penguins after reading a great story about penguins called ‘Chooks in Dinner Suits’. During one of our writing sessions, we got a surprise visit from Mr. Forrest and…his waddle of plush penguins! They really brought these incredible aquatic birds to life!

In Maths, we have shifted from focusing on addition to focusing on subtraction. In particular, students are noticing the connection between addition and subtraction by exploring ‘fact families’, which means noticing how number sentences such as 4 + 6 = 10, 6 + 4 = 10, 10 - 4 = 6 and 10 - 6 = 4 are all related.

Students are continuing to investigate water in Inquiry. Last week they created model landscapes using sand and simulated rain to see how the water moved across the landscapes. They then created labelled diagrams to show how rain water ends up in dams.

Keep up the active learning, Grade 2!

Mrs McKenzie & Ms Young, Classroom Teachers

Year 5 & 6

Last week, six students returned from Somers Camp. They all had an incredible time and benefited from this experience.

The best part of Somers Camp was making new friends. The people I became friends with are Cruze, Reanan, Hazel, Ellie, Dylan, George, Dan and Riley. They are the best of people and I get to call them a friend. I wish I was still there. - Chelsie T

The best thing on Somers Camp was the disco because it was fun dancing and listening to the music. - Ryder G

At the top of the giant swing with all of my mates cheering me on. I could see the sea and then voosh! It was alot of fun. It was a good camp, if you get the chance to go. Go! We got to do alot of fun activities. I loved it! - Brodie T

Push, Push! I'm in a dinghy with my buddy. It didn't have a motor so we had to use our oars. We had Moort Moort as our boat name. Brady was my buddy and he was pretty good. We rowed back and pulled Moort Moort in. I love boating. - Heath L

Going to Somers Camp was a new experience for me, but something I'll never forgot. Somers Camp was an opportunity to make new friends and learn about myself more. I have become more independent and confident because of Somers Camp. Maora P

The activities at Somers Camp were so much fun. Boating was really good. - Angel D 10

Mrs Turnbull, Classroom Teacher

Reading Marathon

It is wonderful to see the students embracing the Reading Marathon Challenge. Remember this is a marathon not a sprint, so if you've been slow to start there is time to catch up. Students are recording their time spent reading in class and at home. It is expected that students have a take home reader/book from the school each day at their 'just right' level daily. This is routine that is established in F/1 and must continue through all primary grades. Please continue to sign the diary and students are encouraged to draw a picture, make a prediction, make a connection or pose a question about what they have just read in the diary. This is a great way to check for understanding.

Importantly, Go Jacka!

Mrs Turnbull, Classroom Teacher

Year 9

Ms Herrington and Miss Van De Wetering, Year 9 Homeroom Teachers.

Year 10

It’s going to be a big second half of the term for our Year 10 students. Week 10 sees us head to Falls Creek for a week of downhill and cross-country skiing on our Snow Camp. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience a trip to the snow. The camp is sure to be amazing so we encourage everyone to get excited and ready for a great adventure.

Following Snow Camp is the first week of work experience. Again, an excellent opportunity for students to get to know what it’s like out in the workforce and to think about their future work opportunities. This is always a highly memorable time for year 10s and we’re expecting no different this year.

Finally, we encourage all students to continue to focus on attendance, being active learners in the classroom, and enthusiastic participants in our Reading Marathon. Our Reading Marathon class leader is currently Dakota Martin, closely followed by Indi Simpson and Mia Rowan. Well done and keep reading!

Mr Iser and Miss Milne, Year 10 Homeroom Teachers.

VCE Report

Welcome to the half way point of Term 2! Our Senior students have certainly been noticing that the level of assessments and SACs this week has been increasing, with the completion of units of study happening across all classes.

Year 11 Unit 1 Exams:

Year 11 VCE students will complete their Unit 1 classes at the end of Week 8, with their official examination week taking place in Week 9, between Tuesday 11 and Friday 14 of June. All VCE students will be expected to sit an examination for each of their VCE classes here at Wedderburn College.

A timetable for Year 11 examinations will be released in the coming week.

Students are reminded to begin revising key content for their subjects and to use Edrolo as a support when studying in preparation for their exams.

General Achievement Test:

The GAT will take place on Tuesday 18 June (Week 10) for ALL VCE and students enrolled in a VCE or VCE VET 3-4 sequence.

If you are a Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or Vocational Major (VM) student enrolled in either of the following, you are required to undertake the GAT, unless you have an exemption from the VCAA (via your school principal):

• VCE Unit 3–4 sequence

• VCE VET Unit 3–4 sequence

Although the VCE (including VCE VET programs) gives you the flexibility to satisfactorily complete units without being assessed for levels of achievement in all or any graded assessments, you are still required to undertake the GAT.

The GAT is an essential part of the VCE assessment process. While it is important that you attempt the GAT, the test does not count directly towards your VCE. However, GAT results may play a very important part in determining your final assessments for the VCE.

GAT results are used to check that your VCE external assessments and school-based assessments have been accurately and fairly assessed. The GAT is used because its results are a good predictor of final assessment for VCE studies. If a student has done well in the GAT, they are likely to do well in their other assessments.

Students have been given their GAT advice slips this week and we have discussed what can be taken into the GAT. Students are to meet with Mrs Woodman at the school library as close to 8.30am as possible. Then students will be escorted to where the GAT will be held.

Great VM Happenings:

Fantastic to see the VM students out and about – not just doing great things at school but getting involved in the community. This week they head to the Biggest Morning Tea – helping the organisers with set up and service.

Edrolo:

Please remember to be logging onto Edrolo to support your subject learning and revision!

Edrolo is an online resource designed to provide students with engaging, informative, and comprehensive presentations that acts as an additional support alongside classroom teaching to assist students understand and learn all they need to know for their VCE subjects. Edrolo classes are available for most Unit 3 & 4 subjects and selected Unit 1 & 2 subjects.

If you are unable to log onto your Edrolo account or would like some support navigating the site, please speak with Mrs Woodman.

Mrs Woodman and Mr Gretgrix, VCE Homeroom Teachers.

PE News - Mr P and Miss Milne

NCD Cross Country

On Friday 17th of May, Mr Lockhart and Ms Toni took 14 Wedderburn College students over to St Arnaud to compete in the NCD Cross Country. The weather was fresh but fine for running and every student gave their best efforts, representing their school proudly. Ben Cunningham ran a personal best time of 13.01 for his 3km, finishing 5th overall. Violet Stephenson also ran extremely well, finishing 10th.

Well done to all students that took on the challenge. There were a large number of students competing from all different schools around the district. It is a far tougher course than our school course, with steeper hills to climb and rockier surfaces to navigate. Your goal for next year is to beat the time you posted this year!

A big thank you to Mr Lockhart and Ms Toni for taking time from their other school commitments to give students the opportunity to do this.

All results are listed below:

Name	Time	Placing
Ben Cunningham (Jnr Boys) – 3km	13.01	5/51
Tyler Pearce (Jnr Boys) – 3km	15.01	28/51
Blaz Cramp (Jnr Boys) – 3km	15.38	36/51
Caleb Gault (Jnr Boys) – 3km	15.44	38/51
Violet Stephenson (Jnr Girls) – 3km	15.53	10/35
Lucy Rollinson (Jnr Girls) – 3km	17.24	22/35
Tate Lovett (Intermediate Boys) – 5km	21.19	26/41
Tyson Blair (Intermediate Boys) – 5km	21.22	27/41
Jamie Penrose (Intermediate Boys) – 5km	22.01	30/41
Jake Ward (Intermediate Boys) – 5km	24.55	40/41
Kayla Cramp (Intermediate Girls) – 3km	18.45	29/45
Dakota Martin (Intermediate Girls) – 3km	19.40	33/45
Emily Canham (Intermediate Girls) – 3km	20.52	38/45
Emily Caruana (Intermediate Girls) – 3km	DNF	Illness

Calder Winter Sports

On Thursday the 9th of May, our Year 3-6 students competed in a range of sports at the Calder Winter Sports. It was fantastic to see our students enjoying the day and interacting with others from other schools. Thank you to all staff and Sport and Rec. students who assisted on the day.

Mr P’s Secondary PE Student of the Week:

This week Mr P would like to acknowledge Caleb Gault. Caleb’s effort over the past month in HPE classes has been fantastic. He has shown great resilience, doing his best to avoid distraction and give his best. Caleb is being an active learner by contributing to class discussions, offering opinions and ideas. Well done Caleb. Keep this going!!

Miss M’s Primary PE Student of the fortnight is: Samuel Turnbull. Sam always displays a positive attitude and always gives each activity his best efforts. He always remembers to bring his drink bottle to class. Well done, Sam, keep it up!

Miss Milne and Mr Pettifer, Sports Coordinators

Semester 1 Reports

Change to Reports for Semester 1 for students in Foundation to Year 10

Over the past year the college has reviewed our reporting practices. This process commenced with asking for parent/guardian feedback during term 2 of last year. Over the past year, we have also investigated different approaches to reporting and have designed a report format that best meets the needs of our students and parents/guardians.

Parents/Guardians will find the new format easier to read, easier to locate information about your child’s performance and areas for future development within a subject. Parents/Guardians will be able to identify a student’s attitude to learning within the class across a number of areas.

Students will continue to be assessed against the Victorian Curriculum standards and outcomes. Parents and Guardians will clearly see their child’s level of attainment and the progress made from 6 previous.

All students across the college will be assessed against the same Attitudes to the Learning framework. The 5 areas are: Active Learning, Behaviour, On Time and Ready to Learn, Work Completion and Interacting with others.

There will be a 5-level scale for all attitudes to learning which are as follows:

EXCELLENT - The student has demonstrated this attitude at every instance.

VERY GOOD - The student has demonstrated this attitude most of the time.

GOOD – The student is demonstrating this attitude some of the time.

ACCEPTABLE – The student has made satisfactory effort in demonstrating this attitude.

NEEDS ATTENTION – The student needs to make a greater effort in demonstrating this attitude.

Teachers will also make an assessment against key skills that have been covered across the semester. These skills will be unique to the subject and class for that particular year level.

The Learning Skills scale students will be assessed against is as follows:

OUTSTANDING – The student has demonstrated this skill consistently, is able to help others develop the skill, and/or is able to apply the skill in a variety of contexts.

EXCELLENT – The student has demonstrated this skill regularly and is able to apply it in other contexts.

VERY GOOD – The student has been able to demonstrate this skill on multiple occasions.

GOOD - The student has demonstrated this skill on several occasions.

SATISFACTORY – The student has a basic understanding of the skill.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT – The student is making progress towards understanding this skill.

UNSATISFACTORY – The student has not mastered the skill.

NA – This skill does not apply to this student

There may be particular students who are working above or below the expected level. For these students, the teacher will specifically identify the level the student is being assessed.

Mr Fowles

OSHC Program

To Parent/Carers,

Please be aware, if your child/children has a booking to attend Wedderburn OSHC Program ensure that you inform the College of any changes which may arise. This needs to done only by the Parent/Carer and not by the student. This will avoid any confusion.

Thank you for your understanding.

Trina Vaughan, Melinda Springthorpe and Annette Hunt.

OSHC Coordinators.

Compass

Don't wait for the end of semester to view your child's progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child's Learning Tasks. Children also receive regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on you child's profile page.

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