Director of Student Engagement Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Newsletter- week 2

A warm welcome back for term 3! It has been wonderful to see students settle into term 3 so smoothly, arriving ready to learn and bringing great energy back into our classrooms. A big congratulations to our whole school community for such a positive start.

NAIDOC Assembly

Last week we came together to celebrate NAIDOC week with a whole school assembly. Student behaviour throughout the assembly was excellent, with everyone showing respect and engagement from start to finish.

Our school captains did a wonderful job sharing stories about First Nations idols, highlighting the achievements and contributions of inspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander figures. Students enjoyed a beautiful music performance delivered in the Aboriginal language Yawuru, a moving reminder of the richness and importance of language and culture. A special thank you goes to our KESO, Alan Johnson, for joining us for the assembly. His continued support of our First Nations students and our school community is greatly valued.

Year 7 SEAL and Year 8 Marketing Madness Expo: Where Energy Meets Entrepreneurship

The school’s LC space was recently transformed into a vibrant marketplace as our Year 8 students hosted the annual Marketing Madness Expo. This highly anticipated event served as the final challenge of their cross-disciplinary unit, tasking students with the dual challenge of becoming both junior engineers and budding entrepreneurs.

The core of the project required students to design and build a toy from scratch—strictly "no store-bought items allowed". The goal was to create a functional prototype that clearly demonstrated energy transfers and transformations. Visitors were treated to an array of clever contraptions, with students confidently explaining the science behind their toys, using flow charts and Sankey diagrams to map out how energy shifted from one form to another. 

However, the Expo was about more than just the mechanics; it was a test of persuasion. Drawing on their Humanities lessons, student groups developed comprehensive marketing campaigns to bring their products to life. Stalls were expertly branded with catchy slogans, professional-looking posters, and persuasive brochures designed to capture the audience's attention.

Throughout the afternoon, the LC was filled with the sounds of students "spruiking" their wares, handling spontaneous questions from visitors, and maintaining constant engagement to secure their "sales" (votes).

This project was a fantastic display of teamwork, creativity, time management and organisation. From the initial brainstorming and budgeting to the final product launch, our Year 8s demonstrated resilience and ingenuity, successfully merging scientific principles with real-world business strategy.

Congratulations to all our Year 8 students on a successful Expo and a job well done! 

Here’s what some of our students had to say: 

“The Marketing Madness Expo was one of my favourite large scale tasks I participated in all year. Although we all had to work hard, being in groups and spreading the workload out made it easier to manage. It was so cool seeing what everyone had made and how each group's toy actually worked. I also particularly loved talking to all the people about my group's product and getting to explain all the work we put into it.” - Sarah, 8G

"Marketing Madness was a rapturous event, filled with loads of preparation, crafting, and planning. I enjoyed working with my friends to create a vibrant, diverting toy. This project taught us about the importance of marketing and business in the future, combining our topic on energy, in the funnest way possible. This project was definitely a key highlight of my year." - Eliana :D

Thank you to all year 7 SEAL and Year 8 Science and Humanities teachers for their planning and supervision of students throughout the Marketing Madness project. Also, to all visiting teachers and students who helped vote for our winners. 

Year 8 Scienceworks: Powering Up Our Learning

Our Year 8 students recently traded the classroom for the hands-on wonders of Scienceworks, turning a day of exploration into a fantastic deep dive into their current "Energy" and "Electricity" units of work.

The excursion provided a perfect real-world landscape to apply the scientific models we have been developing in class, specifically focusing on energy transfers and electrical circuits.

Highlights from the day included:

• The Electricity Room: This was the ideal environment to see our classroom theory on voltage and current in action. Students moved beyond simple diagrams, observing how energy is transferred within circuits and testing the practical behavior of conductors and insulators in complex setups.
• Sportsworks Exhibition: Here, the focus shifted to kinetic and potential energy. Students actively explored how human movement acts as an energy source, providing a dynamic demonstration of energy transformation—from the chemical energy stored in our muscles to the kinetic energy required for sport.
• Planetarium Show ("Where is the water?"): This immersive experience extended our knowledge of water sources across the Solar System and the forms of water that exist throughout our planetary system but could also extend throughout the broader universe. 
• Think Ahead Exhibition: To wrap up, students explored future technologies in the Think Ahead exhibition. This provided a glimpse into how the scientific principles of energy transfer we study today are applied to solve real-world problems and design the sustainable energy solutions of tomorrow.

This excursion was a brilliant way to see how the concepts of circuits, energy transfer, and water play out in the world around us. It was great to see students making these connections, effectively moving between the "world of models" we use in class and the real-world environment of the museum.

Here’s what some of our students had to say:

“The Science Works excursion had so many cool exhibits and interactive things to look at and play with. It was really cool seeing lightning contained in a metal cage and hearing it play music too. We also learnt about planets and the different states of matter water can be found in. I found out how to spell my name in binary code too via one of the smaller exhibit pieces. It was definitely fun to get out of the classroom too.” - Sarah, 8G

"Our trip to Scienceworks was extremely amusing. The year 8's went through a series of educational, yet exciting activities, including the sports room that was filled with all types of games, to the dreamy soundscape educating us about the wonders of space. I enjoyed every part of it, and I loved how it informed us in such an entertaining way! The excursion was truly electrifying!' - Eliana, 8G

 Well done to all our Year 8s for their inquisitive engagement throughout the day! A huge thank you goes out to Bryony Lowe, Learning Specialist for Junior School for her coordination of this excursion and also to all teaching staff and ES staff who attended on the day to make it such a successful experience. 

Student Achievement

On Wednesday, Zander Howell was presented with the Premier’s Award for VCE Biology. He achieved a perfect score of 50 in 2025, a true testament to his hard work and determination. Congratulations Zander, we are all proud of you. 

Julia Hockey

Director of Student Engagement