The Junior Learning Centre has been a hive of activity over the past few weeks, as our Year 7 and 8 students reached the business end of Semester One. Students have been working hard to complete a variety of Common Assessment Tasks across their subjects, and I’d like to commend them all for their effort, focus, and resilience during this time.

We were especially impressed by our Year 7 History students, who recently transformed the Junior Learning Centre into a vibrant celebration of ‘The Charms of Ancient Egypt.’ Their creativity and knowledge were on full display at this captivating expo (see attached report and images). A heartfelt thank you to Year 7 History teacher, Nicole Thorne for her outstanding leadership in bringing this event to life. We can’t wait to see our Semester Two History students showcase their own historical highlights in Term 4!

As we approach the holidays, it’s a perfect opportunity for students to reflect on their Semester One Reports—celebrating their successes and considering areas for improvement as they plan for a strong start to Semester Two. With the final two weeks of term signalling the beginning of some new subjects, students are reminded to:

Take home all Semester One books and bring in the correct books and materials for their new subjects for Semester Two.
Check pencil cases and replace any missing or broken items.
Clean out lockers to ensure everything is neat, organised, and ready for a smooth transition. (Just like a clean bedroom, a tidy locker can do wonders for mental clarity!)

Outside the classroom, our Year 7 and 8s have been proudly representing Parkdale on the sporting field, performing in instrumental and vocal showcases, and even getting soaked in the Ice Bucket Challenge for ‘Parky’s Big Give’! Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a dedicated group of students has been rehearsing for our upcoming school musical, School of Rock. Have you secured your tickets yet? They’re selling fast!

Finally, I want to sincerely thank our student managers and teachers for their unwavering dedication to our Year 7 and 8 students. Their ongoing support, encouragement, and care help every learner thrive.

Wishing all our students and staff a restful and well-earned holiday break. We look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for Semester Two on Monday 21st July.

Year 7 History: An Afternoon at the Museum - Nicole Thorne Yr 7 History

This term, Year 7 students explored the fascinating world of Ancient Egypt as part of their History curriculum. To celebrate their learning, all Year 7 classes took part in a special lunchtime event ‘An Afternoon at the Museum’. This exhibition style showcase gave students the opportunity to present their research and creativity through themed displays, transforming the JLC open learning area into an engaging, student-led museum.

All three classes presented an exhibit titled “The Charm of Ancient Egypt.” Students worked in small groups to investigate specific aspects of Ancient Egyptian civilisation, including gods and goddesses, life along the Nile, the power of the pharaohs, and the rituals of mummification. Each group conducted research, designed a display, and chose how best to communicate their findings. The project encouraged collaboration, communication, and critical thinking, while also allowing students to take ownership of their learning.

Over three weeks, students researched, planned and prepared their exhibits, with displays completed by the end of Week 6. On the day of the event, students toured exhibits from other classes and took part in a peer review activity, voting for their favourite displays and reflecting on what they had learned. The event created a fun and educational atmosphere where students could both teach and learn from one another. It was wonderful to see students take pride in their work and share their knowledge with confidence and enthusiasm.

We are incredibly proud of the effort and curiosity our Year 7 students demonstrated throughout the project. An Afternoon at the Museum was a great success, and we look forward to more engaging learning experiences in the future!

Student Accounts

I really enjoyed this year’s Ancient Egypt Exhibition. I thought it was a great way to showcase what students have been working on for their topic on Ancient Egypt. It was fun seeing other groups exhibits, learning something new. The artefacts I worked on was really fun to create, and I felt like I made stronger connections with my group as we worked on the exhibit. Hearing teachers and other peers’ feedback on our exhibit made me happy and overall, it was a great experience, and I would love to do something like that again! Mariam Kavakavas 7D

I thought overall it was amazing; it was so interesting getting to see all the other projects and seeing just how much work people had put into all their projects. I found so many of them extremely interesting and loved learning all about the other aspects of ancient Egypt that my group didn't research. I also loved learning about my own group's aspect of ancient Egypt that we researched (hieroglyphics) I learnt so much, but my favourite thing was getting to explain all about our project and how the Egyptians used hieroglyphics in so many aspects of their lives. Noah Staines 7F

The exhibition was a fun way to show our learning, we got to be in groups with our friends and show our learning in interactive ways and we got to show the other classes.

Skye Fordham 7F

I think the process was good, we had lots of time to research our topic and plan our artefacts and interactive pieces. I really enjoyed the day because I got to show case what my group and I had learned and created as well as learning and seeing other people stalls. I hope the next set of year 7 that do this have as much fun as I did and learn as much and more. Layla Hughes 7B

I really enjoyed the exhibition and how it was set out so we could see all the made artefacts and things people built at home. The interactive tasks were really fun and I enjoyed looking around to see how well all of my classmates had gone with their exhibitions and how much time everyone put in. Dylan Brown 7D

STEP Coding

by Janelle Scott