Middle Years News

Year 9 Band Tour

On Monday 2 and 9 September, the Year 9 band visited both Good Shepherd and Golden Grove Lutheran primary schools. The purpose of the visit was to perform a 30 minute concert to each school, showcasing the talents of the Year 9s and entertaining the students with familiar songs. We performed a variety of popular songs including themes from movies such as The Incredibles, Aladdin and Frozen, as well as the Sesame Street theme and an ABBA medley. The concert featured some student interaction, including getting one of the primary school students to conduct the band.

It was really rewarding being able to perform songs that we had been working on for a long time. It was fun to see how the primary school students enjoyed the performance. Overall the band tour was a great experience for both the Year 9 band students and the primary schools.

Ashleigh Preiss

Year 9 student

‘Drive19’ ‘Get into Gear’

A Languages / Literacy / EALD Inquiry Project

‘Drive19’ is a Project Based Learning project that was undertaken at Endeavour College for the first time this year by the Year 9 Languages, Literacy and EALD classes. Students had the opportunity to drive their own learning by choosing a topic they were passionate about and connecting it to their study of German, Japanese or in the Literacy/EALD students case, another culture.

The emphasis for this project is ‘process over product’ which means students are assessed not only on their use of language but on their ability to think creatively and critically, to problem solve and to collaborate effectively with others.

Students celebrated their learning at ‘DriveIn19’, a convention style event held in the Year 8 space  on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 September .  ‘Drive19’ was also an opportunity for the Year 9 students to showcase their learning to Year 7 and 8 students in a creative way. We were astounded at the Year 9s efforts, and the exhibition was truly an amazing experience.

Kirsty Hansen

Languages Learning Leader

Reflections from students:

I think that I was very successful in this project. I engaged the audience very well.  The fact that I created a designing competition engaged the audience as they also got a chance to design their own kimonos. There were prizes for the competitors and there were also participation prizes for those who tried. People who believed that they were not good at drawing or not good at designing rejected the opportunity but I had tried to convince them to just give it a try as they still received candy for participation.  Katherine S

Reflection Journal Entry: 

Throughout this Drive19 journey, I've learnt to appreciate many things in life, even the little things form one big gift in life. This topic has taught me that in Japan, flowers are genuinely appreciated and respected, which is why they are considered as an important practice of art. I now appreciate and value nature like flowers and other natural resources as a way to pay respect to our natural world and environment. I've also learnt more about my emotions and how I genuinely feel, by expressing my feelings through the form of flower arranging. This method of expressing my emotions has helped me release stress and pressure from my mind and has allowed me to be true with myself and others. I feel more free, positive, grateful and motivated as my outlook on life.  Alicia D

The Drive19 Project was something the German, Japanese and Literacy classes had never participated in before. We were allowed a large amount of freedom and could choose an area of interest we wanted to focus on; something that we would enjoy researching or developing and connect it to Japan, Germany or another culture. Each week we had to fill out a reflection, tracking our progress up to the final exhibition, and we checked in with peers who gave us advice. This project required a large amount of discipline because we were allowed about eight or nine weeks to complete it. This meant that we had to manage our time well.  On Tuesday of Week 8, we had the “DriveIn19” to share our learning with the Year 7 and 8’s. ‘DriveIn19’ was an exhibition where we presented our projects creatively; we were challenged to think outside the box on how we were going to present and engage an audience. The Year 7 and Year 8 students voted for their favourite Japanese, German, Literacy/EALD exhibit.  ‘Drive19’ was a good opportunity to grow in independence and problem solve even when it was tough.  Andrea C and Alicia B

Year 8 & 9 Drama Excursion

Growing up, a sense of belonging, an imaginary friend and an amazing Theatre Company encapsulates all the ingredients that was the Year 8 and 9 Drama Focus excursion who saw Windmills Theatre Co production of Girl  Asleep. The original production revolves around original ideas while being reminiscent of a fairytale. Caught in the headlights of her 15th birthday, Greta wishes she could be anywhere else. And strangely enough ‘anywhere else’ is exactly where she finds herself – a peculiar Through-the-Looking-Glass existence that transforms the weird hypocrisy of the adult world into something absurdly beautiful. The twins who make school a misery, her almost too-romantic imaginary boyfriend, her hyperventilating parents … they all crop up in her tour of her own subconscious. But eventually, even a girl asleep has to wake up. The students absolutely loved this production, and for many of them it was their first time in the theatre. The drama department prides itself on exposing students to new theatrical experiences in a professional environment.

“ I Loved it!”

“Nothing like I expected, and I want to see it again!”

“It was so much fun!”

“Best excursion this year!”

Jamie Richards

Drama Learning Leader