Middle School
News
Year 10 Period 0 classes
Please note that all Year 10 students have a period 0 class on their timetable. This means that they are expected to be in class at 8.15am for a half period. These sessions are compulsory for students to attend and non-attendance will be followed up.
Work Experience
Year 10 students will undertake their Work Experience from Monday 20th of June for one week. This is a terrific opportunity for the students to get a taste of what it is like in the workforce and in an area that is related to a potential career. Year 10 students who have not arranged a Work Experience placement will be required to attend school for that week.
Uniform
Over the last few months we have continued to be vigilant about students wearing appropriate school uniform. They have been consistently reminded that socks must be plain black in the winter months and plain white in the summer months. Logos or branding of any sort is not acceptable. Students have also been clearly informed that jumpers with hoods are not allowed under any circumstance. We have been so pleased by the continued support of parents and also students and wish to see this continue in future.
InterGREAT NEWs
As noted in the previous newsletter, our focus this term in InterGREAT has been encouraging students to recognise those who make a difference in the local community and making a contribution of their own. We have established a range of partnerships with groups and organisations in the Maroondah area, which enable students to visit and volunteer their time and services and thus give back in a positive way through their Community Engagement.
Over a period of one month students will spend up to two hours a week on their Community Engagement. These projects include assisting primary school students at Heathmont East and Great Ryrie Primary Schools, visiting Olivet Aged Care to interact with residents there and provide garden maintenance, working with intellectually disabled students from Your DNA, assisting the Maroondah Council in in variety of projects, knitting for the needy, teaching technology to less confident users and building a vegetable patch at RSC. Here is some of the student feedback that we received following their first Engagement last Tuesday:
Art with REALM
"For my Community Engagement project I will be involved in curating an art and creating pieces for the art exhibition for the Maroondah City Council. Today, accompanied by Richard Holt, my group was led on a trail along Maroondah where we were able to see the public art displays. On the trail we were able to gather some ideas for the own exhibition as well develop a better understanding of the many ways Art was involved in making a difference in the community. I felt today was great, and I found it very interesting and pleasant to see other forms of making a difference in the community, including art. I am most looking forward to planning and creating the actual exhibition as well as enjoying the whole process. I think that the artwork we saw today has made a difference in community in terms of embellishing a space for the public, as well as paying homage to the community's and its residents' heritage. Some of the artwork has made a huge difference in the community by addressing some issues, and bringing light to many situation where the residents of the Maroondah community are also able to make difference in the larger community. It has also helped the artists, by giving them an opportunity of having their work displayed and make a difference in the community.” - Akanksha S.
"For my Community Engagement program I am involved in creating an art exhibition in the city council of Maroondah. Today, my group and I walked on an art trail led by Richard, to gain some inspiration for what we might create, as well as knowledge of some of the public art displays already existing in Ringwood. We will be contributing to the community by providing people with an artistic and visual view of what it means to be part of the Maroondah municipality.” - Ianthe V.
Olivet Aged Care
"Today, myself and some other students embarked on our journey to Olivet Aged Care Facility. There were many jobs available to do; gardening, high-care patients, Physio and choir. I was involved in the later. However, my role was fairly different to everyone else's, as they were all singing, and I was playing the accompaniment on piano. This was fun, although rather challenging. The choir made a difference to the lives of the elderly by providing a social activity, that is fun and entertaining, as well as teaching them about the beauty of music. Specifically, I made a difference by aiding and assisting the choir in making their music by providing live musical backing. That is how I think I made a difference to the community today.” - Lachie W.
"Today I assisted with helping high care residents. I supervised two dementia patients when taking them out on walks. There were three other people in my allocated group for dementia residents. I found the experience worthwhile since it helped me see sides of the community I would have never otherwise looked at.” - Lara M.
Primary School Buddies
"I helped young children at Heathmont East Primary with their literacy. We also had the pleasure of playing Simon Says with them. It would be better if we got to have three periods allocated to this program, so we could have a more engaging experience.” - Maddy M.
"Today I went down to Great Ryrie Primary and had an awesome time working with the preps. For the first few minutes my job was to keep this little one focused because he was known for zoning out. In the end I was quite happy as the teacher had said that this was about the first time he had ever finished his work. I also played a fishing game with them where they had to fish for words and figure out how to read them. And we also listened to the teacher read to the kids. I am looking forward to seeing them again but also working with another year level to see how that’s like. Today I feel like I showed quite a lot of patience so I think I did make a positive difference as I was able to help and support a kid that wouldn't have gotten as much attention usually because of the number of students in the class.” - Nanda G.
"For my Community Engagement i am going to Great Ryrie Primary School, in 1/2 A. Today I met the lovely group of kids and helped them with their writing about their plants, I listened to a few of them read to me in library time, and I also helped identify animals into the categories like mammals, reptiles etc., in their computer time. I'm really excited for next time because I know a few of them now and I know what to expect. They make a difference to the community by telling their parents about what they had learnt, expanding their knowledge and the parents and maybe sparking future biologists.” - Ebony L.
Knitting for the Needy
"Today for our Community Engagement, I did "knitting for the needy". This activity helps bring warmth to the people in need, such as children in hospitals, homeless people, and asylum seekers. Throughout the two lessons I had, struggled through the hard task of learning how to knit, but towards the end, I could some what manage to complete one row, which i was way too proud of. Overall I really enjoyed this activity, it made me feel accomplished, and I'm looking forward to, actually making something that would provide warmth fro people in need.” - May L.
"I am doing "Knitting for the Needy", which is one of the on campus activities. Today we were just going through the basics of knitting. I sew a small square and learnt how to cast on. Next week I am hoping to bring my knitting from home so I can continue knitting a scarf to give to someone in need. The knitting will go to either refugees or patients in the oncology center. By learning these new skills, I will be able to make more things for more people, furthering my help to the community.” - Lana L.
Teaching Technology
"For my community engagement project I was helping people with technology. Our group was in room 105 where all of the computers are. The person I worked with wanted to be able to put all of his finances onto a spreadsheet and how to sort everything into folders for easy access. Along the way we had some interesting conversations about