Senior School
Certainly, the highlight of the last few weeks has been the return of our much loved and much missed students! To ensure students felt extremely welcome, Year Level Coordinators performed a number of specifically designed activities to re-establish relationships and start the Staged Return to Oxley well.
Year 7 students were greeted with a morning of games to help reacquaint them in their return to their first year in Senior School.
Year 8 students were treated to a COVID-friendly marshmallow campfire toasting. It’s hard to say who enjoyed this Aussie culinary delight more, the students or Mr Gaschk!
Year 9 students returned to a morning of exciting activities followed by a COVID-safe morning tea, performed in the beautifully decorated Year 9 Courtyard and surrounds – thanks Middle Years Leaders!
Year 10 and 11 students were greeted with passageways of lanterns, symbolising their re-entry into the learning environment at Oxley. They also had the opportunity to enjoy a catered morning tea.
Year 12 students had been welcomed previously with the festivities of Year 12 Final Day events, including a giant slide and an assortment of competitive games. Points from the games were accumulated and will be used to help establish the winning sports House for 2021. More information on how sporting events for the remainder of the year will be modified and conducted will be provided to students. The competition in 2021 is still very much alive!
Most Year 12 students also had the opportunity to formally commence their external assessments or examinations, commencing with English, or English as an Additional Language, on Wednesday 27 October. Students and staff believe they had been well prepared for this assessment and that it seemed a fair examination of what had been outlined in the Study Design. It was a solid beginning to the examination period. We continue to wish Year 12 students and Year 11 Fast-Tracking students the best and our prayers and support for each young person will continue.
Returning students will have noticed the progress of the building works over the last term and a half. Significant excavation has occurred as the land has been shaped in preparation for the long awaited Middle Years Building. The first concrete slab has been poured beyond the temporary fencing adjacent to the Senior Building and provides an idea of the size and scope of this substantial enterprise. It is indeed exciting to be a part of such an impressive development!
Another significant unveiling was that of the Senior School Production for 2022. We are looking ahead excitingly to Disney’s The Little Mermaid, a musical version of the fairy tale penned by Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, and first published in 1837. Auditions are now available to Senior School students.
As we remove masks at school (when outside), celebrate the safe return of our students, and work together as a staff to assist each young person in setting up for an amazing future, we thank the entire community for their enormous efforts over the last two years. It has been a challenging time and we know that in Australia we have suffered lower casualties than many other countries, for which we are all very grateful. We also acknowledge, however, that none of us have been untouched by a tiny, invisible to the naked eye, coronavirus that has changed the world forever. I give great thanks to God for His protection, unyielding constancy, unfathomable, unmerited favour and unfailing grace.
Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 106:1
Greg Barker
Deputy Principal – Head of Senior School