Leader of Teaching & Learning
YEAR 9 iSTEM
iSTEM is a student centred subject delivering Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in an integrated way, reflecting how these things pervade every part of our lives. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM related concepts, they may develop a passion and pursue a job in a STEM field. A curriculum which is STEM based, has real life situations to help students learn. It is an exciting and innovative subject which promotes problem solving skills, collaboration, design, thinking and project based learning.
During Term 1 and early Term 2, students had been exploring concepts about bridge building. Students worked in small groups for their assessment task. Each group was required to plan, design and construct a bridge made out of dry spaghetti. The students came up with unique designs for their bridges. Using their research, they discovered many key points which they incorporated into their design. During their research investigations, students realised that triangles were stronger than other shapes (rectangle, square etc.) So the decision was made to have triangles in their bridges to help with strength and flex. Once all bridges were completed, the class dedicated a lesson to testing (and eventually destroying) their creations. Teachers, Ms Julie Hodges and Mrs Briony Martin, carried out the process by hanging weights from the bridge. All bridges constructed, held more than 4 kilograms, and some of the designs were so efficient that larger weights from the Science Labs had to be brought in to fully test (break) them. Students submitted a folio, which recorded their construction processes; evidence of research for idea generation; discussion points; experimental testing, production and final evaluation.
In the end, all bridges were successfully tested and our best one held over 10 kilograms! This is an amazing result, considering that it was made from spaghetti and hot glue. Students learnt about critical and innovative thinking, collaboration, problem solving in a challenging and safe environment. Students thought the project was fun and are looking forward to their next topic on aerodynamics.
Angeleena-Treesa Tijo (Yr 9 iSTEM student) and Ms Julie Hodges (iSTEM Teacher)
Amazing Enviro-Race 2019
The annual Enviro-Race hosted by Sustainable Northwest was held last week at the Carter Street cricket fields. This year saw a record 33 students from years 7-12 participate in a series of challenges based on environmentally friendly practices and awareness of natural ecosystem structures. There were 18 activities in total, all completed in a timed race. It was great to see our students engage with local community groups who are passionate about sustainability. A wonderful day was had by all. A huge thank you to James Smith, Sara Lui and Stephanie Koukides from the College's Environmental Council who volunteered to assist at the various activity stations.
Mrs Sharon Stuart - Geography Teacher
MUSIC
On Thursday 13 June, bands and ensembles from McCarthy will be competing in the Tamworth Eisteddfod. This year, we have a Brass Ensemble and a Saxophone Ensemble competing against each other in the ensemble section. Our Jazz Band will be competing in the Stage Band category, and the Concert Band will also be competing. These groups have been very focused, practising and refining their pieces for this competition. The first session for the day begins at 10:00am, at the Tamworth Town Hall, and it would be great to have some supporters in the audience.
The Music students have also continued to provide music on a variety occasions. The choir and some musicians have provided the music for both the Edmund Rice Mass at the beginning of Term, and the Catholic Schools' Week Mass last Friday. Thank you to all students involved. A group of Year 9 musicians have also been providing the music for Youth Masses on the last Sunday of each month. These students are doing a great job and adding to the Mass.
It is wonderful to see so many of our students sharing their musical talents both at McCarthy and in the community. If you have any questions about the Music program, please don't hesitate to contact the College.
Ms Donna Swan - Music
YEAR 12 ANCIENT HISTORY
On Friday 24 May Year 12 Ancient History students attended lectures at UNE on their core topic of Pompeii and Herculaneum. They included a visit to the Museum of Antiquities and students were able to get a textbook signed by Brian Brennan who was the lecturer.
Mrs Susan Barrett - HSIE Teacher
ELEVATE EDUCATION
Year 11 and 12 will experience workshops delivered by Elevate Education in Week 9. These sessions are timed so that Year 12 are supported going into the Trial HSC, early Term 3, and it builds on their sessions from last year. Year 11 need to be preparing study notes, over the Term 2 holiday period, in an effort to be well-prepared for the exams at the end of Term 3. Hopefully the strategies used by Elevate consolidate students skills in study and revision along with the additional resources McCarthy offer.
Elevate have provided follow up resources to their program via an online portal. Access to their student and parent portals are found by clicking on each link. The portal password is “rondo”.
YEAR 10 MINIMUM STANDARDS TESTING
Due to some minor technical issues, we will be rescheduling the Year 10 Minimum Standards Testing. The students will be notified of the new time through their Mentor Groups.
STUDY SKILLS TIP FOR JUNE: IMPROVING TYPING AND HANDWRITING SKILLS
So you don’t have much homework tonight? Assignments and study notes up to date? Have you ever thought about spending a bit of time each night learning touch typing? Touch typing is when you can type without looking at the keys while you type. This means you can type much faster than if you had to look and see where each key is, and it means you can keep looking at whatever it is you are typing instead of the keys. This is an incredibly useful skill to develop – it will help you at school and later in life as well, improving your efficiency and speeding up work on assignments and essays. Once you learn touch typing, you will know where the keys are located on the keyboard through your sense of touch and you will be able to look at the screen or whatever you are typing rather than the keyboard.
On www.studyskillshandbook.com.au there is a section to get you started on your journey of learning touch typing. Click on unit Technology Tools and on the Learning Touch Typing page you will find links to lots of free software to help you develop your touch typing skills as well as some great tips to get you started. There is also a discount voucher to the professional TypeQuick course. Being able to touch type will definitely make life easier for the students in the senior years and beyond. 10 minutes practice a day could end up making a big difference.
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