YEAR 8 CAMPUS NEWS

WEEK 7 REPORT

It is hard to believe the winter months are here and we are almost through one half of the school year. It is at this time that tired faces seem to becoming more numerous and our ability to cope with setbacks become less and less.

It is always worth reminding ourselves that Year 8 is traditionally a year where student engagement, morale and connectedness to school tend to hit their lowest point before hitting the VCE years. This is a challenge that teachers are fully aware of and try and combat through a variety of strategies, both in and out of the classroom. 

A variety of teaching techniques have been employed to keep students interested and engaged whilst still developing their academic growth. This doesn’t always work but we are fortunate that in most cases the relationships that have been built with the students at the beginning of the year are now strong enough to have these tough conversations when the need arises.

Last Friday saw the Year 8 cohort attend the Sunraysia combined Catholic schools Mass. 

Father Mick’s homily spoke about the experiences of a recent AFL debutant who was proud to have finished his schooling despite being an orphan and having overcome many obstacles. This was a message that many of our students could find beneficial as they navigate their schooling and other aspects of their life. The sense of community from this occasion was fantastic to be involved in.

Mr Marcus Parker

Head of Mercy Campus

MATHEMATICS AND THE HISTORY OF π

Year 8 Mathematics students have been studying the relationship between the circumference and the diameter of a circle. After an investigation that required students to measure a range of circles, students concluded that the circumference was approximately three times the length of the diameter.

Some of the student’s research revealed:

• The hunt for π began with the Babylonians and Egyptians, nearly 4000 years ago.
• The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes was credited with π’s first accurate measure.
• Mathematician began using the Greek letter π in the early 1700s.
• Π Day is celebrated on March 14 or 3/14, the Birthday of Albert Einstein.
• The record for finding the number of decimal places is credited to Fabrice Bellard, who calculated π to 2.7 trillion digits.
• So the challenge for our Year 8 students was to learn at least the first ten decimal places of pi and receive a pie reward ………………………….3.14159265358979……………

Mr Ian Rowland

Innovations Leader