Freeman

Although the term was only nine weeks, we have managed to squeeze in a range of activities for our students at Blackburn. Our Year 7’s and 8’s had an amazing time on their camps and the staff enjoyed the opportunity to work with our Freeman students outside of the classroom setting.

To continue building on the House spirit and culture, some of our students leaders attended a smoking ceremony for Sorry Day and participated in events for the Dunlop and Hollows fundraisers. Our students have been working hard preparing for exams and assessments and should be commended for their effort and motivation towards their studies.

We have managed to continue running our excursions, incursions and inter-school sports and the students have been excellent at representing the school during these events.

I would like to acknowledge the work of the Freeman staff in implementing the Mentor Program, checking in with students and continuing to build a sense of belonging for students to the House and school. It has been a busy semester and I hope all students and families enjoy their break and get ready to hit the ground running in Term 3.

Year 7 Camp

In early June, Freeman Year 7s joined Melba Year 7s (and teachers) for three cold, wet but action packed days in Kinglake. The camp had a focus on both well-being and adventure, in an amazing forest setting. It was fantastic to see students (and teachers) out of their comfort zone, doing forest walks, trust games, rope climbing courses and more. The food was top notch (crucial on a camp!) and the crew really embraced the setting and the focus. We came back to Melbourne on Friday afternoon challenged, looking forward to a warm bed and shower, yet also pumped and happy.

After two years of not being able to do this sort of thing, I know I really appreciated being able to connect with Freeman students in a cool setting, even if I could have had more sleep! Well done to all the students and teachers for being such champions.

Matt Joyce, Freeman Assistant House Leader

House Competitions

In the second half of Term 2, the students have been competing in an intra-house competition designed by our student leaders during Fun Friday. The students developed five activities; paper-plane competition, quiz, basketball free-throw competition, beanbag toss and a Blooket interactive game. All Mentor Groups will rotate through each of the activities and an overall winner will be announced early Term 3.