End of Term 2

Young Achievers Program

It has been an extremely busy, but industrious time for the students in the Young Achievers Program. I would like to share some of the recent successes.

Term 2 PBL Projects – TED Talks

At the end of last term, our students presented their TED Talks. This was the culmination of an entire term’s worth of work. They were tasked with presenting a TED Talk that answered the question, ‘Is There a Perfect Warrior?’. Using their knowledge and understanding from Science, History, Maths, PD/H/PE and English, each pair had 10 minutes to present their ideas in an engaging and informative presentation.

Many pairs concluded that there is in fact, no perfect warrior, and successfully integrated their different learning areas to make their case. The marking team were highly impressed by the confidence, public speaking skills and teamwork on display. Each student is to be congratulated on achieving their personal best and working out of their comfort zones.

 

Young Achievers Celebration Evening

The annual Young Achievers Celebration Eveningwas held on Wednesday 25 July. The night was an incredible display of the inspiring and meaningful learning happening every day in the Program. Guests were engaged and entertained by displays, presentations and performances from a range of subjects. Our guests were particularly impressed with the mathematical board games on display, as well as the PBL websites created in Term 1. Each Young Achiever is to be congratulated on their outstanding contributions so far this year.

I would like to thank the Young Achievers Program teachers for their ongoing support, and their contributions to the night; parents, caregivers and friends for attending; and most of all to the students who inspire us each and every day. A special thank you must also go to Corey Beaman and Matt Murphy, both in Year 9, for their sound and lighting work on the night.

 

Presenters and performers:

  • Skye Regan, Oliver Debus, Kyle Dowling, Joel Trainor and Benjamin Toohey – Year 8 Band
  • Tram Nguyen – Piano Solo
  • Arabella Kimber and Megan Blair – TED Talk (Year 8)
  • Alexander McGavin and Will Dallinger – TED Talk (Year 7)

Term 3 PBL Projects – Mission to Mars

Our students have just been given their PBL Projects for Term 3, and they are eager to get started. This project has a strong Mathematics and Science focus, with a creative twist. They have been tasked with planning and coordinating a new Martian colony. Their report must cover a number of aspects such as colony layout, resource management, transport and demographic requirements. They must also create promotional material of their choice to support their report. We are very much looking forward to what they come up with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Blake Wawrzyk 

Young Achievers Program Coordinator

Year 7 and 8 Yap (History)

Term 2 saw both Yap classes delve into the world of the Vikings. Together we learnt how the Vikings were a group of people that took what they needed through raids and conquest, leaving their mark on history. The culmination of our study led myself and a group of Year 7,8 and 11 students to design and develop an educational board game to end our topic on a memorable note.

Both classes were placed into the historic clans of the Vikings and everyone was given a role within that clan. Some were fishermen, farmers, hunters, merchants, warriors and Jarls (Earls). This allowed each student to view the era in a unique way and to give a special contribution to the game itself.

Our game received its name ‘Konungr’ which in old Norse means King. The aim of the game was to gather resources to build up your clan’s power allowing you to send raiding parties and even armies to conquer other parts of the world. At the end of the game the clan with the most land and resources wins. As you could imagine, some of these clans formulated schemes to wage war against the other clans, which lead to some heated battles and debates.

 

The students dressed themselves in their clan’s colors while some applied warpaint. The game lasted all day and ended with each year groups high kings being crowned. We had a fun time and learned more about the reasons the Vikings left Scandinavia and why they settled where they did. I would like to acknowledge Carter Purvis, Megg Watts, Megan Blair, Arabella Kimber, Ellanor Meese, Abby Welsby, Kirsty Abigail, Tally McIntyre, Katie Lewis, Jack Burridge, Bodene Gilham and Caylyn Dumpert, who made this project possible with their contributions and dedications.

Mr Mitch Herring 

Young Achievers Program Teacher