Hakea House

In Term 3 students settled well into remote learning classes after initially starting the term onsite. This has not been ideal as we all prefer to be learning at school, however, we have been incredibly proud of how students from all year levels have been engaging in their learning. Attendance has been very pleasing with the majority of our students attending above 90%. Students will be receiving awards for their Learning Achievement for this term in recognition of their efforts by their teachers. These students are to be commended for their work ethic during this challenging time.

While working remotely has been challenging, we have found ways to ensure our learning programs have continued. Term 3 is when students choose their pathways for the following year. All year levels have been participating in conferences, both in groups and individually to support planning of courses for 2021. For our Year 10 students it is a particularly exciting time as they get to choose their senior studies pathways, selecting from a VCE, VCE/VET or VCAL/VET courses. Interviews were conducted online; it was lovely to have many parents also join us in meetings. Our Year 10 students are to be congratulated for the responsibility they took in preparing for their interviews, researching their pathways, being on time for meetings and making choices that they felt excited about. We are very excited to see them pursue these pathways in 2021.

I would like to thank Nilly from Careers whose guidance and support is second to none. She will continue to support our students as they move through their senior years and beyond. 

Our Year 12 VCE students are finishing their final SACs for Unit 4 and are starting to prepare for the upcoming exams. Our VCAL students have been working on their coursework and are starting to look forward to getting back to work placements as the restrictions lift hopefully in Term 4. Our senior students have been incredible in maintaining their work effort during what has been an extraordinary time. We are incredibly proud of them. They have shown resilience and determination to remain focused on their studies. There is a sadness for the events that have been missed but they have bonded over the challenges and have no doubt developed personal qualities that will be part of them forever.

We are very privileged in Hakea to have many student leaders, both school captains, the school SRC captain as well as our House captains and SRC Year 12 captain. This group have been an amazing support to the students in the House and across the school. They have led students in seeking out the positives, creating challenges and supporting as best they can. The Hakea SRC created a Kahoot about the school for students to do in Learning Tutor classes. This was very creative and was enjoyed by all Hakea students – and staff.

Our Year 7 and 8 students also had the opportunity to select their electives for 2021, something they have to look forward to. In Term 4 they will be participating in PBL - Project Based Learning. Year 7s will be designing and building a Rube Goldberg machine and Year 8s will be building a ‘house of the future’. Teachers will be supporting students with necessary materials. I am sure there will be some amazing creations from this work over the coming weeks. 

From the Hakea staff, we wish our families the very best for the holiday period.

Andrea Bellgrove

Hakea House Leader