Playgroup

Foundation & One

The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. We have been busy writing letters to Santa to convince him of the presents we would dearly love. First, we had to list all the ways we had been good. This wasn't very hard! We also got into the Christmas spirit last Friday when we participated in various outdoor Chrissy activities. These included, ' Baubles and Spoons', 'Snowball Throw' and 'Shopping Showdown'. Christmas surprises continued on Thursday 1st December, when the Grinch (Mr Forrest) visited us!

We will continue our end-of-year celebrations into the following week. Next week we will also be sending home 'Readers' for your child to share with family members and to celebrate the progress they have made.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year.

Mrs Chalmers, Classroom Teacher

Years 1 & 2

How the year has flown!

It has been a busy last few weeks of the school year, including our swimming program that is running every day this week.

Last week the Year Twos were very excited to receive Chromebooks and have enjoyed beginning to learn to touch type, research and type documents.

Please check Compass for details and dates that will affect your child as the year draws to a close.

Thank you for your support and enjoy the break but of course…… please keep your child reading over the holidays!

Mrs McKenzie, Classroom Teacher

Years 3 & 4

A couple of weeks ago the Grade 3 and 4 students were very lucky to go on camp down to Anglesea. We started on the journey to Anglesea with a four-hour bus ride. Once we arrived the fun began! The students were involved in several activities which provided countless new experiences for many of them. These experiences included the flying fox, a low ropes course, archery, beach games, bodyboarding, and roaming with reptiles! All students loved every minute of the camp experience.

Student Reviews:

My favourite thing about camp was that we got to go on the flying fox. We also got to go to the beach, which was really fun! – Maora P

My favourite thing on camp was getting to do archery because I got a bullseye! - Charlie F

My favourite thing about camp was getting to go to the beach, go on the flying fox and archery. These were new experiences for me and they were really fun! – Zane P

My favourite thing on camp was going bodyboarding at the beach because I have never done that before. The whole camp was really fun though. – Chelsie T

My favourite thing on camp was bodyboarding at the beach because I nose-dived and got a mouth full of water! – Luke M

The flying fox was my favourite activity because it went really fast! – Nate C

Miss Trembath, Classroom Teacher

Year 5 & 6A

Boy, it has been a busy couple of weeks for Grade 5/6A! Kindmas has begun and we have all been busy making Gingerbread houses, writing kind messages to others, STEM challenges such as making candy-cane grabbers and enjoying Chipmas and the Great Baked Bean Saga by experimenting whether different chip packets and baked bean tins still held the same quality of chips and baked beans.

This week, we are enjoying our swimming lesson and some relaxing Kindmas tasks as we wind down to the end of year. Grade 6’s have enjoyed a day of Yr 7 Transistion, while the Grade 5’s have begun writing their speeches for Grade 6 leadership positions.

Best wishes to you all for an enjoyable Christmas, a Happy New year and a well deserved break. We have loved teaching you all this year and enjoyed facing different challenges with you.

Miss Campbell and Miss Higgins, Classroom Teachers

Year 5 & 6B

This term, the Grade 5/6 B class has enjoyed learning about Natural Disasters that occur throughout the world. In number groups we learnt about fractions, decimals and percentages. We have also been able to apply our learning in practical ways.

The Grade 6 students are looking forward to next year and we wish them all the very best.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the students for their efforts and willingness to work hard throughout the year. I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas with family and friends, and I look forward to seeing you all in 2023.

Mrs Turnbull, Classroom Teacher

Year 7 Transition Day

Christmas Tree Festival Art Awards

Science Incursion

On Tuesday 29th November a team of Science and Engineering students from RMIT visited Wedderburn College to run Science activities with students from Years 5 to 8. Students broke up into small groups to work with an RMIT mentor. Students were provided with the required materials and instructions to design and build Stomp Rockets. When all groups had completed their rockets, they took it in turns to fly them in the KLC. Students were able to adjust the angle of launch to aim the rocket at a target eg. basketball ring. Students were excited to see how well they flew and some with a high degree of accuracy.

Mr Merritt, Science Teacher

Inquiry Based Learning

This year at Wedderburn College, some classes have been engaged with Inquiry Based Learning (IBL). This is where students are able to investigate topics of their own choosing within units of work, research their topics and present their findings, again in a manner of their own choosing.

In Year 8 Food Technology, students investigated topics related to food waste which saw students looking at the use of biofuels, carrying out experiments into food preservation, putting together a book of smoothie recipes designed to use up left overs, looking at human powered smoothie makers, researching the food waste charities OzHarvest and Foodbank, investigating waste in the meat industry, building a worm farm and cooking and selling cupcakes to raise money for Foodbank.

In Year 10 English, an IBL unit on Social Media had students looking at issues such how influencers can affect body dysmorphia, Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the history of games such as Fortnite and NBA 2K, a creative story on cyberbullying told using anime and the production of a children’s book on how to deal with cyberbullying.

Most students chose to present their work as posters, some of which are shown below. These were all really successful pieces of work, which saw most students very interested and engaged in what they were learning. The IBL projects will be on display at Presentation Evening on December 13, and it would be lovely to have as many people come to see them as possible.

Ms Moody

Year 9

Don Valley Visit

On Friday the 2nd of December, Mr Forrest and Ms Milne were lucky enough to be invited to see our Year 9 girls at the Don Valley Leadership Camp. The girls are doing very well, learning alot and have made many new friends. They are involved in different committees that suit their interests such as Catering, T-Shirt and Photography/Documentaries. Some of their highlights have been the Expo groups, cricket using sticks and just making new friends.

On the day, all students presented their Community Learning Project. It was highlighted with Ella rapping about books. We can’t wait to see the Street Libraries come to fruition. All three spoke so well and have been fantastic representatives of our College.

This week is sadly their last week on this wonderful camp. We look forward to seeing them back with us (hopefully) Monday.

Homeroom

Year 9 Class Lunch Party and Secret Santa is scheduled for Tuesday the 13th of December. A reminder to bring in a dish to share with the group (remember, no nuts or coconut ). All students have received the person they are buying for. Further details are on compass.

Finally, I want to wish you all a wonderful and safe Christmas break. See you next year.

Maths

In Maths, we have been finishing off the year with some games and problem solving. We had two teams compete to see who could complete the Escape Room first, with team Kalais, Libby, Charlotte, Charlee and Amelia coming out on top. It was fantastic to see our students work well together to get the tasks done.

Year 11

On Wednesday 23 November we finally got to head off to Torquay for our much-anticipated Year 11 Camp.

The trip down was full of lots of laughs and terrible singing. We had a quick stop off at Westfield Geelong to grab some lunch and do some shopping.

It was then onto the final stretch to Torquay, arriving at camp where we settled into our cabins. We had a quick look at the beach before it was off to do shopping for our MasterChef challenge. We were given a budget of $10 per person to create a 3-course meal amongst our cabins. Entrees varied from salads to garlic balls. Main courses ranged from spaghetti bolognaise, pizza, enchiladas, and chicken pasta. The desserts consisted of melted marshmallow brownies that somehow turned into burnt mud cake, self-saucing butterscotch pudding, cookies, and chocolate ripple cake. Every cabin created amazing food, with the judges commenting it was the best they have ever had. Our night finished with an evening walk along the beach.

Thursday morning for some started at 4:30am to get ready for a 5am walk. Others preferred their beauty sleep and got up for a 6:30am walk. Once we returned from our walk we filled up on bacon and eggs before heading off to our surfing lesson. The waves were rough and strong but with the help of our legendary surfing instructors Nibbles and Roger nearly everyone got up on at least their knees. Everyone had a great time surfing despite some nerves at the start. One of the hardest parts of surfing was getting back out after surfing in as the waves were so strong. We think everyone would agree getting the wetsuits on and off was more challenging than surfing. Once we got back from surfing, we grabbed some lunch, and it was time to explore more of Torquay.

Most of us investigated the surf shop outlets grabbing some bargains as the ‘real’ surf shops were out of our budget. Some spent some time exploring the beaches and a few of us headed to the Great Ocean Road Volleyball Festival to watch Australia vs Japan and Czech Republic.

We caught up for ice cream at Augustus Gelatery. We stood there in disbelief at the array flavours we could have. After this it was time for the traditional fish and chips on the beach. Yes, we had dessert before tea. After finishing our fish and chips, we headed to Bells Beach to watch the sunset and surfers riding the big waves of Bells. It was then back to Torquay where some of us decided to go down and play beach cricket while others had some downtime in their cabins.

Friday came around a lot quicker than we all thought. Once again some were up for the 5am walk while others opted for the 6:30am walk. We ate breakfast, packed our bags and headed for Geelong where it was time to explore more before grabbing some lunch and hitting the road. Some tired campers slept on the way home, while others practised their singing.

We would like to thank Mr G, Mrs Woodman and Kelsea for an awesome time away, taking us and putting up with us.

Eliza, Neve, Pippi & Zen

Year 12 Graduation

13 Years, Done and dusted!

On Friday the 18th of November, the graduating, Year 12 Class of 2022 had their final and private hoorah - Grad Night.

Grad Night is an occasion that many high-school students can’t wait to attend. A night where you are officially free from the proverbial shackles of school. It was an occasion that many of the students of this year's graduating class had been looking forward to attending for many years now.

Expectations payed off. It was a night of fun, sadness, tears, nostalgia, memories and goodbyes for many. It was finally the night that our lives began and school finished.

Yet, among all of the glee; there was a bittersweet undertone that carried itself with all those in attendance. As previously mentioned it was goodbye for many, and an end to the close connections that senior students had formed with classmates and teachers, and as much as there was sadness towards this happenstance, the night was still a raging success.

The guest speaker, Louis Holt, told an inspiring story of resilience and following passions. Mrs. Woodman delivered a heartfelt speech recounting the time she had spent with all of us over the the last four years. School Captains, Aliza and Olivia Lockhart delivered memorable recounts of hilarities that were synonymous with our classmates and jokes that had carried through the years.

We played a Kahoot that embodied the class, a quiz on people’s funny personal habits. And to top it all off, the night ended with the destruction of a Piñata in the shape of 22.

When all was said and done, it was a fantastic night, and a ripper of a way to celebrate the completion of 13 years. The Year 12 class of 2022 would like to thank all of their teachers this year. Especially our one of a kind Homeroom Teacher, Mrs. Carol Woodman, who helped also in the setup of the Grad Night. And a heartfelt thank you to Mr. Lockhart and Mr. Forrest, for supporting us always. Grad night was a truly special way to remember and celebrate our time spent at our second home: Wedderburn College.

Congratulations to Laura and Jesse Van Boven on the arrival of son Tommy. It was lovely to have you visit the College and introduce us to baby Tommy.

It's beginning to look like Christmas........

Compass

Don't wait for the end of semester to view your child's progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child's Learning Tasks. Children also receive regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on you child's profile page.

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