Welcome to the last of our newsletters this year! In today’s edition I have asked our student leaders to write an article about the year that was, their year level’s highlights, challenges and their biggest learnings throughout 2022. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our students who have all at times struggled to get though the school year; your perseverance and tenacity has been a pleasure to witness and support along the journey.

For our Year 7 students, it only seems like yesterday that you arrived but since then you have worked together to create a really strong year level in which every single person can be themselves and work towards whatever goal they have set for themselves.

The Year 8 students will be moving out of the Year 7/8 Subschool and moving into Year 9. I know from speaking to their new leader, Mr. Johnson, he is excited for these students and the successes they will have next year. I wish them all the best in 2023 and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow into the young adults that they have become.

I would like to also wish everyone a happy holiday and stay safe over the long break.

Daniel Murphy

Year 8 Student Leader Report

In 2022, the Year 8 students were lucky enough to do a range of activities, including camps, tech school excursion, BBQ youth, lunchtime activities, Halloween dress up, Man Cave, Girls’ Day and Gumbuya World.

The two camps were Mill Valley Ranch and Camp Karoonda. At Mill Valley Ranch, we did variety of activities some of which were horse riding, mountain bike riding, crate climb, 9 Square, disc golf, horse trail ride, archery, initiatives, cooking, barn games and a scavenger hunt. We also did a lot of night activities: night hike, movies, more barn activities, and trivia. At this camp, the Year 8 student leaders had a say in everything we did including the camp itself. The camp was also free for all students to attend because of the good work we did throughout the year. At Karoonda, we did white water rafting, horse riding, disc golf, rock climbing, navigational hiking skills, low ropes, and movies. While students were not at camps, they also had fun doing different activities at school.

Throughout the first semester we went to the Tech School multiple times. Whilst we were there, we learnt a range of things doing various activities. These activities were Photoshop, virtual reality, coding robots, using microscopes and lots more. There were also activities for students to do during their free time which were arcade machines, four square, table tennis and time to just relax.

At school, we had barbeques for when we did well throughout the year and activities every day at lunchtimes consisting of basketball in the gym, dodge ball, naughts and crosses, multiple things in the library and lots of lawn games.

At the start of the year the boys had Man Cave where they did multiple things discussing men’s mental health and being taught about us. There were also a lot of things to do in our spare time at Mancave which were various online games, table tennis, foosball, and a lot of board games.

Near the time of Halloween, the student leaders put together a Halloween dress up day which was one of many activities put together by the student leaders. This day was a fundraiser for our school HPV. There was a fashion show for the children that dressed up and they had a chance to win various prizes. They also did a lot of activities on the football field and games in the courtyard.

We would like to say a big thank you to the teachers and aides that provided us with the help and support that they have given us throughout the year, and we would also like to acknowledge all those teachers whom we did not have much this year but still were there when needed.

The Year 8s are looking forward to all the new opportunities in the coming year. They are also excited for all the new teachers and helpers that will be working with them next year. A lot of students are looking forward to the many new things that they shall experience in 2023.

This year the teachers have been welcoming every student at the door and giving brain breaks whenever needed and we will also have a positive primer to encourage students to engage with the work. Sometimes it can be funny; other times it can just be a video. When we do well in class we get a positive write up which means our parents get a message sent to their phone so they can see how well we are doing in class. So far, we have gotten 12616 KPA’s for the year and 2155 KPA’s for this term.

The student leaders of Year 8 would just like to give a final thanks to all teachers, students and helpers who have been cooperative throughout the year.

Written by Liam Duncan, Jai Osmond, Riley Robins and Harmonie Seddon

Year 7 Student Leader report

The Year 7 student leaders have put together this newsletter to inform our parents and guardians about this year and the wonderful opportunities this school has presented to us. So far throughout the year we have put together events within the school to donate to charities all around Australia. We have also contributed to the planning of the Portsea Camp that the Year 7s went on earlier this year.

At the start of the school year, the Year 7s transitioned to high school from primary school with the help from our teachers and the transition was put together quite well. Whilst some of the Year 7s were quite scared for the transition the teachers helped us with everything that we needed help with, which made us very relieved and excited for the upcoming year. On our first day of Year 7, the teachers at Kurnai were very helpful with our lockers as well as telling us where everything was. As the year went on, we become more independent and needed less support from the teachers.

As the year went on, we were given the opportunity to go on camps and excursions. The camps gave the Year 7s a chance to gain stronger friendships with their classmates as well as show independence and leadership through the activities that we participated in. For one of the camps, the Year 7s were given PBS goals that they had to reach to be given a free camp. As well as the camps, the Year 7s went on a few excursions including the Tech School and Gumbuya World. The Tech School gave the Year 7s more of an opportunity to learn more about some of the topics we were learning in school. Gumbuya World was a fun excursion celebrating what an amazing year it has been.

The Year 7s thank all of the teachers and advocates for helping us through our first year of high school.

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