Year 7 Camp

Well done to all Middle Years students for a great start to the 2016 school year.  All year levels began with their own assembly to welcome everyone back – in the case of Year 7s, welcome them officially for the first time! – and they have all now settled into the College.  

I would like to remind all students that the Middle Years Centre is open to students during recess and lunchtime, as well as before and after school if they would like to use the space to catch up on homework.

This year the Middle Years team consists of:

Joanna Karanikolopoulos

  – Leader of Middle Years

Dina Mingos

   - Leader of Catalyst Programs, Middle Years

Benn Pollock and Kate Chamberlain

   – Year 9 Level Leaders

Kathleen Timms and Ashleigh Gardner

   – Year 8 Level Leaders

Courtney Fraraccio and Darren Hoogkamer

   – Year 7 Level Leaders

Mandy Phillips

   – Middle Years administration

We’re seeing a small number of students who are not in full school uniform. Please remember that proper uniform is expected at all times. If for any reason your child cannot be in full uniform, including correct sports uniform, please send a note along with them which will go to their Home Group teacher.  They will then provide a uniform pass for the length of time required. 

YEAR 7

Our Year 7 students are now back into the swing of classes here at the College after having an excellent time at their transition camp last week. We have had a busy week so far, with the kick off of the Year 7 Home Group competition on Tuesday. Our students have been playing for the glory of Home Group champions in a volleyball round robin. The competition is held every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch time for the next three weeks. We have been thrilled with the turnout of students, with most classes having their entire Home Group involved either on the court, or as part of the cheer squad.

On Wednesday we held our Home Group captain elections. We were very impressed with the number of students who nominated themselves for the positions and presented speeches on why they should be elected. Congratulations to all of our elected captains and vice captains! We encourage all students who nominated to join the Student Representative Council, who regularly meet at lunchtime on Thursday to organise fundraisers and school improvement opportunities.

All of our Year 7 students are now able to access our online portal Daymap. We encourage students to login at home to access information about assessment tasks, their timetables and email.

Well done to our Year 7 cohort on an excellent start to high school! We look forward to continuing to work with all of you to have a successful 2016.

Courtney Fraraccio and Darren Hoogkamer

Year 7 Level Leaders

YEAR 7 TRANSITION CAMP

The Year 7’s recently went on a three-day camp to Camp Oasis, located in Mount Evelyn, where we participated in a range of different activities which gave us the opportunity to develop new friendships, and give each student a sense of belonging to the Year 7 community. Many activities required teamwork, thus, new friendships were created along the way.

The activities we participated in were swimming, initiatives course, flying fox, low ropes, crate climbing, rock climbing/abseiling, candle making, archery, handling creatures in the reptile room and hiking from Camp Oasis to Silver Dam. The initiatives course required each group to work together as a team to complete the course. The activities within the initiatives course were to climb over a wall, pour water into a pipe with holes to the brim, walk together on wooden planks, pass through a web without touching the ropes and fit everyone onto a small platform. Every single student managed to climb over the wall, most with the help of their team members. They also were able to complete the other four activities within the initiatives course.

Overall, the Year 7 transition camp was an amazing experience. We were given the opportunity to develop new friendships, have fun with friends and perhaps overcome fears. Camp has definitely been a major highlight of Year 7.

Violet Jensen 7S

YEAR 8

What an energetic start to 2016 Year 8 have had! Students have embraced the transition from Year 7 to the next level, meeting new teachers and new students and being reunited with friends after the summer holidays.

Coming up in a few weeks is the first Home Group competition – Dodgeball! May the best team win!

As the term progresses, students are learning more strategies to help develop a growth mindset when tackling challenges. This helps maintain high energy and effort levels in both class work and homework and ensures deadlines are met to further students’ learning.

We are excited to work with Year 8 and see where this year takes them. With their determination and willingness to get involved, the sky’s the limit!

Ashleigh Gardner and Kathleen Timms

Year 8 Level Leaders

Year 8 has been a bit of a roller coaster in the first few weeks of term. We have a new Home Group teacher, new Home Group rooms, new rooms for our classes – A block, Byrne House and Rees House. There are new teachers, new Home Group captains and for some of the students in Year 8, a different class!

We also have a whole lot of exciting new subjects, like Visual Communication (Viscom), Systems Technology and my personal favourite, Drama. Thankfully we have continued doing Materials Technology and Home Economics, from last year, along with Science, Humanities, English and Maths. I hope Year 8 will be an exciting new year with lots of opportunities and success. I’m looking forward to our Personal Best projects and of course the home group competitions – GO 8F! SWIMMING FIRST – LET’S GO, WE’VE GOT THIS!!!

Connor Winter 8F

Home Group Captain

YEAR 9

Year 9s have had a good start to the year and seem to be pretty settled within their classes and brand new electives. 

Last week we had our first Mentor Group competition which saw students completing problem solving tasks and brain teasers. 9F were 3rd with 13 points, 9D were second with 14 points and 9H were our winners with 15 points. Well done to 9H!! There will be more competitions coming up.

This week in assembly we revealed a new initiative in Year 9 - the Gold Level Student award. This award acknowledges and rewards those students who strive to uphold the College values. The criteria for the award includes demonstration of pro-social behaviour, always wearing full school uniform, attendance at all school events (such as swimming and athletics carnivals) and involvement in any of the extra-curricular activities available at the College. Students will be able to nominate themselves towards the end of each semester and collect a form that will need to be countersigned by their parents and teachers. Students who achieve Gold Level will be able to attend an excursion towards the end of the semester. We hope all students aim for this level of achievement.

We are looking forward to working with the year 9 cohort, and hope students maintain their positive attitudes and continue the good start to the school year. 

Kate Chamberlain and Benn Pollock

Year 9 Level Leaders