Junior School Report

We are very proud of our Year 7 and 9 students who have collectively sat over 2500 NAPLAN tests!  Given the disruptions from COVID over the past two years, this is the first set of NAPLAN test out Year 9 students have sat since Grade 5, and our Year 7’s since Grade 3.  We would like to congratulate all of the Year 7 and 9 students for the resilience that they showed during the testing period, and their demonstration of the College’s 5P’s, especially in coming preparedto each session and being productive during the tests.

While NAPLAN was underway our Year 8 Acacia and Banksia students attended the Lord Sommers Camp for their first camp since joining the College.  The combined camp saw approximately 140 students and 14 staff spending two nights at the coast where they tried paddle boarding, initiative courses, screen printing their own T-shirts and canoeing.  We would like to thank everyone who attended for making it such a positive and memorable experience for all.

Around the school it is so nice to see the students engaging in programs again with representative teams for Interschool sport competing within the district. We have been offering wellbeing and engagement programs including Rite Man and No Limits. Along with excursions to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Yr 8 Chinese students. These enrichment programs are extremely important for young people as we address social issues from within the community and build social connectedness and resilience in our students.

As we move into the second half of Term 2 we begin to look at finalising key pieces of assessment in preparation for the Semester Reports. Students across Years 7 to 9 have been working to complete Common Assessment Tasks in all of their subject’s, including the What’s My Class’s Story data analysis project in Year 7 Maths, an investigation into VO2 max lung capacity in Year 8 Science, and creating and presenting a persuasive oral speech in Year 9 English.  Semester reports will go live on Compass on Friday 24th June.

The conclusion of Semester 1 will also bring with it Semester exams for all Year 7, 8 and 9 students. These will be completed for English/EAL, Science, Maths, LOTE and Humanities subjects during Week 7 this term.  As we get closer to the exam period it is important that students develop healthy study habits, and avoid the urge to “cram” the night before the exam.  Below are some tips to make the lead up to the exam period as productive and stress free as possible.  If you are finding the weeks before the exam period difficult, please chat with your classroom teacher or TTL, or reach out to the wellbeing team for support.

In Week 8 of Term 2 all students will begin Semester 2, with changes to timetables and semester based electives.  Please make sure that you keep up to date with Compass to ensure  you have the right uniform and resources for your class each day.

Melissa Williams & Mathew Sloan

Junior School Assistant Principals