HPSC Newshamper

Junior School

Junior School Staff

Sub School Learning Leader

Billy Jessop

Student Learning Leaders Year 7

Matthew Cram, Priyanka Dixit

Student Learning Leaders Year 8

Breanna Martin, Nikki Boyd

Values Assembly Performance

During our Year 7 & 8 Values Assembly, students were treated to special music performance of ‘Better Be Home Soon (Crowded House)’.

With Tyla M on vocals, Matvei P on keys, Keenan P on drums and Zyon S on guitar (supported by music teacher Tass), the band showcased their amazing talents.

Have a listen, aren’t they great! 🎶

Year 7 Humanities Excursion

Ancient China Terracotta Warriors

On Thursday 30th May, 160 Year 7 students excitedly boarded the buses and ventured into the city to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the exhibition called ‘Terracotta Warriors & Cai Guo-Qiang’. 

 

This exhibition just opened, so our students were some of the first in Australia to see the work from Ancient Chinese craftspeople as well as modern Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang.  This built on their knowledge and understanding of the world of Emperor Qin and Ancient China, including their study of the world famous Terracotta Warriors – both of which have been a focus in Humanities this term.

Students spent 1 hours in a very detailed lecture about the artwork and Emperor himself before having the opportunity to explore the exhibition and get up close.  Using their skills of description, explanation and inference, students all worked on a individualised task where they were asked to find facts and information, as well as provide evidence to support their opinions about the objects they were seeing, and the world of Ancient China.

Students were all very excited to see the objects in real life, with some of their reflections shared below. 

What was the best thing about our excursion?

  • “The gun powder art because I never knew anything like that existed and the process of making the art is part of the piece/art itself.” – Shifa G. 7A
  • “The best thing about the excursion was going through the relics of the tomb, like the big gong and the swords.” – Tyler W. 7P
  • “I really liked the jade and the pure gold because I have never seen such rich stones and something so pure.” – Caleb L. 7N
  • “The best thing that I liked about the excursion was looking at the terracotta warriors. That was really interesting for me because I’ve never seen them in real life! I think our school was the luckiest school to go and see the terracotta warriors in real life!” – Nilofar A. 7O

What was the most interesting thing you learnt during the excursion?  Why?

  • “The most interesting thing was that door handle. It said that it was made out of jade which at the time of Qin's rule was a very valuable material. I found the mythical beasts on the handle interesting because they were meant to scare away evil spirits and I wonder if  it  actually worked.” – Eric D. 7A
  • “The most interesting thing I learnt during the excursion was the kneeling archer because the kneeling archer was used in the front row of fights and would usually be behind standing archers for backup.” – Law K. 7R
  • “I think the most interesting part of the excursion was Experiencing the Warriors and the different features they have.” – Toefiliga L. 7N
  • “The most interesting thing I learnt was how the man creates a different type of creativity in the art with gun powder.” – Aditi S. 7O

What was your favourite object/artwork you saw?  Why?

  • “The terracotta warriors because I have never seen one in my real life and I didn't know how big they were I didn't believe that they were 300kg when the NGV lecturer told us and then I noticed that they were really big.” – Venusha T. 7A
  • “My favourite artwork was the birds on the roof. I liked the colours of the birds and how some of them were ombre, they went grey to white or white to black.” – Shanika K. 7R
  • “My most favourite were the terracotta warriors because they were so big and it’s like once in a life time that you get to see something so extraordinary.” – Farwah M. 7N
  • “I was totally enjoying the Gunpowder birds they all look so satisfying hanging down all thousands of them together! they make an artwork that's really cool!” – Ridge W. 7O
  • “My favourite object I saw was the golden sword.  I have always seen swords in movies, but neve in real life.  It was the first time I have event seen a real swords and that’s what made that day so special.” – Farzana H. 7N

A very big thank you to all the staff who supported students on the day and we hope it is an experience our HPSC students will remember for many years to come!

Year 7 Launch Pad Incursion

On Monday our Year 7 English students had their second Creative Narrative Writing workshop with published author Ander Louis of Launch Pad Books.

During this session our Year 7s focused on developing the skill of descriptive writing. Ander used many resources with the students to build on their adjective and adverb use, including scenes from the film 'Inception', and other novels including 'The Duet of Swans', 'Harry Potter', and 'The Lord of the Rings'. A fantastic morning was enjoyed by all!