College Updates
Presentation Evening
We are holding our annual presentation evening on Wednesday, December 18 at 7 pm to celebrate our students achievements for 2019!
If your child is receiving an award, a parent will have been notified.
Middle School Camp- Queensland
40 students and 4 staff left Lowanna College at 5.00 am on Monday, December 2 to fly to the sunny Gold Coast where they were greeted with warm weather! The next few days were spent full of laughter, screams, ice cream and unlimited drinks at Wet n Wild, Movie World, Sea World, and Dreamworld. In between all of this they headed to DFO for some retail therapy. On the final day, they were up bright and early for rock climbing before returning home. Thanks to all the students who attended for their outstanding behaviour and also to the staff who accompanied the students
World Challenge
Our World Challenge students and staff have been having an amazing time in Vietnam and Laos. They are now half way through the trip. More images and more detailed updates are available on our Lowanna College Facebook Page.
Nationals Basketball
On arrival at the Nationals Basketball, Lowanna College was presented with a 5-year participation banner. This was only the start of our good luck. All of our teams worked extremely hard and came up against some tough competition. Our under 15 girls had a rising injury toll but finished the week off on a win against Rockingham on Friday defeating them 44 to 27. Our Under 17 boys team played good basketball at times, it was proven that inconsistency was their downfall and lost their final game to Hillcrest by 2 points.
Our Under 20 women competed in a Division 2 gold medal match where they saved their best basketball until last and came home with gold defeating Erindale High School by 46 points.
It was a great week for everyone involved. Thanks to the students, staff and all the parent volunteers who assisted in making it the week that it was!
Library Borrowing
Our Year 7 & 8 students have been steadily building both their interest and stamina for reading independently this semester. They should be proud of their success and we look forward to supporting them next year as they continue to grow as readers.
We would love our students to continue their reading over the summer. We encourage all of our students to visit the Library to borrow some books to read over the holiday period. Students can borrow 4 books, so why not use the summer to try a new author, genre or series of books.
We look forward to seeing you in the library!
Year 8 Melbourne Camp
Our Year 8 students and some staff spent 3 days in Melbourne involved in a variety of activities such as Mini Golf, Melbourne Aquarium, Ice Skating, Rock Climbing and exploring our capital city. Our students were commended several times on their behaviour and manners. Well done to all students involved
COMPASS Support Session 2020
SAVE THE DATE!
On Thursday, February 6, from 5.30-7.00 pm we are holding a COMPASS Support Session for those who require assistance with COMPASS. Attendees will be shown how to use COMPASS to its full capacity. Please keep an eye on our facebook page to register your interest. The session would be very useful for families who are new to the system or the college. If you have any questions please contact the General Office on 5127 9200.
VCAL Program at Woorabinda
During the late part of Term 3 and early into Term 4, Lowanna College had the exciting opportunity to trial a Foundation VCAL Personal Development Studies (PDS) program at the local Woorabinda School Camp. The aim of the program was for Year 10 Foundation VCAL students to have the opportunity to meet some of their learning outcomes for Unit 2 PDS, as well as to develop other personal skills, such as leadership. Students had to contribute to completing a community activity, implement strategies to minimise risk, respect the rights of individuals and the diversity within a group, develop communication and leadership, and work together to deliver an effective program. The program offered a ‘hands-on’ experience for these students, taking them out of the normal classroom to participate in and deliver fun and challenging activities in an outdoor environment.
The first stage of the program required the Year 10 students to learn about and directly participate in two different adventure activities, which were Zip Line and High ropes. Their participation in these activities developed their confidence to be able to perform the activities, whilst at the same time, they were learning and practising the required procedures for the safe delivery of these activities. A total of 4 x 1.5hr sessions were used to develop the students’ confidence, knowledge and skills to be able to assist other students to participate safely in these activities.
The second and final stage of the program required the VCAL students to assist groups of Year 7 students from Lowanna College to participate in these activities. A total of two Year 7 groups, each group containing 16 students, participated in the program. Each group had 2 x 1.5hr sessions, performing Zip Line in the first session and High Ropes in the second. Having two different groups of Year 7 students allowed the VCAL students to share different roles across the 4 sessions and to also further develop personal aspects such as their self-confidence and communication. The chosen Year 7 students were students who had consistently maintained a very high GPA throughout 2019. This program was promoted as a reward for their outstanding effort across all their subjects.
The VCAL students assisted the Year 7 students by helping to fit the harness and helmet, to fit the Zip Line runner to the harness, to state safety procedures, to attach and disconnect the student to the Zip Line and High Ropes course, to help a student progress through the High Ropes course, and to remove the harness, helmet and Zip Line runner at the end of the session. The activities were closely supervised by Mr. Bailey and staff from Woorabinda School Camp. The program also helped to build a friendly relationship between younger and older students, which could prove beneficial back in the normal day to day school life. It would be fair to say that the program was enjoyed by most, if not all, students involved, as well as the staff.
The program would not have been possible or successful without the support of the Woorabinda Principal, Bruce Milkins, who could see the benefits that would arise from such a program. His enthusiasm towards the initial idea greatly motivated me to organise the program, and the VCAL students too were very keen to be involved when they learnt about the high probability of the program occurring. Besides allowing us to use the Woorabinda facilities and equipment at no cost, Bruce also supplied a staff member each week to help with the running of the program and to ensure the activities were conducted safely within the Woorabinda procedures. Without this support, the program would not have been able to go ahead, and I thank Bruce for his fantastic support.
Finally, thanks to Elise Demczuk, who assisted with managing the students most weeks, and also Ella Cornish, who helped out when Elise was absent. Thanks to Mr. Lakeman for funding the bus travel out of a special grant and thanks to Mr. Cox and Ross Magnuson for providing transport on occasions.
Brett Bailey
Foundation VCAL PDS Teacher
Lowanna College
Moe Rotary Awards
Several of our students were recognised recently in the Moe Rotary Awards Presentation evening.
Ashlyn Levy was awarded the John Dwyer Citizenship Award for her role as the president of the Lowanna SRC, and the Pride of Workmanship Award was presented to Darcy Sawyer.
The Lowanna Interact, Leadership for Sustainability Program Office Bearers Bella Simpson-Jung (President), Cruz Mylne (Treasurer), Chelsea Anderson (Secretary) and Lauren Langmaid (PR) were also awarded Pride of Workmanship awards. Congratulations to all of our students who have worked hard over 2019 to achieve these awards.
Chinese Language in 2020!
The long-awaited Chinese Language classes will be returning to Lowanna College in 2020 for both junior and middle school students who chose this elective.
Chinese language and cultural activities will be accessible to junior and middle school students at recess and lunchtime.
There will be images of both ancient and modern Chinese lifestyles, exploration of the old nation and even an excursion to where Chinese people reside. You are most welcome to join us!
Beleza Holiday Trading Hours
