Classroom Reports

Foundation & One

In the last couple of weeks, our construction skills have really been put to the test! In Inquiry, we used the 'map' of our special room in our house, and an assortment of wooden blocks and other various items, to create a model. We had to keep referring back to our map to make sure we had all the special features in the correct position. Lots of location words were used in this process. 

We also have constructed a 'zoo' that we hope will be open by the end of term. Wet weather, sick 'zoo' keepers and some cheeky monkeys have delayed the opening!!

In maths, we are using some wonderful words to describe all the various shapes we have found inside the classroom and outside. Did you know a cube has 6 faces? We thought that was an unusual word when talking about 3D shapes.

The Foundation children are getting introduced to a lot more 'Tricky Words'. 

These words are great to practise each night when listening to your child read. The sets of 'Tricky Word' coincide with new letter and sound combinations. Thus, if they know these 'Tricky Words', along with the sounds, they are ready for new book each night.  

 Stay warm.

Mrs Chalmers, Classroom Teacher.

Year 3

Mrs Torney, Classroom Teacher.

Year 4

It has been a busy time yet again in the Year 4 learning space!!

We had a visit from the F/1 class.  The F/1 students came to teach Year 4 students how to play Maths games they had used in their class.  It was great to see students work together in our space working on their Mathematics learning. 

In Inquiry we have continued our learning of functions and forces. Year 4 students have experimented with friction - developing a way (using only a single piece of paper) to have a tennis ball and a rubber-soled shoe travel the same distance down the slide. 

The Year 4’s have also experimented with elasticity - measuring how high different objects bounce when dropped from different heights.  Year 4’s hypothesised (made educated guesses using the information they had in front of them) as to how high the objects would bounce.  We were very lucky to be able to share this opportunity with Grade 5/6B - which meant that there was opportunity for teamwork, great discussions and times to share our ideas and understandings together. 

With Grade 5/6A, we did some deep Mathematical thinking - answering the question ‘what is the biggest fence that can be made out of 36 pieces of fence?’ We discussed the word biggest and how it could be interpreted and in groups, students set about building their fence.  Students reflected on their reasoning and explained the ‘why’.  It was a great experience with the 5/6s to help develop many of our mathematical and team-work skills. 

Year 4 students are reminded to complete set homework tasks - reading for at least 10 minutes a night, practising their SMART Spelling words and completing assigned Mathematics tasks. 

Miss Anderson, Classroom Teacher.

Years 5/6 A & B

As we walked into the Wedderburn Community House, the smells made our mouths water and excitement began to take over. We were greeted by Marg, who led us into the dining hall and showed us where we could sit. It was just our grade to begin with, but Miss Douglas had told us lots of people from the community would be coming. We had been practising our conversation and social skills in class and were ready to put our new skills to the test. 

We were served up a chicken curry and a vegetable curry, fragrant rice and roti bread. Marg also explained that the red paste in a separate bowl on our table was called Sambal Sauce and that was there if you were super brave 😉 Some of us were hesitant at first as we hadn’t tried Malaysian food before but everyone tried something from their plate! The general consensus was that it was delicious and some even went back for more!

We were able to share stories with members from the community as they joined us for lunch and the feedback from Marg made our hearts very full. It was lovely to spend some time participating in something different from our everyday school activities. We saw some new and familiar faces during our time at Community House and loved being able to make some people smile through a simple gesture of sharing a meal together. 

On the way home, we bumped into another friend who was in a big hurry to cross the road! We spent 5 minutes making sure he crossed the road safely and was on his way to his destination. The kids thought this was a big coincidence as we had a discussion about Echidnas during our reading lesson before we left!

Thank you to Mrs T for organising the event and the Wedderburn Community House for hosting us.

Miss Douglas and Mrs Turnbull, Classroom Teachers.

Year 9

The Year 9 students are well underway with their Duke Of Edinburgh (DOE) Bronze Award.

The students have now attended two camps in preparation for the Adventure Journey. 

They have begun their Volunteer role in the School vegetable garden, planting many seeds and seedlings in wicking beds and raised garden beds.

The students are also working hard on their Physical component, some focusing on sport and others on personal fitness. The students have also completed a range of activities with Mr Pettifer in PE to measure their fitness levels and have data to compare their fitness levels from the beginning of the year.

The fourth part of the DOE is a Skill. Students are working on varied projects. Projects such as how to raise a healthy turtle, fix small engines, special effects makeup, creating hair styles, making a sculpture, learning to draw, learning a language and the list goes on.

As part of the Adventurous Journey the students must practice skills prior to the final camp in November. Part of these skills are pitching a tent. The student had a lot of fun last week practicing how to set up and pack up a tent in groups.

Both Ms Van Wetering and myself are very excited about guiding the students through their DOE experience, and we hope you enjoy this too as we share the journey.

Year 10

During the past fortnight, year 10 students have continued to work toward the end of the semester. VCE students have been undertaking SACs, and the class enjoyed an excursion to the Bendigo Art Gallery. 

In Week 5 Huddle, Robyn Vella talked to the students about their upcoming work experience in Week 9. Students were presented with guidelines around self-presentation, self-awareness, using manners, listening to instruction, following safety guidelines and how to provide excellent customer service. 

Students are now starting to prepare for end of semester exams. We are encouraging students to setup good study techniques and time-management skills. We are advising students to maintain good sleep patterns and healthy eating to sustain them through this period and stay well. 

Mr Iser, Mr Merritt and Mrs Barker, Year 10 Homeroom Teachers.

Year 11 & 12 

GAT and Year 11 Exams

We are entering a very important and busy period for all VCE students over the next couple of weeks.  Students completing VCE Unit 1 subjects are busy preparing for their upcoming exams held between  5th -7th June. As well as this, all students completing Units 3 & 4 VCE subjects are required to sit the GAT (General Achievement test) which will be held on Thursday 15th June. The GAT is a three-hour examination which aims to assess students’ knowledge and skills in three areas of study: Maths, English and Humanities. 

10 Study Tips for Students:

1. Get organized
2. Don’t skip class
3. Take notes
4. Talk to your teachers and ask questions
5. Space out your studying
6. Create a study plan and stick to it
7. Don’t just reread but study
8. Set up a quiet study space
9. Test yourself
10. Find a study buddy or join a study group

Goodluck to all students sitting exams over the next couple of weeks!

Aged Care Home Visit- VM Students

On Friday 26th of May, Wedderburn College students attended the Aged Care Home in Inglewood for the third time. We departed at 10:15am and arrived at approximately10:35am. Mr Pettifer attended with 3 students: Conrad, Maikia and Rachael. While the students were there, they played a modified game of Bocce and Bingo. We started with the large game of Bingo, where most of the residents participated. Students helped out by calling out the numbers and supporting some of the players in finding their number on their Bingo cards. The students completed one round of Bingo. After this, we then began running a modified game of Bocce for those of who wanted to play that instead of playing Bingo. We did this by using coloured beanbags and coloured poly spots. Residents had to throw the matching-coloured beanbag onto the matching coloured polyspot. This got competitive with residents and staff! Rachael interviewed Henry about some of the things that he did in the past during his younger year. She learnt a lot of interesting facts about him, that he can speak 4 different languages and that he had to flee war torn Hungary during an uprising. It’s really amazing how differently his life experience was to ours at Wedderburn College. We stopped at the Inglewood Café on the way home for lunch. 

Written By Maikia and Conrad – VM Literacy Students 

Mrs Ritchie, Mrs Woodman and Mr Gretgrix, Year 11 & 12 Homerooms Teachers

Year 7 & 10 Art Excursion to Bendigo Art Gallery

The Year 7 and Year 10 Art classes visited the Bendigo Art Gallery on Wednesday 24th May, with Ms Herrington. 

The College was grateful for receiving funding from the City of Greater Bendigo to allow the students to travel by bus to the Bendigo Gallery. 

It was a great day out, with the students enjoying a day exploring the 'Australiana Designing a Nation' exhibition. Thank you to Jo the ES assistant, and Ms Moody for attending the day.

PE News - Mr P & Miss Milne

Primary PE

The last two weeks, Foundation to Year 6 students have been participating in a NetSetGo/ Netball unit. Students have been focusing on their passing technique and the rules of the game. Later this term, we will begin our Athletics unit, in preparation for our House Athletics in Term 3 Week 2. 

Miss M’s Primary PE Student of the Fortnight is: Ryder Brodie has shown great growth and determination throughout each unit. Ryder is extremely positive and is always supporting or helping his peers. Well done, Ryder! Please see Miss Milne, to collect your prize.

Mr P's Year 8 – Physical Education: European Handball

This term in PE classes, Year 8 students have been designing, setting up and participating in their own European Handball Tournament. Students selected roles to complete during the competition such as coaching, captain, publicity officer, equipment organiser and statistical analyst. Each role requires tasks to be completed each week to ensure that the tournament runs smoothly. These tasks include designing warmups, writing match summaries, updating ladders/leaderboards. The past week saw our teams design a bulletin board where all of our tournament information is posted. Well done Year 8 students. 

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Mr P’s Secondary Student of the Fortnight

This fortnight, the award goes to Tyson Blair. Tyson has grown immensely over the past few years in Physical Education. He always is searching for ways to better himself, whether it be by doing more than what is expected in practical classes or sending through updates of his assessment tasks. Tyson has been able to display our school values of staying on task and completing all classwork whilst planning his peer coaching lesson. Great job Tyson. 

Compass

Don't wait for the end of semester to view your child's progress. Log in to Compass and view teacher feedback and feed forward at any time by checking out your child's Learning Tasks. Children also receive regular (every 5 weeks) progress reports on their Organisation, Behaviour, Attitude to Learning and Work Completion. Learning Tasks and Reports can be found on you child's profile page.