KLA News 

This fortnight we hear from the HSIE, Maths, Praxis, RE and VET Key Learning Areas.

HSIE

Mrs Cherie Stoessel

Miss Becker's history class have been learning about mummification in ancient Egypt. 

Mummification is the process that ancient Egyptians used to send the deceased safely to what they believed was the afterlife. They preserved the deceased’s intestines, liver, stomach and lungs with natron, then placed them into canopic jars. They discarded the brain and preserved the heart to be placed back into the body when buried. And then the body is covered with natron to preserve it and then they wrapped the body and buried the deceased.

 The wrapping process of mummification must be done very delicately and in a specific order. They typically start with your fingers and your toes, then they wrap your hands and feet, then your arms and legs. After they wrap those, they just wrap your feet up to your head. Something important about the wrapping process is where your arms are located. If you are a pharaoh or a king, your arms are crossed on top of your chest. Whether you’re a noble or a peasant, as long as you’re not the pharaoh or a king, your arms will be at your side.

Ancient Egyptians believe that the process of mummification enabled them to enter the afterlife. The afterlife is a believed second life that Egyptians enter after they have died. Most of their current life is preparing for the afterlife, the Egyptians were so in love with living their main priority was to get to the afterlife. The book of the dead (the cheat sheet to the afterlife) was a book of instructions of a way into the afterlife. They believed having this book was the key to entering the afterlife after the weighing of the heart and passing the hall of judgement. The afterlife was believed to be the ideal afterlife; they believed that whatever they took in their tombs was what they had in their afterlife. 

Mathematics

Mr Mark Harris

We are off to a good start in the Mathematics KLA this term.

It is with pleasure that we welcome Miss Marie Gould to the Mathematics team this term.

Miss Gould comes with a great deal  of experience and expertise in Mathematics education and has settled in well with the year 7, 9 and 10 classes that she is working with in Term 4.

Year 11 students have now started their HSC year. All classes have commenced the HSC content in each course and our Extension 2 Mathematics class is in full swing as well.

This term sees a number of final learning tasks completed across Years 7 -10 and these will form one piece of data to determine the levels students will enter into next year.

Good preparation is key to success in these tasks. I encourage all students to make sure they revise and practise enough prior to these upcoming tasks so that they can demonstrate what they know and ultimately achieve the results that they are capable of. Make sure you seek help from your Mathematics teacher if you have any questions or require some extra help getting ready.

Already this term I notice preparation for class has been an issue for some students  - please make sure that you turn up to school with the basics, pens, pencils, ruler, calculator and a suitable fully charged device so that you partake fully in the learning opportunities presented to you each day.

With us approaching the halfway point of the Term, I encourage all students to commit to achieving their personal best throughout Term 4.

PRAXIS

Mrs Jenny Roff

The Year 7 PRAXIS classes have been working on a project-based learning (PBL) unit titled Create Your Own Country. It’s been very exciting to see the students design their own flags and currency, as well as determine their population and how best to utilise their resources.

In the coming weeks, each class will be visited by senior students who will act as representatives of the United Nations (this is called an authentic audience in PBL). They will meet with each country to evaluate their choices and determine a winner of the UN Medal for the best country in the world!

Religious Education

Mr Andrew May

This Term has been an incredibly busy time for Religious Education at O’Connor. In the first three weeks of this term our students have participated in two retreats (Years 9 and 10), class masses (Years 7 and 8), provided assistance to Catechists providing Religious Education in public schools in Armidale, and commenced preparation for Mission Week and NAIDOC activities in weeks 5 and 6. In addition to this, staff were deeply engaged in preparing for a Stage 6 (Years 11 and 12) audit, addressing governance and compliance matters. 

SRE Assistant Catechists

Special Religious Education (SRE) classes are provided by members of the Armidale parish community at public schools in Armidale. For the first time, Year 10 students have been involved in these classes as assistant SRE catechists. It’s been a great experience for these students, working with lay catechists as well as members of the Immaculata Community. Working in Ben Venue and Martin’s Gully Public Schools, our students have helped provide religious education for students in all age groups. The response from students in these schools has been positive and our students have been fantastic ambassadors for our school and faith. 

Mission Week

Next week (Week 5) we will be participating in a range of activities designed to develop awareness of the work of Catholic Missions in improving the lives of millions of people around the world. Although October is normally World Mission Month, due to the business of the first four weeks of this term the decision was made to postpone our activities to Week 5. A range of fantastic activities are planned including crazy hat and sock days, the return of the highly-coveted inter house handball competition and a liturgy and mufti day on Friday 11th November. 

This year the focus country is Ethiopia. Catholic Missions are working at grassroots level to develop a range of micro businesses that provide direct assistance to the neediest people in Ethiopia. Students will be engaging in a range of lessons throughout the week to develop their understanding of the problems facing Ethiopia and its people. 

NAIDOC

We will be celebrating NAIDOC week in Week 7, with the theme of Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!. This year will see the return of a more ‘traditional’ NAIDOC week format as we move out of the ‘COVID era’. A whole school liturgy will be held to launch the week and students will engage in a wide range of activities throughout the week. More information will be passed onto the school community in the near future.

Senior Retreat 2022

Our Year 11 students will be engaging in their senior retreat to Sydney this year over the period 05 - 08 December. During this time they’ll visit a number of places of worship including St Mary's Cathedral, Auburn Gallipoli Mosque and the Hwa Tsang Buddhist monastery at Homebush. We will also make a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop in North Sydney and participate in retreat activities designed to develop students leadership skills, particularly focussing on servant leadership. Initial information concerning the retreat has been passed onto parents and students, with further details to follow. 

VET

Mr James Healy

Last week some of our students who study engineering and VET courses at O'Connor attended Belmore Engineering to gain some real life experience. Logan Gaunson has provided a brief report.

"The metalworks workshop at Belmore Engineering was a very enjoyable and valuable experience. Having had no prior welding experience, this small workshop has taught me valuable welding skills which will serve to aid me in my future career as a robotics engineer. All of the staff at Belmore Engineering were inviting and provided an entertaining and informative experience. The fabrication process of our fire pits was well organized which allowed both for comprehensive understanding of the processes of fabrication, as well as hands on metalworking experience, where we each could work at a comfortable pace to complete our firepits. I am greatly appreciative of Belmore Engineering and O'Connor for organizing and providing this experience and I would highly recommend this experience to anyone interested in metalworking." - Logan Gaunson