Years 7 - 9 Community

New student reps for School Council

School Council is the body responsible for deciding the policies and finances of the school. Each year as part of council, two student representatives are elected to provide the voice of the student body as full members of this important decision-making group. Students are required to self-nominate for a position and explain why they would like to join and would be a good representative. If multiple nominations are received, students then have to vote for their preferred candidate. These students then join parent representatives, staff and leaders from the college on the council, with full voting rights and the same expectations as the adult members.

In 2022/23, our student representatives are Ali Agha Walizada and MacGyver Bourne, both from our current year 9 cohort. These two students have shown a keen interest in working to keep building the culture of NBC and are ready to be enthusiastic representatives for their peers. They have already attended their first council meeting, grilling Mr Diamond with questions and facing some tough questions of their own. The students will be supported in their role by year 9 Learning Community Leader and council secretary James Bayard, with regular meetings to help them plan and work towards their priorities. The boys have hit the ground running, already identifying priorities including linking to junior campus leaders, student diaries and ways to help students provide feedback to council.  

 Mr James Bayard

Year 9 Community Leader

Years 7 to 8

As we reflect on the first 9 weeks of 2022, we ask ourselves “where has the term gone?” So far we have managed to fit in our Starting Right program where the students and teachers collaboratively set expectations and norms for each subject area and what is required to be a successful learner. We have also concluded our first writing unit where students have been learning about the writing process and publishing a narrative before moving into our poetry unit. Analysing different reading comprehension strategies using a scaffold called ‘Making Tracks’ has also been a focus for term one to ensure our students are equipped with the required strategies to be successful readers. 

As mentioned in our first edition of the newsletter, our maths program is heavily based around Math Pathway, where students complete mini lessons, targeted intervention, independent module work and rich learning each fortnight before completing a mini assessment which identifies their growth and effort for the fortnight. 

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During our Humanities unit our students have been exploring the ancient world, especially ancient Egypt and China. They are about to move into their Education Research Projects which are driven by student voice and agency. Each campus will be holding a showcase where our students will set up a museum like display featuring an artefact from ancient times, a timeline, a bibliography, a written component of 300 words and a map.  

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As you can see above we have been able to fit so much learning into the first 8 weeks of school, not to mention the additional extra curricular experiences our students have had. These have included but not limited to, SEED sport (chosen sports as well as athletics rotations), cross country, 7-12 athletics day, IMPACT, band, Harmony Day acknowledgments and Secondary School Nurse presentations.

A highlight of the term has also been the positivity and maturity shown by our students to lead the three-way conferences which were held during weeks 6 and 7. Being able to share with their carers, aspects of school they are proud of and work they have assessed to be a representation of their learning was a pleasure to be a part of. 

Electives at the GITTC (Gelong Industry Trade Training Centre)

There has been some great work going on as students undertake their learning according to their interest. 

Three of the current options are Robotics, Wood and Hospitality.

The outcomes of their skilling are very evident.

Students thoughts on the year so far...

Humanities 

During Humanities we have been researching, analysing and creating presentations about ancient civilisations. We explored 2 countries specifically, Ancient Egypt and Ancient China. Over these few weeks we've learnt about the following topics:

• Attacks on the countries which have resulted in War
• The hierarchy of people. Which includes Pharaohs, Emperors and slaves.
• Dynasties of Ancient China

We also learnt history such as the meaning of BCE, BC and AD and the  seven wonders of the world and how they came to be. 

We are at the beginning of our ERP (education research project) 

About our interests that can relate to ancient times. 

From Tia, Mary and Jazmin  

English

The year has begun with a focus on narrative writing and reading a class novel. We started our narrative writing by sharing personal stories that had something unexpected happen. We then added fictional details to make them even more interesting. We have enjoyed reading a class novel because we get to talk to our classmates , work together to understand the book and discover other people’s perspectives. We are looking forward to publishing our narratives and reading them aloud to our classmates. 

Fatimah and Lexiar

SEED 

Recently the SEED Development Squad went to the MCG and met the Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy who spoke to us about being healthy as well as choosing what to do in life.  We have also been doing lots of fitness activities including the dreaded BEEP test - it was really hard. We then go to the pool as part of our recovery. 

On Fridays all 7/8 students have been participating in athletics rotations at Goldsworthy in preparation for the 7-12 athletics day. They were really good and we were able to have a go at all of the activities and have specialist coaching. All 7/8 students went to the Hovell Park Track and completed our cross country. It was great to see everyone having a go and enjoying the morning. Thanks to Stoofa, Jessie and all the PE teachers for making these events happen. Ryan and Alana .

Ascend IMPACT

We had a terrific excursion to the Geelong art gallery and you can read my full comment on the programs page as well as find out about other great things we do in Year 7 and 8

Shayla (That's me on the left!)

Mr Josh Brown

Assistant Principal

Peacock Campus

Coordinator of  

Years 7-9

Stages of Learning