Secondary 7/8

7/8 A

Term 1 has been a jampacked start to the year with a range of exciting activities and experiences. The year started with our 2 weeks start up program where students got to be involved in a heap of different team building games including “Marshmallow Construction”. Throughout the term, 7/8A have been involved in Swimming and Food Technology as their specialist, the class had the experience of learning how to use a lifejacket and how to dive safely, while in Food Technology students got to develop key life skills that they will continue to use outside of school. 

In the classroom, students have been learning how to identify a range of texts and focused on their skills in comparing and finding similarities and differences. We have been using online programs such as GetEpic and Mathletics to support our learning, while programs such as Book Creator have provided students with a chance to create their own stories using a range of effects including images, videos and voice overs. In connection with our Inquiry unit, 7/8A have been practising mindfulness and meditation every day, allowing students time to relax, identify their emotions and select appropriate strategies to support them in feeling ready to learn. It has been such a wonderful start to the year, and we cannot wait to see what exciting experiences we will have in term 2. 

7/8B

This Term the students in 78B enjoyed swimming for Outdoor Education and healthy eating in Food Technology. Highlights included learning how to use a life jacket at the pool and making falafel in the kitchen of the new building. 

Our Inquiry Unit has been around the brain and emotional regulation, with the students learning how to use the Zones of Regulation. This has helped them to identify how they are feeling and will help them to consider how their behaviour might affect others. 

We also had a lot of fun writing a love letter to our favourite food and building towers from spaghetti and marshmallows at the very the start of the year. We are looking forward to a very busy Term 2. 

7/8C

Students in 7/8C have made a strong start to the year, forming strong bonds with staff, their classmates and students across the section. Everyone is happy to be back in the classroom after a wild 2020. Students have enjoyed playing team-building games such as Gaga and Block Soccer. We have even trialled a real-life version of the game “Among Us” which has been a real hit. Students have enjoyed learning about the “Zones of Regulation” – being able to identify their emotional state and take action to enable them to become calm and focused when they are experiencing difficulties. Students have been highly engaged in their learning, working well as a whole class, in small groups, and independently. Many students are enjoying online learning activities such as Prodigy Maths game, GetEpic reading and Book Creator on the iPad. Students are looking forward to Camp, Spectacular and swimming in Term 2. While there may be a few nerves about these exciting (and slightly scary) events, the work we have done on facing our fears and overcoming our anxiety should help us get through and shine when the time comes. 

7/8D

In Term 1, 2021, 78D has participated in various different activities. We started the year getting to know each and other, working on building relationship. We welcomed Lilly and Dominic to Concord School with open arms. We are our own individual with various colours but together we make a rainbow complementing each other. Over the term, we have and will continue to work on building positive relationship and collaborating while learning together. 

We have enjoyed participating in the Challenge Program every Friday in area of interest. This term, we learnt Science and Woodworks for specialist subjects. All of our students were able to make a cheese board each to take home with their unique individuality added to the creation. 78D was also able to watch the outstanding performance by Alpha Theatre titled the Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

In conjunction to the inquiry unit lessons, our students have worked on recognising their emotions and labelling them based on the Zones of Regulation. We have also developed a personalised list of strategies to help us self-regulation. Most excitingly we have worked in reading and researching about the human brain and it’s function. Students were looking forward to examine the lamb brain. 

7/8E

7/8E have had a really good term 1 because we met new people, made new friends and did a lot of educational, interesting learning. Learning about the Zones of Regulation and the brain have been the best especially the brain dissection lesson we did. We have enjoyed our lessons in the Discovery Centre especially using the apps on the ipads. We are really hoping that we can go on an excursion next term!                                                            Jhai created an awesome imovie to show our understanding of the Zones of Regulation, the music he put to it was spot on. We certainly have some sensational actors in 7/8E, especially Joseph.                                                                                        

We have made predictions in reading by looking at the pictures and using our prior knowledge. In writing we have learnt heaps about transactional text such as; emails, letters and postcards. We are starting to plan our narratives to write early next term. In maths, lots of work on place value, time, addition and data.                                                              Congratulation to Aidan for taking on the role of class representative on the SRC. He attends meetings and takes our ideas to these meetings and then reports back to us at our weekly class meetings. Well done to Michael, Dale and Uzochi for showing their leadership skills when hosting assembly. To Clinton for showing his cooperation and persistence when completing a challenging jigsaw puzzle. Congratulations to Olena and Phoebe for becoming members of the school choir and to Phoebe for being the first ever year 7 student to be a member of Unbroken.          

7/8F

In 7/8 F, we have been so busy and have had a really great term. The students need to be commended in their effort and enthusiasm to get along and make new friends. The class have been working very hard across Reading, Writing, Maths and Inquiry. Our weekly emails hopefully give a good overview of the work we have been completing.

A highlight of the term was our training for the cross country and improving our fitness, and the students displayed a real commitment here. A big congratulations to Reza and Yousuf, who made it through to the interschool cross country in term 2. Further, as a class, we congratulated Phu for being elected as our SRC representative. For Inquiry and Social Comp, we have continued to learn about the Zones of Regulation which involves learning how to monitor their emotional state throughout the day. The students have been trying to utilise these zones to manage their emotional state throughout the day and keep focused on their learning task.

Below are a few comments from the students

Learning highlight for me was math's in addition and using the strategy of counting on with counters (Husien)

I have enjoyed making new friends (Owen)

Playing Ga Ga (Yousuf)

Being together in a horseshoe (semicircle) to discuss important things such as national news (Phu).

Whole class training for the cross country (Reza)

Challenge was awesome; we played dodgeball at Action Indoor Sports (Chloe)

7/8G

We have all had a very busy term in 7/8G. Students have worked together to establish a great space for learning. There have been lots of new routines to learn, especially for those that are new to Secondary 7/8. 

In English we have focused on different texts and what makes them enjoyable to us. We have also continued to develop our letter sound knowledge to assist us with decoding texts. In writing we have labelled photos from our classroom adventures and then used this to construct sentences.

In Maths we have counted, explored numbers and made models of numbers with concrete materials. 

The biggest highlight for us has been our Experience Days. We have travelled by tram, train and bus as well as walked to local destinations such as shops and playgrounds. These experiences have allowed students to practise many skills, including taking care of their belongings, choosing what to buy, interacting with members of the community and trying new things.

Term 2 looks like it will be even bigger for 7/8G!

7/8H

7/8H have had a fantastic term 1 as we made new friends and joined in a wide range of learning activities. At school, we have explored letter sounds through hands-on games and investigated texts in different formats, from street signs, procedures to fictions. In addition, we have done lots of practice on place value, counting and time. Then, students got to apply these skills and knowledge while going out on our Experience Days. Humdan and Ridley did a great job identifying the signs in the community and explained their meanings. Hossein and Abudi actively used their counting skills to track the number of cars on our way to the train station. Ilana and Spencer helped us locate craft materials for Easter by asking staff members at Kmart. Karen and Marcus ticked off the items on our shopping list so that we didn’t miss a thing. Throughout these Experience Days, we not only become more confident in travelling safely in the community, but also learn about collaborating with others as a team. Well done, everyone!

The other highlight is our weekly recount writing about the Experience Days. From recording key words or sentences on paper to creating e-books on iPads, many students have shown great passion and persistence in sharing their own thoughts. Way to go, class! This is exactly what amazing writers do!