Student Reflections

What happened in my first week?

Senerita Margie Year 7 St Nea

I could feel my stomach twisting and turning with anxiety and fear as I walked into Killester. I felt like I was about to faint but I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down before entering the Helen Toohey building. I went into my class, St Nea and put my very heavy and packed bag into this very small space in my locker. Then I sat down next to two lovely girls and began my first day. One of our activities we did was to make a name tag and draw an object or something that has the same starting letter as your name. For example, I put a snake as my picture because my name starts with an ‘S’. After we finished our teacher, Mr. Martin, tried to memorise our names and pictures. It was funny when he tried to remember our names! Soon after it was recess, I had no one to sit with so I spent my time eating my snack and staying in the toilet. First day was a whole mix of emotions, second day of school was alright, I made a friend and I got money for the canteen. Something still felt off for no reason at all though but I made it through the day. In the morning I was unfortunately late for school because we had to drop off my 18 year old brother to work. I walked stuff my bag into my locker and started my day. We started our activity which was rock painting! We had to make designs that meant something to us. My design was a Polynesian flower and Samoan patterns. I picked that design because Samoa is my cultural background and since I grew up in Australia I try my best to stay connected with my culture. Anyway we had these Posca Pens and I was running around to find all the colours I needed. At one point I ended up standing and drawing so it could be easier to switch my colours.  I was amazed at how my rock turned out! My friend and I spent the rest of the time talking about our old primary school and how maybe High School isn't so bad after all.

Let's fast-forward to Friday. It was my first normal day as my teacher would say. I had all my subjects. I had a double period in the Morning to afternoon which was P.E. I had so much fun that day! It was my highlight of the week. My P.E teacher Ms Kennedy set up a bunch of games to play. There was so much running involved but i'm glad i got my heart pumping!! I got second place and my P.E teacher said I was very good which had me smiling the whole time. After that we played a little dodgeball, and other ball/running related games and then it was already lunch time!!

High school seems stressful at first but when you get into the groove of it, its okay.. Maybe  High school isn't all about homework it's about succeeding and failing. When things are down you just have to climb your way up again!

Tanreet Pannu Year 7 St Nea

My first week at Killester College was amazing! I got to meet and get to know my teachers and classmates, make new friends and I had lots of new and fun experiences. In this article I am going to talk about some of my favourite things we did in the first week of school.

On my first day of school we made lots of name tags and when we introduced ourselves we learnt lots of interesting and funny things about each other. It was really lovely when the whole class played with each other. On the first day I made two new friends and we played together all lunch. Our teacher also told us many things that are different in high school to primary school. It was a very fun day.

Another thing I liked doing was doing lots of fun activities on Wednesday. One activity we did was making pet rocks. Making pet rocks was really fun and interesting. My pet rocks are named Bob, Becky, Brianna and Billy.

At lunch we visited the library and it was awesome! There were so many fun books to read. After lunch we had an all PE session where we played a few fun games. Some games I played included soccer, something similar to cricket and Tball. Another fun day.

Another favourite thing was when we had a WONDER program on Thursday. It was a day like no other. Very interesting and fun. Also the activity for the wonder program was making our own game in groups. It was based on some astronauts going into space but then a lot of carbon dioxide came in the rocket and made it hard to breathe. So they had to make something to block the carbon dioxide.

Then on Friday we had an actual experience of a normal school day. We got to meet all our teachers and saw where all of the classrooms were. This week was really fun and interesting. I can’t wait for the rest of the school year! It’s so exciting.

Angelina White Year 7 St Elizabeth

I really enjoyed my first week as a Year 7 at Killester. I know most of the people in my Homeroom now and I made some new friends. I had a few classes on Friday the 4th like Science, Italian, PE, RE and Humanities. There’s a lot more subjects in high school but I’m very excited to learn more about them! 

I’ve met most of my teachers who will be teaching me this year, they are all nice and wonderful. I feel a bit more confident walking around the school and heading to my specific classes because I do know where I’m going. Two Year 8 students came over to my class and shared their experience of them being a Year 7, last year. They played some games with us, and one of the games we played was BINGO. 

Every lunch time after I finish my lunch, I always walk upstairs to the library with my friend Leena, and we would either play some games, read a book, or do some things on our laptops. It’s a new experience for me since it’s my first time using an apple laptop, I’ve never used one before!  So far everything has been great and I love it here. I look forward to my future at Killester! 

Natalie Ma Year 7 St Elizabeth

Hi, my name is Natalie and my first week of high school started last week. As I walked into a new big school, I felt excited but also nervous as I would have to adapt to a new environment for school and make new friends. On my first day of school, I met teachers who were really nice and helpful including my Homeroom teacher Ms Hill. I also made new friends as I was the only one from my primary school starting yr7 this year at Killester. During my first week at Killester, I learnt how to get around the school and how things worked. 

I participated in the swimming trials on Thursday which was really exciting considering I had the chance to go on a bus and then compete in swimming for spots in the swim carnival not forgetting my newfound friends were there too. It was a great experience being able to participate in the swim trials because I had swam ever since I was five but wasn’t able to swim for the past two years due to the covid pandemic. After swim trials finished, the Yr7s went back to our school and joined in with the other students for the WONDER program.

The WONDER program had just been introduced to our school and I was excited to participate in it. For our first activity we were put in groups of 4 and we had to work together as a team to do a treasure hunt around the school. It was really fun as I got to work with my team while exploring parts of the school I hadn’t been to much. After the treasure hunt, we were again put into groups to create original games with limited time and limited resources. My group and I created this Hoops Toss game using metal bracelets, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, straws and paper clips. It was a game where players had to shoot straw arrows and pipe cleaner balls through different hoops placed at different heights. 

My first day of school with proper classes was on Friday. I started the day with Science and Italian. I was introduced to the teachers for each class as I continued the day with double periods for PE and then RE and humanities for periods 5 and 6.It was a new experience having to move to different classrooms for each subject unlike primary school where I had my classroom teacher for every subject. Overall my first week at Killester was enjoyable where I adapted to a new school environment well enough . I can’t wait to continue my next 6 years here where I’ll make new friends and experience different things from primary school.

Sivaanie Gopinathan Year 11 Laura Montoya

Coming back to school and more specifically, entering Year 11 has made me realise that I need to pull myself together and do what it takes to become the best version of myself in 2022. I’ve also learned that approaching adulthood I have more responsibilities and I am maturing, and I know this is what many of us are starting to think as we face new obstacles and become challenged by them.

We’ve been through a lot in Covid with fluctuating changes between remote learning and in-school learning and I’ve understood through this experience that now that we better understand Covid, we can tackle the problems in front of us. 

For some people, this year has started off great and they’ve been completing tasks efficiently whereas sadly, some people have had to stay home due to Covid symptoms and testing positive or isolating. Because of these challenges, this year will be tough for us but I believe that a positive mindset brings positive things and therefore, staying positive will do a lot and bring a lot to us. So let’s stay positive and all do our best!