Year 7 and 8 Programs Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

This year we have been highlighting the importance of our School Values - Respect, Responsibility, Personal Best and Integrity. Term 2 was a focus on respect for self, others and the environment. In Term 3, our focus is on Personal Best which ties in with students' effort in the work they do at school and how they conduct themselves in the classroom but also transfers into their everyday lives. Personal Best does not mean achieving 100% and being perfect or comparing themselves to others. It refers to students improving their own results or effort based on feedback, self-reflection or quantitative measurements. Homegroup and Mentor sessions each week focus on the following themes:

Some key questions students were asked to ponder were:

What Motivates You To Do Your Personal Best? Is it:

1. Achieving your personal goals
2. Being better than you were before
3. Being the best
4. Keeping someone happy; eg, your parents or your teacher

What Does Your Personal Best Look Like?

1. I try my best, seek feedback, do extra studying at home
2. I have a go even though I may be wrong
3. Near enough is good enough
4. Too hard, so I am not even going to try

Do You Apply Resilience?

1. I get right back into it even when I don’t succeed
2. I mostly take risks even if I might fail
3. If I get something wrong I give up, it’s all too hard
4. It takes a long time for me to try again if I get something wrong

If students assessed themselves at 3 or 4, their challenge is to build their motivation and effort to help them achieve their personal best. 

Marketing Madness Year 8 

At the end of Term 2, Year 8 students were completing units of work on Energy and Energy Transfers for Science, Economics (Humanities) and Persuasive Writing (English). Their assessment for these units of work was a Marketing Madness Project in which they were tasked with forming groups to create a toy that demonstrated energy transfers and to create a Marketing Campaign to sell the toy. This project also encompasses interpersonal skills in working with others in groups, co-ordination, organisation, communication, creativity and time management, which are all skills that are applicable to jobs in the real world. 

Parents, teachers and other classes were invited to visit the Marketing Madness Expo, in which students set up stalls in the LC and market their toy, to vote for the best, most creative toy and the best marketing campaign. A big thank you to all visitors who attended and voted, it was a successful afternoon and the students put great effort into completing and spruiking their toys! Winners will be announced in Year Level Assembly.

Course Confirmations 

Over the last couple of weeks, course confirmations for Year 9 - 11 students have been taking place via Google Meet with Senior School and Careers staff. There have been over 400 online in person sessions completed last week and the remainder occurring this week. A huge thank you to the Senior Teaching Team and Co-ordinators, Tracey Bastin, Emma White and Jo Langhorne for their work in coordinating these sessions. If parents or students have any further queries about their chosen courses, please contact the Senior School office to organise an appointment or appropriate time.  

Student Wellbeing

The Headspace Mental Health Education Program will be facilitating a number of workshops to Years 7, 8 and 10 this week. The workshops will include topics such Let’s Talk About It: Mental Health and Standing Strong: Bullying and Mental Health. The delivery of these focused workshops will supplement and strengthen the breadth of other wellbeing programs and education happening across the College. 

​Headspace will cover the following topics:

• Identify the ways your body and brain react to stress
• Review bullying’s impact on mental health
• Find spaces and activities to help you stand strong
• Explore who you can talk to and seek support

Building Updates

The school is continuing to upgrade its facilities to provide a safe and engaging environment for students and staff. You may have noticed the scaffolding outside of the main building which is currently under construction. The balcony in the main building is being replaced and upgraded for safety reasons. These works should be completed midway through August.

The school has also installed seating and tables near the basketball court areas and outside of the Discovery building for students to sit at before and after school, at recess and at lunchtime.

Additionally, basketball rings have been installed outside of the Senior School Centre to provide extra areas for students to gather and play. 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Bryony Lowe

Instructional Coach - Year 7 & 8 Programs