SEAL NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents,

I would like to introduce myself as the new SEAL Coordinator this year. This is my fourth year at Reservoir High School, and I am very excited to be given the opportunity to work with such a wonderful group of students across Year 7-10. I look forward to getting to know the students over the coming weeks and to helping them student achieve great things through the SEAL Program. 

SEAL students have been working diligently and enthusiastically in their classes as well as in cocurricular activities and other programs within the school. Year 7 students have been settling well into their classes. They have been looking at forces and measuring forces using a spring balance and working on their volleyball skills. Below is a small reflection from Nour Ihmaid in Year 7 describing her experience in SEAL this semester. 

“My name is Nour and I want to talk about my experience in SEAL this year. As a year 7 in the SEAL program, I feel that SEAL has challenged me in ways that I was not expecting. I enjoy all my subjects although my favourites are probably science, humanities and Chinese. In science my class and I have been studying force and motion. In humanities I have been working on a CAT about Ancient Egypt. Being in SEAL has given me so many new opportunities and I’m excited to see how much more I can achieve in the future.   Nour Ihmaid
A few weeks ago, the year 8 cohort got to dissect a heart! It was an amazing experience! After learning about the heart and circulatory system we were lucky enough to get our hands on a sheep’s heart. It was one of our CATs for Science and I think most of us loved cutting through the right and left ventricles, with a scalpel blade and finding out how blood flows through our heart. After the dissection we got to draw the heart with as much detail as possible. Overall, it was an experience I will never forget!   Alexia Coulloupas

Year 8 SEAL students dissected a heart in Science and Alexia Coulloupas has written about her experience. 

Year 9 SEAL students conducted a peer teaching session in sport where they each had an opportunity to run activities for other students within their class. 

Year 10 SEAL students have been working hard at some sophisticated and sustained pieces of writing in English and are building study skills and revision practices for their upcoming exams. 

On the 5th of May, we had our first SEAL Expo at Reservoir High School. It was a fantastic night with any students, parents and staff in attendance. Thank you to all the students who participated or presented their work on the evening. Future parents were very impressed. We hope to make this an annual occasion. 

Victorian High Abilities Program & Emerging Sciences 

Students have continued to be involved in the Emerging Science and the Victorian High Abilities Program. Aqeel of Year 9 and Maanas of Year 7 have shared their experiences below. 

I am a SEAL (Select Entry Accelerated Learning) student. This term, I was chosen to participate in VHAP (Victorian High Ability Program). I did VHAP in year 6 at my primary school. I would say that VHAP in high school is a thrill. The number count was way more than I expected it to be. We mostly had Mrs. Volpe (Assistant Principal) for supervision. VHAP was a fantasy world that was filled with math games and a heap of fun. It felt so magical, and the atmosphere was very peaceful. I personally learned a lot of new things, such as the Fibonacci numerals. It’s a fact that VHAP is truly amazing and the knowledge you gain from being in it is very helpful for your future. Maanas Prajapati
The Emerging Sciences Program for year 9 & 10 students has been a magnificent experience for me. The course I took for this semester was Astrophysics, and I will continue the program next semester taking on the Nature & Beauty of Mathematics course. Personally, I was beyond amazed at how much there was to learn about outer space, the chances of there being intelligent life out there, and the history of manned and unmanned space exploration, and on top of this, everything in the course is taught in a fun yet engaging way. Being a part of this program has also given me the opportunity to work with students from other schools who share similar interests to myself, a fair few of which I have formed good friendships with. Overall, the Emerging Sciences Program is a wonderful opportunity, and I would greatly recommend it to anybody who might be interested!

STEAM

It has been a fantastic beginning to Term 2. Students are demonstrating creativity and critical thinking whilst working through challenges and projects. Year 7 students have been working on planning and designing the tallest tower using spaghetti, string, sticky tape and a marshmallow. 

The year 8’s will be participating in a STEAM camp at La Trobe University next term. More information will be provided very soon. 

Ms. Shannon Lazarus