Around the Secondary Campus

In Year 8 English, students are exploring the topic of Slam Poetry. Slam Poetry, or spoken word poetry is a contemporary form of poetry that allows people to express their thoughts and opinions on issues in our society. Students have explored slam poems by poets such as Solli Raphael, the youngest winner of the Australian Poetry Slam whose poems focus on issues such as the impact of waste on the environment as well as inequality and prejudice. 

Before writing and performing their own slam poems, Year 8 students created persuasive posters that presented their issue and shared their opinions on it. We look forward to their class poetry slam’s next week when they will be performing their poems to their peers. 

Imogen Gray

The Queenborough Classic 

The Queenborough classic was introduced as an assessment task for all secondary PE classes in 2020. The task involves each student running as far as they can in 12 minutes. The course used is the running track at Lower Queenborough Oval, Sandy Bay. The task measures aerobic capacity, allowing students to understand what distance they are expected to be able to cover in 12 minutes to receive a SOUND grade at the minimum. 

The Australian physical activity guidelines recommend 5 - 17 year olds should complete at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day. However sadly this is not being achieved, with a recent report suggesting only 1 in 10 young people in Australia are meeting the recommendations.

Each Secondary PE lesson started with an allocation of running time, starting at 4 minutes and increasing each week by 2 minutes in preparation for the assessment task. It is important that students understand the minimum level of fitness they require to ensure lifelong positive health benefits. The running sessions also helped improve aerobic capacity as part of each student’s preparation for the  Cross Country carnival.

There were some excellent results recorded and students should be proud of their own individual achievements. A special mention must go to the three girls in this photo who recorded distances above 3000m in the 12 minutes.

Photo (l-r): Lacey Tilyard (Year 7),  Avalon Forbes (Year 9) and Bella Quinn (Year 8).

Year 8 Cheerleading

As part of the focus area; rhythmic and expressive movement in the HPE curriculum, all Year 8 students are currently involved in a 4 week Cheerleading unit. Local instructors attend each lesson offering students the opportunity to experience the various skills required to complete a cheerleading routine.