Student News

Returning to School after Lockdown

In the early hours of Friday the 22nd of October, we could already feel positive energy. As we prepared for the Year 7s to return from Remote Learning, we could see that the weather was going to be perfect. The R-Block corridors that had remained vacant from students and lay silent for too long began to buzz with excitement, chatter, and laughter. Mr. Smith placed a welcoming notice on each of the lockers and it was enjoyable to see students see their friends again. We were back! 

The return on Tuesday for Year 8s and 9s was just as memorable. All year levels had assemblies and our Year Level Coordinators Miss McMahon, Mrs. Hodgkinson, and Miss Wilson made the return more exciting with a gift that was provided to each student. Students have also been rewarded for their positive behaviours in the classroom by receiving a raffle ticket from their teachers for demonstrating the College values. The raffle will be drawn on Friday the 5th of November and the prizes are quite special. Year Level Coordinators have also been rewarding students for representing the College appropriately in the correct school uniform.

As a Team, the Middle School has been excited to welcome our students back. Many incursions and activities have taken place, which is included in this newsletter. One very successful activity was the Year 7 Welcome Back Banners. They looked beautiful and were placed on display for the return of the Year 8 and 9 students. 

We continue on the journey together, as we return to face-to-face learning. A huge thank you to our parents, carers, and students for all of your efforts during home learning.

Miss Field

Middle School Leader

Happiness after Lockdown

11 weeks of staring at the computer. Seeing only our family on a daily basis. Friends talk in texts and we can’t hear their expected voice while their faces show as a logo. Lockdown was one of the worst things that could have happened in history, and 11 weeks of it was not great. Thankfully it’s over.

As soon as the Premier announced that we were returning to school, we all jumped with a smile sparkling on our faces.

As soon as students returned to school, beaming faces were seen everywhere. Students giggled as they saw glitter lying on their lockers and positive messages on notes stuck on their locker.A real welcome was the presents we were each given as a surprise in Home Group. This included a pencil case with a coloured highlighter, a foldable ruler, and two erasable gel pens. The presents are very helpful for our learning and symbolised a new start. There were also other joys throughout the day such as talking to our friends and seeing our wonderful teachers. During classes, teachers would make the lesson fun by incorporating games to promote socialness. During the last period, we designed ‘Welcome Back!’ banners which were very fun, engaging and helped us to collaborate with our peers. We wrote comments in the finest writing reading: ‘We did it together!’ and likewise. Our classmates drew things that made them happy, such as Christmas-themed items.

Returning to school was like a delicious cake. The rich layers were seeing our friends and teachers and the sweet icing was the collaborative activities. 

Regards,Vismaya (7G)😊

Lockdown Competitions

The year 7 cohort have been busy throughout lockdown participating in remote competitions! Congratulations to all our winners.

Footy Tipping: After 23 rounds of tight competition, the winners finally came to the surface. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the competition. A special shout-out to our top 3 footy tippers, who consistently led the competition throughout the year! 

1st – Ethan R – 1372nd – Nick H – 1343rd – Timothy K – 131.

Home Group Scavenger Hunt: Our Home Group Captains organised a Scavenger Hunt Competition for the year 7s, who had a week to take as many photos of items on the list as they could. There were some fantastic entries, with some students managing to find a photo of all 20 items! Congratulations to our overall winners of 7G, with 7B very close behind!

Remote Talent Competition: Throughout term 3, students had the opportunity to record themselves demonstrating any talent that was keeping them happy during lockdown. We had a range of wonderful entries showcasing skills from video editing, singing and art. It was tough to choose winners from this talented year level, but our overall prize winners were:

1st – Alani M2nd – Maya U3rd – Vismaya R

Classic Dad Joke Competition: Our principal Mr Smith brought his years of experience in making dad jokes to judge our year 7s on their comedy! There were some incredible puns, but the three winners were:

1st – Timothy K

2nd – Charlotte A

3rd – Lilly M

Explain a Film Plot Badly: We jumped onto the online trend of describing movie plots badly, and the year 7s produced wonderfully bad responses! Congratulations to our top 3: 

1st – Lilly M

2nd – Riley A

3rd – Jack A

1. Dad’s Joke Competition 

During the last week of Term 3, the Year 8’s were able to participate in a “Classic Dad Joke’s” competition. Students were able to post a classic dad joke on the Year 8 team’s page, where Mr Smith was able to read student's contributions with their notoriously corny jokes. 

Congratulations to Kiara K (8E) who managed to obtain 1st prize and Riley B (8C) with 2nd prize for their classic dad joke entries.

1. Two Truths and A Lie Competition 

Throughout the 5th and 6th lockdown, both staff and students were able to participate in the Year 8 two truths and a lie competition. Staff including Mr Smith, Mr Dixon, Ms Field and many other teachers were able to share three “facts” about themselves, where students were able to guess which ‘fact’ was a lie! Every time a student correctly guessed a lie, they received a point. 

A huge congratulations to all students who participated in this remote competition. A special mention to Leah R (8E) and Makayla L (8E) who managed to obtain equal first place. I would also like to acknowledge Charity F (8C), Zara B (8B) and Gemma J (8D), who came equal 2nd place. Students who managed to obtain a 1st or 2nd prize received e-vouchers on behalf of the college. 

Term 4 Monash Tech School Online Program

Over the past two weeks our Year 7 and Year 9 students have participated in a series of online STEM programs with the Monash Tech School focusing on using the Design Thinking Process to produce solutions to real world issues.

The Year 7 students took part in the SuperPets program where they used TinkerCAD to develop their own prosthetic limb for a pet. Students had to consider how the pet might need to use their body parts and consider it’s needs in developing their solution. These solutions could also be 3D Printed by students back at school!

The Year 9 students explored modern foods the SuperFoods program. Here the students considered the current state of our food manufacturing and the impact this has on the environment. Through collaboration on a Miro Board the students worked in groups to develop a food option that was more environmentally friendly using the modern ingredient Spirulina. 

Students in both Year 7 and Year 9 were innovative in their approach and took away some important modern skills and considered issues that will put them in good stead for their future!

Mr. Mello

STEM Learning