Middle Years News 

Year 7

Project Rockit

Year 7 students participated in one 30 minute session per week for 4 weeks. 

Students needed to log into the webinar and were given supporting material on each session via their Teams page. Each session had a different focus:

Session 1: Looking out for each other online. Focus of the session is for students to understand

the impact of their actions and combat (cyber)bullying so that they can stay safe and healthy online.

Session 2: Respect and Empathy. This webinar explored the way people may form judgements and make assumptions about people of posts online. It’s aim is to support and challenge students to navigate the online world with compassion and critical thinking.

Session 3: Taking Positive Action. The seminar encouraged students to take positive action on the issues that matter most to them and stand up for what they believe in, so that they can be leaders among their peers and community.

Session 4: 

Digital Wellbeing: The aim of this session was to make sure students are equipped to navigate the wellbeing challenges that technology sometimes creates. They will explore ways to create positive online environments, manage anxiety and stress, tools to support mental health online and how to reach out for support.

Goal Setting

At the start of term, to motivate students for remote learning, the Year 7 Team conducted a goal setting session with each form group.

Our focus was to encourage students to provide feedback on strengths and areas for improvement from their first experience of remote learning, and consider which areas they should work on (forming SMART goals). Particular areas we wanted to reflect on were their learning behaviours and wellbeing (including socialisation, brain breaks and exercise).

Year 12 Buddy System

The year 12's are looking to start up a buddy program with the Year 7's. They are intending to have small groups of Year 7 students with their friends and the Year 12 student will be there to have a chat or give advice! The Year 12 students created a google form for interested students to fill in. It is a great opportunity created by the Year 12 students. 

Mr Krieg and the Year 7 team have created small groups based on the google forms and Year 12 students have been allocated to these groups based on the interested expressed in the google form. Bonnie Osborn has been instrumental in collating the Year 12 teams. 

Year 8

Project Rockit

Year 8 students also participated in 4 -30 minute sessions, however completed their Webinars in one week. Again, students needed to log into the webinar and were given supporting material on each session via their Teams page. Each session had a different focus (consistent with the Year 7 sessions outlined above). Parents received session resources and were encouraged to continue conversations at home.

Sue Lawson Guest Speaker

Students were lucky to have Sue Lawson, the author of “Freedom Ride”, talk to the students via Webex about the novel and its content. This session is an excellent support to their English Curriculum.

Students were able to build build an understanding around the writing and editing process of a published author and made great use of the opportunity to ask some great questions.

Subject Selection Process

All Year 8 Students have now completed their subject selection process! After an assembly and selecting their subjects remotely, I hope the Year 8 cohort are looking forward to experiencing some exciting new electives in 2021.

Goal Setting

Year 8 Goal setting was consistent with the practice and focus conducted with the Year 7s. Common goals and areas of focus were distributed to Year 8 teachers to further support and encourage students meeting these goals in the remote learning setting.

Year 9

Photo Comp

We received some amazing photos from the Year 8 cohort! Congratulations to the winners of the Photography Competition!

School for Student Leadership Opportunity

We are excited to have been offered a place at the Alpine School Campus in 2021 for 6 lucky students. We are asking for expressions of interest for the School for Student Leadership (Alpine School) which will be for the duration of Term 1 in 2021. Selection process will be via an application and panel members selecting from those applications.

Subject Selection Process/Assembly

Congratulations to the Year 9 cohort who embarked on a mammoth subject selection process this term. They hopefully took the time to peruse through the Senior Handbook, extensive Stile Expo page and listened to Ms Cottone describe all the core and elective options available to them. A fabulous effort was undertaken by parents, students and staff to complete their subject selections remotely on Subject Selection Day, and we were pleased to see so many students had considered their options carefully, and were confident in their choices for 2021.

Morrisby Testing

All Year 9 students undertook the Morrisby Testing during the term, and have been completing their reflection sessions. The service is designed to help students make choices about subject selection, vocational education and training, senior secondary school certificates and further study. As part of the overall career planning process for young people, the career advisory service recognises the importance of learning career planning skills over time and of understanding an individual’s strengths and preferences. We hope the students discovered more about their strengths and interest during this rigorous process.

Butterfly Foundation

On 14th September, students joined a session with the Butterfly Foundation to explore the following:

• The role of positive and negative self-talk on feelings about our self and our bodies
• How to shut down appearance-based talk
• Where appearance ideals come from, who benefits and what are the potential costs
• Strategies to derail and reduce body comparisons
• Managing online appearance teasing and bullying
• Practical ideas for boosting body confidence
• The importance of reaching out for help for ourselves or others.

Kahoot

Jack Carter (MY Student Leader) created a Kahoot for the Year 9 students to participate in during one lunchtime per week (until the end of term).

Competitions

Exercise Competition

From Friday the 14th of August, organised by the Middle Years Leadership Team (Sam Hirschauer and Sarah Golland), students were encouraged to use Nike Run or Strava Apps to record their exercise, and to try and create a fun image of their work-out.

SRC Comp

Between the 24th and 28th of August the SRC we're encourageing cohorts to celebrate the environment and all the ways we can make our world a better place.  To celebrate the week, the following competition was organised by the SRC Captains:

• On Thursday, cook a meal that promotes the environment. Feel free to share recipes with your friends, classmates or cohort before then!
• On Friday inspire others by taking a picture of yourself doing something for the environment. You might want to go pick up some rubbish, or show off your recycling system at home! You can also wear something to promote the cause of sustainability, such as a splash of green. Post these on your Year Level's Teams page

Masterchef Comp

Dior and Ryder (MY College Captains) have created a competition for the second last weef of Term to encourage students to put on their Masterchef hats and get creative in the kitchen this week. Congratulations to Matilda Crawford of Year 8 whose Rainbow Cake was voted the “yummiest” by the Middle Years Cohort.

Awards

All teachers nominated two students from their class to receive an Endeavour Award. These awards were based on the following criteria:

• Commitment and effort to their school work
• Continuous and regular attendance throughout the semester
• Growth in their learning throughout the semester
• Growth in their engagement throughout the semester
• Willingness to help others with their work
• Positive participation in classes and during remote learning
• Displayed independence and self-motivation while completing set tasks
• Seeks feedback regularly

To congratulate those students who received an award, a PDF was created and a video of the recipient names. These were posed to their cohort Teams pages, news feed and the newsletter.

Wellbeing Space

Libby and the Level Leaders have created a channel called “Wellbeing Space” in each cohorts Teams page. In this a space, Libby posts to regularly with activities to try to reduce stress and anxiety, and contacts the students can reach out to if in need. Students are encouraged to continue to access this space during the holiday period.

2021 School for Student Leadership Alpine School Campus

The School for Student Leadership (SSL) is a Victorian initiative offering a unique residential education experience for Year 9 students. The curriculum focuses on personal development and team learning projects sourced from students' home regions.In 2021, there will be the opportunity for 6 Year 9 students to experience the School for Student Leadership during Term 1. The students who attended Gnurad-Gundidj Campus in Term 1, 2020 presented the following information to the Year 8 cohort on Friday the 11th September during an assembly. 

Curriculum Focus (Classes)

• Metacognition
• Decision making
• Ethical decisions
• Self-awareness
• Social-awareness
• Leadership and teamwork skills
• Thinking and learning
• First aid
• Food handling
• CLP – Community Learning Project (to complete back at Viewbank upon return)

Other Activities (Outdoor Classes)

• Hiking
• Camping/expeditions
• Bike riding (mountain bikes and tandem bikes)
• Bridge building
• Raft building

Living Arrangements

• Separate Dormitories – (Boys and Girls)
• Separate wings
• Roommates!
• Laundry - builds independence!
• Limited screen time

Being Away from Friends and Family

• Challenging but worth it
• Gives you more experience
• Helps mature you as you're treated as an adult
• Allowed to email family through a laptop that everyone is allocated

Pictures of Some Activities

How to Express Your Interest in Attending - 2021

• Download the application (attached to your Teams page or to the Newsfeed).
• Have a chat to you parents about the School for Student Leadership.
• Please note the cost of the program is $1050. This covers accommodation, food and activities for Term 1, 2021 at Alpine Campus.
• With your parents, have a look at their website: http://www.alpineschool.vic.edu.au/
• Complete the application form (image below) and email to both Ms Butler and Ms Pinney Brown.
• Due date is Tuesday the 6th October (first week back in Term 4).

Project Rockit webinars

Summary of what it was:

The Project Rockit Webinars aimed to teach us about the positives and negatives of having an online presence, while also giving us ways to deal with online bullying. 

The first webinar was about looking out for each other online.  

The presenters in the webinar explained that bullying isn’t always obvious, and sometimes people can be doing it without being aware of the negative impacts their behaviour is having. 

The next webinar was about respect, empathy and leadership. 

They pointed out that leaders don’t always have to be the most successful, confident person, and that everyone has the potential to lead.  All it takes to show leadership is to take a form of positive action, which brings us to the topic of the 3rd webinar. 

It explained how sometimes you have to just show a little resilience and stand up to the bully, even if you’re the only one. 

The last webinar was about digital identity and using social media to express yourself. 

In order to promote healthy usage of apps like Instagram, twitter and tik tok, they recommended that people refrain from comparing their own achievements to others, stopped worrying so much about the likes, and made sure their screen-time stays at a reasonable amount. 

The webinars as a whole were very interactive, with a number of pop-up polls, a Q/A section and video examples of the concepts they were trying to teach to us. 

Personally, I find that one of the main reasons online bullying often goes unnoticed is because people don’t know where to draw the line. 

The webinar gave me a better understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong in the online world, and I am grateful for the experience.

Livi

Year 8

Wear it Purple Day - Friday 28th August

To celebrate Wear it Purple Day, students were asked to add a touch of purple to their  Friday outfit to show their support! 

Thanks to 8B and 8F for sharing their screen shots.

Wear it Purple Day is an annual LGBTIQA+ awareness day, where allies and the  LGBTIQA+ community wear purple to show support. Wear it Purple Day strives to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for rainbow youth.