KLA News 

Agriculture

Mrs Janet Price

The Agricultural Farm at O'Connor has been producing over the school holidays with students today harvesting their vegetables and caring for the livestock with Agriculture teacher Mrs Janet Price. There is so much to learn at the 'Ag Farm'.

Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA)

Year 8 have been busy making music in Miss Suann's class this week on a variety of the College's instruments in their practical classes. Our music classes in junior year are a perfect way for students to experiment with a variety of types of instruments and learn the elements of rhythm, tone and pitch. 

Students across the music department continue to be busy learning their parts for the College Musical 'School of Rock' which will be performed later in 2022. 

Instrumental Scholarships

Year 7 and 8 students are invited to apply for instrumental scholarships for our foundation ensembles for 2022. This includes instrument hire, group lessons at a reduced rate and participation in our school ensembles. For more information contact the College office at occadmin@arm.catholic.edu.au.

Design and Technology

Mrs Anne Healey

Food Technology

Mrs Healey's Food Tech class is cooking healthy muffins this week and on Tuesday were observing her demonstration of the process. 

Year 11 Hospitality

Rice paper rolls were on the menu in Mrs Healey's Year 11 Hospitality class on Tuesday. There were smiles all round, probably because it was break time after class and they could savour their creations. 

Textiles and Design

Mrs Vicki Channon

Year 8 are enjoying all the new subjects they get to participate in at O'Connor. On Tuesday, Mrs Vicki Channon's Textiles class was learning about the sewing machine and will be practising stitching soon. Later in the course, students will be bringing home their finished project.

TEXTILES: Mrs Vicki Channon is the College's Textiles and Design Teacher.

Wood Technology

Mr Fulloon's class was busy sanding off their projects this week, ready for the next stage. 

HSIE

Cherie Stoessel

Welcome back to all in our O’Connor Community and especially to all of our fantastic students.  I hope you all had a safe and restful break.  The department also welcomes back the following staff:

Mrs Cheryl Leggatt 

Ms Amanda Bell

Mr Garry Osborne

Mr Andrew May

Mr Peter Trinh

Mr Frank Patricks

Mr Stephen Kirkaldy

Mrs Cherie Stoessel

Currently students across all classes are starting their first units for the semester as follows:

Year 7 - Landscapes and Landforms - Geography

Year 8 - Water in the World - Geography

Year 9 - Industrial Revolution - History 

Year 10 - Rights and Freedoms - History 

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Keep an eye out for student reports on their learning in future newsletters!

Industrial Revolution - Year 9 HSIE

This period of history was significant and Mrs Leggatt's class has been drafting maps that mirror what cities were like in those changing times. 

Mathematics

Mr Mark Harris

How exciting to see another year of learning begin in the Mathematics KLA at the college.

It is so important to have a good understanding of Mathematics and its application in the real world and that starts here at school.

Although we are only a week and a half in, all students have made a fine start to the academic year in their Mathematics classes working closely with their teachers to move their learning forward.

Here are the focus areas in Stage 4 for the beginning of 2021. 

Year 7:  Computation with positive Integers and Number Theory.  In addition, Year 7 have been completing a Vocabulary/Writing activity: Write anything you know about the number 24. 

Year 8:  Algebraic Techniques and Indices.  Remember, all those symbols (eg x) are not letters.  They are NUMBERS.

From Year 9 course pathways diverge based on the levels students are in but areas of study for this term include Measurement, Integers, Fraction, Decimals, Percentages and Rates and ratios.

Year 10 have started looking at the Finance topic, learning all about money.

Year 11 have just started their courses for 2021 and Year 12 have picked up where they left off at the end of term 4 last year continuing to work through the HSC topics relevant to their level of study.

The Mathematics Staff are looking forward to a great year of learning working with all students in the college in the only subject that counts!  We would especially like to welcome Mrs Nat Gurr to the Mathematics Staff.  Mrs Gurr is well known to our students, working as a learning support teacher last year.  In 2022 she is sharing he awesome maths skills with her Year 7 and 8 classes.

IT'S ALL ABOUT MATHS: Mrs Gurr in action, teaching her Year 8 Mathematics class.

ALWAYS A HELPING HAND AROUND: New support teacher, Helen Mergen, helping in out in Mrs Gurr's class.

Mark Harris

Leader of Learning - Mathematics

PDHPE

Ms Camilla Clydsdale

Welcome to the PDHPE Department for 2022. This Year our Department welcomes the following new teachers:

• Mrs Shane Moffitt
• Mrs Felicity Magann

The Department also welcomes back:

• Mr James Russell
• Ms Natalie Mellowship
• Mr Damian Roff
• Miss Camilla Clydsdale

The following documents have been emailed home via Compass and are a great reference point for Yr 7-10 PDHPE students and parents:

• Welcome to the PDHPE Department 
• Sensitive Topics Letter 

Fitness Testing

Miss Clydsdale's Year 9 PDHPE class were busy doing their fitness testing out on the oval and courts on Tuesday. With the help of Education Assistants, Aboriginal Education Assistants and Prac Student Mr Scholes-Robertson, they were put through the motions to record all aspects of fitness. 

PRAXIS

PRAXIS is a Latin term that refers to the process of using a theory or something you have learned in a practical way.

Students will work on three units over the school year ...Fake News, Rube Goldberg Machines and Create Your Own Country.

So far the students have been very engaged, asking lots of deep questions and providing thoughtful responses.

We start each lesson with a mind game or activity...parents try playing TwoTruths, One Lie with your year 7 child and see if they can trick you with their own 'fake news'.

Every Year 7 class has one lesson of PRAXIS each week where students will aim to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in class to an interesting project. 

Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method that drives student learning by engaging them in real-world, meaningful projects. Students work in groups over a set period on a project designed to solve a genuine problem or answer a challenging question. Students demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a product or presentation for an authentic audience, such as teaching the Year 5/6 STEP Day students or presenting to members of Rotary.

The benefits of PBL include:

• Deeper engagement and interaction with learning content
• Encouragement of higher order thinking and problem-solving skills
• Fostering of 21 st century skills like collaboration and communication

Science

Physics

Mr Fittler's Year 11 Physics class have hit the ground running this year. This week they were looking at light refraction using a very big lens. 

Chemistry

Mr Powers' Year 11 Chemistry class was busy separating iron filings, salt and sand on Tuesday in their practical class. It is harder than it looks and some students needed to problem solve along the way.