Secondary School

From the Head of Secondary 

The Secondary School was full of energy this week.  We welcomed the Year Nine students back from camp, with all their tales from their week away.  We had the Uni Roadshow visit on Wednesday which had students in Years Nine to Twelve engaging in all sorts of conversations about the future and all that they can do now to prepare for that. 

Meanwhile, Year Eight students had their Camp briefing and Year Seven students spent some time with their Heads of House.

The Sound Bites Picnic was the highlight of the week and I would like to acknowledge our Year Twelve Leadership team for their organisation of this event.  Not only did the picnic raise awareness around hearing loss but it brought the school community together.

Our Peer Support program also began this week with our Year Eleven leaders preparing an activity to run with Year Seven students next week.  One of the many advantages of our pastoral structure here is that the connections made through this program will develop and be easily sustained through Homeroom.

Now that we are halfway through the term, I asked some students about how they were finding their Homerooms this year:

Menari Deegan, Baudin 1

In Homeroom this year we have been doing lots of little games like guess who and hangman, but these games haven’t been in year groups they have been mixed Year Eights, Tens, Twelves and a whole heap more. The Homerooms this year have been enjoyable and exciting. I believe that the homerooms are a good way for the younger students to learn from the older students. One of the main reasons is they can help each other study for tests, exams, and even quizzes.

Koby Marklew, Camfield 2

Our Homeroom teacher engages with the students by playing games and also encouraging the Year Twelves to play games with the younger students so that everyone is communicating and having fun. The Homeroom teacher also talks to her students about what is going on and prepare them for what's about to happen, like camp or what they are going to do over the weekend, and about their classes. With a friendly hello or chat at recess or lunch, she is overall a friendly teacher.

Reagan Warren and Faith Bin Omar, Mokare 1

The change in Secondary School Homerooms has connected all the year groups together. This has made more year groups interact with the other people that they don’t normally see during the day. Our Homeroom has friendly people that make it an enjoyable and fun environment to be in for a good start to the morning ready to learn. Having a good start to the morning means you will be in a better mood and have more energy to tackle the school day ahead.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN season is fast approaching and we will be running a practice test on Tuesday 7 March to help students familiarise themselves with the platform and make sure that the NAPLAN application on their devices is functioning as we expect.  Students will use dummy names for this test and no responses will be collected or marked. 

As with the NAPLAN tests in Weeks Seven and Eight, it is important that students arrive at school with their fully-charged devices and a set of earphones on Tuesday.

NAPLAN results will be reported to families in a different way this year.  More information is available in the ACARA media release regarding new proficiency standards for NAPLAN.

Mrs Victoria Turnor | Head of Secondary

From the Year Twelve Leaders

On Wednesday 1 March, the Year Twelve leadership team organised a picnic in the quadrangle to raise money for the hearing impaired. We organised games to be brought over from Boarding, such as chess, connect four and giant jenga. Years Seven to Twelve sat on the grass with picnic blankets and food, wearing butterfly badges in support of the cause. The day raised a little over $100, which is a great start for the first event supporting deafness. 

On Wednesday 8 March, the Year Twelve leadership team is organising a cake stall for International Women's Day. We would love your support on this day and will welcome any baked goods that we can sell to raise money. Alongside this, we will be selling purple ribbons for a gold coin donation which is a known symbol of the internationally celebrated day. We would love your help in putting these ribbons together and anyone interested in helping is welcome to contact anyone from the leadership team. 

Stella Boyce | School Captain

Baudin News

Today at lunchtime Baudin House celebrated Nicolas Thomas Baudin's Birthday.

There was fun and games (and birthday cake)!

Mr Neil Ferreira | Head of Baudin