Calendar dates
Semester 2
Basketball Marathon 23 July
College Assembly 2 August
Year 11 Course Counselling 12 & 13 August
Performing Arts Carnival 14 August
Year 10 Course Counselling 19, 20, 21 & 22 August
Year 9 Course Counselling 26, 27, 28 & 29 August
Parent Teacher Interviews 5 September
College Assembly 10 September
Last Day term 3 20 September
Presentation Night Years 10-12 28 November
Presentation Night Years 7-9 16 December
Dear all
welcome back from 2 weeks break. I trust everyone had a relaxing time and are re-energized and ready for a big Term. The Basketball Marathon is fast approaching and the student's countdown clock indicates 4 sleeps to tip off. From our perspective the first week backwas incredibly positive. There was a fabulous buzz in the classrooms. Staff were energised and the students actively involved in their learning.
Reports on Compass
For the first time we introduced the delivery of reports on Compass. The feedback we have received is that this has been a success. Reports take considerable effort from our staff and the feedback is a vital part of the learning process for our students. Please ensure that as a family you analyse the efforts that your children have applied to their classes As role models for your children, feedback around effort assists the development of grit and resilience. These are fundamental qualities that go a long way to ensuring students achieve their personal bests in their studies.
Welcome New Staff
This week we welcomed four new teachers to our team. Cheryl Roberts ( EAL) Natalie Nejad ( Science/ Maths) Rebecca Domange ( Health/ PE) and Paige Tan ( Maths). These staff are replacing other staff who are on leave. We are sure they enjoy the culture of our College and the rewarding experience of working with our students, staff and parents.
Congratulations Holly T- State Cross Country 4th
Holly T from Year 7 finished 4th in the State Cross Country this week, narrowly missing 3rd place. This is a wonderful achievement from Holly, who you will also note below, achieved a High Distinction in the Maths Challenge.
STEM Maths
Thirteen students in year 7, 8 and 9 STEM Maths completed the
Mathematics Challenge Stage over three weeks during term 2.
The purpose of the
Maths Challenge Stage is to encourage and foster:
· a
greater interest in and awareness of the power of mathematics
· a
desire to succeed in solving stimulating mathematics problems individually and
in groups
· a
discovery of the joy of problem solving in mathematics
· the
identification of talented young Australians, recognising their achievements
nationally and providing support that will enable them to reach their own
levels of excellence.
High Distinction Winners, Chloe and Holly
Also seven maths projects in year 7 STEM and two maths projects in Year 9 STEM were registered this week with the Mathematical Association of Victoria as part of the Maths Talent Quest. The students have been working hard in groups and individually at home and at school to bring maths alive in the real world. Projects range from the maths of basketball and football, to teaching Algebra using a board game , designing homes, designing Tuscan tiles, analysing the nutritional value of different Jams, Fibonacci, slopes and lucky numbers.
The
Maths Talent Quest aims to promote an interest in
mathematics. The focus is on the process of mathematical investigations.
Looking at real life situations and finding that mathematics is
everywhere. Well done to all the students who participated. Achieving high results is not the aim of these activities. Achieving personal bests and becoming immersed in challenging learning are. It is great to see these 13 achieve personal bests through their participation.
Year 9 & 10 Course Selection Begins
Students were addressed this week by Thea Kamvissis, our Careers and Pathways Leader. Students are now arriving at the time in their education where they get to make some choice about their future and their pathways. These choices can be confusing and daunting. Many students will not know what they want to do when they leave school. This is ok. We strongly encourage all students to pursue their education beyond Secondary school. What we believe is important now is that they keep their options somewhat open, they pursue the subjects they love and are good at and they understand whatever pathway they choose to take, there are no shortcuts. Hard work and persistence are key ingredients to success in all walks of life.
During their session with Thea Kamvissis, they logged on to our digital course selection site on Moodle. Below is a link to that site for parents to view. We encourage all our parents to take a very active role with their children as they make these choices.
Year 9 STEM History
This semester, the Year 9 STEM History class has been specially selected to participate in an innovative program through Deakin University that is designed to enhance our regular curriculum. Some of them are pictured below this Free Dress Day (Friday) working with their Pre-service Teachers.
It will involve students working in small groups with Pre-service Teachers (student teachers) one period a week on a research project they are completing as part of their normal course. The Pre-service Teachers are currently studying the teaching of literacy skills across different subjects and will be planning ways to incorporate the teaching of these skills during the research task- skills like being able to find relevant information in sources and how to write different kinds of texts, etc.
This is really exciting for the College, as we will have a ratio of one teacher to two students in the classroom during these lessons. Each student will have more than 11 times extra face-to-face teacher interaction. It will also give students a chance to talk with current University students while they are thinking about their future studies. We will keep everyone posted about progress.
International Students Incursion
This Friday we had an incursion for our new International students. A visit from staff from the Louise Multicultural Centre in Box Hill was coupled with an Aussie pizza lunch. The staff from the Louise centre were helping educate the ISP students about Aussie slang and vernacular. Mr Rogers enjoyed the pizza.
Staff Trip to China
During the last week of Term 2 and the first week of our break, Aggie Katsanevakis and Jacki Hood went to China for the purpose of parent teacher interviews for our Chinese International Students. They had a very successful trip and we thank them very much for the time and effort they have put into supporting these students.
Further facilities upgrades for your children
This week we took possession of a range of new chairs and tables for students to work at in the collaborative space in H Block.
Soundfields were installed in 20 classrooms around the College as part of some funding we applied for through our Deaf Facility. The advantage of these for all students is the teacher's voice can now be heard at the same volume everywhere in these classrooms. They are used to support all students. The speakers are distributed evenly around the room so that the teachers voice and any video with audio that is used can be accessed equally regardless of where you are sitting.
The Library continues to evolve and improve. New stacks for the fiction section have been installed, new chairs have been added and a TV screen is being installed to stream live world news, , Library updates and use Apple TV and Iview for students in the Library.
Intermediate and Year 8 Badminton
A group of 12 Year 10 students played Division badminton on Thursday and a group of 20 Year 8 students did on Friday. Our Year 10 students had some fabulous wins on Thursday, in particular Haari, Amber and Zhiy. At the time of writing this we were still awaiting results from the Year 8's, which can go in next week's blog.
Free Dress Day- Basketball Marathon fundraiser
This Friday we had a free dress day and BBQ to raise funds for the Basketball marathon. With in excess of 150 students involved in some capacity, the event seems destined to be a huge success.
Performing Arts Carnival Rehearsals.
This week Green and Yellow Tribes began their rehearsals in earnest for the upcoming PAC. Their performances seem to be drawing on both staff and students. Keep the 14th of August free, parents and feel free to come and watch this fabulous event. For those of you unaware, the Performing Arts Carnival (PAC) is the Arts equivalent of Tribe Swimming or Aths. We suspend the regular curriculum for the day and Tribes produce a play, a song and a dance for the event. Points are awarded and a trophy presented to the winning Tribe.
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