Junior School News - Lyn Moffett
Our Prep students had their very first excursion to Animal Land Children’s Farm recently and enjoyed a full day of many activities relating to a working farm. Such excursions are valuable learning experiences and rich language and literacy is the result. We are thankful to the volunteers who were able to come along and help our Preps enjoy this special day together.
Year 3 students were also out and about travelling to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat to explore and experience what life was like on the goldfields of Victoria. While the travel time was long, our students could also appreciate that travel in a Cobb & Co coach would have been much more tiresome and difficult.
Reports received back at school demonstrated that each student enjoyed this opportunity to imagine first-hand, the hardships of our early pioneer families, who lived through extreme weather conditions in the hope of finding gold and a new future for their families in the harshest of weather and conditions. The students were able to compare the vast differences between working in those days to the comforts they each enjoy today.
These planned curriculum experiences allow our students to appreciate the rich history of our regions, as well as the determination of people in often trying and different contexts of life. Thank you to all parents who prepared and supported their child’s participation for these events.
It was good to see so many parents attend the Literacy Workshops this week. These training days are a good time to hear from our staff about literacy learning in the early years and how to support your child at home.
You Are Invited
Our next parent prayer meeting is next Monday 13th May in the Junior School office at 8.40am. If you would like to join us as we give thanks and pray for all of our students, families and staff together, please be encouraged to come along. It is always a blessing to share in these community life moments and enjoy fellowship through prayer together.
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Free Webinar for Parents - Teach girls to build each other up
Friendships can be problematic for many girls. They can be mean and put each other down and, conversely, they can be strong allies and wonderful sources of support.
Join Collett Smart in this webinar that will show parents how to help girls create positive peer relationships and provide practical advice and ideas to navigate tricky situations including toxic friendships, cliques and bullying.
This webinar explores: Emotional Intelligence and girls
How we might equip girls to recognise their own worth, as well as the worth of others
What girls need from parents and carers when things go wrong in friendships and relationships
When parents need to hold back and when to step in
Strategies for developing both assertiveness and kindness in our girls
When: Wednesday 29 May 2019 at 8:00 PM
Price: Free of charge to HCC families. Normally $37 per person.
How to redeem the voucher
- Click this link: https://www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-teach-girls-to-build-each-other-up
- Click ‘Add to cart’
- Click ‘View cart’
- Enter the voucher code FRIENDSHIPS and click ‘Apply Coupon’. Your discount of $37 will be applied to the order. This voucher is valid until 29 June 2019.
- Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
- Fill in your account details. These are the details you will use to login to your account and access your parenting material
- Click ‘Place Order’
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Melton Campus News - Yvonne Harvey
Not Giving Up My Day Job
Thanks to all of you who have contacted me about the last newsletter edition regarding the seven reasons why I am excited about starting Year 7 at Melton next year. It has been wonderful to know our enthusiasm has been contagious.
In our continued quest to build up the Melton campus, last week I was charged with the task of appearing in, and have our children star in, a video summing up what we love about the College. In my head I thought, “This should be fine. I regularly stand in front of large groups of people, and I love talking about the school. How hard can it be?” Well, let’s just say, I have a newfound respect for the people who advertise toothpaste.
After I had decided what to wear (which took me some time!) we had to choose where to shoot the footage. The problem wasn’t finding a new and great spot at Melton – there’s so many of them – it’s just that they were full of children and teachers. There was so much learning happening that we ended up leaving them to it and heading back to the administration office.
Once I was comfortably set up in the foyer, I was asked to sum up how I feel about the College in 30 seconds, and my feeling of ease evaporated. How could I possibly wrap up my feelings so concisely? It had taken me a whole newsletter article to explain my excitement about what’s in store for just one year level, and even that was heavily edited. After what felt like about one hundred takes, and a clear lack of ability to stick to three lines, I would sincerely like to praise God for the ability to cut and paste. I managed to fill 30 seconds – I might have cheated a bit and made sure I spoke very quickly to get it all in!
Shortly after, we went for a walk with the children. This was much more in my comfort zone; being with our students and asking them what they love about our school. Our children, once again were amazing. They were able to sum up the school articulately and succinctly and didn’t even have a script – unlike me! They demonstrated how passionate they are about our school and how much they want us to succeed, with all of us driving their learning together.
When I watched the first cut of the video I have to confess I cried. To hear and see exactly why our children love our school sends a powerful message and challenges me to keep building up the College for them. Many of you have heard me say my greatest desire is to be a shining beacon that shines out the love of Christ, where families flock to give their children the best education in a Christ-centred environment.
It is safe to say I won’t be giving up my day job to be on the big screen, but I hope and pray you enjoy the video when it comes out and share it with your friends, because we truly are excited and ready for Year 7 in 2020.
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Middle School News - Deborah Letcher
Night of the Notables
Last Thursday night saw an amazing collection of men and women from history brought to life in our Night of the Notables. Students from Years 6, 7 & 8 took on the personas of their chosen notable person including George Cadbury, Amelia Earhart, Isaac Newton and Sir Weary Dunlop. We all enjoyed visiting these characters and learning more about their extraordinary lives and legacies. Well done to all the students who participated under the enthusiastic guidance of Mrs McClelland and her team of Senior School students.
See more photos from the event here.
Art reminder
Our Middle School students are wonderfully creative in our art rooms. There are aprons available for them to use while exercising their imaginations but it is much better if they are able to bring an art smock or old shirt to fully cover their sleeves. Now that we are entering the winter term with long-sleeved shirts, it could prove vital if you want their sleeves to stay white.
NAPLAN online
National NAPLAN testing begins next Tuesday. As all our students will complete NAPLAN Online this year, we will have a longer testing period compared to the three day window of previous years. All students have had the opportunity to practise using the new online platform and are well-prepared to undertake the tests. If you are interested in the schedule for your child’s year level, the days and sessions are available on our website.
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Senior School News - Graeme Hallett
Results vs Progress
The next month will see Senior School students complete two significant periods of assessment, in the form of the NAPLAN tests for Year 9s and then the Year 9 – 11 examinations. Each of these assessments provides helpful information that enables us to better support your child’s learning - but the key is to interpret it accurately.
Importantly, we need to distinguish between results and progress. Both have their place. Results are often the first thing that we look at: “Where does my child sit against the State/National average?” “Did you get an A or a B?” “What did the rest of the class get?” etc. However, while a grade or ranking can give us an indication about your child’s understanding of a unit of work, this is not all that we can learn.
Amongst the information that we receive about each student’s NAPLAN results is how quickly their understanding of literacy and numeracy is growing. Does it match the rate of growth experienced by the rest of the cohort? Or is your child’s rate of growth higher or lower than the average? Is this the same in each area, or what is the variation between them? This type of feedback can help us to work out where we can extend, diversify and reinforce your child’s learning.
We can derive similar information from our Semester examinations and reports. Effort grades as well as feedback on subject specific and general study skills can all help us see not just what has been learnt in Semester One, but also what we can do to improve and extend your child’s learning in the future. To conclude, Senior School students will complete two significant periods of assessment in the next month, but each of these form part of a vital, ongoing conversation that will last well into the future.