Year 4 & 5 Bike Ed
This week Years 4/5 students have been out braving the elements on two wheels as part of the Bike Education Program. The program aims to gain knowledge and understanding of the road traffic environment and the road rules. Students develop the physical and cognitive skills to manage the road environment safely as cyclists. Students will conclude their program Friday afternoon over at A Maze’nThings with their Bike Ed Challenge course.
A big thanks to the Phillip Island Bike Users Group (BUG) and A Maze’n’Things for your time and generosity, in allowing our program to run.
Matt Jackson
Physical Education Teacher
Snow Tipped Mountains
A Poem by Year 8 Sambell student, Mangarri Trewin
In the cradle of the sky, where heavens meet,
Snow-tipped peaks in quiet grandeur rise,
Their crowns adorned with crystal, cold and sweet,
Beneath the soft expanse of winter’s guise.
Each jagged crest a sculpted work of grace,
A monument to time’s eternal hand,
With frosted whispers etched upon their face,
They guard the secrets of this frozen land.
The dawn ignites their silver crowns in fire,
A fleeting blush of rose and amber hue,
Then twilight paints them in a blue so dire,
Their snowy cloaks blend into evening’s view.
They stand as sentinels of ages past,
Where winds weave songs of ancient lore and might,
Their majesty both fleeting and steadfast,
A beacon in the tranquil hush of night.
So let the snow-tipped mountains watch in peace,
Their silent vigil through the ages keep,
For in their quiet grandeur, wonders cease,
And hearts find solace in their endless sleep.
Sophia Receives Public Speaking Award
Year 6 student Sophia Hardy was the proud recipient of second place in the annual Wonthaggi Primary Schools Public Speaking Competition which was held in October this year at the Community Arts Centre in Wonthaggi. The competition is jointly sponsored by the Wonthaggi Rotary Club and the Community University Centre located in Wonthaggi.
Each year, primary schools from around the Bass Coast select the students who are their best speakers and enter them into the multi-school competition. 2024 saw 10 Bass Coast schools take part. Sophia Hardy is pictured with Acting Head of Middle School Geoff White receiving her award from Rotary Club representative Jenny Milkins, and CUC representative Sarah Bourke at the Middle School assembly.
Well done, Sophia.
Andre Whitton
Chaplain
Middle School House Activities
House Activities have been running all year at Middle School. The students enjoy getting outdoors and testing their skills while competing for House points. Although the House Cup has been awarded for 2024, this hasn't stopped Middle School from having some competitive fun. Whether its sports competitions, dress up and trivia, they House Home Groups always have fun.
Year 7 Maths
Among the many important skills of working with decimals, including rounding, applying decimals to addition, subtraction, and multiplication, connecting decimals to fractions and percentages, and much much more, is the skill of dividing decimals. Below you can see the work of a very well-organised and productive student applying their skills here. And remember – you can always check your division work through the inverse operation of multiplication. Division of decimals is an important step when finding the average of numbers which can be used in many sporting settings such as find out the batting average of Sir Donald Bradman or the shooting accuracy of Caitlin Clarke.
Year 7 students have moved on to Equations. This chapter builds upon our earlier algebra work extending student skills to solve equations, investigate equivalent equations, solve equations with fractions and brackets, and use formulas. Below a student is showing excellent working out and application of the “waterfall” method. Using the opposite operation helps simplify the equation to find the value of our pronumerals. These skills can be helpful when managing budgets and calculating annual expenses such as rent.
Year 8 Maths
This term year 8 students have been delving into the exciting world of Linear Relationships. Here you can see a student applying the y = x into the tables and then plotting these coordinates to form the curved line called a parabola. These skills are used by engineers who can create suspension bridges similar to the parabola.
More recently, Year 8 students have begun to explore Transformation and Congruence. Below you can see a student applying a vector (directions of translation) to create a new image or point. Surveyors can use these skills to map our precise placements of houses for legal ownership records.
Aaron Chaston
Middle School Teacher