We are reaching the end of a busy term, and what better way to finish than with our annual Cross Country event today.

Myself, Mr Breese and Ms Tiller are thrilled to confirm the dates of the much anticipated Year 8 Camp for 2023. Our Camp provider this year is Maranatha Recreation Camp located in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast.

This Camp will be for 3 days and 2 nights and will occur in Term 3. From Monday the 14^th to 16^th of August 2023.

More precise details will be shared with parents early in Term 2, including the overall cost of the camp, the initial down payment, and the schedule for payments. At this stage, it is anticipated that this major school experience will be no more than $300 per student which includes: return bus transportation from Foxwell to the venue, two nights’ accommodation, camp activities, and all meals. As this is a major expense, families will be given plenty of notice for payment. We encourage all our students to undertake this in 2023 with the support of their peers and their teachers. Students will be eligible to attend camp pending finance, attendance and behaviour expectations are met in Terms 2 and 3 leading up to the camp. We thank you in advance for your support in this regard. Please look out for more information from the Year 8 team in Term 2 regarding this experience.

Congratulations to our newly elected student leaders in Year 8!

I would like to address the Year 8 team's concern around an emerging pattern of lateness and truancy in our cohort. The most important thing to us is the safety of our students. If a child is not in class when they are supposed to be, there is no way of knowing where they are and what they are doing, which is one of the reasons why we take lateness and truancy so seriously at Foxwell. It also makes it incredibly difficult for teacher's to teach, when they are interupted by students turning up late to class, or they are following up on students that have not arrived to class instead of teaching the lesson. I want to thank parents for their support and understanding as I have made contact home advising of incidences where a student has been repeatedly late to class, or has been truant from a lesson. Students can expect consequences for this behaviour in line with the Student Code of Conduct, ranging from lunch time and after-school detentions to Saturday detentions and suspensions. In Term 2, the Year 8 team are going to continue monitoring lateness and truancy extremely closely, and consequences will continue to be issued to those students who make the choice to be late or truant from a lesson. With the start of a new term, this is an opportunity for students to have a fresh start, and come back to school making positive and safe choices. Thank you to those students who are constantly where they are meant to be, and accounted for at all times. Your teachers and peers thank you for your positive contributions to a productive learning environment. For more information on the importance of regular patterns of attendance, please refer to the Every Day Counts resources on the Department of Education website.

I took some time on Tuesday to visit year 8 students in their Excellence classes - Sporting Minds, Gen STEM, ALP, and Creative Voices. The opportunities for these students are fantastic and I took great joy in experiencing their specialised learning in action.

On Wednesday, Year 8 students participated in the Abbey Museum incursion, as part of their Physical World curriculum studies. This unit looks at the crossover between History and Biology, and students have been studying the biology of the Black Death from the Middle Ages. Exciting stuff! Students had the opportunity to immerse themselves in a medieval presentation on armour and weapons, and how this would have protected bodies differently throughout History. They also had the opportunity to play games from the Middle Ages, and even got to experience archery. Thank you to the Physical World team for organising such a rich learning experience for our students!

Our boys rugby team beat Keebra Park yesterday afternoon 28-0 in what showed to be their best performance yet. Keebra didn't get pass halfway in the first half of the game. This is a testament to what they have been learning in training with their line speed and strong defence. Thank you to Coach Mr Way, and also to Mr Taylor and Mrs Morris for helping the boys out. 

Despite only having 1 player on the bench, Benson, Charlie Claydon, Nate and Sosaia did an incredible job with their carries. Nate was able to score two tries from his barnstorming runs. Jet Quigley was also able to score a double with his halves setting him up with some footwork and great passing. Tahi Barclay was able to score an incredible try off a scrum with Charlie Finch putting on some footwork and putting Tahi in a hole to score untouched under the sticks. Charlie Finch was also able to score a try of his own also. Tahi has received the Man of the Match of his debut game in fullback filling in the big shoes of Ty Marstaeller. Tahi's runs from the back of the field and defense were commendable. Every player in the team played exceptionally.

It is a pleasure to be able to share your child's learning journey with you.

Warm regards,

Nahdia McClymont

Year 8 Deputy Principal