It’s hard to believe that we have reached the halfway point in the term. Having been out and about in classrooms, it’s been wonderful to see our Year 8s hard at work. This week, there has been drafting in Social World, practice exams in Japanese and checkpoints for Technology. I’m excited to see our Year 8s focusing on their learning to finish the term strong and achieve their best results.

With assessment well and truly underway for all subjects, I encourage families to review the Assessment Calendar that was sent out earlier this term. This will help your student to map out due dates and their workload. If you believe that there are extenuating circumstances that necessitate an extension for any subject, your Year 8 student can access the form for this through the student Sharepoint.

Moving into Year 9, our Year 8s have also participated in subject selection for their Year 9 Personal Endeavour Courses (PECs) for 2024. They have chosen four elective courses to study over the course of the year. With such a diverse range of subjects on offer, I know there has been lots of excitement about this process. A big thank you to Mrs Russell for facilitating this process for our students as they move into the Compass Years next year.

Over the past week, we have hosted a number of Staff versus Student activities in honour of World Teachers Day, and our Year 8s have been enthusiastic participants! Last Friday was a close game of soccer that was cut short due to wet weather, with a 1-1 result. On Tuesday, a chess tournament was held in the Learning Hub and today volleyball was held in the Sports Hall. It’s been lovely to see our Year 8s involved in these activities, whether taking on the teachers or spectating to support their friends and teachers.

This week has also seen a number of extra-curricular activities involving Year 8 students. A huge congratulations to all Year 8s involved in our IGNITE Creative Voices and Dance Troupe Showcase held in the Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday evening. The talents and hard work of these students are to be commended, as well as the dedication of their teachers. We have also hosted Rugby League games against Pacific Pines, with teachers commending students for working together to see their work in training displayed on the field.

I commend our wonderful Year 8s on their commitment to learning throughout the term, and the effort they are applying to their studies. Let’s continue to work together as a team of learners to ensure every student is achieving personal success.