What’s on at Middle School
Week 4
- Mon 20 Feb – Year 8 Cricket v Geelong College
- Wed 22 Feb – Year 9 Media Excursion – Real Life Animated
- Thurs 23 Feb – Senior & Intermediate Cricket and CCG Tennis Squad v Geelong Grammar School
- Fri 24 Feb – Student Leaders’ Investiture and Service of Dedication
Week 5
- Tues 28 Feb – Senior Girls and Intermediate Boys GISSA Cricket Championships Thurs 2 Mar – Year 5 Parent Cuppa and Information Session
- Thurs 2 Mar – Deakin District Summer Carnival (Yr5&6)
- Thurs 2 Mar - Year 7 Parent/Guardian Afternoon
- Fri 3 Mar – GISSA Tennis Championships
- Fri 3 Mar – Rural 1 ends
Year 7 Camp
This week has seen the Year 7 classes at Cave Hill Creek near Beaufort, for their 3-day camp. Students were challenged in a range of activities including canoeing, abseiling, raft building, climbing the giant’s ladder, archery and hut building. It was great to see the students extend themselves while working cooperatively and offering encouragement to others.
The students were arranged into mixed homeroom groupings, allowing students to meet and get to know others from outside of their regular class. One of the key aims of the camp was to develop the cohort socially, and it was pleasing to see the shoots of new friendships emerging. This culminated in a “decathlon” as the final activity which saw the “tribes” pitted against each other in a relay of mini events. They were passionately competitive, showing great collective efforts, and was a lovely way to finish the camps.
Andrew Ellery, Year 7 Coordinator
Year 5 Parent Cuppa
We were thrilled to invite Year 5 parents and guardians on site this week for a meet-and-greet morning tea, a tour around our Campus and a preview into what our Mathematics lessons look like at Middle School-Highton.
While enjoying the opportunity to meet one another, as well as the Year 5 Homeroom teachers and Campus Leadership team, the group of Year 5 parents had a lovely time enjoying a coffee while watching their children participate in a sports activity under the guidance of our Year 9 Student Mentors. Shortly after the students participated in some games, they were taken back to class to begin working on Math Pathways while our Year 5 parents were taken to the library to meet our Director of Mathematics, Mr David Hatswell. Parents were given an insight into what our Maths program looks like at Middle School to better understand the learning intentions and benefits of this program, as well as being challenged in an ‘Numeracy Energiser’ to get their mathematical brains ticking!
We are inviting our Year 5 parents and guardians to our second Year 5 Parent Cuppa morning on Thursday March 2 from 8:50am – 9:45am in the Sports and Aquatic Centre (SAC).
Parents are asked to sign in at front reception on arrival. We hope to see you there!
Stephanie Hambrook
Year 9 – Mental Health First Aid
This week I would like to highlight the amazing Teen Mental Health First Aid Course that our Year 9 students are undertaking part as part of their Transformation Experience.
During their time in Transformation, students are involved in three interactive classroom sessions of 75 minutes each, totalling 3.5 hours. The course has been specifically designed for this age group and includes engaging role play activities.
Mental health first aid is the help provided to a person who is developing a mental health problem, or who is in a mental health crisis, until appropriate professional treatment is received, or the crisis resolves. Mental health first aid strategies are taught in evidence-based training programs authored by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Australia and conducted by accredited MHFA Instructors across Australia.
The Teen MHFA Course teaches high school students how to provide mental health first aid to their friends. The course was developed in response to research indicating that young people have a preference for sharing problems with peers. The course curriculum is based on a study undertaken to determine the best actions a young person can undertake to support a peer with a mental health problem.
Students learn the Teen MHFA Action Plan, as well as information about different types of mental health problems and mental health crisis situations among young people, and the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. At the completion of the training, all students receive a copy of the Teen MHFA Manual to keep, and a Certificate of Completion.
This course is another opportunity to prepare our Year 9 students to care for themselves and others. It’s a wonderful addition to the outstanding work that is being done in Transformation, led by Rebecca Barry.
For more information, please contact n.riddle@ccg.vic.edu.au
Nicole Riddle, Year 9 Coordinator
Middle School Run Club
For the past two weeks, the House Captains have been running a run club at 8:15am on the basketball courts on a Wednesday morning. We have been loving seeing everyone getting to school early and earning points for their house. We would also love it if more kids could come along to Run Club as it is an excellent way to stay active whilst having heaps of fun.
Please email Miss Dietrich if you have any questions b.dietrich@ccg.vic.edu.au
Brianna Anderson – Burrows House Captain
Evie Dawson – Penman House Captain
Let’s Make a Scene
Students have been participating in a range of skill-building tasks in Product Design Materials. These skills will be used in planning and building a project in Term 2. So far, the Year 8 students have been working on a task called ‘Let’s Make A Scene’. To complete this work, they learned how to laser cut and/or engrave a .jpg or .png image of their choice. Have a look at Matt Moynahan’s basketball scene. Each player and the nets were images he sourced and then ‘traced’ on the laser cutter software in the Product Design space. He then proceeded to cut each piece and mounted the scene in a sawcut base, which is a piece of spotted gum.
The skills developed through this task will be applied to a major project. In Year 8, students will develop folios that include gathering inspiration, completing detailed drawings, making a cutting list, cutting material samples and evaluating a final product. Their design brief is to make an eco-lamp, which involves designing a custom-made and manufactured lamp and then adding LED lighting.
David Kehler
Deakin District Tennis Championships 2023
On Thursday the February 16, four Bellarine students, five Highton students and one Surf Coast Campus student from Year 5 and 6 headed to Geelong College to compete in the Deakin District Tennis Championships against four other district schools.
Cooper Conquest, Ryan King, Xavier Watkins, Arabella Grills, Isla McKeag, Millar Finch, Leonardo Westcott, Jessica Berra, Elodie Barker and Darcee Dunoon represented the College with a great level of skill and superb sportsmanship in very hot and humid conditions.
Cooper, Isla, Arabella and Jessica all made the finals with Jessica and Cooper getting all the way to the semifinals, narrowly missing out on progressing to the next stage.
Congratulations to all students on their effort and enthusiasm over the day.
Sally Bishop
Lego Club
Dear Families of Christian College Senior, Middle and Junior Schools,
At Junior School we love our Lego, and we are reaching out to families to see if they can assist us in any way to build our resource.
Lego is used at Junior School for students to come together and build skills such as turn taking, sharing, listening, teamwork and collaborative problem solving. In the early 2000s, US paediatric neuropsychologist Daniel LeGoff (2004) published research that showed many children were more interested in interacting with each other if they were playing with Lego. Therefore, as Lego promotes social interaction it is also a part of the social groups that we provide for children where they can practise communication and social skills while having fun.
Whilst we do have a small collection of Lego, our levels of student engagement are meaning that we are seeking donations from any families that may be able to part with their much-loved Lego. If you have or know of anyone who may have Lego that is no longer used, or taking up space in a cupboard or storage space, and want to know that it will go somewhere where it is loved and looked after, I would ask that you contact junior@ccg.vic.edu.au to let us know. All donations will be gratefully accepted.
Thank you.
Ann-Marree Weigl, Head of Campus, Junior School-Belmont
Leading the Learning
During this week our leaders of learning from each of our campuses and learning areas joined together in a Teaching and Learning retreat to collectively work together on what will the future of education look like.
The last few years of education have seen immense changes, both socially and academically, as new and emerging technologies continue to challenge what it means to be educated.
As leaders we deliberated on our purpose as educators, and set goals to enable an inclusive, adaptive and engaging landscape of learning for all of our students.
To Seek First the Kingdom of God in all that we do, guided by our College’s philosophical statement, so that our students will be prepared to make a positive difference in the lives of others through ‘Good Work’ that is excellent, ethical and engaged in local, national and global contexts.
With endless knowledge at their fingertips, student engagement in, and ownership of, their learning was high on the agenda. There were many great discussions, deliberations and immersive activities that fostered a rich design thinking approach to not only our five strategic goals for Teaching and Learning, but how that might look across all of our campuses, in all aspects of College life.
It was fabulous to have our campus leaders, directors and leaders of learning areas, including our Rural and Transformation programs, as well as our newly appointed Dean of Christian Culture and Director of Wellbeing present.
We are excited about the future of education and are inspired to ensure that our students are well supported, nurtured and challenged to make a positive influence in the world around them.
Antony Benson, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning
Dr Michael Carr-Gregg Seminars
On March 9 and 16, renowned psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, will conduct two seminars in Geelong at GMHBA Stadium for parents and carers of adolescents at either end of their secondary school journey.
On March 9, he looks at ‘Starting Secondary School’ and on March 16, ‘Surviving Year 12’.
The sessions are presented by Read the Play, a local not-for-profit organisation that delivers programs in partnership with sporting clubs to empower young people to take control of their mental health and wellbeing. Read the Play aims to: increase knowledge and awareness about mental health problems; increase knowledge about local support services; and increase confidence and skills in guiding our youth to relevant support services.
Tickets to each of Dr Carr-Gregg’s sessions are priced at $15 per person (plus booking fee) with 100 per cent of all ticket revenue going to Read the Play.
See the attached PDF for more details on each of the sessions. Tickets can be purchased from: www.readtheplay.org.au
MCG Seminar Series Geelong March 2023
Notice to All Parents Regarding CSEF Funding
The Victorian State Government runs a program called the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF). As the name suggests, the fund is designed to assist families meet costs associated with school camps, sport and excursions and requires families to apply in each year they have a child who is eligible. Families who have an eligible child will receive $125 per year for a primary aged student and $225 per year for a secondary aged student.
If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. Please complete a 2023 Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) Application Form and return to your campus administration office by the end of Term 1 please.
Please read the attached document for further information.
