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MSC School Newsletter: June 2018 Edition Maffra Secondary College More than you imagine Ph. 5147 1790 School Newsletter: June 2018 Edition Upcoming Events Hi everyone, We’ve nearly reached the half way point June for 2018, and the cold weather has 23/July 1 Indonesian Trip certainly set in. There have been many highlights so far this term, and some great 22/30 Darwin Trip improvements in student learning. July Indigenous Art Designs 2-13 School Holidays It was great to see our indigenous students and student voice initiatives growing 17 School Council learning about art and history, through the week by week, improved student 25 Careers Expo support of our local community members. attendance in all year levels, and - Yr 8, 9 & 10 Info Sessions The students attended the Wellington Art some great student learning results Gallery last month, which included a coming from our teachers’ August special behind the scenes tour, and last collaborative work. 3 VCAL & YR 10 Melb Excursion fortnight worked with a local aboriginal 13 Parents Club Meeting—7pm elder to explore designs for an alternative Darwin and Indonesia 16 Transition Day 2 uniform polo shirt that embraces This week we see students heading 21 School Council indigenous culture. We’re looking forward off to Darwin for the Year 10 camp, 28 Yr 7 Immunisations to seeing the final designs. and Bali for our Indonesian Study Respectful Relationships Tour. We know these experiences provide rich learning for our September This week our school council engaged in students, and we wish them all the 10 Parents Club Meeting—7pm conversation about our role in the best. We’ll aim to keep you posted 18 School Council statewide initiative known as Respectful with stories and photos via our 24—Oct 5 School Holidays Relationships. You may have read about official Facebook page. this important initiative in previous October newsletters; it stems from the Royal The School for Student Leadership 16 School Council Commission into Family Violence, and Later this week I will head to Marlo takes an educational look at how we can to visit our Year 9 leaders, who have November support young people to develop positive spent the term at the School for 12 Parents Club Meeting—7pm and healthy relationships with all people in Student Leadership. In particular, I their life. It is underpinned by notions of look forward to hearing their plans 13 Transition Day—T-Day self-confidence, resilience, emotional for their Community Learning 20 School Council literacy, and interpersonal skills. We are in Project; a project they have designed the process of planning for lessons and over the past term, with the plan to December broader community engagement – I look carry it out over the next 12 months 11 Orientation Day forward to sharing more with you as this upon their return to Maffra. We have important work evolves. a proud history of connecting Highlights students with the leadership school, PLEASE NOTE: with great outcomes each year from There have been many other highlights, students undertaking their STUDENTS WILL FINISH from our successful Grade 6 transition day, community project. AT 2.30PM to our senior prom night, significant ON FRIDAY JUNE 29 increase in the number of members on Finally, I wish everyone all the best FOR SCHOOL HOLIDAYS Parents’ Club, our student leadership for the winter break, and look forward to catch up in Term 3, if not before. Adam Hogan, Principal www.maffrasc.vic.edu.au (03) 5147 1790 Bill Cane Court, Maffra Vic. 3860 MSC School Newsletter: June 2018 Edition Assistant Principal’s Report—June Nathan Wallace As we get closer to the end of another busy term, I wanted to update our community about some of the ways that our students have and will receive feedback in recent times. NAPLAN Congratulations to our Year 7 and 9 students for the positive approach they applied to this year’s NAPLAN testing. This year we trialled holding the Year 9 tests at Maffra Memorial Hall under exam conditions. The students excelled in being respectful of their peers while giving the tests their best efforts, they also gained valuable experience for future exams that will also be held at the hall. Feedback from both staff and students about the new venue was overwhelmingly positive. Likewise, the year 7 students approached the testing in open classrooms with a growth mindset and are now waiting patiently to receive their feedback. Interestingly, one of the main issues with NAPLAN is by the time students receive their feedback, the feedback is obsolete. We have recently received notification that next year’s NAPLAN testing will be performed online, with feedback being provided sooner. Stay tuned! PROGRESS REPORTS Last week students received feedback about their ORGANISATION, EFFORT, PERSISTENCE, BEHAVIOUR and RESPECT through progress reports. These results can be accessed on COMPASS. Students then reflected on the feedback and set learning goals in their Learn 2 Learn classes. Well done to the majority of students who achieved excellence in their performance or growth in their learning. Students should now be engaging in conversations with their teachers about how to achieve further improvement in their learning. LEARNING TASKS & SEMESTER REPORTS With the semester fast coming to an end, students should be finishing off Common Assessment Tasks (CATs) and receiving continuous feedback about what they are learning and what do they need to do next to progress their learning. This feedback will be collated and reported along with standards from the Victorian Curriculum in the end of semester reports. Semester reports will be published and available for viewing on COMPASS in the last week of term. www.maffrasc.vic.edu.au (03) 5147 1790 Bill Cane Court, Maffra Vic. 3860 MSC School Newsletter: June 2018 Edition CHINA 2018 Cheryl Evans Andrew McIntosh What seems like a lifetime ago…late last term, 12 Maffra SC students from Years 8 – 12 and 6 Yarram SC students (Years 9 & 10) along with Mr McIntosh, Mrs Evans, Lyn Kerrison (Assistant Principal Yarram SC) and Brett Pedlow (Principal Yarram SC) visited China as part of our schools’ ongoing sister school relationship and ‘Engage with Asia’ program. After an 11 hour non-stop flight we landed in Beijing where we commenced our tour of China. There was excitement in the air as we gathered all of our things and headed off to find our luggage. After getting through customs unscathed...and a quick stop at the toilet (The Happy Room) we caught a train / people mover where we travelled from one side of the Beijing Airport to the other in order to find our guide ‘Shin’ (John) who would accompany us for the next 4 days. It had been snowing in Beijing during the day so the night air was chilly...1 degree Celsius. Coats were pulled out from our suitcases as Shin took us to our fabulous accommodation - The Feitian Grand Hotel...where the students found the banquet breakfasts to be one of the highlights. So where did we go and what did we see… The Pearl Market – Our first chance to try out our bartering skills. Most of the students found a bargain however Mrs Evans’ and a few others would have to work on their bartering skills over the next two weeks. We participated in a lesson in Tai Chi at the Temple of Heaven. The Great Wall – The Great Wall was one of the highlights for all of the students and staff as we rode a gondola to the wall and then after eating lunch on the wall we took in the history and majestic beauty of the Wall as we walked…up and down steps for what seemed like many kilometers. This wonder of the world will be something that our students will never forget. Beijing Zoo & The National Olympic Stadium - We saw some Giant Panda’s in a packed Beijing Zoo and then we visited the Birds Nest – the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic precinct where we sat in the stands and imagined what it would have been like when the Olympics were on. The Forbidden City – This was an amazing place which went on and on…so many beautiful temples and buildings. Tiananmen Square – Due to a conference being on we only saw this from afar. Everyone tried using Chinese yoyos after taking a rickshaw to see one of the last remaining traditional family homes. Drum tower – saw us climb the steepest steps for the whole trip. Various Markets & Bazaars – Where our bartering skills slowly improved. Summer Palace – and a Dragon boat ride Bullet trains – travelling to our destinations at 360kms per hour. Xi’an City Wall – We rode on the top of the wall which wrapped around the old city for 13kms…some students, Xander and Kerr, did two laps…lapping Mrs E who took in the sights at a leisurely pace. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses – A fascinating experience and to think that there are still so many pits that still havel not been dug up. Changshu - Visited our Sister School – ‘Changshu – Experimental Middle School’ – Our students attended and participated in various classes including a music and an art class. Museums – We visited many museums where we were immersed in the amazing history of China. Disneyland – Shanghai – A cold day and lots of lining up…The ride of choice – ‘Triton’ Shanghai – Shopping and Markets where we did our last minute shopping prior to coming home. Throughout the trip our accommodation was fantastic and we were looked after by various guides in each major city we visited. On behalf of Andrew McIntosh and I we would like to congratulate our students on their exemplary behaviour whilst we were away.