From Year 8
With new electives beginning this semester, and a new student joining the year level, the Year 8 students have certainly started Term 3 energised and refreshed.
The excitement for “Seussical”, is palpable and many Year 8 students are either performing, or helping in some manner. Our school production is a celebration for the entire community – students, staff, and families. The wider school community comes together to celebrate the hard work and talents of the young people involved. Students find this to be a collaborative, fun and engaging experience deeply enriching, and this allows them to develop friendships with other students in different year levels.
On Monday 17th July, the Year 8 and 9 students had a most inspirational guest speaker during their Nourish session. Eric Agyeman, a youth mentor inspired students to develop resilience and self-worth. He was vulnerable as he shared his story and struggles about identity, the power of choice and friendships and how to see failures as learning experiences. Some memorable takeaways include: the power of words and how these can either encourage or hurt people, your weaknesses can become your strength and that failure is not your enemy, in fact you need it for success.
On Monday, the 17th of June, the Year 8s and 9s had the pleasure to listen to Eric Agyeman present an inspirational talk on resilience. Eric shared the ups and downs of his life, teaching us that we are in charge of the choices that we make, good or bad. He explained the motivation behind his change, and how he left a dark place in his life, becoming a devoted father and husband, and educating youth on resilience. It was a great experience with many takeaways and memorable life lessons to remember.
Keona O'Brien
We sincerely appreciated Eric’s presentation about building resilience. He gave a heart-touching story about his life and how things can always change for the better. His presentation was very beneficial for teenagers who are struggling with mental illnesses, teenagers who are following the wrong crowd and he beautifully presented how someone's life can change even when you’ve constantly been told that “people like you will never achieve anything.” He gave an important message that words can act as either bullets or seeds and how you should always take negative comments and make something great out of it. His presentation was very informative, and it has most definitely given everyone in that room a different perspective or how words can either make or break you.
Bettle Benyam
Rita Stangherlin
Year 8 Leader
Year 8 English
We all had a terrific time in Semester 1 learning about the Macabre in Gothic Literature, Maori Culture in The Whale Rider, and malevolent minors in The Hunger Games. As we head into Semester 2, we are preparing to look at how language is used to persuade us to buy things, capture our hearts, and shape public discourse. The students will be using all the tricks in the book to write their own persuasive pieces and hopefully win a few hearts and minds in the process. We will end the year by looking at the atrocities of World War II through the eyes of a very unlikely narrator in Markus Zuzak’s wonderful book, The Book Thief.
Semester 1 Reflections
Semester 1 English has been very engaging, and I am looking forward to continuing English in semester 2.
Audrey F
Year 8 English has been very engaging this year, I have felt supported, and the classroom environment has been very positive.
Gracie S
English has been one of the most fun and interesting classes this year. The Teachers have been very helpful and made it probably the best English class yet.
Ruby J
Semester one English was fun; we watched whale rider and wrote an essay.
Sitara U
Bradley Hall
8B Pastoral and English Teacher