From Year 8
Welcome to your final term of Year 8! It’s hard to believe how quickly the year has flown by. This term is all about finishing strong and showing the skills, effort, and growth you’ve developed throughout the year. We’ll continue to challenge ourselves, stay active, and support one another as we prepare for the move into Year 9.
In the Year 8 Wellbeing lesson last Monday, students utilised the time to reflect on their growth this year. The students received their time capsules back that they had written to their future selves during the STRIVE program in Term 1. Their time capsules included a small memento that the student had given their future selves. In the time capsules, students were asked to describe themselves, the important people, places and passions in their lives. Additionally, it was a time for the Year 8s to share their ambitions, dreams and both short- and long-term goals they wished to achieve at the beginning of the year.
To conclude the lesson, the Year 8 cohort participated in a character strengths activity where their peers were asked to write down strengths, attributes and characteristics of each other. This activity reflected the connection and new relationships that the students have created in their pastoral class this year.
There are a range of activities students have been participating in their classes and many opportunities to look forward to.
The Year 8s have an exciting term ahead at the State Netball and Hockey Centre for Health and Physical Education. In Physical Education the Year 8s will be exploring Net and Wall contexts such as volleyball, badminton and tennis. Student learning will be centered around the 4 Rs of Read, Respond, React and Recover to experience success in their learning activities. Health sees the Year 8s experience vital reflective activities on their Consent Summative Assessment from Term 3 to help them set goals leading into revision of the year's content. Students will be exposed to a multitude of revision and study techniques to set them up for future success in the Health learning area.
Miss Vines
Students have been ex-press-ing themselves this term once again, heading into a study of Printmaking after their Ceramics unit! Students have been learning about the delicate and infinitely reproducible art of printmaking in recent weeks, aiming to create a print from Linoleum by the end of their time in Year 8. With an emphasis on positive and negative space, and the way this affects the way the eye explores a piece of art and the subject within it, students have translated drawings onto plates, which they will be painstakingly carving and over the coming weeks, ready to print with pressure and transferred onto paper! As always, it is a joy, as a teacher who majored in printmaking, to be able to share the skill with students, and an even greater joy to see them excel in the art of it.
Mr Armato
Lastly, as ACS moves back into summer sport our intermediate girls teams have picked up from where they left off with great wins from Girls Soccer A&B, Girls Tennis A&B, Girls Softball and Girls Volleyball B,C&F. The boys have continued to make great progress, with some incredibly close matches over the past few weeks. We have several teams battling to make grand finals which is fantastic to see.
Declan
Julia Li
Year 8 Leader
The first two weeks back at school have been okay. It was really hard getting up early again after the holidays but I’m happy to see my friends and be back at school.
In English we are reading a book called The Outsiders. It’s about two groups of kids who don’t like each other. The story shows how it feels to be left out or different. I like learning about the characters because sometimes I think I understand how they feel.
Last week we had a fire drill. The alarm was really loud and it scared me even though I knew it was coming. We had to stop what we were doing and line up fast. Then we walked outside to the oval with the whole school. It was really hot and we had to wait for a long time while the teachers made sure everyone was there. Some kids were whispering and moving about but most stayed quiet. It made me think about how important it is to stay calm if there’s ever a real emergency.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the term. There are some fun things happening and I want to do my best in class. It’s crazy how fast the year is going, it feels like we just started.
Nathan Lu 8A
My first two weeks back at school after the holidays were fun and interesting. I’ve learned a lot of new things, such as the elements and symbols on the periodic table in science, the story of Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire in Humanities, the differences and similarities between Catholics in Orthodox, Eastern, and Western Catholic Churches, and so much more. Besides learning new things, it’s been great to see my friends again and work together in class. Even though there have been some challenges, like keeping up with homework, I feel happy with how I’ve settled back into the routine. I’m excited to keep learning new things, taking on challenges, and seeing what the rest of the term has in store.
Georgia Gilbert 8B
Some things I have enjoyed about the first 2 weeks back are Food Technology, PE and seeing my friends who I didn't see during the holidays. In the first 2 weeks of term, we have started learning about probability in Math and chemistry in Science. We are also studying the book 'The Outsiders' in English and learning about the Mongolian Empire in Humanities.
Harrison McCarthy 8B
Returning to school after a break always feels like a bunch of mixed emotions, stepping into an environment after you haven’t been there for a while feels unfamiliar but as soon as I saw my friends, my energy shifted towards coming back to school. At first I didn’t want to go to school and I thought it would be boring but then I gradually thought it wasn’t that bad and I enjoyed seeing everyone’s faces after the 2 week break. My classes were filled with excitement and joy as when everyone saw their friends, they all ran into a big hug, giving the school environment to be a fun and fulfilling space.
Maria Le 8D
The first two weeks back at school have been a bit tricky since I’ve been sick and missed some classes, but I’ve been doing my best to catch up and get back into the routine. Even though it’s been a slow start, I’ve enjoyed being back with my friends and teachers and getting into our subjects again. In English, we’ve been learning about violence in The Outsiders, and I’m looking forward to improving my writing and confidence this term. I’m also excited to see how the rest of the year goes and to start preparing for next year and I really want to keep learning new things and finish the year strong.
Eva Dalligan 8F