It has been a busy time in Year 9 with lots of activities to keep the students not only engaged in their learning but also lots of opportunities to develop and consolidate some classroom connections.

Dinner Plate Project

During Pastoral sessions, each student designed a dinner plate, which they ‘brought to the table’. This was a metaphor for what each member of the Homeroom brings to that Homeroom. The plates are on display in the Homerooms, which act as the dinner table. It is delightful to read each student’s story captured on their plate.

The only rule when designing their plate was that a student’s top three to five character strengths had to be included on their plate. The creativity and imagination shown by many of the students was brilliant. The use of colour and pictures to tell their story was fabulous and the conversations that were generated during the activity were engaging. The laughter and smiles that ensued were priceless.

Many students also took the opportunity to include some photos – whether it be of family members, sporting teams or even the family pet, as these also tell the story of who each member of the Homeroom is.

As said so eloquently in ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ book, “Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things that no one else can.” The stories on the walls of the Homerooms are a daily reminder of so many things the Year 9 students bring to this world.

Lifesaver for a Day

The lifesaving day (which would traditionally take place at the end of Year 8) was rescheduled and held a few weeks ago.

Everyone was blessed to have such fine weather on the day and lots of fun was had as the students learnt about the importance of safety when around water.

Student Reflection

On Friday 20 February the Year 9s were lucky enough to attend a beach lifesaving day down at Mentone beach with the Mentone Life Saving Club. This was a really fun day, filled with different activities including some fun games such as flags, relays on the boards, tag in the water and even some beach cricket.

We got to learn the first aid technique of DRSABCD which some of us were already experts in! After having to postpone this day last year due to bad weather and poor water quality, we were lucky enough to get a perfect day to spend at the beach, as the sun was shining and the temperature was 28 degrees. In the morning, four of the classes went down for their session throughout Periods 1 – 3. Later in the day the other three classes went down for their beach session between Periods 3 – 5.

On the day, we thanked the Mentone Life Saving Club for their efforts and the wonderful day that they had planned. We also say a massive thank you to Mr Kelly for all the time that he spent planning this day and to all the PE and other staff for all coming down to the beach and joining in having fun with us. 

Milla Y

Year 9

Kylie Carroll

Level Leader: Year 9