Read more for an update on our Market Stall fundraiser, Health Talks, Year 7 Music, Year 10 English, Touch Football and Secondary Mathematics.
Money Matters and Food Tech Market Stall Day
Mr Matthew Thomson
Last week, our Year 9 and 10 Money Matters and Food Tech classes hosted a Market & Food Stall Day to raise funds for Operation Christmas Child.
Money Matters students were charged with creating a business in class and then putting this business into action on the Stall Day. They had to adhere to strict budgets and come up with a business plan.
Food Tech students utilised their cooking skills to create culinary delights for the College community. The day was a great success with both students and staff serving and supporting one another to raise funds for a worthy cause.
Health Talks
Mrs Natasha Collins
The Bright Girl Health Seminar was a resounding success, featuring an engaging presentation by Demi that demystified assumptions and concerns about menstrual health. She empowered our young women to embrace their lives without letting periods hinder them, teaching essential skills like cycle tracking and understanding hormonal influences on mood.
The workshop for our young men, the JS Seminar, was equally impactful. Jonny conducted an informative workshop, using real-life examples, statistics and data to address peer pressure among boys. He emphasised creating safe spaces for connections and provided insights on navigating dating and relationships. Jonny's approach was humorous, relevant, and engaging.
The positive feedback from our students highlights the success of these events. We eagerly anticipate more opportunities in 2024 to enhance our students' holistic well-being.
Year 7 Music
Mrs Kaylie Neave
Year 7 have been enjoying the end of assessments in music class by taking part in some fun practical lessons using Keytar Karaoke videos.
Year 7 has relished the opportunity to play the songs on keyboard and guitar. Some students even demonstrated their knowledge of bass guitar and percussion. It has been wonderful to watch the class participate, have fun, have a go, and support each other in the process.
Year 10 English
Mrs Kiah Cavens
This term, Year 10 have been studying autobiographies in English. They have enjoyed reading Bear Grylls’ Mud, Sweat and Tears which details his wild childhood, daring adventures at boarding school and his life as an explorer and self proclaimed “born survivor”.
During their studies, students were challenged to compose a chapter from their imaginary autobiography. This chapter was to be titled ‘Above and Beyond’, where students detailed a time in their lives where one person went above and beyond for them.
One student beautifully captured a precious moment between father and son. Please enjoy Joel Tokporo’s chapter below.
Above and Beyond by Joel Tokporo
Tokporo. This is a name that has been carried down by many for generations. My family has been the holder of this name since the dawn of time, and each of them has become a legend in my eyes. My Grandfather was a Pastor who saved many souls, and my Grandma was a teacher who educated the children of the world. The two of them are strong, kind, and open-minded people who have influenced three different generations. They are a beautiful power couple who have raised amazing children in God’s image. Samuel Tokporo. My father, being the first of his siblings, was a strong, independent young man with a talent for music and a dream in the tech world. He was never really a geeky person but more of an outgoing, silly, and funny dude who I have always respected. Even though he was like this, he had the traits of an excellent father. He taught me to be a gentleman, to take care of and respect women, and to show me how to be funny, to be kind to others, and to be a man of God. To me, he is the closest the world is ever going to get to perfection ever again and I strive to be like him when I am older. My Dad is a kind individual and has always been here for me, and he has shown that to me many times as a child, but there is one specific moment in my life where, if it wasn’t for him, I would be the man I am today.
It was around Christmas time and let me tell you, Christmas time in my house is always a party. But this year was different. I’m pretty sure it was December 6th of 2019 but I'm not exactly sure. It was a tough time for me because one of my Grandfathers passed away (he wasn’t my biological grandfather, he was just an elder and in my culture you refer to your elders as Uncle or Auntie or Grandpa or Grandma depending on their gender). I was crying a lot outside of the Church and I didn’t think I was going to be able to celebrate Christmas because I was too broken by his passing, but then my Father appeared. He told me something that has stuck with me to this day, “Son, I understand that you're upset but you need to stop crying so much. You are a man now and you need to act like one.” When I first heard those words, I thought, “he must not care about my emotions since he’s being so hard on me.” But now that I have matured, I have realized that it wasn’t him disregarding my emotions, but more so trying to get me to understand the world and how hard it can be.
If it wasn’t for my Father giving me that little talk, I wouldn’t be the person I am now. Even though my Father is silly and immature, he can be the most heartfelt, caring and responsible person in the world and he perfectly showed that to me in that moment. If I had to describe my Father’s character in one phrase, I would probably say that he is “above and beyond.” He doesn’t just put in the work, he does the overtime. It's like he's a machine, he's always working and doing the most. He doesn’t understand laziness; he only speaks productive.
Touch Football
Mrs Tiarne Tranter
Congratulations to our 2023 Secondary Touch Football teams on their season that concluded on November 14. Our teams have shown remarkable commitment to after-hours training for improvement, and have seen the fruits of their work both on and off the field.
A big thank you to coaches Miss Perry, Mr Finau, Mr Palu, Mr Kwok, Mr Shepherdson and Mr Hearsey, who guided our students through the tournament. We are particularly grateful to our head coach, Mrs Mewjork, who has done a fantastic job managing our teams. We would also like to thank Mr Mthembu for his efforts in coordinating the zone competition.
Congratulations to our players, you represented ACC well!
Secondary Mathematics Update
Mrs Esther Ganta
In Ms. Kasumaputri’s Year 7 Maths class, students have been enthusiastically learning about data, measures of centre, measure of spread, and data representations. Last week, the students investigated the colour distribution of a packet of M&Ms. They discovered the most common colour in their own packets and compared it with their peers. Students collaborated to collect the data and organised it in a frequency table. They applied their skills in data collection and representation, calculating measures of centre and spread, as well as percentages.
In another Year 7 class, students worked on transformations and coordinate Geometry as part of their learning. In order to expand their learning we explored plotting points by drawing their names on graph paper and analysing the coordinate points.
In Year 8 Maths, students have completed their unit on measurement, where they learned the different formulas to calculate the area of different shapes. In this activity, students used a piece of A4 paper to prove how all the different formulas relate to the area of a rectangle. The students learned a valuable lesson of thinking outside the box and that understanding where the formula comes from is actually more important than the formula itself.
In Year 10 Maths with Mr Yi and Mrs Ganta, students have enjoyed a variety of activities to apply mathematical concepts learned throughout the year. They have used ‘hot wheels’ cars and tracks, noting the time it takes to roll down the ramp and reach the bottom - repeating the process for verification. Students noted factors that might affect the motion, such as the type of surface on the ramp or the mass of the rolling object.
Some groups worked on using 3D objects and how best to determine the surface area. One team had the opportunity to find the dimensions of an Operation Christmas Child shoebox, determine the volume and estimate how many boxes may be required to fit the number of gifts provided across the College. It is a delight to explore mathematical concepts with our students across the College and to see them grow in their skill and understanding!
