The sky is brighter, trees and flowers are blossoming, the weather is warmer – it must be the end of Term 3! Greenvale Secondary College has had another busy but productive term. Students moved from History to Geography exploring Water in the World, from Music to Drama creating fantastic scenes using puppets, from Art to Vis Comm carving designs to create prints, and explored new topics in their core subjects, creating butterflies with grid references in Maths, using forces to move objects from one place to another in Science and understanding the importance of belonging to a community in English. With an increased focus on collaborative learning, it has been great to see students working in a variety of ways, individually, in pairs and small groups, helping each other to demonstrate learning growth in every subject.
The theme of this term has been Respect, a common word used in society but not always one which is put into practice. Respect encourages empathy and understanding, and students have been learning how to respect themselves, the environment, their peers and staff. Through this, the Respect Shout Out Board was created in the Learning Neighbourhood where students took the opportunity to acknowledge someone who has demonstrated Respect continually throughout the term. This Board will grow as this value is more embedded in our daily practice. This term has also seen the initiation of the Respect Club, attended by a few students with hopefully more joining by the end of the year, where students are contributing positively to the community and preparing to support the incoming Year 7s in 2023 to demonstrate Respect. So far, they have presented at assembly and are planning short videos to show the community ways to be kind, aware of others and show pride in our school environment.
We are looking forward to Term 4 where students begin their transition to Year 8, stepping up to become more independent and curious learners, discovering more of who they are as an individual and how to work together to contribute to a safe and supportive environment where everyone is seen and heard.
Have a safe and sunny holiday!
Kathleen Timms
Head of School (Years 7 – 8)
