After arriving yesterday morning, the students had a ball getting to know their camp instructors through some games before the campers got stuck into their camp program.

54 excited Year 6 students and their teachers left for the Merricks Lodge camp on buses and making their way to the Mornington Penninsula;

Day 3 of the Year 4 camp at Lady Northcote has arrived and the students have been enjoying their last rounds of activities before boarding the bus and heading home.....back to Featherbrook College.

A bright and early start by some students started the day off with a rise before the sun. After a quick chance to rub the sleep out of the eyes, a breakfast of pancakes went down a treat. Topped with all the fan favourites such as maple syrup, jams and lots of butter built up the first round of energy for the rotations for the day.

The chill of the morning could not stop the Year 4 students from being excited and nervous about coming to camp. Once loaded on to the buses and the small shouts as we arrived at Lady Northcote, the enjoyment was already in full swing. Morning tea allowed the students to explore the grounds and have a quick snack before heading to the cabins to set up for tonight, not that they'll be there for long!

100 students and their teachers left for the YMCA Lady Northcote camp in 3 buses and making their way up the Western Highway; the students enjoying a 1 and a half hour drive..

After being denied the opportunity to hold a Mother's day stall in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID19, it was with great excitement and enthusiasm that this special occasion stall returned to Featherbrook College for 2022. The stall was made possible through the work and effort of college ES staff, student leaders and parent volunteers. This coming Sunday presents as an opportunity for families to acknowledge and show appreciation for mums and special people in the lives of our Featherbrook College students.

Thank you to all the Featherbrook College families who booked into the vaccination clinic and came along this afternoon/evening to the clinic to be vaccinated against the COVID19 virus.

The Visual Arts program is a highly prized one at Featherbrook. There appears no end to the creativity of our students who continue to amaze their teachers and all who view the displays. Year 9 students were provided with the opportunity to experiment and problem solve visual perception and visual language, utilising visual techniques, technologies, practices and processes. The results speak for themselves.

On Wednesday of this week our 2022 student leaders were presented with their badges at a special ‘virtual’ ceremony. 20 students from years 5 – 9 had nominated for this service-based leadership role and all were required to ‘pitch’ an idea to a selection panel that would support improvement in the school. I was a panel member who thoroughly enjoyed the variety and considerable thought that each student put into their presentations. Three of the students also presented their ideas at the badge presentation ceremony. Themes such as gardening, sustainability such as composting, activities at recess and lunchtimes, study buddies, establishment of a friendship bench and coding club to mention a few.

Wishing all our families a wonderful holiday break.

This week our staff celebrated Term 1 in style with an Easter Buffet provided by our talented CRT Lamia.

Chatting to the food technology teacher I learned that our students were keen as mustard to try their hand at making an omelette. The results were utterly eggcellent!

Our Year 9 students had been patiently waiting for the arrival of their personalised rugby jumpers and bomber jackets and they finally arrived this week!

A week of learning and activities at Featherbrook College is always varied, wonderful and surprising. Today featured an event that had been anticipated by all students, whether they be Prep or Year 9 or in between. Zooper Doopers were sold at the canteen and while enjoyed by students, the money raised will support the development of our sensory garden. Read more about our involvement in the State School Victoria cricket competition and see some of our students studiously focussed on their reading, writing and vocabulary enrichment.

Students and teachers across year 4,5 and 6 have been finalising preparations for the school’s inaugural participation in the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads (APSMO) Year 4 Maths Explorer program and the Year 5/6 Maths Olympiad.

One of the art elements our student learn about and enjoy experimenting with is ‘line.’ Recently, our senior students showed their creative best when provided the opportunity to explore ‘what makes a portrait?’

Last Friday was the national day of action against bullying. At Featherbrook, we work hard to support students to understand their impact on others by the way we speak to them and treat them. Our values of being safe, respectful and collaborative along with being inclusive of all, underpin the national day of action’s messages.

From the Visual Arts (previous blog) to food art, our Food Technology students showed their creative talents today after considering their decorative design, and then decorating their butter cakes. The many and varied results are a feast for the eyes and the tummy.

Our Visual Arts programs are not an uncommon blog focus and that's because our Featherbrook students and their art teachers are so talented. Enjoy the visual feast! Read more.

Congratulations to Acacia! Our winning House for the cross country event today! The weather was on our side as the students readied themselves for their House Cross Country…not too hot and not too cold and only a sprinkle of rain for a minute or two. Years 3 – 9 students had been well prepared for today’s event by their PE teachers Anthea Biddle and Nicole Hamilton-Scott.

Our stadium was transformed into a make-shift vaccine clinic this afternoon. Nurses Ella, Cherie and Natalie expertly set up the clinic and administered no less than 60 vaccinations over 4 hours.

Year 5 students have been enjoying a morning of active fun with their peers and teachers. As part of their current unit of work on being fit, healthy and well, the range of activities that augment our Physical Education, Sports and Camping programs are evident in the pictures. The grins on the students’ faces is also evident of the utter joy experienced.

Featherbrook College has been working hard to be worthy of being a Resourcesmart school since our inception in 2017. The college has earned 4 stars so far as recognition of actioning awareness of energy saving, water saving, promoting bio-diversity and reducing plastics through for example, promoting nude food. Last Friday, our students and staff pitched in to contribute to Clean Up Australia Day 2022..

I watched with interest, the way Prep students worked with teacher Sue Bradford, to co-construct a piece of text which supported familiarisation of high frequency words and exploration of letter/sound identification. Our early - reading students are well on their way to knowing the joy of reading. Read more to see what our other year levels have been up to this week in Maths, Physical Education and Food Technology.

The sciences hold a particular fascination for students and none more -so than learning about the miraculous workings of the systems of the human body. Year 8 students have recently been engaged with exploring how the respiratory system operates and how the features of our lungs are central to this body system.

Mathematics is a universal language and our Featherbrook College students are keen mathematicians. A statement made by the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education this morning specific to the importance of numeracy is that it is fundamental to the experience and success of our students. Our teachers at Featherbrook College ensure that a minimum of an hour a day of maths is in place; many of our students enjoy mathematics. Each maths lesson begins with the teacher launching their lessons to activate students’ prior knowledge about the conceptual understandings being explored.

I am most fortunate each day as I move about the learning spaces and see the wonderful array of learning taking place. The teachers have ensured that routines and expectations based on our school values of respect, high expectations, feeling safe and collaborating have been central as they establish classroom norms with their students. I was visiting a year 2 space this week and it was so evident that the expectations were well regarded and enacted. The students were exploring the learning intention of what it means to them to be healthy, happy and safe.

The Victoria Police Youth Task Force visited our college today and spent time with the Year 7 – 9 students. They delivered the program ‘Think U Know?’ The program is designed to deliver a number of key messages related to staying safe on line, learning about being a responsible and law abiding user of online platforms and e-spaces, along with exploring a number of actual case studies to illustrate the dangers associated with an online presence when not AWARE (Appropriate; Who; Accurate; Respectful; Environment).

One could be forgiven for thinking that our Prep students had been full time at school for months rather than days. I was heartened to see Preps enjoying reading with peers and teachers; many recognising letters and high frequency words too. Our youngest students have settled in so well.

At Featherbrook College we strive to inspire our whole school community to connect with the environment and to make a positive contribution to sustainability at school, home and beyond. Over our first 5 years of operating, we have been working towards achieving certification for being a Resource Smart school. In partnership with CERES, we have been guided and supported to raise awareness with our students about the importance of observing sustainable practices.

Welcome back to school for 2022! Our college community has returned with excitement and anticipation. It has been so heartening to see students arrive ready to learn, ready to make friends and ready to contribute to further building our school community and culture in this, our 6th year of being open. Whilst we all continue to grapple with the challenges of COVID19, we have been able to start the school year smoothly and with confidence as we adhere to COVIDSafe practices.