Excitedly, our Laboratory Technician Ebony Wyatt came to my door this morning to inform me that this week in Year 9 science classes, the students would be learning the skills associated with dissection. She invited me to drop by and see the students in action; which I did.

Last Wednesday, our Year 9 students experienced their first exam at Featherbrook College. The introduction of exams for Year 9 students has been a work in progress and it was very welcomed by students, teachers and parents alike. The English exam hails as the first of further examinations to take place this semester.

What better way is there to celebrate such a milestone than to dress up for the day and party with a 'colour run'. That's exactly what the Prep students and their teachers did to mark 100 days of learning.

Day 2..............

Year 5 students arrived at school loaded up with their luggage ready for a wonderful time at the Mt Eliza camp, Camp Manyung. Suit- cases, duffle bags, sleeping bags, pillows and backpacks were stored in the buses' storage compartments and the students waved good-bye to their parents.

The students in year 1 have created a collaborative recreation of the Starry Night. Students learnt about the artist Van Gogh and all the art elements that are present in his artworks.

Congratulations to all of our students who are in Eucalyptus (green) House. They have enjoyed acknowledgment for earning the most number of tokens throughout term 2 for demonstrating our school values of Respect, Safety, High Expectations and Collaboration. Students enjoyed hot soup and bread, fruit cups, chocolate or strawberry milk and fresh fruit as their reward.

The last day of camp for our Year 3 campers

An afternoon update on our Year 3 campers

More photos from Day 2

Year 3 students began the morning happy to explore all the new activities for the day..

Year 3 students had been eagerly awaiting this day to arrive! Today, 91 students and 10 staff boarded buses to travel just an hour and 20 minutes to the Lady Northcote Recreational Camp in Glenmore.

On passing the middle mark of Winter and enjoying a touch of almost Spring weather (sunny and 17 degrees), the Featherbrook staff thought it might be a bit of festive fun to hold a Christmas in July morning tea.

Reading, books and enjoyment should all be seen as a package that enable and motivate children to explore the rich array of learning opportunities. A resource we are very proud of at Featherbrook College is our library which, when the students step into, can take them to imaginary places, to places of facts and to far away places! All students are able to enjoy the library during scheduled class times as well as scheduled lunchtimes. I spent some time in the library today seeking students' views of the HUGE range of books from which they were choosing.

Today our Green Thumb Student Leaders worked together to establish our Featherbrook Edible Garden. They have planted onions, leeks, spring onions, silverbeet, carrots, beetroot, peas, beans, broad beans, broccoli and lettuce.

My introduction to the game of Gaga was in 2017 when we first went to Lady Northcote Camp. It was an absolute hit with the students. Increasingly, Gaga pits have been added to the playgrounds of many schools and at Featherbrook College, the students had been requesting a pit.

During Performing Arts, the Year 4 students learnt about Program Music (Music that tells a story through instruments).

During Performing Arts in Term 1, the Year 3 students learnt about music from a variety of countries.

As part of their inquiry unit this term, the Year 2 students enjoyed a trip to a local attraction, Werribee Mansion. The students' comments will paint a picture for you and reveal their reflections on a bygone era that is so different to today.

The Year 2 students have been learning dance during Semester 1 this year.

Congratulations to the Featherbrook College staff who came to the party....quite literally, to raise funds for an Australian annual event - the Cancer Council's Biggest Moring Tea. $850 has been raised so far!

The Cancer Council is a worthy cause that the Featherbrook College staff choose to support each year. The funds raised contribute to the research efforts of the organisation. Next Monday, the staff will be holding a BIG morning tea to raise funds for this cause. Our Featherbrook College families may wish to contribute to this funds raiser too. Read further if you would like to do so.

This morning secondary students Junior, Shaherbano A and Ariana C H attended the Student Sports Leadership Breakfast Event hosted by Wyndham City Council.

Recycling, sustainability and raising awareness of the plight of our planet is a theme that is often explored by our students. Year 7 students have been researching, designing and creating art works capturing this theme.

The 2022 Sustainability Inquiry focus explores the value and importance of saving energy and use of renewable energy. Students had a chance to raise awareness of our sustainability focus by creating a poster that will be displayed around the school.

Our college values of Respect, Collaboration, Safety and High Expectations are foundational to our work, learning and behaviour. Our students are all knowledgeable about each value and seek to demonstrate them every day while learning and playing.

Every year on 26 May, National Sorry Day remembers and acknowledges the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, which we now know as ‘The Stolen Generations’.

The Saltwater Swimming Program this week has been an excellent opportunity for our students to develop and improve their swimming skills . The students were split into small groups and guided through activities around water safety and improving their swimming skills.

During this week students have been learning about the various milestones that have contributed to a robust and inclusive state education system. Our students joined together today to celebrate the 150 years of public education. Some were sharing their drawings of the decade/s they had learned about; some had made posters, some had written information reports and still others chose to make a hat or wear a piece of their parent’s school uniform clothing.

Last Monday, 16 Featherbrook College secondary students represented our college at the year 7-9 Division Cross Country at Cherry Lake in Altona. Three of the students have successfully moved onto the next stage.

In 2022 we mark 150 years of public education in Victoria and as part of the local celebration of this significant occasion, Featherbrook College was invited to participate in the Sanctuary Lakes shopping centre acknowledgment of Education week. When our students began to discuss this in their art classes, they could scarcely believe that there was a time when school wasn’t the daily routine for all children.

In 2022 we mark 150 years of public education in Victoria. Let's celebrate a shared belief that every child deserves a high-quality education, regardless of background or economic circumstance.

The Year 3s & 4s had a wonderful day at their Athletics day. Students demonstrated the Featherbrook values and congratulations go to the winning house Eucalyptus!

National Careers Week (16th May – 22nd May) is an initiative of the Career Industry Council of Australia and aims to celebrate careers, career development, career development services, and career development practitioners. It is also designed to promote economic, social and personal benefits of career development. We are fortunate to have such a huge variety of different industries that out parents work in and as such a number agreed to present information and hold Q&As with our Year 7 – 9 students.

Day 2 was packed full of high ropes and canoeing experiences along with more damper making and bush cooking! What a ball our Year 6 students are having at Merricks Lodge Camp!

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.