For our Year 9 students, the Lake Argyle Camp was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year and represents a pinnacle experience within their Middle School journey. Away from the familiar routines of school, students were challenged to step outside their comfort zones, work alongside one another and embrace the remarkable environment of our region. Experiences such as these are an important part of what we hope Middle School can be: a time for students to discover more about themselves, their peers and the world around them.
Back at school, there has been equally impressive work taking place in classrooms. Across the term, students have engaged in a wide range of assessment for learning, with some outstanding examples of student work shared and celebrated at our Middle School Assembly by our Head of Middle School Teaching and Learning, Brianna Witte. It is important that we continue to create opportunities not simply to recognise achievement, but to celebrate the process behind it — the drafting, persistence, feedback and improvement that allow students to produce work of which they can be genuinely proud. It has also been wonderful to have our Principal visiting many Middle School classrooms throughout the term, observing firsthand the thoughtful teaching, energetic participation and wonderful learning taking place each day.
Creativity was also on display through our Write a Book in a Day competition, which saw students take on the considerable challenge of conceiving, writing and producing an entire book within a single day. The collaboration, imagination and determination shown by our young writers was fantastic and provided another reminder of what students can achieve when given an ambitious challenge and the opportunity to work together.
Our students also embraced Wear It Purple Day, adding a touch of purple to their uniforms, supporting the student bake sale and contributing to our wonderful Colour and Courage Wall. The day provided an opportunity to reinforce a simple but important message within our community: that every young person deserves to feel safe, valued and supported to be themselves.
This term has also seen a renewed focus on our uniform expectations. I have been particularly pleased with the way students have responded. There has been a noticeable improvement across the Middle School, and I thank our students and families for supporting this reset. Uniform is only one small part of school life, but taking pride in how we present ourselves contributes to a broader culture of shared standards, belonging and respect for our community.
As we head into the break, I am grateful for the energy our students continue to bring to Middle School life. I wish all of our Middle School students and families a safe and refreshing break and look forward to continuing this work together in Term 4.
Katherine Ziebell
Head of Middle School
