April 29th 2013 Dear parents,
Welcome back to school for Term Two. I trust you all had a safe and relaxing break over Easter. Michelle continued to rest and recover during the holidays and Annette went away with her husband for their 30th wedding anniversary. We also met for a day to plan the students work for the term. We are both looking forward to a fresh start after our complicated term last term. Please take the time to read this letter in order to find out what is going on with your childs education this term. We have been slow to get into the swing of things because of the difficult start to last term but we are ready to roll this term. We would like you to be working in partnership at home with your child and to do this you will need to be familiar with some of what we will be covering in class. Your prompt response to this letter, in way of the Parent Reply Slip at the end, will be greatly appreciated.
English
Students will be finishing off their exposition essay, which was started last term, and they will need to work on some of this at home. We will be studying the novel Nips XI which is a humorous but thought-provoking book about a group of multi-cultural school students who organise a cricket match against a local private school. It explores the many issues that face migrants in our education system. We will be working on a text study assignment and we will visit it each week so that it is not an overwhelmingly big task at the end of the term. Students will receive a spelling list each Tuesday. They spell their words orally each day with a spelling journal, work on them for homework and do several spelling activities on a program called Spelling City. Apart from this, it is the students responsibility to learn their spelling words. During the second half of the term we will be doing an exposition writing piece on the wisdom of being tattooed.
Maths
We will be starting the topic of Algebra this term and we are pleased to be introducing a new Maths text book Essential Maths. This book has an associated website that will help students if they become stuck at home on their Maths problems. Algebra is the basis of many higher concepts right into upper Senior School, so it is important that students spend time revising at home when necessary and that we are made aware of any particular struggles your child is having in this area. Students have been given their Maths Mate workbooks, which began working on in class this week. The Maths Mate book covers all mathematical concepts at a basic Year 7 or 8 level and, although we will do much of this in class, students may also need to do some for homework.
Humanities
Our Humanities theme this term is Exploring the Law a timely topic! We will be looking at the three levels of government within Australia, and Gods
purpose for laws, as well as how sin has impacted government in various ways and in various countries. There will be an election campaign during the term, where each Year 7 and 8 class will develop a specific political party with their own platform, with the aim to convince the public to vote for them through the course of numerous campaign rallies. This will culminate in a Voting Day, followed by an Inauguration ceremony. We have also booked an excursion to Parliament House in Melbourne on Monday 27th May; more information on this will follow. Students will select a project to complete from a range of choices and will also be comparing the government of South Africa to our parliamentary system. We will be looking at the life and work of Nelson Mandela. A group of students have started work on the kitchen trailer- a joint project with The Drouin Mens Shed with funding from the NAB. See more at http://www.chairo.vic.edu.au/christian-school/drouin-mens-shed-nabpartnership-with-bats Some preliminary work is also underway on the electric vehicle for the RACV Breakthrough Energy Challenge at Maryborough later in the year. Were keeping busy!
Business Activities We have several exciting Business opportunities this term so we will be quite busy. We have our annual Mothers Day Market to prepare for and also three catering events that we have been employed to do. One of the catering events will be on a Saturday evening so we will be looking for students and parents who can help us out for that event. We have also been working outside in the Batyard on rejuvenating the chook enclosure and the vegetable plots, with a view to using the produce in our Business ventures. Homework and Diaries We cannot stress how important and helpful it is for students to be using their Diary regularly, and ensuring it goes home each night and is brought back to school each day. Not only should students be using it for their own reminders regarding schoolwork, but we also get them out often in class to record important information. Please check that your child has recorded their daily homework and reading details when you sign it each weekend for the week just gone. Students also receive assessment stickers for each task/test and these also require your signature; there should be no surprises come report time. Students must make sure they back up their work and ensure that it is accessible both at home and at school. A number of students could not work on unfinished tasks in class last term when we had some extra time, as they did not have access to it. All students now have a gmail address and were given instructions on how to download googledrive so that students can access work at home. This is a really useful tool and we hope all students use it well. A weekly Maths Mate sheet is set on Monday and due back the next Monday, while Spelling and English homework is given out on Tuesday and due the next Tuesday. There are many students in the class who did very little homework last term and failed to meet due dates, and if this continues they may be asked to stay back after school in an effort to help them establish some sort of homework routine. All homework tasks will be available on the class website which can be found at www.batsnews.com as well as updates, photos and more. Uniform
It is great that the Uniform Shop now has all items in stock for Middle School students. The only item that is mandatory at the moment is the sports polo shirt, so if your child does not yet have one, please ensure you purchase one asap. There is a three week turn around period at the start of this term,
where students may choose to wear either their summer or winter uniform. Whichever they wear, it must be the full correct uniform. If your daughters summer dress is not the appropriate length, we are asking that they only wear their winter uniform, which should also be to the crease at the back of the knee. Confiscated items are sent to the main office and filed there, and students may pick them up after a two week period. Classroom Helpers Mr Dave McLean is on leave for the remainder of the year- his tireless efforts and expertise in all manner of areas will certainly be missed. We are very pleased to welcome Mr Marcus Hiam to assist in BATS. He will be spending his time working with us as well as with a senior class. Hiamy is known to most students as he went on camp with us this year and has worked in the BATS/Tech area in the past. He joins Mrs Sarah Bush, who has brought her energy and nothing is too much bother attitude to BATS this year.
Term Planner
We have attached a Term Planner, noting dates of relevant events and assessment task due dates. Please take note of these and ask your child regularly how they are going with upcoming tasks. Any change of dates will be noted in diaries. Wed like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support so far this year. We are very blessed to have not only a wonderful class but also a supportive group of parents, many of whom we know pray for us regularly. We cannot tell you how important that is for us. Peace and blessings, Michelle Rowse Annette Martin [email protected]
[email protected] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BATS Term 2 Parent Reply Slip I have received and read the BATS Term Two letter and Term Planner. I am interested in attending the excursion to Parliament House on May 27th.
Student name: ____________________________ Parent signature: ____________________________
