Dorothea Mackellar Poetry
From the very beginning of Term 2, we have been immersed
in the culture of poetry.
We have journeyed into the unknown armed with an immense
source of ‘vocabulary’ – words that bring out the shine in our poetry- openers,
editing (which, believe it or not, is one of the hardest parts of writing a
poem) and numerous aspects of figurative language. We have filled our brains
with the aspects of connectives, practised our punctuation and shown our drafts
to our teacher in hope of being rewarded with a golden sticker. Now, we bear
the fruit of all our poetry practise; fabulous poems all ready to be shipped
off to the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Competition, a prestigious award that
highlights the best poems in several categories- from Lower Primary to Upper
Secondary.
We are happy to share a selection of poems from our
class. These poems all show different styles and technical degree (in terms of
exemplary vocabulary to fantastic figurative language or just a bit of
inspiration and humour.) These poems have been posted below in a document for
your enjoyment. Please enjoy!
Hopefully, we will excel in the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry
awards both now & in the future.
-
Bella
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-QO99Tk2mConUh98gxpMRnSnsSj7cEBenWrIyclc_4g/edit?usp=sharing
CONSTABLE CARE - ONLINE SAFETY
We had Constable Care visit our school this
week to impart a very important message: Online Safety.
We all know we need to stay safe while using
the Internet, but we may not know just how to do that. In the past, Internet
safety was mostly about protecting your computer from viruses.
But today, the Internet's vast reach, constantly changing technologies, and
growing social nature have made users more vulnerable to identity
theft, privacy violations, and even harassment.
The visit sparked discussion about the types of threats
we all may encounter while online. By teaching basic strategies like how to Google
yourself and create strong passwords,
in addition to encouraging you to adopt a safer mindset
toward using the Internet, we hope that you will know how to remain safe and
protect yourself while surfing the web.
When
it comes to the Internet, people generally believe they are safer than they
actually are. Why? Well, often the impersonal nature of technology can give us
a false sense of security. After
all, no one can physically attack us through a computer screen.
We
tend to have an ‘it-won't-happen-to-me’
attitude. We may even believe that our computer programs and the powers
that be are automatically taking care of all that Internet security stuff for
us. Sometimes we just avoid it all together because, to be frank, we just don't
get it. Does this sound like you?
Think of the
Internet as you would a shopping centre.
Generally,
a shopping centre is not considered a dangerous place. We go there to shop, run
errands, and meet people, but we also take precautions while there. We wouldn't
leave our car unlocked in the parking bay or walk around with our wallet
hanging out. We wouldn't tell a sales assistant our phone number or give our
address to a stranger we just met.
The
same applies when we are on the Internet. We need not fear our every mouse
click, but we should take precautions to ensure our safety.
Remember
the Key Concepts taught during the performance:
•
There are actions we can take to keep ourselves safe and to feel safe online.
•
It is important for ourselves and others to think before we post.
•
When posting online, forever means forever.
•
Bystanders can play an important role in preventing and reducing bullying
behaviours online and offline.
•
Not everyone we meet online is honest about their true identity.
•
There are safe actions we can take to protect ourselves online.
•
Always tell someone you trust (preferably an adult) if you are concerned about something
you experienced online that made you feel unsafe.
•
Ensure your personal information is protected online.
•
There are real risks involved in meeting an online contact face to face, as you
can never be sure they are who they say they are.
- Mr Petch
LEEMING SHS - ENGLISH
Every Tuesday
this term, we head out to Leeming Senior High School to learn Mathematics and
English from high school teachers. This is a very fortunate opportunity, and we
are privileged to go to Leeming SHS once every week.
Our English
teacher is Mrs Longmire. She is teaching us to think like a philosopher, and
ask ‘big, fat, wicked questions’. We
have been watching the movie ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and asking some fantastic,
in-depth questions about it. That’s not all we’ve been doing though. We stray
off the movie path quite a bit sometimes, as many of the questions being asked
lead to questions within questions within questions and so on. This causes us
to question reality. Are we really who we think we are? Are our bodies our true
form? These obviously lead to other questions, such as ‘If we aren’t a human
body, what are we?’ This can open up some very interesting, in-depth
conversations throughout the whole class. As we all have different beliefs and
views on reality, this makes for a very entertaining class.
- Adam
