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