Journalists: Chae Conte and Tori Henderson
Editor: Ms McLoughlin
This term, students in Years 7 to 10 are working on different projects in their classes. 2021 has been a challenging year for our students, staff, and families. We have faced many obstacles, such as the hurdle of online learning from home. We have persevered and worked together to ensure a safe return to school this term. In an attempt to re-engage students in their learning, the idea of working on projects in class was suggested.
Each subject has been working hard and creating amazing learning opportunities in their classrooms.
MATHS
Maths have been exploring tiny homes and made to-scale buildings. Students researched disasters around the globe and the concept of displacement and homelessness. Inspired to help those facing adversity, students drafted and constructed tiny homes to fit in shipping containers. Their homes are creative and built really to-scale, with beds and cabinets measured out to fit in each room. Student designs feature creative and innovative styles and decor. Take a look at the video below, featuring some of their tiny homes.
Well done to all students for applying their mathematical skills to create these amazing designs.
HARBOUR CENTRE
From Miss Cooper: "The concept behind the Harbour Centre’s Mini Village project this term was a cross-curricular unit of work that was led by the voice and choice of our students through what they have learned in the theory component of the unit. The village unit encompassed KLAs like Mathematics, Geography, History, and Science with the overall focus of the village being the topic of sustainability. The students led what was put into our mini village, the way our village was run, the size of our village and what materials we would build our mini village. Each class nominated a town mayor who advocated for their section of the village and what they would be contributing. From all 6 class mayors, we then completed an anonymous vote throughout the whole of the Harbour Centre for the overall mayor of the mini village, which was also newly named via anonymous vote as “HARBOURVILLE”.
Congratulations to every class for their participation and effort in the creation of Harbourville.
Particular mention to the Class Mayors:
- Noah Laraghy
- Kearin James
- Nikita Stone
- Jesse Jones
- Jayden Bedford
- Jack Hayes
Special Mention to the overall Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Harbourville.
Mayor – Noah Laraghy
Deputy Mayor – Jack Hayes
What a fun, hands-on and exciting unit of work this was!"
TAS
A lot has been happening in TAS classes! Students in woodwork class have been constructing passive speakers of a high quality. After months of missing the workshop, it's fantastic to see students settling back into class and enjoying their hard work in form of these speakers.
From Mr Stephens: "We wanted to complete one project which gave the students scope to design and produce a speaker which will hopefully reflect their identity and culture by allowing them to decorate as they please, and to play the music which gives them a sense of belonging to their safe place at home.
Some students incorporated a charging cable into their design. Some went with extravagant decorations or feet, some included netting over the speaker holes.
Students also completed a web folio during STEM classes to document key aspects of design, production, safety, evaluation and a reflection on the key themes that the school focussed on after such an interrupted year."
From Mrs Cormack: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weave natural materials such as long grasses, vines, plant fibres, bark, hair, fur and feathers. They take great care and time in making baskets, mats, bags and fish nets and traps. My class has replicated the process of weaving baskets, using a paper plate and wool.
From Mrs Stephens: Year 10 Food Technology were given a design brief, to choose a theme (e.g. Christmas, Mexican and Desserts etc.) for a recipe book, find recipes that encompassed the theme and research how to create their recipe book.
Their research also involved relating their recipe book around key questions, such as how will I identify and make my recipe book unique, where will it belong at home, am I resilient enough to complete the recipe book, how will I regulate if I can't find recipes or finish making my book and how will it enhance my relationships with family members at home? Overall, the students completed their project and now have a wonderful collection of recipes to cook at home with their families.
PDHPE
From Mr Lovell: "During the LIHS PBL Wellbeing project throughout Term 4, PDHPE took a strong focus on building our student Self-Identity and self-efficacy, realising that everybody has their own differences, such as likes/ dislikes, personality traits, strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledging that this shapes who we are as individuals. During our theory lessons, students worked through a range of learning experiences surrounding identity, building self-awareness and building students’ understanding of diversity and uniqueness. The ‘PDHPE Hand Project’ symbolises each student’s hand and is a culmination of the project. The students created a visual representation of their personal identity chart, highlighting and emphasising their unique self. In the video, the spiral is an Indigenous symbol that represents the web of life, ultimately this represents the awareness of the self and the expansion of awareness outwards."
Take a look at the video below to see their amazing work!
CAPA
Students were completing a study on the apocalypse before the start of lockdown (what strange timing!) and upon their return to school, Mr Plumb's art class decided to do a focus study on Mad Max. Students loved experimenting with the materials in class to create Mad Max-style weapons and outfits. Take a look at the photos below, displaying their amazing efforts! What a fun topic to study, as well.
STEM
The students in STEM have been working on designing a Community Board Game that incorporates a number of the local landmarks within the Lake Illawarra Community inside of the school or beyond. The students have all designed unique and challenging board games ranging from Trivia style games to Monopoly and Snakes and Ladders inspired games. The students have done an outstanding job creating these games and they could now serve as creative Christmas presents for friends and family.
ENGLISH
In English, students have been working hard creating posters and board games, centred upon the films studied this term. These creative designs display student learning and understanding of film techniques, as well as the themes and meaning present in the texts studied. The best part of making board games in class, is playing them afterwards! Take a look at some of these ingenious creations.
SCIENCE
Students looked at the concept of sustainability by collecting recyclable materials and transforming these materials into sea creatures. Students discovered the importance of natural materials and the impact we can have on our planet. Science classes brought in Denise, who gave a demonstration of how to make rope from natural materials, as well as revealing the importance of this practice to Indigenous people, who know how to sustainably live with the land. Our oceans are important and should be cared for and respected.
HSIE
HSIE proposed the task of flipping the song 'My Country' (I Love A Sunburnt Country) by Dorothea Mackellar and focusing on our spiritual connection to the land. Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 wrote about what they learned about being on country and what it means to them, and how important being on country means to First Nations people too. Students loved the task of writing their own verses to the music of the song and Mr Davison even recorded the song, featuring some of their verses! What a fantastic way to re-engage students in their learning!
Below are some of the verses, written by our LIHS students.
Well done to all students who have returned to school happy and willing to learn. Well done to our inspiring teachers and staff members at LIHS who have been working around the clock to ensure the wellbeing and engagement of our students. And thank you to our families and community members because our school would not be a success without your support.
THANK YOU to everyone involved in these projects!
We hope everyone has a safe and happy (and well deserved) break over the holidays.
The Student News Team
