Year 9s had the special opportunity of having a second session with Dr Genovese to discuss techniques for tackling exams and how we can study most efficiently. Dr Genovese talked about her different techniques for studying such as dual coding and taught us different ways to help boost our recall.

Before Dr Genovese’s sessions, the Veritas Program had been teaching us about study skills and the difference it can make and how they can turn ordinary notes, which are often ineffective, into short, sharp, and precise pieces of work which allow us to remember twice as much in less time.

As a Year 9 student, I have gone through my first ever set of exams this term and I have exhausted myself in studying. My notes were often colourless, long and ordinary, which, I thought, with constant reading and re-writing would help set the information into my brain but I would often find myself struggling to recall so much information. However, the study skills tactics shown to us by Mr Dempsey and Dr Genovese have allowed me to be able to retain more information and recall it faster and easier.

From Dr Genovese’s session, I have learnt how much these essential skills can help me succeed in all my exams and pieces of work and just being able to retain information and recall it, no matter how long after I’ve studied it.

After exams, it’s a relief for most of us to forget about everything and relax. However, we learnt just how important it is to revise your past exams and how much this can help you with your future tests. This also included looking at how we prepared for the exams and what we could do to improve our preparation. Overall the experience shared by all Year 9s with Dr Genovese has been absolutely brilliant and has taught us the importance of study techniques and reflection.

The Advanced Science and Biotech excursion involved 25 Aquinas students from Years 9 and 10 who took part in the Rotary Science and Engineering challenge. This competition aimed to expose the students to hands-on work that is present in many fields of engineering and to inspire them to pursue a career and future in a particular field that interests them.

This day was no ordinary competition, in that it didn’t involve the usual paper and pen, but incorporated creative ways to explore and deal with topics and issues that are present in our modern-day world. The competition consisted of a variety of different challenges, from making our own hovercrafts to finely crafting a bionic hand. This challenge allowed me to find a passion for the field of engineering and opened my eyes to the vast array of programs our school has provided us. and gave me an insight on how I should not take these opportunities for granted but to get involved with them as a doorway of opportunities will arise.

The teams that we placed forward into this competition would all agree that the day was a major success and the experience and amount of knowledge we learned, with the help of Mr Hitie, was insurmountable. Jonathan Vinci, Nishok Nimalan, and I were tasked with building a hovercraft out of limited resources and had to complete seemingly impossible challenges with it. Not only did our hovercraft fail multiple times, but it persisted to deflate and malfunction every time we attempted the challenges. When finishing the challenge seemed impossible, we managed to put our creative minds together and construct a new hovercraft from our scavenged materials. Only through our teamwork, resilience and determination were we able to push through and complete this challenge with a respectable result.

I believe this reflects perfectly on the values we learn at the college and what we need in our daily lives in order to strive for excellence. With the help of staff such as Cyril Hitie and Megan Monks who made this whole day possible, we were able to be exposed to real-life scenarios and problems that would help us prepare for our future careers.

The Year 8s at Aquinas College are Minecraft mad at the moment. Perhaps they’ve been Minecraft mad for years, but there was no doubt that the prospect of using Minecraft as a learning tool in Religious Education during Term 2 this year tantalised the minds of our Year 8 students.

There’s no question of Minecraft’s appeal, especially to Middle School aged boys. Whatever you make is only really bound by your imagination. It’s those endless possibilities that make Minecraft Education Edition an ideal tool for learning in Religious Education this term, as we look at the themes of Creation and Stewardship.

The engagement by our Year 8 students has exceeded expectations. Students were informed that they would be placed in groups at random in their respective Religious Education classes, as a means to help develop their Collaboration and Communication skills, two of the five twenty-first century learning skills that teaching staff across all learning areas will continue to develop in Middle School through Project-Based Learning. Being placed in groups of three or four at random did present an initial challenge to students as it meant being placed outside of comfort zones. This was done primarily to dissuade students from a “play” mentality. Minecraft, at its core, is a game. In order to move from a “play” mindset to a “project” mindset, placing students in groups at random was a necessary step. This is not to say, however, that our Year 8s will not be having fun. Fortunately, this has borne much fruit. It has been very pleasing to see our Year 8 students working collaboratively and using their maturing communication skills to achieve a common goal and see the bigger picture.

Students were given the freedom to choose between a number of Creation stories: The Fall, The Tower of Babel, Cain and Abel, and Noah’s Ark. In each of these stories are valuable lessons about the responsibilities mankind has towards creation, namely as regards our relationship with God, each other, ourselves, and the rest of creation. The students’ objective will be to - through their builds and subsequent presentation using iMovie - convey these learnings.

So why Minecraft? The creative aspect of Minecraft will encourage students to care for what they have had a hand in making, and there will be a sense of satisfaction that stems from tracking the progress of their work and subsequently completing it. Creativity and Accomplishment are core elements of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, i.e. Self-Actualisation and Esteem. Students become more efficient learners when given opportunities to be creative and when progress is tangible. When the bigger picture becomes more apparent, students will be able to clearly associate their creative and collaborative experiences with syllabus content.

Our Year 8 students will produce something of substance and spectacle. It is hoped that a number of student projects will go on display for the entire College community to see.

Catch up on the events of the Middle and Senior School Houses for the past few weeks.

Read a brief overview of the past few weeks as written by the Heads of School.

The Middle School art club have had a busy term. They have designed an Albert Einstein inspired poster for the art room gate, they have created some clay animals and a clay burger! They are also working on a commission for the Media Arts department!

Here are some comments from the boys at art club:

"The only thing limiting you is your imagination here at art club. Art club is full of creativity, and the attitude in the studio is fun and playful. You get to meet many new people and share your love of art and many other hobbies and interests. you choose your OWN idea and project, whether it be clay, fine art or designing. It is up to you to create your own project. Here at art club, we support the freedom of thought."

-Max Di Lello

"My favourite part about art club is getting to work on your own piece and always looking forward to coming and doing art with my friends."

- Isaac Valente

BREAKING NEWS 🎥

Mr McFadden has been murdered!

No...not really. He's fine. But members of AC TV gathered the other week to undertake an intensive training session - led by BBC Producer (and wife of Mr McFadden) Mrs Eastman - where they learned to craft a news story based around the tragic murder of our College Principal.

Take a look behind the scenes.

Catch up on the latest sports news.