English, Humanities & Languages
Welcome to week 8!
FAREWELL MRS EASDALE!
This newsletter is bitter sweet as the English and Humanities Faculties prepare to say goodbye to Mrs Carolyn Easdale. Mrs Easdale, is a foundation staff member who has been instrumental in establishing much of the English and Humanities curriculum. Her knowledge of the school, students and curriculum will be sadly missed. On behalf of the English and Humanities faculties, I would like to wish Mrs Easdale all the very best with her new adventure.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Over the next two weeks, English, Humanities and Languages assessments are all due for submission. Teachers and support staff are working super hard to help students maximise class time to ensure their success. As parents and caregivers, you can support your child by reinforcing the importance of engaging in lessons, asking for assistance where necessary, attending homework club and most importantly, acting on feedback provided by teachers. The drafting and feedback process should be an active process where students return to their work multiple times and make improvements each time. Parents and caregivers will be able to see draft feedback via Daymap.
READERS CUP
On Thursday 27th May 2021, our Year 7 team competed in the Qld Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia’s 2021 Readers Cup Challenge at St Mary’s, Woodend. The team have been reading their set of books over the last three weeks, meeting at lunch times to practice answering questions.
Readers Cup is a state-wide competition for young readers. Teams of four to five students together read a set of books, and then compete with other teams to answer quiz questions from the books. Winners from regional competitions then compete in a state final. Our students performed very well, competing against predominantly Year 8 students from around the region to place 12th out of 22 teams.
Readers Cup competitions challenge students to read widely, work collaboratively in a team and continue developing a love of reading. It allows readers to compete at a regional and state level similar to sporting competitions and to meet other students with an equal passion for books.
We are very proud of our Year 7 team and can’t wait to see them come back next year and try to better their result.
A big thanks to Mrs Easdale for her organisation, support and encouragement - without staff to volunteer, events like these would not be possible!
Next term, our Year 9 team will compete - we wish them well with their preparation.
GET INVOLVED!
RVSSC has registered to participate in The Premier's Reading Challenge in 2021. The Premier’s Reading Challenge is an annual state-wide initiative for Queensland state and non-state schools and home-educated students from Prep to Year 9, as well as children (aged up to 5 years) enrolled in an early childhood centre. The challenge aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read for pleasure and learning.
The Premier's Reading Challenge is not a competition but a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Through the challenge children and students are given an opportunity to develop their appreciation of the English language, and additional languages, and are encouraged to explore and enjoy a wide range of literary texts.
Children and students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised through the receipt of a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier of Queensland.
Interested students can see Ms Diesing in the upper A Block staffroom or download a copy of the Reading Log from the link on the Student SharePoint page.
Jasmine Diesing
HOD - English | Humanities | Languages