Welcome back to Term 3!

Term 3 Focus: Learning to Learn

As we begin Term 3, our school community is united around three important focus areas : Learning to Learn, High Performing Team, and Ways of Working . While each of these priorities plays an important role in helping every student succeed, our greatest emphasis this term is on our Learning to Learn framework—developing students who take ownership of their learning, reflect on their progress, and strive for continuous improvement.

Learning to Learn: Taking Ownership of Success

At the heart of academic excellence is the belief that every student can grow when they set meaningful goals, reflect on their progress, and actively seek opportunities to improve. Our Learning to Learn framework encourages students to become confident, independent learners who understand that success comes through effort, persistence, and reflection.

This term, every student will be supported to review their Semester 1 achievement and use this information to establish clear learning goals for Semester 2. These goals should be specific, achievable, and focused on the next steps in their learning journey.

We encourage students to ask themselves:

What am I most proud of from Semester 1?

Which areas challenged me?

What strategies helped me succeed?

What is one goal I can work towards every day this semester?

Who can support me when I need help?

Improvement is not about being perfect—it is about making consistent progress. Students who regularly reflect on their learning, ask questions, seek feedback, and embrace challenges develop the habits that lead to long-term success.

How Parents Can Support Learning at Home

Learning is most successful when schools and families work together. Parents and carers play a vital role in encouraging positive learning habits and celebrating growth.

This term, we encourage families to make regular use of Canvas to stay connected with classroom learning. Canvas provides valuable insights into upcoming learning, assessment tasks, teacher feedback, and student progress.

Simple ways parents can support include:

Discuss your child's Semester 2 learning goals and revisit them regularly.

Check Canvas together each week to monitor learning and upcoming tasks.

Celebrate effort, persistence, and improvement—not just final grades.

Encourage your child to ask for help when needed and to reflect on what they have learned each day.

Establish consistent routines for homework, reading, and organisation.

When students know that school and home are working together, they are more likely to remain motivated, organised, and engaged in their learning.

Learning Together

One of the strengths of our school is our commitment to learning from one another. Throughout Term 3, all students in Years 3–12 will participate in our Peer Coaching Program , where they will develop skills in collaboration, communication, and reflection while supporting each other's growth. Learning is strengthened when students share ideas, provide constructive feedback, and celebrate each other's successes.

Building a Community of Excellence

Our broader focus areas also reinforce our commitment to excellence.

Our High Performing Team continues to strengthen teaching and learning by sharing best practice in digital learning across the region, increasing parent engagement through Canvas, sharing successful student support strategies across our schools, and explicitly teaching workplace readiness skills that prepare students for life beyond school.

Our Ways of Working focus ensures that every student learns in a safe, inclusive, and future-focused environment. This includes maintaining high standards of child safety, using AI-informed insights to strengthen teaching and goal setting, and helping students develop responsible AI literacy skills that will prepare them for an increasingly digital world.

Looking Ahead

Term 3 is an opportunity for every student to take the next step in their learning journey. By setting meaningful goals, embracing feedback, and committing to continual improvement, our students will develop the confidence, resilience, and skills needed for success both in and beyond the classroom.

Together—with the support of our dedicated staff and engaged families—we will continue to build a culture where every learner is encouraged to Step up, Stand out, and Pursue Excellence . Thank you for your ongoing partnership in helping every student achieve their very best.

Mrs Jane Polster (Acting Campus Principal)

🌟 Congratulations to Theo Smith, Emerald McKay, Capri White and Kylie Nason on receiving their Gold awards 🌟

🌠Congratulations to Avarni White, Tiffani Dent, Lachlan Joyce, Alex Gaal, Benito Kennard, Theodora Baker, Cheyenne Harris, Madeline Gillies and Serena Wallace on receiving their Silver Awards 🌠

✨Congratulations to Jerod Pascoe and Elke Joyce on receiving their Bronze Awards ✨

🌏 Australin Geography Competition participants 🌏

What is a Planner?

• I can read and understand the

'Learning Intentions’ and

'Success Criteria.'

• I can choose where I sit in the

Learning Centre based on my

task.

• I can use my ‘Backpack’, find

appropriate resources and

organise my materials.

• I can set goals and develop a

plan or schedule.

• I can prioritise my time and allow

myself breaks.

• I can use a template to plan for

and complete a process and

where appropriate, I can create

my own format for a plan.

• I can recognise when my plan

needs to change.

• I can plan for when I will teach

myself a new skill and when I will

need to learn from others.

• I can add time to my plan to

decide how long a task will take.

3/4 Gold has made a strong and positive start to the term. Across all learning areas, there has been a strong focus on our topic of bees, with students showing great curiosity and enthusiasm as they explore the important role bees play in our environment.

In English, students have been building on their language skills through reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. They have shown increasing confidence as they develop their vocabulary and communication skills.

In Mathematics, we have been focusing on telling time to the minute and using time language such as "quarter past" and "quarter to". Students have been highly engaged in a class challenge where they read the clock and quickly record the correct time when the teacher calls 'time check'. It has been wonderful to see their growing accuracy and confidence.

To support this learning, students are encouraged to continue the challenge at home by practising with an analogue clock and recording the time shown throughout the day. Regular practice will help strengthen their understanding and fluency with telling time.

3/4 Teal have returned to school with great enthusiasm. They have been actively engaging in their Science unit on sustainability, with a particular focus on the importance of bees and pollination. Students conducted a hands-on experiment where they created their own bees and flew them from flower to flower, collecting and spreading pollen to demonstrate the pollination process. They also enjoyed a nature walk around the school grounds, observing pollination in action and making meaningful real-world connections to their learning.

In Mathematics during Week 1, students participated in a range of engaging activity stations designed to build excitement and confidence in mathematics. Working collaboratively, students applied their Primary Skills to solve problems, think critically, and communicate their mathematical thinking. The hands-on activities provided opportunities for students to practise a variety of mathematical strategies in a fun and supportive environment while developing teamwork and perseverance.

Welcome to Term 3

Students have settled back into routines and are working on a number of Persona Skills throughout this term.

To assist with daily organisation, having the correct stationery ready to go is important. Students checked their supplies and brought home a list of any necessary items to collect.

A new incentive is to work towards key goals for the Secondary Learning Centre through the use of a PASS . Students are required to read nightly, write in their planners and return each day, use our Stage 3 Learning Centre effectively and continue to work on IXL, DC and Typing Club.

Students who can access a laptop at home are highly encouraged to work on IXL and Typing Club at least a couple of times each week.

Our Library Day is Friday- remember your books!

🐝 BEES, BEES, BEES 🐝

Science, Technology and Visual Arts are all about the importance of Sustainability, with particular focus on how important bees are for pollination and the environment.

Some of our amazing bee drawings have full details added, while others are still in the process of planning and finishing off. Students were careful to follow the directions of a great online artist.

Students in Year 7 and 8 have begun Term 3 confidently. Apart from a couple of students who have been unwell, attendance has been good which helps start the term strong. Students have settled into our Homeroom routines.

The Homeroom Program this term is below:

Monday : Study Planning and goal setting

Tuesday : IXL (minimum of 30 questions)

Wednesday : Team building and wellbeing

Thursday : Assembly or Values Kahoot

Friday : Study plan Reflections / Teacher Tutorial/Peer Coaching Trophy

In year 7/8 our goal is to book a minimum of one Peer Coaching session per term and one tutorial per subject per fortnight.

It is great to see the Year 7 and 8 students interacting with other year groups and participating in games on the playground. Some students are getting regularly involved, for the first time, in Football, or starting up new games of cricket.

The focus for Year 7 and 8 this term will be to begin using a Task Overview (see below). This will assist them to develop a long-term view of the Submissions that are due. This will assist all students to prepare appropriately for the busy times in the term.

9/10 students have made a positive start to Term 3. This term there will be a focus on Peer Coaching in our homeroom. Students will be encouraged to book a minimum of one coaching session with a peer per fortnight. There are many benefits to participating in the Peer Coaching program for both coaches as well as coachees; building confidence, sharing skills, learning something new are all benefits that can empower students to Step Up and Stand Out! Encourage your child/ren to book a session today!

The Homeroom Program this term is below:

Monday : Study Planning and goal setting

Tuesday : IXL (minimum of 30 questions)

Wednesday : Team building and wellbeing

Thursday : Assembly or Persona Kahoot

Friday : Study plan Reflections

Building Resilience

Resilience is often described as the ability to bounce back from adversity. It’s a quality required in professional and personal aspects of life – things go wrong everywhere and every which way. It’s the nature of the universe.

Being resilient not only helps you overcome challenges and achieve things, but also gives you self-confidence, because you know that you can deal with things when they do go wrong.

Recent scientific research has isolated a particular area of the brain related to resilience (the anterior cingulate cortex). What’s more, these areas can be strengthened by persisting.

Like any skill, say playing a musical instrument, the more we practice, the better our brain is at controlling that task.

So how do we practice resilience? By regularly engaging in difficult tasks. In other words, choosing the harder path occasionally may help build a more resilient brain. Each time we manage a challenge, these brain networks become more efficient, improving our ability to cope with future setbacks.

Resilience is developed, not simply inherited.

So get out there and challenge yourself. Improve your resilience. Give yourself opportunities to build some confidence so that you can persist and adapt to whatever life throws at you.

Mr Gorjan

11/12 Homeroom Teacher

This term Year 7 are studying ‘Flavours of the World’ with the first practical being making damper. Students were given a plain damper recipe, and I asked them to ‘make it their own’. Clancy and Isaac made gluten free damper. Theo and Oakley created a fruity version with sultanas and apricots, while Ola and Dolci made a cheesy herb damper. They were all successful and quite delicious. As we finished early, we also made cheese sauce for dipping which was very popular.

This term Year 9 and 10 are studying On Trend foods. Our first practical was to complete a taste test of foods that have spiked in popularity. Students tried food like spicy beans and Kim Chi. There were mixed results, but the winner was that everyone was happy to try new tastes. The practical was to create a smoothie bowl or Acai bowl which have risen in popularity recently with many acai pop-ups found locally, even in Lithgow. Many food trends centre around health influences which is great for our bodies.

Following a successful pilot at our Sydney Australia campus, our campus has a new volunteer structure called the Campus Support Team (CST), which comes into effect on day one of the new school year. This replaces the previous Campus Board and Campus Administrator roles and is part of a global initiative to simplify our volunteer operations while strengthening community support.

The CST consists of three members aligned to Pastoral Care, Culture, and Operations & Buildings. This transition strengthens community support, streamlines volunteer roles, and ensures consistent processes across all campuses.

Our new CST team is:

• Rick Pridham – CST Lead

• Ben Simpson – Pastoral Care

• Gareth McKay – Culture

• Rick Pridham – Buildings

If you have any questions, please speak to April Taylor or the new CST team. Thank you for your support.

Lions roar to victory in Global House Cup Season 1

The Green Lions have claimed the 2026 Global House Cup Season 1 title , securing their sixth championship since the competition began in 2017.

From January to June, students across North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Argentina, and Europe demonstrated the qualities of the OSG Quality Student Persona , with staff submitting 216,398 recognitions celebrating students who went above and beyond. These submissions highlighted attributes such as Living the Values, Being Self-Directed, Taking Ownership, Solving Problems, and Maintaining a Positive Attitude.

The competition was one of the closest in Global House Cup history, with just 227 points separating first and third place. The final standings were:

Lions – 72,333 points

Mustangs – 72,109 points

Bears – 72,106 points

Congratulations to the Lions on their well-earned victory and thank you to everyone for making the Global House Cup such a meaningful celebration of student achievement and character. We look forward to another exciting season ahead.

Mrs Rushworth spent some time in the garden yesterday, weeding and tidying up the pots. She has also provided a guide to what can be planted in August 🌱

Address : 84 Great Western Highway, Mount Victoria, 2786

Ph : 0247 094 003