Welcome Year 7's

Finding your way around

When moving to secondary school students can find the size of the school as well as the large number of classrooms and teachers daunting. In addition, secondary schools often have a lot more students than primary schools and Mt St Patrick College definitely has a lot more stairs than most primary schools. When you combine all of these factors starting secondary school can bring some anxiety and trepidation with it.

To help with the transition from primary to secondary school and to make sure the impact of the changes outlined above are lessened, Mt St Patrick College puts a number of procedures in place. Included in this list are the following;

  • Students attend at least one day at the College during term 4 of Year 6.
  • Students are given an extensive tour of the College.
  • Until the students feel more comfortable moving around the College, teachers meet Year 7 students in the canteen basement and escort them to their classes.
  • Staff and all students in Year 8 – 12 are instructed to look out for Year 7 students who might look lost, lonely or confused.

Do's and Don'ts of high school

For extra help with the transition to Secondary School, the following list of do’s and do not’s are helpful:

Do’s
  • Respect other students
  • Be on time
  • Take the correct books and equipment to each class.
  • Remember to take your diary to all classes and home each night and use it correctly
  • Bring your hat to school
  • Make sure you have the equipment for each subject
  • Wear the correct uniform and wear it well
  • Respect teachers
  • Make Friends
  • Join in school activities
  • Look after other students
  • Listen to the teacher’s instructions
  • Never see a need without doing something about it
  • Be a Mt St Patrick Student fully, get involved!!
Don'ts
  • Disrespect other students or Bully
  • Forget equipment
  • Use your mobile phone during the school day
  • Break uniform rules
  • Forget to do your homework

Subjects

An exciting part about coming to College is the wide variety of subjects you get to do.
Listed below are the subjects that you will complete in Year 7.

Religious Education
Term 1

–  Lent Easter

–  School, Church and Communities

–  The Liturgical Year

Term 2

–  Ways People Pray

–  The Bible Sacred Scripture

Term 3

–  The Old Testament Overview

–  God, People & Creation

Term 4

–   Christian Ideals and Moral Decisions

–   Advent  / Christmas

Mathematics

With the introduction of the new Syllabus there will be three courses in mathematics this year. After Week 4, Term 1, students will be placed in mathematic classes according to their ability.

Term 1

–  Whole Number,

–  Number Patterns

–  Angles

Term 2

–  Properties of Solids

–  Integers

–  Algebra

Term 3

–  Decimals

–  Perimeter & Area

–  Geometrical figures, Space

–  Fractions

Term 4

–  Fractions continued

–  Surface Area and Volume

–  Time, Mass

–  Data

Science

Outlined below is some of the Topics you will cover in Science in Year 7.

Topics

  • You Can Be A Scientist
  • Matter
  • Cells
  • Fizz Whiz Pop
  • Tread Lightly on the Earth
  • Forces
  • Classification

All students must do an Independent Research Project

The year 7 Science experience at Mt St Pats is designed to spark students’ interest and enthusiasm towards Science. The course is designed to build confidence and familiarise you with the scientific process.

Topics studied include:

You Can be a Scientist. Here students learn about the laboratory, its equipment and the various branches of Science.

What is Everything made of? A topic which introduces the study of matter

Cells. Where studrents use microscopes to study the smallest units of life.

Classification. Here students learn why and how plants and animals are placed in groups.

Fizz Whiz Pop. A topic dealing with chemical and physical separations

Tread Lightly on the Earth and Atmosphere. Deals with the consequences of mining and pollution on the planet.

Forces. Is a physics topic introducing the basics of Newton’s Laws.

Assessment

During the year there will be a written Half Yearly and Yearly Examination. Year 7 has a Practical Examination as well as a Classification Assessment Task, an “in class” Research Task as well as an Independent Research project.

As Science is an exacting subject where good record keeping is valued there are two book marks during the year.

The course is delivered with Literacy, Numeracy and IT at the forefront to provide students with a well rounded  and interesting area of study.

English

Here are some of the interesting themes that you will encounter in English in Year 7

Term 1

–  Me, Myself, I

–  An introduction to the College

–  Library Orientation

–  Close study text: Fiction

Term 2

–  Our Sunburnt Country:    Poetic  Techniques

–  Eyes Wide Open: Wide reading in Australian literature with emphasis on aboriginal and multicultural experiences in Australia

Term 3

–  Myths and Legends: Drama

–  The Big Picture:    Understanding Film

Term 4

–  Language All Around Us

–  Creating texts to inform,    persuade and entertain

–  The voice of the People Media Study –  Newspapers

Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE)

Outlined below is a brief overview of some of the topics you will cover in HSIE. You will find a more detail description if you read on.

Geography      

  • Investigating the World (Introduction to Geography)
  • Global Environments (Rainforests, Mountains)
  • Field Study Excursion – Fleays Fauna Centre

History

  • Introduction to History
  • A History of Ancient Societies
    - Egypt
    - Greece
    - Rome
  • Medieval History
    - An assignment on one aspect of an Ancient or Medieval Society
    -An assignment on one type of Global Environment

So what is HSIE?

Human Society and Its Environment(HSIE) is the Key Learning Area(KLA) that enables students to learn about the world around them, from a social studies perspective. For year 7 students it involves a semester of Geography followed by a semester of History. Students enjoy the subjects as they cover new, interesting and relevant topics.

Geography

All students at Mt St Patrick College study Geography during Years 7 and 8 (Stage 4) and in Year 9 and 10 (Stage 5). The 2005 BOS Syllabus for Geography Stages 4 /5 has been implemented with Year 7 students beginning with the “GLOBAL GEOGRAPHY” course in first Semester. At our school all yr 7 complete Geography in Semester 1.  Students in Year 8  complete Geography in Semester 2.

TOPIC 1 (4G1):       INVESTIGATION OF THE WORLD

This topic is an INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY. In it students learn about the role of Geography in the world and they develop skills including mapping and gathering information in field work.

TOPIC 2 (4G2):     GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTS

This topic involves a depth study of a Global Environment such as Rainforests. Students undertake a research project on another environment, such as Deserts, Mountains, Antarctica, Coral Reefs or Savannah. There is a strong environmental focus in the way College students study this topic.

History

All students at Mt St Patrick College study World History in Years 7 and 8 (Stage 4), and then carry on with Australian History in Years 9 and 10 (Stage 5). Year 7 complete History in second semester, while year 8 complete History in first semester. The 2005 BOS Syllabus for History Stages 4/5 is followed with the Year 7 cohort doing the mandatory “WORLD HISTORY” course and the yr 8 students continuing with the course that they began last year. The students in Year 9 begin the Stage 5 Course, which studies “AUSTRALIAN HISTORY”.

TOPIC 1:(4H1)      INTRODUCING HISTORY

This topic introduces students to the study of Historical sources and the concept of chronological order. Students enjoy solving “History  mysteries” and using evidence.

TOPIC 2(4H2)   SOCIETIES AND CIVILISATIONS OF THE PAST

A HISTORY OF ANCIENT SOCIETIES

  • ANCIENT EGYPT, GREECE and ROME

These interesting topics are studied in chronological order, with more time allocated to Ancient Egypt. Students are often fascinated by this ancient culture and society, and it allows for historical themes such as law and order, beliefs and values, and citizenship to be covered. A depth study of one aspect of an ancient society is the individual research task.

In both Geography and History students use their laptops regularly, however many literacy and numeracy tasks are performed with traditional methods, in preparation for external exams.

Aimee_Blazek.png

Aimee Blazek
Leader of Learning
Human Society and its Environment
aimee.blazek@lism.catholic.edu.au

Personal Development Health and Physical Education (PDHPE)
Term 1

–  Meeting new people, facing new challenges

Term 2

– Physical activity options and opportunities

– Managing Change

Term 3

–  Enhancing movement skills

–  Drugs – reality & risks

–  Healthy Habits

Term 4

– Gymnastics

– Belonging

– Summer fun

Music

In Music in Year 7 you will get an opportunity to develop your musical skills. Topics covered include

  • Development of Practical Skills for Keyboard, Guitar, Singing, Drums
  • Basics of Reading and Writing Music
  • Musical Instruments
  • Vocal Music

All students in Year 7 will be invited to consider learning an instrument as part of our extensive extra curricular music programme.

Technology (Mandatory)

The students rotate through four units in Year 7 and two units in Year 8. In each unit, students are required to design and make a quality product, and document the design process in a Design Folio.

The topics include:

  • Basement Blitz’ ( a computer generated graphical representation of a re-designed lower basement for Mt. St. Patrick College)
  • ‘Kitchen Kapers’ (a kitchen implement made from plastics)
  • ‘Pandora’s Box – Unlock The Mystery’ (a pencil case made from wood and a multimedia presentation communicating the process of making a pencil case)
  • ‘In The Bag’(a simple bag to carry an item of their choice, incorporating fabric decoration techniques)
  • ‘Kid’s Cooking Adventure’ (a digital photo story presentation to encourage and educate kids to enjoy eating and cooking nutritional foods)
  • ‘Out of the Furnace’ (the use of a range of metalworking tools and metals to make an art metal project)
Visual Art

The Visual Arts course integrates art making with historical an critical studies of Australian and International artworks and artists. Students explore a broad range of 2 and 3 dimensional media and techniques in the following units of work:

–       Looking At Me – students produce a series of artworks based on their own image, their feelings and emotions, and people in their life.

The ways in which other artists have approached portraiture throughout history and in contemporary time is examined in students’ art study.

–       Creepy Creatures –  students explore how animals have been depicted in artworks from history and critically examine the ways that relationships between humans and animals are conveyed in artworks.

They record their observations of animals and their behaviour in 2 dimensional artworks and use their imagination to sculpt an imaginary animal from clay.

–       Places and Spaces – students record their observations of natural and built environments. They explore perspective in their drawing and create 3 dimensional representations of architectural sites that they select to research.

Languages

EXTRA ACTIVITIES AT MSPC

At Mt St Patrick College there are lots of extra activities that you can get involved in as a student. Some of these activities include:

  • Spes Mea Choir
  • Concert Band
  • Jazz Band
  • Environmental Groups
  • Extra Sporting teams (Soccer, Volleyball, Touch Football, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Waterpolo, Cricket, Netball, Surfing, Surf lifesaving and many more)
  • Debating
  • Chess
  • Student Representative Council
  • St Vincent De Paul

Being a part of Mt St Patrick College is about getting involved!