Year 8

Yr 8 Examinations

Students are halfway through their Yr 8 Examinations. Students are taking this week seriously and many are seeing it as a chance to highlight their accomplishments and show what they have learned throughout the year. We are very proud of the way Yr 8 students are conducting themselves this week and we look forward to a well-deserved and well-timed break at camp next week.  

Camp Briefing

Camp is a rich experience for students and a fantastic balance of challenge and finding ‘green time’ toward the end of this busy and unique year. Yr 8 Camp is combination of outdoor and high energy activities and personal reflection time.   

Students participated in a camp briefing on Wednesday and were able to ask specific questions to help clarify their expectations and concerns around camp.  A few final reminders are:

• Students are to be in Dunnet Hall on Allister Street at 6.00am on Monday morning as busses depart at 6.30am. 
• Students are not to bring electronics on the bus or to camp. Students may bring a disposable camera and an analog watch (no smart watches).
• Students are encoraged to bring insect repelant in lotion form (not aerosol).
• All other camp information can be found at https://www.oeg.edu.au/.  Login: Redlands, Password: Shine

Australian Mathematics Competition

Congratulations to all participants in this international competition involving hundreds of thousands of students from around 30 countries throughout the Pacific and South-East Asia. Held over a week in late July, the Competition tests everything from basic numeracy skills through to advanced problem solving. This year we would like to particularly acknowledge the following wonderful student achievements: 

High Distinction: Krishan Price and Johnny Wang

Distinction: Aaron Beder, Jiaqi Guan, Conor Petersen, Christopher Szeto, Scarlett Thorp, Mitchell Travers-Wolf, Jocelyn Wang and Kabir Yohannan.

ICAS Mathematics Competition 

Every year, thousands of schools in over 20 countries participate in the annual ICAS Mathematics Competition. ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence; students are assessed on their ability  to apply classroom learning to new contexts using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. Congratulations to our Redland’s students on their achievements:

Principal’s Award for Best in School and High Distinction: Jocelyn Wang

Distinction:

Correction

The Yr 8 iLearn Pastoral Page is only accessible for students in Yr 8.  Parents may only access important documents for Yr 8 through Redlands Pulse.

Study Tips and Recommendations for Yr 9 Preparation from Dr Prue Salter

When a student says that they have a bad memory, it usually means that actually they do not encode the information they are trying to remember into their memory in an effective way.

Memory is really a ‘process’ as opposed to a ‘thing’ in your head that you are born with. Rather than ‘improving your memory’, you want to improve the process of memory creation to ensure memory retrieval goes smoothly! The reason why many students do not retain what they are learning is that the way they study only gets the information as far as their short term memory, and then before long it is forgotten instead of being encoded into long term memory.

The first stage for students in improving their retention of information is to try and find ways to make what they are learning interesting to themselves, emotionable, enjoyable and if they can’t do this then at least create the firm intention to remember the information. It is all about their approach to what they are learning.

The next step in memory creation is the encoding process. To improve in this area, students need to improve:

• Concentration and focus (making notes about what they are learning, studying using techniques that suit their learning style, studying when they are most alert)
• Organisation of material (making brain friendly notes: lists, highlighting, categories, grouping, graphics)
• Making associations and links between the new material and previously learned material.

Next stage in the memory process is facilitating the storage of memories. Students can improve the way memories are stored by ensuring they break their study blocks up with at least a few minutes break every half hour (giving the brain a chance to encode and file that chunk of content) and chunk down the information to be learnt into manageable chunks.  Getting enough sleep is also essential as fundamental memory processes take place during sleep. The other thing that is really important in this stage is repetition and regular review. Each time a review takes place the brain fires all the neurons connected to that memory and the more often that happens the stronger the connections between the neurons and the more intense and powerful the memory that is created.

So in summary, the top three things to improve the process of creating powerful memories are:

1. focus, positive attitude and intention to remember are essential (reading something half-heartedly while bored pretty much guarantees it won’t be retained)
2. an active approach to learning where students  are ‘doing’ (making notes, testing themselves using a wide range of study techniques) rather than just ‘reading’
3. repetition and constant review of the material over a period of time.

To learn more about the brain and memory and advanced memory techniques, visit the Brain and Memory unit on www.studyskillshandbook.com.au (click on the For Students tab) (Username: redlands, password: 68results).

Anglicare Toys ‘n’ Tucker

All Year Groups are participating in sharing the joy for the holidays with Toys and Tucker collection hampers. Students are encouraged to bring in as many items from the suggested shopping list as possible, including: Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, tinned ham or salmon, tea or coffee, Milo, dried pasta, pasta sauce, long-life milk or custard, tinned fruit or vegetables, jam or biscuits. Gift cards, sporting equipment and toiletry items may also be donated for teenagers. 

Students are asked to bring these items in to their Tutor teachers beginning Week 6 (after camp) through to the end of the year. For more information, please see Sharing the Christmas joy by making a small contribution. 

Ms Alissa Ynson
Yr 8 Advisor
9968 9863
aynson@redlands.nsw.edu.au