NewsBites - Term 4, Week 2, 2024

Last weekend, the Principal and I had the privilege of attending the General Synod of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand. The General Synod is the highest decision-making body of the church.

A large item of business before this Synod was a proposal to move forward through a theological impasse the church has experienced for approximately 40 years that centres around the question of whether women as well as men can be pastors. In the end, the Synod decided to proceed with a two practices approach – allowing the ordination of women for congregations and church entities who want this to occur.

While this may or may not be a matter that is important to you, it provided an opportunity for the church to reflect on the essentials of church unity and how to deal with different points of view.

The question of essentials is a worthy question for all of us to explore. For example:

• What’s essential in your family budget?
• What’s essential in how you spend your time?
• What are the essential values of your family?
• What’s essential for your enjoyment at work?

When you narrow down what is essential, you have found the heart of the matter. For the church at large and for the community of Faith Lutheran College, it is essential that people have an opportunity to hear about a God who loves them and forgives them freely through Jesus Christ. Everything else is important, but not essential.

Pastor Nathan Glover
College Pastor

Foundation Phase Term 4 Learning Experiences 

As we enter the final term of the year, we would like our community to be aware of the learning experiences happening in classes so that you can support your child in any way possible. Please see a snapshot of what is happening in each of our classes below. 

Year 7 

In the final unit of the year, Year 7 students are going to participate in the following learning experiences: 

Novel Studies – Students are continuing their studies surrounding the teenage experience through their relevant class novels, completing a range of reading and listening comprehension tasks to support their learning. They are currently analysing themes and character development using textual evidence, utilising online platforms for assessments and tasks, and developing their listening and writing skills in relation to the novel. This important unit of work will result in students analysing a character within the text and the changes they undergo within an analytical written piece.  

Mathematics – Students are currently in the process of their Maths Pathways tasks. Topics that will be focused on this term within the unit of work include area and volume, algebraic operations, and linear relationships. During this unit thus far, students have completed their Maths project with some great results.  

The Tech – This unit of technology is one full of anticipation, with students engaging in important studies surrounding digital footprint, cybersecurity, and responsible digital citizenship.  These lessons will empower students to navigate the online world safely and ethically, understanding how their actions impact both their present and future digital lives. The unit culminates in a Coding Showcase, where students will present their projects, demonstrating creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving through digital platforms such as Microbit, Scratch, LEGO Spike, and Minecraft Education.  

German – Students are continuing to engage in their work surrounding their comparative studies between German and Australian schooling. In addition to this, students will also be continuing their studies around literacy components of the language, in both writing and speaking. The unit will culminate in students making recommendations about which school system would suit themselves and others best. 

Civics and Citizenship – In this unit of work, students explore various aspects of politics, including democracy's role in governance, the impact of laws, rights and responsibilities, and the importance of civic engagement. They will also be examining diverse citizenship, social justice, sustainability in decision-making, global citizenship, media literacy, and develop inquiry skills essential for informed decision-making. To add to the excitement of this unit, students will be participating in a mock election in Week 4, with an even more important component to add to the experience – a democracy sausage!  

Christian Studies – In their unit titled, ‘Jesus the G.O.A.T’, otherwise known as greatest of all time, students have been investigating the life and teachings of Jesus – who he was and what do we, in current times, know about him. Students are engaging with a range of primary and secondary sources to develop a profile to answer the ultimate question - who is Jesus and what makes him the Greatest of All Time? In addition to this work, students will also be participating in a service component associated with Operation Christmas Child. This important activity serves those less fortunate around the holiday season, teaching our students about the act of giving.  

Water in the World – Students are very excited for the upcoming SEQ Water excursion happening during next week. Our students in Classes A & D will be attending Monday, B & E on Tuesday, and C & F on Wednesday. All students are required to bring morning tea, lunch, and a filled water bottle, pens and hat within a Faith satchel on their relevant excursion day. We look forward to providing this exciting opportunity for our students to engage with experts within our community to support development in understanding of water distribution, availability, quality, and conservation.

Year 8 

For the final term of Year 8, students will be engaging in the following programs across our different subjects. As parents, you can also access our lesson plans on our OneNote Content Library here. 

Mathematics – Students will end the year by exploring probability (both theoretical and experimental) and investigate different data samples and their implications on society. Students will finish their final two Maths Pathway tests and complete a Probability project that will allow them to demonstrate their skills in calculating all possible outcomes – favourable and not so favourable. 

Humanities – Last term students explored Medieval History. This term students will finish the year learning about Viking History – how they lived, their customs and values, and family structures. Students will conduct a case study on Lindisfarne and for their assessment, students will write weekly diary entries in the voice of a Viking teenager about the concepts they learnt during that week. 

Outside In (Science) – Students have just finished learning about cells (the building blocks of all living things) and observing them through a microscope. Next week we begin our exploration of the respiratory and circulatory systems. The Year 8s will complete a student-planned and conducted investigation into factors that can affect heart rate, before they observe and participate in organ dissections. To end the term, students will work in groups to research how different systems help to keep their chosen organism alive (plant or animal), before presenting their findings to the class. 

PBL (The Arts) – As students come to the end of their time in Foundation Phase, they will reflect on how their identity has changed over the last two years. Students will explore an artist in their chosen Arts Discipline (Dance, Drama, Music, Media Art or Visual Art) then use their work as inspiration for their own. Year 8 teachers presented their own pieces of ‘identity art’ as examples of how their identity has changed over a period of time. Students are encouraged to involve their families and share their journey as they work on their piece of art. 

Christian Studies – Last term, students explored the concepts of sin and grace through stories with the theme of ‘Rescue’. This term, students will extend on this learning through creating either a drama script or an artwork that represents one of Jesus’ rescue stories and symbolises sin and grace. This transdisciplinary unit allows students to demonstrate achievement standards from Christian Studies as well as Drama or Visual Art. 

Digital Technologies – As a conclusion to the Foundation Technologies curriculum, students will engage in programming through Digital Technologies. Students will develop their problem-solving skills and learn the foundations of block programming and programming language, which they will use to create an app to track their health and fitness.  

HPE – Based on the driving question, “How can I, as a Year 8 student, enhance my own health and wellbeing by participating in physical activities?”, students will investigate ways to enhance their own health and wellbeing. Students will plan and implement strategies to design warm ups, cool downs and drills for specific sports, and implement their planned strategies for themselves and others.  

Save the date – Foundation Festival Showcase 

As a culminating event for the year, students will have the opportunity to showcase their work from their final units at our Foundation Festival. Students will also choose one piece of work they are proud of from anything this year to showcase to their families and friends. More information is on the way, but please save the date – Friday 29 November. See you then! 

Beck Smith (7) and Eunize Mallari (8)
Heads of Learning - Foundation Phase