1997 School Magazine

@irlli @ramnrnr ~cbool ~rilihane 1997

Peer Tutoring

( (tphe most enjoyable day was the 1 first day, when I metJacob . We talked about the things he likes to do." Abbey Boucher, Susan Vincent and Ruth Farley went to Brisbane Central State School one Friday morning a week as part of the Peer Tutoring Program. This program has been oper- ating between the two schools for the last three years and the girls always look forward to going. They worked with boys in Year Two and at the first session sat down in the library to get to know each other. "We did a lot of reading for the first term and then we did some writing in the second term. Every week we talk about interesting things we have done and I enjoy listening to him."

Back at school, the students write up their record of work achieved, their reflections and feelings about the ses- sion, and their plans for the next week. This process encourages good organi- sation and independent learning skills. The students found that their rela- tionships changed over the weeks as the contact was established and they looked forward to the time spent to- gether.

''!felt really good because when we arrived they were happy to see us. I remember when I was on camp I was sorry that I had missed working with Jacob that week. " "It is a very enjoyable experience because it helps you, a11d it helps them with their reading skills. "

Days of Excellence

S tudents of German had an opportunity to immerse themselves in the language for a day earlier this year. Days of Excellence are days designed for students who want to further their knowledge of a subject and at this year's language Days of Excellence the teachers challenged their students by refusing to speak any English. This allowed the students to be fully immersed in their language to attempt to increase their vocabula1y and become more confident in speaking, hearing, writing and reading their language. The first activities consisted bf learning about German entertainment and listening to some particularly catchy German

pop music which eve1yone then sang all day. That was followed by a lesson on witchcraft and a demonstration of some magic tricks and finally, a game of Jeopardy. This may seem like a relatively easy day but try saying "Olivia Newton-John played Sandy in Grease alongside John Travolta" in German and you will understand why most of the students spent the day crouched over their English-German dictionaries . Everyone enjoyed the day and we all found it to be beneficial and challenging and we all left feeling more confi- dent in our chosen language. CAITLIN GAHAN

Space Canip

A ll the girls who participated in this trip have contributed to this report. "In the years to come when someone asks me what was the most enjoyable week of my life, or at least of my childhood, I am positive I'll answer with two straight words: "Space Camp". It's hard to explain but Space Camp was the most memorable seven days of my life . Whether it was the friends I made or the experiences we shared, Space Camp opened a new door in my life . Not only did I learn more about myself but I also learned just how close you can get to a group of people in seven days , and just how depressed you can get when you leave these people, knowing that it is unlikely that you'll ever see them again. I will never forget Space Camp ." BEST EXPERIENCES "Doing the Extended Duration Mission at the end of the week as well as meeting so many new friends." "The E.D.M. Definitely! It was 'the bomb' . We laughed, we cried - we died ." "The E.D.M. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. ----------------------- 84 -----------------------