I can still remember when my first child started preschool. At the time, video cameras were rare, practically only seen in banks or Parliament House, and I desperately wished I could somehow watch what was happening during the day.

Was he happy?
Who was he playing with?
What activities were they doing?

Of course, I eventually had to let go of that desire to constantly know and see everything. I had to trust the professionalism of the educators caring for him. I had to allow him the space to grow, form friendships, navigate social ups and downs, and learn independence. Most importantly, I had to work on building a strong relationship with my son so that home became a safe place where he could debrief, process, and talk openly about his day.

The challenge with teenagers, however, is that they don’t always come home sharing the highlights. Often, parents hear about the day’s frustrations, disappointments, or awkward moments. If we’re honest, most of us naturally tell “bad news stories” more easily than “good news stories.”

So, here are a few good news stories from around our Middle School.

Year 7

The Year 7 students have been writing Sacred Place poems, and they are genuinely wonderful. Some are deeply thoughtful, while others are delightfully unexpected — apparently, for one student, the fridge qualifies as a sacred place!

In Foundations, students are exploring the important question: “Jesus, who is this man?” These lessons are prompting thoughtful discussions and encouraging students to wrestle with some significant ideas.

Year 8

Our Year 8 students continue to impress with both their creativity and practical skills.

Visual Art students are producing beautiful ceramic pots with incredibly thoughtful designs. The craftsmanship and creativity on display are outstanding.

Meanwhile, in French, students are learning how to discuss their musical interests and tastes, always a lively topic of conversation!

Year 9

Recently, our Year 9 students participated in an Outdoor Education camp at Somerset Dam, and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Some of their reflections included:

“We made a raft that actually held together — and rowed it for kilometres!”

“You should have seen the views, Mum. Every morning when we opened our tent flaps, it was spectacular!”

“We’ve stopped whingeing about the small, insignificant things. We realised we were a bit soft.”

“I made new friends. There were students I barely knew before camp, and now we’re really good friends.”

Camps like these are about far more than activities. They help students build resilience, gratitude, independence, and stronger relationships with one another.

Horizons Program

Our Horizons students have also achieved some outstanding success recently.

DaVinci teams placed:

• Two First Places in the Poetry (Art and Poetry) category
• Two Third Places in Ideation and Creative Producers (Year 7 team)

With more than twenty teams competing in each year level, these were exceptional results and a wonderful reflection of the students’ creativity, collaboration, and innovation.

KidsLit Quiz – one team travelled to Sydney last week to compete at the National Level. They were placed 1st out of Queensland teams and came 9th overall! We are really proud of them!

A Word About “C Grades”

As you reflect on your child’s progress, I also wanted to take the opportunity to clarify a common misunderstanding about the meaning of a C grade under the Australian Curriculum.

A C grade indicates that a student has demonstrated:

• sound knowledge and understanding of the key content,
• an adequate level of competence in the required skills and processes,
• and achievement at the expected year-level standard.

In practical terms, this means a student is:

• working at the appropriate standard for their year level,
• demonstrating satisfactory or sound achievement,
• and able to apply their learning in familiar contexts.

What a C grade does not mean is failure or poor performance. Historically, many parents associated a “C” with being “average” or “not very good.” However, within the Australian Curriculum framework, a C grade is intended to mean that a student is successfully meeting the expected standard for their year level.

Grades in the A and B range indicate performance that goes beyond the expected standard through greater depth, sophistication, consistency, or independence.

As parents, you are often most interested in the teacher comments, effort grades, and the overall growth and application your child demonstrates — and rightly so. Academic growth is important, but so are resilience, attitude, perseverance, organisation, kindness, and engagement with learning.

So, if your child receives a C grade, it is important to understand that this generally indicates they are competently meeting expectations for their year level.

I hope these snapshots provide a little more insight into the life of our Middle School and perhaps help prompt some more detailed conversations with your child at home.

And if you have your own good news stories about your child’s school experiences, we would genuinely love to hear them too.

Jacq Vreeling, Head of Middle School