Renmark High School

LEARNING AREAS

YEAR 10 AGRICULTURE FOOD MARKET

In the Value Adding unit last term, students in Year 10 Agriculture had to pick an agriculture product within a strict budget constraints, value add to the product, and finally sell it to. By participating in the Value Adding unit, students had the opportunity to learn the following: what value adding means, picking the product available locally, creating a product with efective profit margins. Students developed marketing strategies, advertising skills and sought feedback from customers to further improve the product. Students had the opportunity to display and sell their products in Week 9 of Term 2, in an Agricultural Market set up in the STEM space. Some examples of the value added products included: Grape Jelly, Coke flavoured ice cream and Sugar Bites.

 YEAR 9 STEM

Students in Year 9 Science were given an opportunity to work on a STEM based project, in teams. They had two weeks to create an idea, seek approval from the teacher, collect and organize materials and then complete the intended project. Some of the ideas included: Checking the accuracy of Vitamin C information on different juices available in supermarkets, strategies that might have been used to build rocks on sites for the Pyramid Giza (with an inference that maybe rocks were built on site using raw materials rather than being transported), checking the efficiency of gear systems for bikes and making an efficient solar car.

 YEAR 9 AGRICULTURE FRUIT WINE

Students in Year 9 Agriculture have learned about the wine making process. To do so, they discovered the various steps of the production process including harvesting, crushing and pressing, fermentation, clarification, and the aging and bottling. To replicate this process they used seasonal fruit juices such as watermelon, apple and orange. They manipulated the sugars, stabilised the juices and used white wine making steps to complete the process. Students also designed wine logos with the intent to complete the process by bottling their wine. Completed wine will only be handled by the staff and any bottled wine will be accessible to parents or guardians only. We are hoping to complete the process by Week 4 of Term 3.

YEAR 8 PERFORMING ARTS

A Play about ‘Bullying’

Year 8 Performing Arts students learnt about the signs and effects of bullying, and created four mini plays to show both the bully's point of view, as well as the victims. The play was separated into physical, verbal, emotional and cyber bullying. The play was performed to the Year 8 cohort who found them to be quite powerful and realistic. The students worked well together and were able to show the skills they had learnt throughout the term.

I played two roles, the bully and the mum of one of the bullies. I learnt about the four types of bullying and the bully's point of view. I also learnt about voice projection, staging and the importance of eye contact. I found keeping a straight face challenging and sometimes we were a bit loud during the scene changes. I had a good laugh at being Kaidee’s mum in the play. This scene showed the audience why Kaidee was bullying Matthew and what was going on in her life at the time - Charlotte

I was the lighting designer. I learnt that there are different ways to light up the stage to show moods and emotion. The changing of the lights went well. Turning off the lights and black outs were a problem which I solved. I really enjoyed the play and playing around with the lights - Alisha

I was one of the bullies in the play. I didn’t enjoy the scene where we threw Matthew’s school bag around so he couldn’t get it because we dropped it. The performance though was fun overall - Paityn

I was the main bully in the plays about physical and cyber bullying. The teamwork was astronomical and I think the costumes and props were good as well. I enjoyed making the plays, learning about bullying and all of the rehearsals where we did run throughs - Kaidee

I was the teacher in the performance. I improved on my confidence in performing in front of an audience. I also learned that using loud voices on stage and eye contact are really important. I think I needed to improve on how to stay focused on what was going on in the scene. I enjoyed the performance as it has helped with my confidence - Joe

I was one of the bullies in the play about emotional bullying. I have learnt how to improvise lines when needed and how to stop laughing in the middle of a scene. I have gained confidence. The scene changes were pretty good and most people were serious and focused. I enjoyed everything about putting on a performance for an audience - Sophie

YEAR 9 FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Food Presentation

Students have been learning about food presentation and tried out their designs during their practical.  Students cooked honey lemon chicken, fried rice and steamed date pudding with ice cream.

Students focused on texture, height, colour and symmetrical layouts, which are appealing to the eye.

Some of the tips that I learnt about presenting food include how to choose the right plate, using contrasting colours, the position of the ingredients, texture and height using big plates and keeping things clean, being creative with sauces, and using the right tools.  I presented my steamed date pudding with the pudding in the middle with caramel sauce underneath it and the toffee leaning off to the side. Some of the techniques I used included circulating the sauce around the main focus of the pudding. I used a large clean plate and considered texture and height.
I enjoyed decorating at the end of making the meal. I also enjoyed the toffee making - Colby

I have learnt many new things about food presentation which include: making the main focus of the plate taller for a height effect, and the different ways to style garnishes and sauces on a plate. I now know that it is good to wipe clean the edges of the plate and different ways to style or layer rice. I also learnt that texture is an important factor in food presentation - Stephanie

The different types of tips that I learnt from food presentation included: not adding so many other big pieces to the dish, so that it doesn’t take away the attention from the main meal. Our group presented the steamed date pudding by cooking it in a ramekin dish and then putting wafers, ice cream and strawberries (that were chopped and fanned out). The techniques we used were to present it with some other treats on top to make it less boring and more decorative - Lily

SAPSASA SOCCER

At last Friday's SAPASA Soccer carnival, held at the Steve Poutakidis Fields (Renmark), several Renmark High School students volunteered their time to assist in a variety of tasks. The roles included students rotating as a referee, scoring, entering the results on the computer and counting up the MVP votes as they came in. 

Peter Safralidis (Riverland School Sport Convenor) mentioned that 'the students were awesome' and 'they were all a credit to the school and the success of the day.'

Well done to everyone who assisted. We look forward to more school sport commencing over Term 3 and 4.

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STAGE 2 NUTRITION – SENSORY ANALYSIS

In Stage 2 Nutrition students have been learning about factors that influence food choices. One such factor is the psychological influence – this includes things such as peer pressure, cost, branding, packaging and marketing. They have also been looking at the sensory characteristics of food such as flavour, smell, texture and visual appearance. On Thursday 29th July the class conducted a sensory evaluation as a major assignment. They had to design an investigation that blind-tested different brands/versions of the same products, to determine which had ‘Sensory Superiority’. Groups made a variety of comparisons, such as generic versus popular brands, low-fat compared to full fat and concentration of a particular ingredient. They then invited students and teachers to participate in their blind-tastings and complete surveys relating to the characteristics.

The students had to identify a number of factors to control so that they could standardize their testing and ensure their results were reliable. They also had to take in to consideration COVID-19 restrictions and completed risk assessments to make sure they followed protocol and avoided cross-contamination. Students now have to evaluate their data to form a conclusion based on their results. 

YEAR 9 ENGLISH

Making a Nation

In the last three weeks of Term 2, Year 9 English students had the opportunity to explore Aboriginal perspectives via a unit of work called Making a Nation. Students viewed a documentary based on the novel ‘Jundamarra’s War.’ During this time, they learned of Jandamarra’s fight against both cultural conflict and his search for his own identity in a new world coupled with his ultimate battle against the European invasion of the Kimberly region and the protection of his fellow Bunaba people. The class had the opportunity to engage in a task that had them consider how they might react if they were to be invaded today and the potential consequences of their actions. This aided in developing a sense of cultural understanding as well as a realization that Australian history dates back thousands of years before white settlement.

Students also participated in a class reading and analysis of the picture book ‘The Rabbits.’ During this time Daniel Giles explained the use of colour in Aboriginal artwork and how art is a profound way to share stories. This task developed the students’ understanding that language and communication is more complex than just writing, and the importance of non-verbal and written language in everyday life.

Students also participated in a ‘Tree of Self’ task exploring what was truly important to them and how it makes them the people that they are. This was achieved by drawing a tree before writing down what their roots are, including what keeps them grounded, such as their values. This learning activity proved to be a fascinating insight for students and allowed them a recognise how similar we all are despite our cultural differences.

The unit of work ended with a trip out to Bookmark Creek where students experienced authentic Aboriginal learning. They participated in activities such as starting a fire from scratch, making damper and writing poetry. All of these experiences developed a sense of leadership as well as the use of literacy skills, such as listening, writing and verbal communication.

A big to thanks to Marine Turnbull and Daniel Giles for taking the time to work with my class.

YEAR 8 DEBATING - GRAND FINAL

Year 8 students from Mrs. Papametis’ and Mr. Clark’s English class went head to head in the debating grand final, debating ‘That corporal punishment should be reintroduced into schools’. It was highly evident that both teams researched, planned and rehearsed their speeches prior to the final. Facts, props and humour were used to engage the audience and to persuade adjudicators Mr. and Mrs. Evans into believing  that their arguments were true and accurate. Both adjudicators provided feedback to the students, and the audience, and followed up with winners of the debate, the affirmative team, supporting the argument that indeed corporal punishment should be reintroduced into schools.

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 The winning team!

 Elliott_Biljana.jpg Mrs Elliott - Leader of Literacy and Global Perspectives

YEAR 8 MUSIC

At the end of Term 2, Year 8 Music students successfully demonstrated their skills in both creating and playing music. In Week 9, our students performed as an ensemble in front of their peers, playing three songs they had learnt over the past seven weeks. Their performance skills have greately improved, and the whole ensemble was able to create a polished set for all the enjoy. Our Year 8/9 Band also played for the first time, tackling the White Stripes' ‘Seven Nation Army’ which they had been practising each Tuesday afternoon. The thumping baseline and brass ensured everyone was grooving in their seats. 

Students not only performed, but created their own music using digital technology. Using the Soundtrap program, students had to create an original piece of Program Music. Program Music is music which accompanies art or an image to tell a story. Students chose their own images, and used this to inspire the music they created. Below are a few examples, which our students are excited to share with the community.