Students Become the Teachers

As part of the Year 9 Marine Science elective program, the girls were given free rein to develop a lesson of their choice, on a marine science topic that interests them.

The task involved designing an 8-minute lesson, which needed to include key learning objectives, resources and assessment tasks to check if the objectives have been met. This week, the girls delivered their lessons to small groups of Year 5s. 

They all did a fantastic job of being ‘teacher for the day’ and the activity was an excellent example of how we connect learning to life. 

The task required collaboration skills and the activities which demonstrated creativity were enjoyed the most. They needed to show compassion and engage with their audience. Resilience was also demonstrated when the activity didn’t go to plan or they were asked an obscure question. 

Here are some comments from the students and the Year 9 teachers.

From the Teachers

Doing the assignment has been a great experience. Interacting with the Year 5s provided me with an awareness of how teaching works and the important factors of teaching. The sessions were a little challenging, as we had to consider the limited time and the attention span of each Year 5 student. However, as we continued teaching more Year 5s, my group was able to adapt quickly to each challenge and improve a lot. I really enjoyed learning new skills and getting a better understanding of the behaviour of the younger years. Zima-Jade Henderson, Year 9

I have learnt a lot about sharks over the last few weeks and have developed skills to help find ways to teach the younger girls. We had to find ways to engage the girls in activities and to make sure they were getting some facts out of our information. I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Year 5s and hope they learnt a few things about sharks. Grace Freeman, Year 9

I really enjoyed presenting our lesson to the Year 5s. It wasn’t something I had done before and I found it was good for my public speaking and teaching skills. It required a lot of thought as we had to make it easy for students much younger than us, but it still had to be challenging for them. They listened well and to me seemed like they enjoyed it. I am very grateful for this fun experience because it taught me so much and I got to try something new. Kate Creasy, Year 9 

My partner and I had decided to teach the girls more about coral and the damage that occurs to them. In doing this topic, we were able to set up a short experiment for the girls to get them engaged and intrigued about the topic. My partner and I wanted to ask them questions to see if they understood what they learnt which helped us understand what we could do better and what we were doing right. Chloe Thong, Year 9


I enjoyed teaching the Year 5s about marine bioluminescence. It not only allowed me to widen my knowledge on another marine topic, but it also helped me learn how to keep an audience occupied, this gave me an inside view into what planning lessons looks like for teachers. It was also a great opportunity to interact with younger students we aren’t often paired with and helped improve our public speaking and presenting skills. Kleonora Manios, Year 9

From the Students

“When we went into the Superlab, I was feeling excited to learn new things. We went into different groups and rotated around each Year 9 station where they presented different things about marine life. We even got to do Kahoots and marine challenges and win prizes. I thought it was a great experience.” Mia Howells 5.3

“I really enjoyed having the experience and meeting the Year 9s and learning about marine life. Also, I liked doing Kahoots and making animals out of modelling clay. I liked learning about the blue-ringed octopus because we got to do a race to determine who could be the first to bandage an injury caused by a blue-ringed octopus.” Erin McDermott 5.3 

What A Term! So Many Opportunities – Jennifer Oaten

As I look back on the past nine weeks, I am so grateful for who we are as a community and what we have achieved. Through the dedication of our staff and the enthusiasm of our students, we have established new connections, immersed ourselves in opportunities and worked through challenges.

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