A number of Oxley College Junior School students recently participated in the Zone and Regional Athletics Championship at the Bill Steward Athletics Track in East Burwood. On a cold, windy, wet day Oxley College students produced some outstanding results. The top performer for Oxley College was Year Five student Ella Van De Velde who placed 2nd in the 800m and 1500m at the regional level and has qualified for the Victorian Primary Schools State Athletics Championships in both events. Fellow Year Five student Caleb Taylor also had an outstanding day placing 10th in the regional final of the 1500m and 6th in the regional final of the 800m. Mathew Smith in Year Four qualified for the regional final in the hurdles and Ben Papas and Jacob Bell both finished third at the zone level for their respective events.

During Term 3, the students in year Four learn about the farming industry.  One of the activities is to bring fertilized chicken and duckling eggs into the classroom and to watch them hatch and grow.  There is a huge amount of invaluable learning that takes place during this time.  We watch in anticipation as the ‘babies’ hatch from their eggs and the excitement builds as we see new life begin.  We care for them in their pen until they are two weeks old.  They are totally dependent upon us.

During this time we handle them, take them for walks to the vegetable garden, complete descriptive writings, weigh them and find the average weight each day, graph results, research poultry farming and watch in awe to see the unfolding of God’s creation.  The way God has designed our chickens and ducklings is amazing.  We start to realize that God’s design for each of us is perfect and without error.

- Mrs. Ann Gaschk ( Year 4 Teacher )

Oxley College warmly invites Parents and the wider Oxley College community to:

Students at Oxley College were excited today to receive a visit from the Melbourne Storm NRL club as they used our main school oval as a training ground.  The team are currently staying at Balgownie Estate in the Yarra Valley on a “two-day leadership and bonding camp” and sought a suitable football ground, unaffected by the drought conditions on which to train.  “The playing surface is great here,” Captain Cameron Smith said.  “I would have loved to have come here when I was a kid!”

Oxley students were enthralled during recess and lunch time as Storm players practiced their training drills, with VCE Physical Education classes taking the opportunity to observe a professional elite sports team in action.  Storm’s Team Manager took time out to address classes with some of their training principles and how the Storm make use of GPS technology as a part of their training regime.  He also spent a generous amount of time responding to their well considered questions.  At the conclusion of today’s workout, players were more than obliging to remain behind and personally sign team posters, with many students also bringing tops, footballs and flags from home to have autographed.  Dallas Johnson was heard saying, “this would have to be one of the politest schools I’ve ever been to.”

Players will have an afternoon to rest before returning to Oxley again tomorrow morning for another intense session.   This coming weekend Storm play St. George, which is set to test the team in their lead up to finals, after a convincing win over the Sharks this weekend (30-10).  We hope the vigorous training preparation on our oval will help Storm over the line! GO STORM!

The purpose of the Green House Games is two-fold and simple:

• For households to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by saving energy and water and reducing their waste; and
• To build a knowledge and understanding in households, schools, workplaces and communities about how everyone can contribute and make a difference to sustainability and the environment.

The  Challenge encourages participants to undertake simple Actions around their home to lower their sustainability footprint – and of course win some great prizes for our school!

Click here to view more information on how you can become involved and for Oxley’s unique login key code.