The excitement began the moment we boarded the bus, and the day was filled with fun and discovery as we explored the zoo and saw a wide variety of animals.

Tails and Tales

The children asked many interesting and thoughtful questions throughout the day, linking to our inquiry unit on “Where do animals belong?”. They particularly enjoyed the animal scavenger hunt, eagerly discussing their favourite animals with each other. A highlight was our Literacy Tales session, when a zookeeper read the book ‘Pink Tongue, Blue Tongue’. We learned all about lizards and their habitats and then worked as a team to create an enclosure for a real blue tongue lizard.

The Zoo staff complimented our students on their excellent behaviour and respectful listening, which made us incredibly proud. Their exemplary conduct and enthusiasm contributed greatly to the success of the day.

Overall, the excursion to the Adelaide Zoo was a memorable experience that enriched our students’ understanding of some of the amazing animals that God has created. We are grateful to the parents and staff who made this excursion possible and look forward to more exciting learning adventures in the future.

Miss Justine Gallasch, Reception Teacher

Over a number of weeks in Term 2, students have been learning a range of photography techniques and skills. Equipped with iPads, students ventured around the campus to capture some amazing and artistic photos.

The Year 5s were guided in their task by considering the categories of 𝘓𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘸, and 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳. With many opportunities and spaces to explore, students collected a wide range of photos!

The final step was to select and edit the photos, to make their final composition look its very best, and the results were amazing! After printing out the final photos, they are currently on display in the student foyer near the Cedar Health Centre for everyone to admire and enjoy.

Miss Johannah Petrie, Upper Primary Library Teacher

SW Netball & Basketball

Earlier this term, both our Year 7/8 basketball girls and boys teams make it through the initial rounds to the finals, coming in Week 9. A highlight was the 7/8 boys second round against Modbury, with the boys winning by just one point in the final seconds of a game after Kade made a spectacular 3-point shot. The Year 11/12 boys basketball team were dominant in their first round and will progress to the finals in Term 3. This same group won the State title in 2022, so we have high hopes for the finals.

The Year 11/12 Girls played a solid Round 1, but unfortunately with some key players unwell couldn’t hold on to the lead in the final game. Our Year 9/10 Girls, Year 5/6 Boys and Year 5/6 Girls won all three of their first games in Round 1 to move onto Round 2, which is held next term.

Cross Country

Congratulations to all our runners who participated in SACSA and State cross country this year. Unfortunately, due to Year 6 camp, quite a few athletes that would normally qualify for State were unable to attend. Tyler A, Zoe S, Sienna F, Sofia J, Alex V and Liam A all represented Cedar at State Cross Country and ran well.

SACSA Soccer

Students from Year 3-8 participated in the annual SACSA Soccer carnival last week. A huge thank you to Mr Lochie Jackman for selecting and training the teams in PE, and also during morning and lunch trainings. A huge highlight from the week was the Year 3/4 day where the boys finished equal top with Bethany in a nail-biting draw. An excellent game plan saw Cedar use a brilliant defence to leave a dominate Bethany side scoreless, after coming from an 11-0 win the previous game. Well done to all students who participated in the carnival and thank you to our staff for coaching.

Mrs Bek Robinson, Sports Coordinator Year 3-12

Over 120 students have given their best, whether in training or in the game, and have produced some excellent results.

The Cedar Cobras, coached by Cedar student, Jaden, went on to win their Grand Final in the U12 Div 3 competition. All the boys have grown as a team over the last few seasons, and we’re proud of their achievement this summer. Well done Cobras!

Cedar College relies on the generous time and commitment from our parent volunteer coaches and team managers. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to keep growing our after-school program. We thank them for their support!

If your child is interested in playing in an After-School team, please contact Michelle Green for further information at [email protected].

Each bridge was to be judged on its strength-to-weight ratio by placing weights on top of the bridge until it reached breaking point. This challenge is a brilliant tool for teaching students how Civil Engineering structures work, making learning fun and intuitive, and discovering how engineering concepts are used in real life. By making the learning rewarding and competitive, Cedar students were more willing to push the boundaries to achieve higher results.

Stress Test

Students grasped the concept of a basic truss and then spent time studying existing bridge designs. They used the Engineering Design Process to design their own bridges and sketch their truss concepts, before commencing construction. Once the bridges were completed, students used gym weights to test the strength of their bridges. They placed their bridges across two tables 40 cm apart, and carefully loaded them with weights, until they reached breaking point. Finally, the strength-to-weight ratio formula was used to determine the strongest bridge. The team with the best ratio was James and Tayte. Their bridge held an impressive weight of 43 kg without breaking (and then we ran out of weights). Two bridges stood up to the challenge of 40.5kg before breaking.

Students quickly learned the following: Practice will make you better. Measure twice and cut once. Don’t use too much glue. Keep your hands glue-free. Lateral bridge twists can be prevented with lateral bracing. Shorter sticks have stronger compression strength.

Mr Herman du Preez, High School Science Teacher

After getting a brief history of the building, the students were allowed to sit in the lower house chamber and take part in a mock debate. The chosen topic was the highly controversial question of “McDonald’s or KFC – which is better?”. Things got heated as members of the class debated the issue until a vote was taken and McDonald’s was triumphant!

Upper House, Lower House

It was then on to the Upper House for a look at how the process of Parliament works. The students were joined at this stage by the Hon. Emily Bourke (MLC) who spoke to the class about the differences between the two Houses of Parliament and the history of some procedures that take place – such as how the newly elected speaker of the Lower House is “dragged” to the chair because around 400 years ago nobody wanted the job as they often angered the king and faced severe punishment.

The students asked many wonderful questions about how to get involved in politics and how certain things happened during a sitting day. They also asked Ms Bourke how she got into politics and what it takes to become a member of the Upper House.

A big thank you to the office of Andrea Michaels MP, whose staff helped to organise the excursion and who took care of the students during the tour, and to Mr Reg Thompson for helping supervise the excursion.

Mr Rodney Hrvatin, High School Teacher