From The Junior Secondary
Head of Department
With David Capill
NAPLAN
Over the last two weeks, all students in years 7 and 9 completed NAPLAN testing. NAPLAN allows teachers and parents to see how students are progressing against national standards in literacy and numeracy and over time. While the idea of sitting four tests in a short window can be daunting for some, our students conducted themselves exceptionally well. The testing environments were calm and organised, and students were giving their best efforts. We are proud of our students endeavours and are looking forward to receiving results in the near future.
Gladstone Robotics Competition
On Friday 20th May, Toolooa sent five teams to compete in the Gladstone Robotics Competition. This annual event is hosted by the CQ Gladstone District STEM Cluster and supported by a number of local industries. In this year’s event, students were faced with two STEM tasks. Firstly, they had to build and program a robot to manoeuvre around a challenge mat collecting blocks of LEGO that represented various minerals. As their robot moved around the mat, they needed to avoid obstacles and race an opposing team to collect as much as possible in four minutes. The second task involved building a hopper and conveyor belt system that would sort the minerals (LEGO blocks) according to colour. The system needed to use colour sensors to identify the product as it was dropped into the hopper and then teams needed to program mechanisms on the conveyor to move each mineral into individual stock piles. Our teams did an incredible job of engineering and programming their builds and showed exceptional STEM skills. The students also excelled in team work, persistence and problem-solving. As well as winning the competition by receiving the award for “Most Points”, our teams also walked away with the “Best Team Spirit Award” and the “GRC Champions Award” (Grit, Resilience & Cooperation). Congratulations to all involved.
