Last Friday, 25 November, a group of 22 very excited St Patrick’s Year 6 students attended their high school Orientation Day at St Leo’s Catholic College, Wahroonga. They will be part of the largest ever intake of 210 Year 7 students from 37 different primary schools starting together at St Leo’s next year.
After a warm welcome and overview of the day, the students began by moving into mixed groups to participate in fun getting-to-know-you activities run by their Year 10 Peer Support leaders.
Each group then headed off to different areas around the six-hectare campus for a series of sessions designed to give them a taste of high school life and familiarise them with the College. These included making Christmas biscuits in the Hospitality kitchens, learning some Japanese and playing chopstick games with the Languages team, Science experiments making lava lamps in the labs, and trying out tools in the Wood Technology workshops.
They also toured the school, meeting many of the friendly staff and students they will see next year while finding out where important places like the Canteen, library and bathrooms were! After lunch, they were given a welcome gift of a St Leo’s cap before hearing about the new extra-curricular opportunities they could try. The Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) team showed the 28 free CAPA ensembles students can join – from Girls Rock Band to Accordion Group, Art Club to Theatresports and Hip-Hop Dance – while Sports include everything from Golf to Surf Lifesaving and Parkour. So many new things to try!
All in all, the students had a great day which helped replace many nerves with excitement about starting high school next year. Good luck to you all as you start your next adventure!
