My Fintona journey

WITH YEAR 7 STUDENT IBBY

‘I am very happy that we get to end this year out of lockdown, and I hope everyone is as happy as I am to be back at school. My main goals at school are to keep up with my work and do as well as I can in all my subjects.’

My name is Ibby and I am 13 years old. I love to play sport, particularly basketball and football. I came to Fintona at the beginning of this year, and before starting I only knew three people — two from basketball and one from my primary school. This definitely made coming to a new school a daunting experience. However, everyone at Fintona was very kind and welcoming to all the new students. At the start of the year there was a transition day to introduce us to our classmates and teachers. I found this very useful, as it helped me adjust to high school.

In Year 7 we study Maths, English, Science, Art, PE, Digital Technology, History, Drama, Geography and Music. We also study two languages from French, Japanese and Latin and I study French and Latin. My favourite subjects are Maths and PE. I love the challenge of Maths as we learn a lot in each class and my teacher Ms Christiansen is always on hand to help if I don’t understand something.

Secondary school is certainly a faster paced learning environment and there’s also a greater variety in what we learn as there are so many subjects on the Year 7 timetable. I’m really into sport and I love that there are so many sporting opportunities including several sports classes each week, House competitions including Swimming, Athletics, and Cross County, not to mention the weekly GSV competition. This year I have been involved in GSV when available, as well as participating in Preliminary Cross Country. These have been some of the highlights of my year.

I believe Fintona is special because the small class sizes mean you get to know every girl. Most of my friends who go to other schools don’t know many people in their year level, because their schools are so big. At Fintona, you get to know everyone in your year, as well as girls from other years.

We were lucky that our camp was held before lockdown. The trip to Central Australia with Year 8 students was definitely a highlight of my year, it really helped me get to know other girls well and I loved visiting the sights of the outback and learning about the culture of the Indigenous people.

COVID has really disrupted school, and remote learning has been a big part of the last two years. Although it is not as good as being at school and seeing my friends every day, I have found remote learning to be manageable. Compared to last year, where my school only had two Zoom calls a day, having a separate call for every class has really helped me focus and learn a lot more. Fintona has provided many extra activities such as cooking in PE and science experiments which I found to be a lot of fun and have given me a break from sitting at my desk looking at a screen.

Being at home so often with no sport to keep me busy, I have had to find many things to do to pass the time. Some ways I have maintained positive include finding new hobbies, such as running, skateboarding, jumping on the trampoline and walking my dog.

I am very happy that we get to end this year out of lockdown, and I hope everyone is as happy as I am to be back at school. My main goals at school are to keep up with my work and do as well as I can in all my subjects.

My advice to a Year 6 student embarking on her Fintona journey next year would be to take advantage of the small class sizes and become familiar with as many girls as possible. This doesn’t mean being friends with every single person, but not sticking to a small group and only knowing a few girls in your year level. This would enable you to have girls that you know in every class, which can make learning more enjoyable.

Ibby Wotherspoon

Year 7