Around The College 

Around the Library

We have recently introduced the following 3 changes within the library:

New furniture in library 1 classroom area.

A No Laptop at Lunchtime Policy, except for students doing schoolwork, either in the silent study room, or on the tables immediately outside the room.

New software installed on the printer that requires students to come to the library and login to release their printing.

The positive changes we've seen:

All our games are loaned out at lunchtime and are played enthusiastically by students.

The new furniture is great for games of Chess, Uno etc. and are always in use at lunchtime.

The silent study room is full every lunchtime with students completing schoolwork.

Students are talking to each other. 

Students are reading and borrowing books.

There is a big group of students completing jigsaw puzzles.

The huge amount of uncollected student printing has reduced to almost none.

In general, the changes have had a very positive impact on the atmosphere in the library at lunchtime. We have had great feedback from our regular library users, our Library Monitors, and the yard duty staff. And our paper usage in the printer has reduced significantly. 

The library is now a busy, fun space to visit at lunchtime with students interacting with each other, laughing, chatting, working and playing games. 

The Library Staff

House Day, Tuesday 9th of May

A day filled to the brim with fierce and friendly interhouse competition. The day begun with house accessories, where over 300 students donned colourful additions to their uniform to support their house.

Period 4 Aspire is when the festivities truly kicked off, with hangman and a Brentwood / environment themed kahoot played in class. Also within this period was the term 2 HOUSE ASSEMBLY (round of applause), where students heard from their peers about events occurring around the school, including the SRC, Green Team, Sports Captains and Languages Captains.

It was amazing to see such fantastic turnouts for all of the events run on this day and we as the house captains hope that as we all continue through the term, we continue the house spirit high and that next house day will be even better!

The celebrations were concluded at lunch with competitive UNO in the library, organized by the wonderful Library Captains. Here is their report of events: Over lunch time we oversaw numerous UNO games before our competitors gathered for the final round in which our UNO champion was determined.

Congratulations to our three champions, and thanks again for everyone who attended to support house day! It was great to see everyone in the house spirit and on behalf of the library team we look forward to hosting more events like this in the near future, and as always thanks again for all the support within the school community.

Written by your friendly House & Library Captains

Around Melbourne Airport

Oh WoW! Have we had the most incredible experience, not seen by ANY school before. This is a very highly restricted area, and thanks to various people, we were invited as guests to Melbourne International Airport to tour Air Services Australia, and the Air Traffic Control Tower! No other school has EVER had this opportunity, and as a teacher and on behalf of Brentwood Secondary College, I would like to sincerely thank those involved for making this happen. I know it was a lot of work to organise and arrange to get a security clearance for all the students.

Air Services Australia is responsible for all of the air traffic around Australia. In fact, all training for Air Traffic Controllers are conducted at the Melbourne Airport facilities. We had a tour of the ATC simulator at Melbourne which is exactly what it is like in the real ATC tower, and has 360 degree views which can simulate any airport around Australia including a host of all airports. It realism is something to be believed. Once inside, you are really part of the action. It's one of the most exciting, dynamic simulators I have ever been in of this nature.

We also we also visited the room where around 80 ATC controllers work to direct traffic all around Australia. An example of the incredible technology is how inbound air traffic to Adelaide are controlled by Melbourne all the way in to Adelaide up to only 30 nautical miles before Adelaide Tower take over - The same happens for Perth, Alice Springs, Darwin, Brisbane, Hobart and Canberra. The only place that still operates a service is Sydney, but that will be ending shortly, and Melbourne will be controlling all inbound traffic to airports around Australia.

Air Traffic Control has come a long way from the early days. Pictured here with the students is a very old radar screen – No longer used these days, but the building in filled with history dating back to the 1940’s when technology wasn’t as advanced as it is today.

We were lucky enough to visit 'live operations'. Whilst the room is full of controllers, the area is so professional and sterile. The lighting is very carefully controlled and is non-reflective. The windows are coated in a special coating to remove electromagnetic radiation. The power supply has one of the biggest UPS's built which can take the full electrical load should there be a power failure at the airport for around 15 seconds before the massive diesel backup generators kick in. The professional approach and concentration needed in order to run such a smooth operations is something to be believed until you get to see it.

We were briefed by ATC instructors who also gave our students a career briefing, explaining how if they were interested in becoming a controller, Air Services Australia would pay them to study with a beginning payment of $50,000 per year. There is a great shortage of ATC controllers around the country, and this is something that may grab the interest of a lot of our students. Melbourne is the ATC base for training - How lucky are we to be here!

In a further advancement of ATC technology, Australia will soon be moving to a new system known as CMATS (Civil Military Air Traffic Management System) – The first of its size and scale in the world. This replaces both civil and military systems with one advanced system and is designed to enhance safety and security in the air. We were lucky enough to be the first ever civilian people to visit this advanced room. It’s around the size of a very large gymnasium and has some of the most advanced computer technology ever seen fit for purpose.

A reminder to all Year 9 families - The Top Gun pilot training course will be continuing in 2024 as an elective. If you would like your son or daughter to be part of the course and need further details, please contact the coordinator of the course by emailing chris.barry@education.vic.gov.au. Brentwood also offer a VET course in aviation on site – Meaning that we can train students during their Years 11 and 12 studies to gain their Commercial Pilots Licence.

Chris Barry

Aviation Sciences

Girl's Code

Students in Year 9 Girl's Code and IT subjects attended the Monash Tech School - SuperCyber Industry Immersion Program on 08/05 and 09/05 respectively. The program explores real world scenarios to create an immersive experience, where students use team work and communication to solve problems to develop skills to use in the cyber security industry. This involves looking at cyber security, accessibility vs security of devices and systems, testing security systems, machine learning and learning about industry opportunities in this field. 

Timothy Li

IT Faculty

Monash Women's Business Network Luncheon

On Tuesday the 16th May, Mackenzie and I, accompanied by Ms Saathoff, attended the Monash Women's Business Network Luncheon, at the Riversdale Golf Club. The session was ran and presented by Susan McLean, founder and director of Cyber Safety Solution, which has grown to be the most highly respected and in-demand cyber safety consultancy in Australia.

Upon first arriving, we were offered a hot drink and had around half an hour to network and get to know the other attendees. The audience was mostly comprised of business women who were currently running their own business or part of an organisation, as well as one other school. After our networking session, we all began to get seated for lunch and the presentation to commence. We sat at a table with a very nice group of ladies who chatted to us about themselves and gave us some great insight on how to be social at social events, such as this one. A key take-away I learnt from some of them who I was fortunate enough to speak to, was to ask others many questions to get to know more about them and to help put them at ease.

The actual presentation went for 2 hours and was filled with helpful information and advice based on Ms McLean's first hand experience, such as scams, leadership tips, profile pictures, passwords, accounts and much more. I found her story and the strength and independence she's shown throughout her life very inspirational. I didn't exactly know what to expect when first walking into this session, but I'm pleased to say that it was very insightful and interesting, and I was able to learn lots of vital tips for protecting myself and others online. Despite Mackenzie and I being the youngest people in attendance, the information being shared by Ms McLean was still very relevant to us, as it's never too early to start learning to be aware of the dangers online and knowing how to take action. Additionally, the lunch itself, which Mackenzie and I found rather fancy, was great and consisted of a main course and dessert. 

Thank you Riversdale Golf Club for having us, Susan McLean for delivering such an interesting presentation and Ms Saathoff for organising this event!

By Michiko Versluis