Today brings us to the end of what has been the longest continuous period of schooling in the last two years. And, while students and staff are no doubt looking forward to the holidays, things have not slowed down in the 9-12 Community, with many different activities taking place in the last weeks of term. As the restrictions of Covid-19 have begun to lift, students have been able to venture beyond the classroom.

Our VCE Visual Communications and Design, Studio Arts and Media students visited the Top Screens/Top Arts/Top Designs exhibition, in Melbourne, featuring the best works from 2021 VCE Art, Design and Media students. Our students were privileged to view, analyse and perhaps emulate the exceptional academic qualities of last year’s VCE High Achievers. The opportunity to see the ‘best of the best’ will no doubt inspire our 2022 students to continue to strive for excellence.

The Year 12 Biology class visited GTAC (Gene Technology Access Centre), Victoria’s leading source of Life Sciences learning and education, which provided the opportunity for students to complement their classroom studies and assessments through engagement with practising scientists, contemporary knowledge and technology. Students were immersed in the world of biotechnology as they applied gene cloning techniques used in protein production to demonstrate the processes underpinning various DNA technologies.

Closer to home, the Year 9/10 Agriculture/Horticulture class have been working hard in their classes and in the garden. This week, the class visited Tatura Fresh to investigate the ethical and sustainable production of food and the development of technologies utilised in food systems. Building on these lessons, the class have been tending their own garden and adding value to their produce, providing a delicious batch of pesto and a wide assortment of herbs and vegetables.

Camps have also featured, with the VCE Outdoor and Environmental Studies and 9/10 Duke of Edinburgh classes heading out to paddle the waterways of the Goulburn and the beaches of Torquay.

Congratulations to the 9/10 Tennis teams who were successful at the first round of interschool sport. There was a lot of excitement as the teams planned their road trip to Mildura for the Regional Championships in May. Good luck to you all.

Keelee Smith (Year 12) has enjoyed success and recognition in another sphere. Keelee was the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Premier’s Spirit of Anzac award and she received her award at a formal ceremony in Melbourne last week. Congratulations, Keelee; you should be very proud of your achievement.

Our Year 10s were fortunate to have a presentation from VicRoads relating to road safety and becoming a Learner Driver. We are sure this will be a valuable learning experience for the students.

As we look to next term, there are many events to look forward to. Year 9 will be heading to Camp Jungai in Week 2; the Year 11 Urban Experience is in week 3; and all students from Years 9-12 will have the opportunity to explore career pathways as they attend a range of Career expos through the term.

While students move into a well deserved holiday, our Year 12 students will be blending study into their relaxation period, continuing on with their studies over the term break. To assist them in preparing for success, students have been given a list of work to complete for each of their subject areas so that they hit the ground running as they begin their Term 2 studies.

Well done to all members of the 9-12 Community for the work they have done throughout the term. Enjoy the break; we look forward to seeing you all again in a few weeks.

Michelle Downie Brad Downie

9-12 Community Leader 9-12 Community Leader

Wellbeing & Community Student Learning and Professional Practice

Unit 1 Outdoor and Environmental Studies Torquay Camp

On Tuesday 22nd of March, the Unit 1 Outdoor Environmental Studies students attended their Coastal Experience to Torquay and surrounding coastal areas.

On arrival at Torquay we had lunch by the beach, then started to get our camp ready for the next couple of days. Once we finished setting up our camp, we met Mel, who worked for the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority. We learnt about the erosion of the cliffs and the impacts of human activity in the area. During this education session we walked along the coastline in Torquay.

On Wednesday morning, we woke up at 5am and travelled to Queensliff for the ‘Sea All Dolphins Swim’ boat and snorkelling tour. We had an amazing experience swimming with seals, snorkelling around Popes Eye Marine Park and other fun activities on the boat that we all loved. After this experience, we had a self-guided tour of Torquay and Bells Beach to finish off our day.

Unfortunately our camp was cut short, but we still had a great time and made some lifelong memories. We will now use these experiences and our new knowledge of the coastal environment when writing answers to assessment tasks in the classroom.

We would also like to thank our great teachers, Mrs Ryan, James and Kasey who really made this trip possible and fun.

Years 9/10 Agriculture and Horticulture Tatura Fresh excursion

On Wednesday this week, the Years 9/10 Agriculture and Horticulture class went to Tatura Fresh cucumber and tomato farm, where they had a tour with the head grower, Amy. The students toured the glasshouses, packing shed and fertiliser control room. Below are some of their most interesting learnings from the experience.

Cucumber plants grow so fast that each vine needs to be picked every day. A new snacking variety they have just planted will need to be picked twice a day!
The workers pick around 6,000kg of cucumbers every day.
Every time you go in and out of a different glasshouse, you have to sanitise your hands AND your shoes, to maintain biosecurity,
Everything is controlled by computers; the temperature, humidity, water, carbon dioxide levels and fertilisers. The growers can check all these levels on their phones at home on the weekends and can decide to water or fertilise the plants just by clicking a button.
Only female cucumber flowers produce fruit.
The tomatoes grown here are delicious!

Duke of Edinburgh Camp

On Tuesday 5th April, the Duke Of Edinburgh class headed off for a one night practise camp to Major Creek Streamside Reserve. With us we had Mr McIntyre and Mrs Ryan, who showed us the basics of paddling a kayak.

Firstly we unpacked all our materials and set up our tents. We then met Rob Asplin who lent us our kayaks to have a test run around the creek, getting ready for the 15km paddling trek down the Goulburn River. As our ‘Kayak Expert’ Mr McIntyre in true ‘expert’ form fell in the water, and I won’t say that we bullied him about it, but I will say he will never live it down. After we hopped in the kayaks we travelled upstream and went under a bridge which was lower than we thought.

We came back to camp and started to make our dinner on the trangias. All was well until Ben’s dinner was up-ended with a gust of wind, Ethan and Aaron thought they used river water in their noodles and Charlie had baked beans for dinner (say no more!) That night we played fun games and riddles such as trying to find out what you could bring to camp. Ben, Mr McIntyre, Charlie and Sharni all found out reasonably fast but Aaron, Ethan, CJ and Ned had no hope.

The next morning we woke, not to the sound of birds chirping, but to the sound of bombs dropping and machine gun fire. It was then that we realised how close we were to Puckapunyal Military Base. As we entered the canoes for the day we all hoped our ‘expert’ would fall in again (he didn’t). We started paddling along for about 5km when we reached our first stop, Tahbilk Winery. We had some snacks and went up to the winery where Rob started telling us a story all about Chinaman’s bridge, the Gold Rush of the 1850’s and how China town started.

We then headed off paddling again and saw the remainder of Chinaman’s bridge as we passed under it. After all our hard work we met with Rob at Lake Nagambie. Our last stop was at the Goulburn Weir where we learnt about the irrigation system in and around the Goulburn Valley.

Overall it was a great trip and a big thank you to Mrs Ryan and Mr McIntyre for organising our camp.

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