Around the Senior School

Year 8 Science

Kidney and Bladder health presentation with Dr Whelan 

Thanks Katrina Flynn for organising urologist Dr Claire Whelan to speak with students today about kidney and bladder function and health. It was an informative and engaging talk. The discussion about nervous control of the bladder was particularly interesting and helped students make the link between different systems and how our body works. The Year 8 students were attentive and learned a lot to complement their science studies. Thanks Dr Whelan for your time in preparing the presentation and speaking with our Year 8 students! 

Teachers teaching teachers - Science Week

The science staff were treated to a master class by Tony Zola in their Science faculty meeting this week. Tony showed the staff how optic fibre works. The focus for Science week this year is Glass-more than meets the eye. Teachers will be able to share their new knowledge with their classes. Tony invented an apparatus using a radio, switches, LEDs, solar panel and a speaker to show how energy changes can transmit messages. He showed how electrical signals from a radio can be transformed into light, then sent down an optic fibre, detected by a solar panel then changed back into an electrical signal and then sound. 

We also saw a demonstration of newly purchased stereomicroscopes and a camera. Rhiannon Cheesewright is our new lab assistant and is sharing her wealth of knowledge with staff and students, teaching them about plant biology. We are so lucky to have such fabulous staff to teach our teachers. 

Year 7 Excursion to Orange Regional Gallery

On Friday the Orange Regional Gallery once again played host to our Year 7 Visual Arts students. Following on from the success of the excursion in Term 2 we felt it important for all the Year 7 students to become familiar with the excellent Orange Gallery and learn how to make the most of the amazing facility that it is. 

The students got to have an in depth look at two of the current exhibitions. Cecily Knowles, the energetic and very well-informed education liaison at the gallery, gave a tour of Catherine O’Donnel’s “Beyond the Shadow” exhibition. The students could appreciate the reference to light and dark, how images can be created by shading of shadows. Through an engaging process of observation and interpretation they could divine meaning from the range of monochrome drawings of buildings, the 75% scale model of a fibro house facade, and the precious small sculptures of fibro houses coated in 19ct gold leaf. The humble cottage was elevated as a fondly remembered childhood setting, and each drawing had a tantalizing hint of human presence and life lived within. These works proved to be perfect for appreciating on different levels, from fine hyper-real charcoal drawing to conceptual ideas manifested in 3D form. 

The other show visited was called Material Measure; the changing environment of the Central West. Cecily had arranged for one of the artists involved, Stephen Cavanagh, to talk the students through the exhibition. Stephen explained his fascinating process, made on site near Wyangala Dam using early photographic techniques. This was followed by a chance for the students to get their hands dirty by learning this photographic technique (Cyanotype) and creating a small work each. Using the sun to expose the image (we were very lucky with the weather), natural forms of leaves and seeds were burned onto the surface of card. The beautiful results will be put on display in the Anderson exhibition space outside the Visual Arts Rooms. 

A very big thankyou to all the staff involved and the Orange Regional Gallery for again hosting an excellent morning expedition for our young students. 

Year 12 Time Capsule

On Wellbeing Day our Year 12 students wrote letters to themselves and made artworks, putting their letters into a time capsule and burying it at Windermere to be opened at their 5 year reunion.