What's On @ MFG
Indonesian News - The King of Fruits
It’s that time of year again, when intrepid Year 9 Indonesian students bravely try durian. It is a big, spikey and smelly fruit that smells like hell but tastes like heaven. This is what they thought of the experience…
- It wasn't that bad. However that's probably because the smell was weakened by sitting in the fridge for a year – Grace
- It looks like the insides of a lung - Zoe
- I thought it was going to taste bad because it looked like something dead. It was actually pretty good, it was like an over ripened mango - Talia
- It tasted fine, it smelt alright, I've had this before. I'm Asian so i grew up eating these things - Kim
- It tasted like off mangoes and garlic. Gross – Paige
- Durian tastes like off banana mixed with mango, it's weird textured. It smells better then it tastes – Abi
Humanities Comes Alive!
The new Victorian Curriculum includes four general capabilities, two of which are Intercultural Capability and Ethical Capability. So much of what our students study in Humanities incorporates these capabilities and is at the heart of our learning programs!
Our students are continually encouraged to:
- write their own research questions to use as a framework for their learning
- critically evaluate the reliability of online resources
- appreciate the rich diversity of cultures around the world
- identify the challenges and benefits of living in a culturally diverse society
- look at issues and problems from multiple perspectives
- form opinions based on the principles of fairness and justice
Year 7 mainstream students have been investigating different Countries of the World and deepening their appreciation of the vibrant and interesting cultures around the world. Over the next few weeks they will be displaying their work and inviting other classes to come along to their exhibitions to see what they have learned. At 7A’s recent exhibition, visitors to the classroom had the opportunity to learn about a vast array of countries including Chile, Brazil, Japan and China.
Georgia investigated Reunion Island
Roo investigated Timor Leste
Georgia investigated Reunion Island
Roo investigated Timor Leste
Studies in Humanities aim to broaden our students’ view of the world and focus on the fact that we have a global responsibility to look after and value each other. Some simple ways to encourage this thinking at home could be:
- playing the Countries of the World quiz on jetpunk:
http://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/how-many-countries-can-you-name.php
In this challenging and addictive quiz you are given 15 minutes to enter the names of every country of the world.
- completing a few rounds of freerice:
http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1408
Correct answers go towards filling bowls of rice, which then become a real donation to people in need.
- Becoming a Kiva partner:
Kiva Microfunds is a non-profit micro-financing organisation that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries. Kiva's mission is “to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.”
Robyn Myers
Humanities Learning Area Leader
Back from Mauritius and Reunion Island!
On Sunday, March 26 at 5.20 in the morning a group of intrepid travellers set off from Geelong to discover two exotic islands in the Indian Ocean. It was an early start to a very long day that would end about 24 hours later in a luxury hotel right on the beach.
In Mauritius, for the adventurous staff, students and family members (20 in total!) on the trip, there were visits to restaurants, local markets and super markets as well as special visits to a Hindu temple, a museum about the sugar industry and a tea plantation to learn about the culture of the island. The visit to the Hindu temple allowed the members of MFG to learn more about the religion and its principles, learning about the millions of gods that make up the religion as well as the sacred number being 33. The three short days in Mauritius were followed by a short plane ride, less than an hour to Reunion Island to meet our host families, commencing the home stay. The next day we toured our host school, Lycée Sarda Garriga, met the principal and some staff briefly before a hike down to the crater of a volcano. The weekend was spent with our host families, following them around to become immersed in the differences of our habits, followed by a week of adventures.
We started the week off by visiting Salazie, where we saw traditional Creole houses and La Maison Folio. On Tuesday we spent the morning at school before leaving to stay overnight before our hike. The next day, we woke up early to hike to the Trou de Fer lookout and had a breathtaking view of the canyon and waterfall. Our bus was late but it was the perfect time to have lunch and reflect on the beautiful lushness we had been walking through! We returned to school and tired as we were, we had the netball match against the students of the high school. The next day was the civic reception; we were received by a mayor’s representative. There was an exchange of gifts and we sang Australian songs. We spent the rest of the day in the capital Saint-Denis, shopping and sight seeing which included the mosque. On Friday we went on a dolphin safari, which was so much fun, before spending the full weekend with our host families. On Sunday, we had our ‘farewell party’ where we ate, danced and ate. On Monday we spent the morning at school, and in the afternoon we visited a vanilla factory/museum. Tuesday was our last day and we spent more time at school before heading to the airport.
We were all sad to leave after an incredible 18 days that we will never forget.
Abbey McGeady, Amy Lavelle
Regional Swimming Carnival
On Tuesday 28th March 30 girls from Intermediate and Senior VCAL spent the day down at Kardina Swimming Pool to help time keep for the Primary School Western Regional swimming carnival.
During the day we went back and forth timing each heat, writing down their best times. We sat in groups of three using Digital Dolphin timers. The Digital Dolphin timers are a high tech timer that automatically starts when the starting beep signal sounds. When the swimmers hit the end of their lane we push in the black button to stop the timers. It then transmits the three times that we have taken to a specialised computer, which figures out the mean of the swimmer’s time. After the swimmer finished their race, as a group we would compare the three times and take the best time to record on the sheets given to us.
The officials were extremely lovely helping us to learn to use the digital timers, giving us cold water and even bringing around some lollies for us. It was a really good day and we all enjoyed seeing how proud the kids were of themselves and how supportive they are of each other.
A couple days later on Thursday 30th March, 15 of us went back down to Kardina Swimming Pool but this time to help with the Secondary School Western Regional swimming carnival. It was similar in the technical side of the day with the Dolphin timers and how the day is run, but unlike the primary school, which only had 50-meter events, the secondary level had 50, 100, 200, and 400-meter events in all different strokes.
It was amazing to be able to watch these secondary students swim and show off their skills. I can see some of them going to the Olympics if they continue to swim they way they are.
Both these days were great as it gave us an opportunity to build upon different work related skills such as our teamwork, communication and technology skills. Working on these skills enabled us to complete a reflection and use it in our SAC for Industry and Enterprise.
All in all, it was a great opportunity to be involved in such an event. The organisers of the event were very happy with our assistance and would like us to return to help again next year.
By Serena Gravett
Senior VCAL
UNIT 3 PE Visit BioLab!
On Wednesday 19th April, the Unit 3 PE class spent the day collecting data to assist them in understanding how our bodies react to the stresses imposed on them by physical activity. We completed two programs, the first of which was “Eye in the Sky.” This program allowed us to all wear GPS devices and HR monitors while playing a game of netball that was carefully watched by a crew of classmates busy recording data about our skills and errors on their ipads. The second program was “Metabolic Madness” which helped us understand how we use oxygen to fuel movement. Vanessa Marsh completed a VO2max test on an exercise bike and she managed to achieve one of the highest VO2 max result for a female student tested at the facility. The rest of us measured our blood pressure, core temperature, lung volumes and heart rates before enjoying a “live feed” of Vanessa’s heart rate, ventilation and oxygen and carbon dioxide levels unroll on a screen in front of us as she completed her Gold Standard test.
BioLab has two “Batak” systems from the UK. They measure athlete reaction time and were a lot of fun and a real challenge for our students. Brittney Murray-Rowe managed to top-score for the class but she had a few other students jostling for number one position on the leader-board!
We had a great day and will be able to apply what we learned during the visit to our coursework as the year progresses.
Ben Lehmann
Unit 3 & 4 PE teacher
The World's Greatest Shave at MFG
On the last day of Term 1 several of our students and one staff member shaved their heads to raise funds for The Leukaemia Foundation.
The current total raised is: $2,498! Well done to all the brave shavers and a big thank you to Lexi from Yankee Sweetheart Hair Salon for doing the shaving!
Ms Mullen-Walsh and The Community Leaders
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club will commence week 4 of this term! Our first day will Tuesday 9th at 8.15am!
If students have not had breakfast that morning they should pop over to the HF campus and enjoy some breaky from Born & Bread Bakery for free! No strings attached, just come along with a smile for our volunteers!
It is very important to have something to eat before starting the school day. Your brain and body needs fuel to learn properly!
If any parents would like to volunteer to help one Tuesday morning, please contact Ms Mullen-Walsh or Ms Walker at the college.
See you there!
Ms Mullen-Walsh, Ms Walker and the Breakfast Club team