WHSC Newsletter

News For Students

Year 7 Drama | Quarantine Warriors 

Creating characters out of ridiculous costumes – that's a 7B Drama Class Specialty! A quick warm up activity that got quickly out of hand, here is an explosive take on the chaos!

 

"Even though we are in iso drama is still very fun. In drama we got to make warrior costumes out of things we have at home. This gets our minds thinking and our creativity skills to sprout. We also do these quick little challenges at the start of the lesson to find objects in the house and then present them to the class. This helps our speaking and listening skills along with our presentation skills. It gets our bodies moving and our vocal system to start up again. And most importantly, especially in this time of crisis we get to communicate, have fun and help each other. It’s been so fun doing drama, it’s really got me moving, thinking and taken my brain of COVID-19." Mya K (Year 7) 

 

Ms. Genelle Lentini

Year 7 Drama Teacher

Year 8 Food Tech | Snack Bugs

As part of their Healthy Eating Topic, Year 8 Food Tech students were asked to prepare a wholesome snack to appeal to young children - and with only 20 minutes to both design and construct these creative culinary critters, we reckon they knocked the task right out of the park! So take a look at those pantry odds and ends this weekend - you might have a delicious creature in there waiting to escape!

 

"My bug snacks looked really fun and exciting with lots of different colours and textures. I made 8 different types of bugs, and they were all cute and interesting to look at, which made them appealing to eat. They tasted delicious because of the natural sugar and salt in them, which also made them healthy because they didn't need extra flavours, sugar or salt added to them.  They felt crunchy because of the celery and moist because of the spread and cucumber. The centre of the tomato were also soft and juicy. I heard a big crunch when I bit into them, because the base is made from celery and cucumber. They smelt really nice and fruity and fresh, because I used a combination of different fruits." Hannah W

 

"My snack contains cucumber as the base. Raspberries as the head a rear end. Banana as the back and Mandarin for the wings. My snack is very colourful and is crunchy because of the cucumber. It also contains lots of minerals and fibre because it contains lots of fruit and vegetables." Abbey J

 

"My snack was very crunchy, and I feel like I should've used something more savory than yogurt, overall it tasted ok, and didn't smell like much." Zachary K

 

Ms. Amey Schuffelen

Food Tech Teacher

STEM Update | Learning In Isolation

To ensure our Wheelers Hill students continue to learn STEM skills and capabilities in these challenging times we have had the opportunity to participate in a variety of online programs and virtual excursions in the past few weeks. See below snippets of some of the exciting programs we have been taking part in!

 

MONASH TECH SCHOOL VIRTUAL EXCURSION | 3D MAKING WITH TINKERCAD

Our Year 7 students have been learning about 3D designing and printing through this exciting virtual excursion program. Students are being challenged to invent their own medical implant or wearable, that will be designed in 3D during the webinar with TinkerCAD. Students have to truly apply themselves to solve some real-world issues relevant to modern day society.

 

MONASH TECH SCHOOL VIRTUAL EXCURSION | ECO BUILDING WITH MINECRAFT

In this fun Year 8 virtual program our students are getting a chance to learn about sustainability through Minecraft as well as project-based learning to develop sustainable environments. Students cover concepts such as building materials, building design, renewable energy systems and much more. This is all whilst learning important problem solving and creative thinks skills central to STEM learning.

 

MONASH TECH SCHOOL VIRTUAL EXCURSION | DESIGNING EXPERIENCES IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Our Year 9 students have been challenged to find out how can virtual reality be used to alleviate the strains of a COVID-19 environment. To do this students have undertaken the challenge of creating, designing and testing an experience through virtual reality using the video game engine Unity. Once they learnt a bit about this platform, students were tasked with the challenge to create an experience for someone who has been in isolation for some time. With the liberty to choose the experience they want to create with assistance by facilitators during the session our students were very successful.

 

ZOOS VICTORIA VIRTUAL EXCURSION| SUSTAINING LIFE IN ECOSYSTEMS

As we can’t physically go to the Zoo right now we have been able to bring a bit of the zoo into our VCE Unit 1 Biology student’s homes. Student’s in this program got the chance to hear and ask questions to the keepers at the Melbourne Zoo. I this program we furthered our understanding of various types of adaptations, the mechanisms of homeostasis, and the interconnections and relationships of a keystone species. Further to this the students had the opportunity to collect and interpret real-world data to support animal behaviour studies through the Zoos Victoria live feed. A fantastic program that gave the students the opportunity to engage with their learning in an authentic manner.

 

YOUNG CHANGE AGENTS | CORONAVIRUS CHALLENGE

With the support from the Monash Tech School two of our Year 9 Community Connections classes are taking part in this exciting competition. The challenge has been to identify a problem that the community is facing through social isolation and coronavirus, and then devise a solution that is relevant to their subject area. This is being completed as a design sprint looking at growth mindset, empathy, ideation, prototyping and presentation. Students in the Toys in the Community class are designing toys whilst students in Robotics and Coding are designing apps! Working collaboratively and problem solving is central to success in this challenge. There will be a judging panel in week 8 and hopefully some of our students will be chosen to enter an intensive design sprint to further their ideas supported by Young Change Agents with mentoring from Telstra.

 

Mr. Pedro Mello

STEM Specialist

Year 12 Biology | Creative Presentation

The year 12 biology class are learning about immunology, which is very topical! The class was asked to use a creative way to summarise their knowledge, and they rose to the challenge. Students used technology and resources at home to showcase their learning and came up with their own ways to consolidate and present the information, including recording their own explanatory videos, coming up with creative analogies, making paper cells, creating animations, using Movie Maker and making cartoon strips to summarise their learning. Congratulations to the students who demonstrated our College values of Excellence and Creativity so well!

 

Ms. Gemma McMahon

Year 12 Biology Teacher

 

"I really enjoyed this task as it enabled us to be creative and come up with ways to show and explain what we have learnt. It was visual and fun to complete which helped with taking in the information in a different way than usual." Lauren L

 

"To further help with our understanding of Immune System defences, we were able to create a video or animation explaining the main points. I enjoyed this task as I am a visual learner and it was an excuse to put a meme into bio. I am now armed with the knowledge to point out physical, chemical and microbiological barriers in humans and plants and can annoy everyone. " Maddy W

 

"Miss McMahon has given us (her year twelve biology class) half a dozen fun and interesting learning tools during online learning, one of which was to summarise parts of the immune system in a fun way, like in a video or with models. I chose to do a graphic novel style face off between the good guys - a human and a tree, and the bad guys - pathogens like coronavirus!" Zoe M

 

"By getting the class to create their own individual and creative way of explaining the first and second line of defence within Biology, Miss McMahon has allowed us as a class, to not only a) learn the content from her, but b) secondly teach ourselves the content and prove that we can understand it by explaining it. This task has also provided a creative outlet for a lot of the more creative students. This task, personally, by creating a scenario that’s applicable to the second line of defence, has consolidated my knowledge, but also allowed me to link the content to a scenario in real life, which helps with memorisation!" Kade W

Production Reflections | Mary Poppins Jnr.

With theatre venues closing down across the globe, the WHSC production team were faced with a very serious question... what now? Well, we looked at the role and purpose of a whole school production, and the benefits it adds to a school community, and the Top 3:  Connection, Creative Problem Solving, and Fun. So we decided – Production has to continue in isolation! The benefits of a program like this are too huge to scrap entirely... sure it’ll be a lot of work, but we’d hope it would be worth it. So the objective changed. Tuesdays and Thursdays turned into a chance for students involved in the production to meet up and learn some of the famous songs from Mary Poppins. The focus was on the joy of the Arts and the magic of singing and dancing (remotely) together. What the final show will be, is still yet to be determined... We need to be making choices that best support our students and the wider community in the time of a global pandemic – but we will work towards sharing our talents with the wider community, in some shape or form! With that in mind, here are what some of the students had to say about Iso Production.

 

CAST REFLECTIONS

"Iso production rehearsals are super important to me because they give me a chance to express myself and show off my inner acting skills during this hard time. Ever since iso rehearsals started, I've noticed more than ever how important it is to let out ones emotions in a creative and passionate way, otherwise it'll bottle up inside and cause negative thoughts to occur. Of course there is a light at the end of this tunnel, and I'm looking forward to the day where we'll all be back together dancing, singing and acting our hearts out." Aria S (Year 8)

 

"Iso production rehearsals are the light of my week. Having the opportunity to dance around my living room with my pet rabbit, singing Step In Time at the top of my lungs is how I get my dose of happiness during this time of troubles. After all my beloved after school activities were cancelled, I was ecstatic to have this creative opportunity available every Tuesday and Thursday. Missing out on catching up with all the amazing people involved in production was one of the worst things EVER, but being able to sing and dance (virtually) alongside everyone helps me to remember what the future holds. Fantasizing about when we can finally be together as a production family makes me smile at the most random times, which helps my family smile too. I'm not only getting my explosion of creative energy (which is essential for survival), I'm getting the happiness that I need to stay strong. I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry once this is over. From happiness and relief, of course. I can't wait until we can all be together again. I miss you all!" Shay C (Year 8)

 

"Iso production rehearsals are the one thing I look forward to every week. Even though we can't physically see each other, being able to have the opportunity to still continue on with production on a virtual platform is so special. Production brings out the best in people, we get to be creative and be ourselves, you can let your imagination go wild and be the best version of yourself. I really love being apart of the production and everything that goes with it, and now that even with isolation I can still attend production rehearsals and have so much fun singing, dancing and acting every Tuesday and Thursday with my favourite people! I cannot wait to continue with Iso production to then come back and rehearse everything we've learnt together again!" Sophia S (Year 8)

 

"Isolation production is very significant to me because it allows me to dance and sing my negative thoughts away, it eradicates all the stress that has been building up inside of me and it puts a grin on my face. This is a very uncertain time that no one has ever experience before, fortunately, I am very grateful to have this opportunity to join my friends, teachers and the whole production family on this thrilling journey to create an amazing and exquisite show. Plus, this experience unites us together as a family and as a community even though we are far apart. I'm looking forward to going back to school, seeing familiar faces again, and being able to continue production in school! Until then!! STAY SAFE AND STAY POSITIVE!" Samantha L (Year 7)

 

"Production in iso is so much fun, I love that after a stressful day of school I get to dance And sing away with an amazing cast and I’m so happy that the vibes are still the same as if we were at school and I’m so grateful for that. Even though we can’t all physically see each we still have fun. I am so grateful for the teachers at our school for still going ahead with production during thus tough time. Stay safe." Rhiannon J (Year 10)

 

"Production in iso is so much fun. although we can't see each other personally, I love that we still have a connection." Macy W (Year 7)

 

"Production in isolation has been a bit of a challenge for most, if not all of us, as we aren't able to see our friends, communicate with peers and of course, annoy our parents into picking us up from school. However, still having production around while everything around us is shutting down, and things like camps and trips are postponed, we can really be grateful to all the teachers and families for making this happen. Iso production for me, and i think some will agree, has been the highlight of my week as practicing the songs and choreo have given me something to look forward to for when this is all over. As I'm sure it will be one of the best productions yet. To finish, i just want to thank the staff and students for doing such an amazing job and cant wait to see everyone when this is all over!" Amineh A (Year 9)

 

"Production in Iso is very fun to be able to see how others are going and how well they go with their practices and not feel like your the only one screwing up sometimes, this really relieves stress about trying to get it right straight away because what we learn in our meets are just the things that we can perfect in practice at school when this is all over, overall, I really enjoy online practices and that we are not missing out. I hope everyon else is safe and well at home." Daniel W (Year 7)

 

"Iso Production and Performing Arts are some of the best times! I think that it’s a great idea to still have an open mindset and continue to sing and dance!"  Grace C (Year 7)

 

DESIGN INTERNSHIP REFLECTIONS

Despite working in isolation, our dedicated designers have been meeting twice weekly, researching, planning and drafting designs for Mary Poppins – thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Artist in Res – Anna Diacos! Here are some reflections from our Designers on their experience in working in isolation.

 

"I think it’s been important to keep the Design program running because it helps break up all the school work and online classes. It’s like having a scheduled session to be able to be creative. Through these online lessons we have been learning about the background of Mary Poppins and looking at the hidden meanings of the script as well as looking at colour theory for design. Being in isolation has allowed us to delve deeper into the script and theory of design, which has aided us as designers. I’m looking forward to seeing how the extra theory work will show in the next stages of the process." Amelia P (Year 11) 

 

"I think keeping the design team running is great, letting us designers have time to be creative and let us talk about what we are doing in our designs is a great break from school and home but it also allows us to be prepared when we head back to school. I find when doing the design internship, I learn many new ideas and ways to design and produce costumes. One of my favorite way to design, is  using colour theory and I leant new ways using colour theory that would enhance the way my design effects the show. I am looking forward to when we can start producing the costumes and props!" Emily C (Year 10) 

 

"After almost 50 days of isolation everything starts to blur together. With the lines of school time and down time on the verge of collapse it is important to have something you can look forward to every week. For me, this is the lovely Production Design Internship Program. Not only do these meetings allow me to know what day it is, they are a wonderful break from the uncertain void of isolation living. In our meetings we get to learn tones of amazing new things, be creative, and have fun. What I find most brilliant about the Design program in Isolation is that we get the opportunity to be doing something that we would be doing out of isolation

Library News | Loans + ClickView

Thank you for looking after the books during our loan extension to you. Remember to return your loans when we get back to school! You can check out the database, Infobase, on our Library Catalogue. ClickView has heaps of new videos, some new movies, and a new folder for TV Shows.  You can access ClickView via your WHSC Intranet homepage.

 

Running out of reading material? 

If you don’t already belong to your local library, you can join online for free! Just Google local library and you will find yours. They offer access to many ebooks and Audiobooks. You can also join our State Library of Victoria and / or the National Library of Australia which both offer curriculum related resources, amongst other amazing reference materials; all for free!

 

Other free sources for reading and audio books: