Congress 2018

Between 10 and 12 July, Michela Goggin and myself were lucky enough to have the opportunity to participate in the 2018 Victorian Student Representative Council Congress (VicSRC), which is a student-led organisation. It is run by 15 executive member/students that are elected by Congress participants annually, and these executive members work closely alongside the Victorian State government to better our education system and schools all throughout our state for the benefit of our students.

Congress is one of the many initiatives run by VicSRC to allow students to be a collaborative part of positive change. Its main purpose is to offer students a platform to discuss and bring forward matters that they are passionate about or require attention in the upcoming year. Twelve areas of focus are then chosen or shortlisted, with participants choosing their preferred topics to work on in groups in order to prepare a presentation to the Education Minister, members of Education and state government and other congress leaders/participants on the final day.

Michela and I both selected “Transforming the VCE system”. Five key areas are then voted on for focus in the coming year. This was an amazing experience to participate in, and a topic we were all very passionate about! It is exciting to know that we can have a say in, and assist with, actual change in our system; and that our topic was included in the top five areas for the year ahead. Congress was also an amazing opportunity to meet many like-minded young people who are also passionate about making our state and schools a better place - it was a place where you can create new friendships, have a safe forum for expression and a chance to learn new skills. Overall, an experience I would highly recommend to any student!

Jade Roberts

Year 11 SLC member

Over the holidays I was fortunate enough to attend the VICSRC congress. It was a riveting three-day camp where students from across Victoria who are passionate about leadership and making a difference within our schools, came together to tackle school-based issues and find solutions. It was an empowering camp focusing on issues such as difficulties in VCE, the lack of education on indigenous culture, the need for safe places for LGBTQI+, equality between genders, and so on. After spending numerous days in a focus group, as well as attending several workshops, I understand how important it is for youth to share their opinions and how we can truly make a difference. As we are the key stakeholders in our education, and we are the ones who can make change. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed tackling an issue and coming up with solutions and knowing that the EXEC will be making these solutions happen. I made several new friends and I cannot wait to go back again!

Michaela Goggin

Year 9 SLC member

Foundation for Young Australians Excursion – Innovation Class

On 24 July, our Innovation in the 21st Century class went into the city to meet the members of the FYA. We also met the founders of four small businesses: Accessible Adventures, Game Changers, Crepes for Change and The Timekeepers. We learned how difficult it can be to start a small business, but how rewarding it can be to change someone’s life. It was a fun experience and we learned a lot.

Max Sheppard

Year 10

The excursion to the FYA headquarters was extremely educational and fun. Everyone in the Innovation class had a great time hearing about all the different social enterprises and how they impacted the world. My favourite part was coming up with a new way to help homeless people and, although our program, Chauffeur, didn’t win the competition, I still think it was the best idea. While developing our idea, we learnt the three stages of innovation, development and advertising.

We heard a talk from the marketing manager of STREAT, an amazing food company that has trained and helped many thousands of homeless people, and who catered delicious food for us to eat on the day. The panel of social enterprises, including a representative from Accessible Adventures, Game Changers, The Timekeepers and Crepes for Change, all talked about the day-to-day challenges of running a business and how they strive to make a difference to the world. Overall it was a great day.

Yoaquim Freeman

Year 9

My experience at FYA was amazing; the food, the games, the entertainment and the speakers were amazing. One task we did was where we needed to try to get homeless people off the streets and back on track (we won). The guest speakers were so inspirational and fun to talk to. I learned that, as an entrepreneur, you will run into mistakes and problems, but you can get through them with hard work and perseverance. The overall experience was awesome, the people were so kind, the food was delicious, the games we played were fun and the speakers inspired me.

Thank you to Mrs Bahramis, Mr Fischmann and the FYA staff for a great day!

Alex Green

Year 9

Monash University Year 8 Engineering workshops

During the last school holidays, Lucien Cooke, Saam Fujii, Eleanor Rivett-Bewsher, James Wylie, Cheyanne Kamau and Emma Ireland of Year 8 attended a three-day engineering workshop at Monash University, Clayton Campus. They were joined by other students from around the State and had a fantastic time participating in a wide range of activities.

Below is an overview of the three days through the eyes of Eleanor Rivett-Bewsher.

'Every year Monash University offers Frankston High School places at their annual Year 8 Engineering Challenge which takes place over three days at Monash Clayton campus and goes through a wide variety of engineering disciplines from robotics to environmental engineering. This year three other Frankston High School Year 8 students and I were given the opportunity to participate; here is my account of the events…

Day 1

Introduction, Lighting/Fluorescents, Automotive Engineering, Robotics, Flight/ Aeronautics, Environmental Engineering (Alternative energy).

When I arrived on campus on the first day I was directed to a theatre with the rest of my group (named Purple group) where someone came in and talked briefly about all the different subjects that the activities/workshops would be covering. Then we did a short workshop about light and fluorescents. After this we were split in to three groups of about nine and were led to three different locations. My group was led to an area where they design and build cars, and we did two workshops. In the first one we took turns in trying to take the wheel off and on a racing car, and in the second we tried out a virtual reality driving game. After that we swapped with another group and did a workshop on robotics, followed by a activity where we made very high class foam paper gliders. Then we had lunch, after which we walked over to a hall for a workshop on alternative energy and then a workshop on environmental engineering.

Day 2

Structural Engineering, Chemical Engineering.

The first half of the day was made up of building a spaghetti bridge; this activity was a bit more serious than your usual spaghetti bridge-making activity, because we were trying not just to make the strongest bridge but also the lightest bridge. The other specifications were that our bridge had to span a certain length and also had to be a certain width. We were all very glad we had three hours to do this activity - in the end my group’s bridge came second. After this we had lunch for an hour, then we moved on to our next activity where we would be doing a set of activities to do with chemistry. I felt a bit tested when the teacher asked me to dictate equations on the board but, luckily, I could remember some of the elements. The first activity was one about water currents, the second the separation of chemicals, the third the extrusion of gases from liquids, the fourth the conductivity of metals, the fifth also about the conductivity of metals.

Day 3

Computer Programming, Material Engineering, Robotics, Award Ceremony.

On the third day, the first workshop that we did was about computer design, where we got to design our own basic digital character. Then we did a workshop on materials engineering in which we did several mini experiments, including one where we tested solar panels using different parts of the light spectrum. Iin another experiment we used some jelly snakes as a model for manual durability and, finally, we conducted an experiment which showed what happened when an algae extract is added to calcium. After lunch we went on a tour of the robotics department, followed by a make-your-own robot workshop. The day ended with an award ceremony.'

Year 11 Visit Vasey RSL

On Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 22 August two of our Year 11 Health and Human Development classes visited residents of Vasey RSL Care on Overport Road as part of their studies into perspectives of different lifespan stages. The residents absolutely loved having a visit and remarked on how lovely, friendly and polite our Frankston High School Year 11 students were. The students loved this community engagement experience and gained some powerful insights into the lives of the residents during the war which made them very grateful for experiencing their youth in 2018 and the many opportunities available to them.

Ms Emma Manks

Health and Human Development Teacher

In The Spotlight