Senior School News
Great Expectations - Cowboy Cadetship
Congratulations to the young men of the Year 10 Great Expectations Program who successfully completed their Cowboy Cadetship during September and October at Mosquito Creek Equine Services.
The young men along with their mentors, Leigh O’Brien, Daniel Bradshaw and Peter Bradley were given a taste of cattle handling, horsemanship and bushcraft within a rural Victorian environment. The young men excelled in all areas and their trainer Dan Chipperfield, could not speak highly enough about the endeavor of our young men.
For our Year 10 group this experience has been one of the highlights of the program. The young men and their mentors have taken on a number of challenges throughout the year and next on the agenda for this group is a sailing experience and a final breakfast during Step Up.
The Great Expectations Program is a mentoring program designed to challenge our young men in Year 10 to improve their leadership skills and academic performance.
To quote Charles Dickens: “The most important thing is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will’. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.”
Craig Waldron
Farewell to the Graduating VCE and VCAL Class of 2018
On Tuesday, 23 October the entire staff and student body of Patterson River Secondary College assembled in the stadium to formally farewell our graduating VCE and VCAL students from the class of 2018. The entire college applauded our Year 12 students as they entered the stadium. The college Principal, Mr Daniel Dew, addressed the students congratulating them on successfully completing their senior secondary certification before encouraging them to ensure that as they enter their adult lives, they continue to embody the college ethos of striving to achieve personal excellence. Our four college captains presented their final address to the student body reinforcing the importance of upholding our four college values of persistence, community, success and respect. The farewell concluded with our graduating students leaving the stadium through a guard of honour formed by all the teaching staff who have taught our students throughout their six years at Patterson River Secondary College.
On Wednesday, 24 October over 115 of our departing Year 12 VCE and VCAL students attended the traditional Celebration Day. Our students arrived in some very colourful and creative fancy dress before enjoying the morning celebrating with each other by playing Bubble Soccer, Laser Tag and testing their athletic prowess on the giant inflatable Wipeout. Working up an appetite the students enjoyed bacon and egg rolls prepared by the teachers before concluding the morning by embarking on the traditional Victory Lap around our college to bid a final farewell to Patterson River Secondary College.
On Thursday, 25 October our college held our Valedictory Evening with over 400 students, parents and guests in attendance on the night. The Year 12 VCE and VCAL students were presented graduation certificates and College Values Awards in a formal presentation in the Performing Arts Centre before all guests were invited back to the Senior School Centre for canapes and drinks.
We wish all our Year 12 students the very best for their upcoming final examinations.
Leigh O'Brien
Senior School Leader
Individualised Health - Year 10 - Cooking and Shopping on a Budget
For the last two months year 10 Individualised Health students have undertaken shopping and cooking on a budget as a part of a consumer science unit.
With a shopping list in hand, students found themselves navigating their way through the supermarket aisles of Aldi, Coles and Woolworths looking for a bargain. With just $50 to hypothetically spend on groceries for the week, a lot of groups came to the realisation that it is harder than it looks. Not to mention that impulse buys such as chocolate or ice cream have the potential to blow the budget! While only a few groups scrapped through under $50, there was a clear consensus that the class believed ALDI was the cheapest overall.
After gaining an understanding of the process of efficient shopping and a reality check on how expensive food can actually be, students participated in three healthy cooking on a budget sessions. In the food studies kitchen they whipped up a storm that saw each serve of food coming out at $2.50 or less. Dishes such as chicken parmigiana, vegetable mac and cheese, apple crumble, healthy pizzas and many more had mouths watering and jaws dropping when they found out just how inexpensive and easy these dishes were to prepare.
As we all sat down for lunch at a table the students had set, it was an opportunity for them to reflect on the life skills they had obtained from individualised health and overall I hope they are feeling more equipped for the future.
Year 10 Maths Challenge Day
On Thursday, October 25, Ms Cosma's Year 10 Maths Methods class went on an excursion to the city. While we were there, we explored the ACMI Screen World's Exhibition. We were able to see the story of film, TV, digital culture and technology.
The class also spent time at Escape Hunt Melbourne, where there were several 'escape rooms' in which we had to solve puzzles in order to escape. The puzzles were challenging and really tested our problem solving skills that we have been working on throughout the year. The rooms themselves made for a really immersive experience. Overall, the day was really enjoyable and we'd all be happy to do it again.
Alistair Chitty and Jack Clayton
Year 11 Psychology
On Tuesday the 4th of September, the Year 11 Psychology students were involved in the ‘Deceptology’ Incursion. It was presented by the award-winning science communicator Nicholas J. Johnson.
The incursion was interactive and explored how perception, attention, memory and other cognitive processes are involved in the creation of illusions. Students were captivated throughout as Nicholas performed his tricks and enjoyed the explanations of how Psychological concepts and understandings contribute to a magic show performance. All students thoroughly enjoyed the show.
