STUDENT EXCURSIONS   

STUDENT LEADERSHIP 

Towards the end of term 2, a group of student leaders decided to challenge MESC's teachers with a game we had participated in earlier this year. Teachers had to safely make their way across a ‘minefield’ as a team, but the most important rule was that they were not allowed to speak. 

When the leaders first completed the activity, it was used to help us discover the styles of leadership we employ, however we altered this slightly and developed it into an exercise to aid the connection between students and teachers by putting them in each other’s shoes. As a student helping run the activity, it was interesting to see the way that the teachers worked through the puzzle, and how they used similar strategies and skills to the ones we used when we first completed it ourselves. 

Apart from the initial frustration of being faced with such a challenge, we had positive feedback from the teacher and student participants overall, and are hoping to run more combined activities in the future.

Heather Mackay

YEAR 12 BIOLOGY

GENE TECHNOLOGY ACCESS CENTRE 

On Tuesday 7th August the Year 12 Biology class had an excursion to GTAC to complete the lab work for their SAC on genetic technologies. GTAC is right next door to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) and uses current researchers from WEHI and other institutions to mentor students in their programs, so it is a fabulous opportunity for the students to work with real scientists and to hear about their work. During the lab session the students worked through a case study of a flu epidemic, determining the strain of virus and how long the patients have been infected with the virus. They then discussed the different strategies that are used to control epidemics. This was a great opportunity for the students to access lab equipment and processes that they would not normally be able to and to wear lab coats and feel like a real scientist! It will be great to see our students become part of the next generation of scientists.

Cath Scott

Year 12 Biology Teacher