General News

From the Archives

Previous posts from the archives of St. Peter’s College have mentioned the Pilgrimage and Camino Walk that took place in 2014.

There was another pilgrimage, of sorts, that also took place in 2014.

It took place when Archbishop Michael Ekwoyi Apochi of the Diocese of Oktupo, Nigeria, visited several of the priests of the Diocese of Oktupo who were serving the people of God in the Diocese of Sale.

One of the priests was Fr. Joseph Abutu who, at that time, was the Assistant Priest at St. Agatha’s Parish. Whilst visiting Fr. Joseph, Archbishop Michael, Fr. Denis O’Bryan and Fr. Joseph, celebrated Mass in the St. Peter’s College Chapel.

To date, Archbishop Michael is the only bishop to have celebrated Mass in the St. Peter’s College Chapel. Archbishop Michael then spoke to some staff and students about the life of the Catholic Church in Nigeria.

St. Peter, Pray for Us.

Greg Nelson, Archivist.   

Northern Territory 2025

A fantastic opportunity to see some of Australia's most iconic sites and learn more about this beautiful country that we live in, is open to all Year 10, 11 and 12 students across both campuses in 2025. Forty students will get the chance to tour the Northern Territory with their friends on a trip that is guaranteed to stay with them, long into adulthood. It is a truly fantastic trip with amazing experiences that young people may never otherwise have. Expressions of Interest are open until the 30th of August, with forms available at student reception on both campuses. All information, including cost, sites to visit and meals included is available for collection. A deposit is not needed until the 19th of September, with 4 further payments spread out over the next 8 months. 

Please contact Naomi de Wit at ndewit@stpeters.vic.edu.au for any further information. 

Tournament of the Minds

I was very privileged to work with an excellent group of students this year for Tournament of Minds. Tournament of Minds is an academic competition, open to students in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other locations around the world. On Saturday the 17th of August students were accompanied by Fiona Gallagher, Rachael Hyland, and Collette Lark to participate at Deakin University Burwood in the Tournament. Student engagement and commitment was outstanding; their comments are outlined below.

Our challenge in the Tournament of Minds was to creatively solve a complex problem within a limited time. We decided to approach it with a mix of logic and creativity, crafting a unique model that showcased our teamwork. As a Year 10 student, it was my first and last time participating, making the experience even more meaningful. Being part of the competition was exhilarating—every moment tested our collaboration and resilience, bringing us closer as a team. 

Ranya Gollen, Year 10 

I believe that I managed to learn something that I can apply in other aspects of my life. It allowed me to improve my collaboration skills. It was also fun to have the opportunity to work with people I don't often get to work with, such as some Year 8s. 

Antonio Alonday, Year 10

It was a great opportunity to express my creative side and challenge myself to practice my performing skills. Doing it with my friends made the experience even more enjoyable, but along the way, we got to meet and collaborate with new people as well.

Nigitha Sriskandarajan, Year 10

This was my second year in ToM, and I enjoyed every moment I had. I’m gonna miss all the year 10s that will be leaving ToM next year, and I hope to make more memories in the future! 

Sam Villos, Year 8

This was my second year of TOM. I had lots of fun; I painted, wrote a bit of the script, and had fun the whole time. I felt as if this year was better than last year too. There was logic and art. This was a fun experience for me. I will miss the year 10s not doing ToM next year. But I hope to do this again next year. 

Chantelle Jayawardane, Year 8

Our sixth team member was Abhinav Sivakumar Year 8

This year's Tournament of Minds competition had a significant impact on our group's intellectual enthusiasm. We were eager to give it our all, since this was our final year of the tournament, as year 10s. our group; the spirit of Minds consisted of Angela, Sheetal, Kizzie, Krisha, and Sakina. As a group, we made it our purpose to work collaboratively, hearing and considering each other's ideas while developing our project. We selected the Social Science challenge and constructed a 3D model of Fiji crashing into Australia, we called it Fijias Australias. Throughout our planning, we had numerous complications, such as the plasticine used in the model cracking, losing a team member due to them being sick, and some of our props breaking. We faced these obstacles as a group, so collectively we proceeded to take them as a learning opportunity and repair the flaws, as well as perform to our best ability. 

Spirit of Minds, Sakina, Angela, Kizzie, Sheetal, Khrisha 

Our challenge, as the STEM team representing St Peter's, was to design and build a device capable of mitigating or stopping the spread of plastic in public areas. We worked for a month on the issue and found innovative ways to turn what started out as just a concept, into a fully functioning robot that could collect plastic. On the day of the presentation, we were taken to Deakin University. Exploring the campus and seeing other student’s ideas was fun. When our turn came to present, we presented at the best of our abilities, giving a performance that we’re proud of.

Johann, Sam, Udan, Jival, Jonathan, Gurshaan

Ms Fiona Gallagher

Learning Adjustment Leader - Exceptional Learners 

Clyde North Campus

Science Week 2024

During the exhilarating Science week of 2024, our school experienced a remarkable incursion that left our students buzzing with excitement and knowledge. The Year 8s were indeed fortunate to have the renowned Professor Bunsen pay a visit, erupting their curiosity with captivating demonstrations of energy generation. With an array of exhilarating experiments and hands-on activities, Professor Bunsen shed light on the fascinating world of energy production, sparking a newfound passion for sustainable technologies, and linking perfectly in their learning in Year 8 Science about energy, light and sound.

All of the students across the College were invited to participate in lunchtime activities to ignite the Scientist in everyone. Starting off each day with a daily quiz and having an organised event each lunch time, it was great to see the students participate and share their science knowledge within their teams. Year 7 and 9 Student raced against each other and the clock to solve Science riddles in an escape room, year 10 and 11 students learnt about future courses and careers in Science and everyone was invited to the Science Extravaganza to finish off Science week where the Science teachers put on some crazy demonstrations and performed some incredible dissections!

Ms Emily Roberts

Acting Science Coach - Cranbourne Campus

Pharaoh Exhibition - NGV

The Year 11 and 12 Art Creative Practice and Art Making and Exhibiting students were fortunate enough to travel to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) to listen to a talk and view the Pharaoh Exhibition on Monday 5th August.

The NGV has partnered with the British Museum to present Pharaoh, a landmark exhibition that celebrates three thousand years of ancient Egyptian art and culture. Through more than 500 objects, including monumental sculpture, architecture, temple statuary, exquisite jewellery, papyri, coffins and a rich array of funerary objects, the exhibition unpacks the phenomenon of pharaoh, those all-powerful kings claiming a divine origin.

Some student responses to the exhibition include:

I learned that some ancient pieces need REST for example cloth or paper can only be displayed for about 2 months and they need 18 months-2 years of rest in a dark spot.

After yesterday, I learnt that not all Pharaohs were male and that females had to dress up as males.

How the Pharaohs had 5 names but the only ones in their tombs were their birth name and name whilst on the throne.

Ancient Pharaohs believed that if they erased the name of their rival from everything (defacing inscriptions, statues, monuments, etc.), that they would essentially totally erase the person's existence from the chance of the after life. It was also a way to diminish their legacy and power.

I was informed that Pharaoh’s are considered "born of the gods" and are depicted to have been the ones to provide offerings to the gods to maintain the wellbeing of Egypt. They also constructed temples and shrines, while practicing sacred rituals. For instance Sekhmet, the goddess of war is capable of destruction to the land, so they crafted over 730 sculptures to keep the peace.

It was interesting to learn about the link between the Egyptian Gods and the Pharaohs. A well-established bloodline is a given in order to succeed back then, but the extent of a Pharaoh's insistence to their own connection to the Gods; linking their own wealth and power to the symbolic Gods.

Ms Viv Hayes

Arts Coach - Clyde North Campus

Sporting Achievement

Nate Lopez , Year 7 Clyde North Campus was selected in the Under 12 Boys Basketball team to represent Victoria in the SSA basketball competition held in the Gold Coast from July 28 - August 1. 

Nate played really well playing his role as a shooting guard and contributed at the scoring and defensive end.

Victoria came in undefeated and won the Grand Final agains QLD 78 - 67.

We congratulate Nate on his achievement.

Y10 Applied Learning, Y11 & 12 VM

Over the past few weeks, our Year 10 Applied Learning class and our Year 11 and 12 VCE VM classes have been busy! 

In Personal Development Skills, the Year 10’s are completing a unit on the Olympics and Paralympics. With this, we invited Wheelchair Basketball to run a session with our students. They loved it, and it gave them an understanding of what life would be like in a wheelchair. 

We also visited the MCG this week to meet an Olympian and gain more of an understanding of the importance of sport in our lives.

In literacy, the class completed a unit of work on ‘Young People and the Law’. We visited the Dandenong Magistrates Court and also the Old Melbourne Gaol, where the students participated in a mock trial, all taking on a role of someone in the courtroom. 

The Year 11’s have been studying the issue of ‘Youth Crime’ in literacy. We visited the Melbourne Magistrates Court where they were able to watch real cases and apply them to their studies. They have also created a partnership with the Botanic Gardens Retirement Home. We have visited the residents twice this term, each time preparing morning tea for them and then playing games with the residents. The students have absolutely loved this experience and we will continue to visit the Home for the remainder of the year. 

Mrs Rhiannon Clark

VM Coach Cranbourne Campus

SIS Book In a Day

Clyde North campus hosted the SIS Book In a Day Competition "Writing Day" for 4 teams on 20 Aug. The two St Peter's teams of 8 students, one from each campus, were competing against 16 schools in total. The students attended a seminar hosted by professional authors and illustrators last month to learn about the art of producing a book from start to finish. The students then used teamwork, as well as their individual writing and artistic skills, to produce a fantastic book in a single day.  The planning, writing and drawing was done with a great spirit of collaboration by both teams and was a fantastic demonstration of the amazing creativity we have here at St Peters. Judging starts next week, and winners are announced in October.  A big thanks to the DC staff at Clyde North for hosting, and a big thanks to the Year 10 VM students who cooked a BBQ lunch for the 30 visiting competitors and staff we hosted on the day. 

Mr Darren Brilliant

Acting English Coach - Clyde North Campus

Sustainable Development Goals

I did a project on “Sustainable Development Goals” focussing on my topic of Good Health and Wellbeing. I chose this topic because I am interested in improving the health and wellbeing of others,  in particular my year level. 

This is why I chose to run an awareness campaign on mental health. As part of my project we did a week of activities including;

• Basketball
• Mindfulness colouring
• Board Games
• Card games
• Meditation

We also had a guest presentation from Toolbox. She spoke about Inner Critic and Overcoming Procrastination.

I hope the activities raised awareness for this topic amongst my peers and they benefited from the information presented.

Some photos from the activities;

Noah Darras - Y12 Clyde North Campus