Watch House Excursion

The Watch House Experiences Immerse VM & VCAL Students in the Court of Law 

On September 4th the VCAL and VCE VM students at Greensborough College attended a ‘Watch House’ city experience in Melbourne’s oldest magistrate’s court. The central focus of the excursion was all things law and order, meaning students had the opportunity to perform with a trained actor a culpable driving court case unpacking a range of legal terms and processes. Well done to the students who performed on the day including Luka Conic who played the Judge and Daniel Shuttelwood who performed exceptionally well as a member of the public attendee of the court. Others worthy of a shout out for their exceptional performances on the day include: Joshua Cortese, Joel Lowe, Aimee Naumoski, Audrey Naumoski, Briley Butler, Axel Finn, Lachlan John and Lucas Zahra. Overall, students engaged in a wide range of oral literacy tasks aimed at developing student competence in public speaking skills. 

Students also had the opportunity to practice location and mapping as they were required to make their way to Watsonia Station with their teachers where they boarded the train to Melbourne Central. Upon arrival at the Melbourne GAOL, Troy, the Watch House tour guide and trained actor, immersed students in a highly engaging role play simulating a real culpable driving court case involving youth who had caused a death due to dangerous driving.  

Later in the day, students were guided through a tour of the GAOL where they learnt about the history of jail executions in the 1800s, the women's wash houses and the treatment of prisoners including Ned Kelly under harsh British rule as the tour guides delved further into the history of the prison system in Australia. The tour guides also brought it to our attention that many Indigenous inmates were not recorded in official records highlighting the contentious issues surround Australian colonial history in the 1800s.  

In the VCAL and VM space, Literacy students are required to form personal opinions on a range of social issues highlighting the importance of the day’s teachings particularly around student understandings of changing notions of morality, law and punishment.

Thank you to Mr O’Neil and Dianna Zuell for their incredible assistance on the day guiding students through the city and the tours. The VM and VCAL students deserve a huge pat on the back not only for their exceptional performances in the Watch House Court room drama but for also proudly representing the College as ambassadors of the school’s values of Courage, Aspiration, Respect and Equality. 

Kami Gillick-Lewis  

VM Literacy Teacher/Learning Specialist