Senior School
Prime Minister's Spelling Bee
On August 8th, some of our Year 7 and 8 students were selected to compete for King's College in the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee. Students completed the first round at school and were judged on both their accuracy and speed. Congratulations to Brooke, Breanna, Sienna, Lilly, Zara, Dusty, Liz, Eleyeen, Myeisha, Phillip and Yusuf for being part of our team.
Brad Zeunert
Head of Senior School
Cows Create Careers
The Year 7 students have just commenced a period of caring for a couple of Freisian heifer calves, lent to us by the Boekout family, so they can be part of the Cows Create Careers project in their Science classes.
This will require them to ensure they are fed the right amount of milk and feed supplement, keep their water clean, weigh them and feed them daily, including on weekends, and generally monitor their health and appearance.
The project involves the students undertaking a choice of activities to do with the calves or the dairy industry in general. It links the local community with the dairy industry and seeks to show the students how this form of farming has a huge impact on the Warrnambool and South West Districts.
The students are very enthusiastic and have determined groups to work with, as well as creating catchy names for their teams. They are considering what to name the calves as well as researching their project. The students determined the feeding roster and have shown responsibility by organising how they can feed the calves on weekends, and sacrificing some of their lunchtimes to feed and monitor them.
I look forward to seeing the students teamwork and their efforts in producing their finalised project in addition to measuring the growth of the calves while in our care.
Duncan Robertson
Senior School Teacher
Year 7 Food Tech
This week, Year 7 made Bacon and Potato soup. It was perfect weather for it and we talked about the skills and ingredients you can use to make soup.
Ally Robinson
Senior School Teacher
Year 9
Community Service
Last week the Year 9's hosted the Kinder Olympic Games during our community service session. They made medals, a podium, an Olympic torch and some games for the Kinder kids like races, bean bag toss and tug of war. It was a lovely afternoon. Read more about this here.
Barista Course
The Year 9's have also continued their Barista training with South West TAFE this week.
Ally Robinson
Senior School Teacher
VCE VM Field Trip
On Monday this week, the VCE VM class took a field trip to the Hycel Technology Hub at Deakin University. We were guided through the facility by Danny who is on staff and is trained in automotive engineering. The students were able to gain a better understanding of the education and research facility and how hydrogen fuel cell technology works. We talked about the different career opportunities in this area and the qualifications and skills required.
Matthew Jellie
Senior School Teacher
VCE Chemistry
The Year 11 Chemistry students have been learning about how to determine the concentration of an acid or base using titration. They have had the opportunity to learn how to use new equipment and a whole new set of calculations. Dominic has been proclaimed as the Titration King - at least for the moment.
The Year 12 Chemistry students have had a go at making aspirin (anyone have a headache?) and using distillation to purify a substance.
Tabitha Shergold
Senior School Teacher