Senior School

Year 10 Road Smart Interactive

During the first week of term three, Year 10 students were given the opportunity to participate in the Road Smart Interactive program.  This is a Victorian Government road safety education incursion provided to secondary schools and run by teachers based in the Melbourne Museum. 

The Road Smart program uses immersive technology to engage students in thinking about how they can be safer on the roads and how they can play a part in making the roads safer for everyone.  Students were able to see the history of driving and the evolution of safety rules through Virtual Reality simulators, to work with virtual car designs which they tested for safety, and to make safety advertisements using touch table technology.

An alarming number of children and young people continue to be hurt and killed on our roads. These serious injuries and deaths are preventable.  Road safety education programs such as this one can help reduce the risk of serious injury for children and young people by supporting them to develop skills and knowledge to be safe pedestrians, cyclists, passengers and future drivers.  The students approached the tasks very seriously and took another step towards safely using the roads in the future.

Anne Sim.

STUDYING THE HOLOCAUST AND ELIE WIESEL’S ‘NIGHT’

‘Night’ is a key text at Year 10.  The text is a memoir which lays out the experiences of Elie Wiesel as a Jewish boy during the implementation of the ‘Final Solution’ in Europe, and details some of the darkest times in history. 

At the start of this term Year 10 students worked through a series of immersion sessions designed to build their knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust and its history. This allowed them to approach their study of ‘Night’ with a clearer idea of the situations facing the writer and the logistics of what he was describing in his memoir. 

As part of the school based activities, school students watched and responded to the Academy Award winning film ‘Schindler’s List’, as well as working their way through tasks examining different elements of the Holocaust such as Auschwitz, mapped data,  Anne Frank and World War Two.

Year 10 students also had the opportunity to visit the newly renovated Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick for educational activities and to witness the testimony of a Holocaust survivor. The survivors, such as Abram and Sarah who spoke to our groups, are now 100 years old but are determined to keep sharing their experiences and educate students on the effects of the Holocaust. It was an informative and emotional experience to hear their stories and students asked them intelligent and thoughtful questions. 

If you are interested in visiting the Museum, or have students who missed the excursion, it is in Elsternwick and open to the general public Tuesday to Friday, and on Sundays, from 10am to 5pm. 

Anne Sim.

Year 12

OEDIPUS THE KING

Sophocles’ Ancient Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus the King’ tells the story of a king of Thebes who came to ruin due to prophecy and his own personal flaws. A warning against hubris and giving in to anger, the play has been read and performed for over a thousand years.  

One of our key texts in Year 12, the play was brought to life by the Complete Works Theatre Company, who performed the play for students.  Students had a chance to enhance their understanding of the plot and the different themes of the play, such as leadership and responsibility, as well as fate versus freewill through viewing the play live.  There was also a question and answer section with the actors that concluded the play, which allowed students to question performers about their perceptions of the different characters and themes as well as asking about the different choices the actors made in their roles. 

A live theatre performance can really consolidate students’ perceptions of the work, and give them a new perspective on the drama to help support their writing on the text.

Anne Sim.

Year 12 Product Design

Students from the year 12 Product Design team recently collaborated with Red Hill Consolidation School and produced 'reversible shop fronts' as part of their community project. Their task was to consult with a client and design and build something for the greater community.