In & around the school

Year 8 Bogong Camp

Forty-five students left Hamilton on a mild, wintery morning heading for Bogong in the Alpine area in Week 8 of this term. The constant barrage of questions including, “How much longer?”, “Are we there yet?”, “Will there be snow?”, led to much discussion amongst both students and staff, increasing excitement levels as well as perhaps adding to the apprehension and nerves felt by some.

"The home-made food and hospitality was incredibly good."

"Heaps of fun, the activities were great particularly the climbing."

On our arrival, we were greeted by our teachers for the week and immediately given our first challenge, tackling the enormous number of steps up to the accommodation with our bags – some of us should have packed less! The first evening went smoothly, with students getting a tour of the campus to find their bearings and a range of activities to bring the groups of students together. Some of these activities brought much hilarity 

particularly the ‘silent opera’ and ‘minefield’.

"Amazing, loved it, loved it all! "

The following three days flew by with students experiencing a range of activities including high ropes, abseiling, climbing, a team building challenge in which each group created a life-size bridge strong enough to take the weight of the team, and an opportunity to get up close and even hold some native animals, including a children’s python, blue-tongue lizard and a sugar glider. The snake was not for the faint-hearted! Each student had the opportunity to challenge themselves, to push themselves and impressively each student did.

"The accommodation was spacious, comfy and warm except for that one morning! "

"Heaps of fun, the activities were great particularly the climbing."

The highlight of the week for many was the encounter with snow! Some had never seen snow before; snow angels, snow balls and snow eating quickly became the favoured activities. A wonderful week weather-wise, an incredibly great team leading the activities up at Bogong as well as the enthusiasm of the students ensured that this was a memorable camp for all.

"The teachers at Bogong were very knowledgeable, comforting and encouraging, they wanted you to do your best."

"The high ropes were scary and fun at the same time, you had to use all your courage! "

"Building a bridge was a great activity…fun, difficult and confusing! It challenged us, forced us to work as a team. "

Year 8 English

Trash is a novel that gives an insight into the lives of the Filipinos.  In the novel written by Andy Mulligan, the Filipinos are surrounded by trash.  Every day they sort through trash piles for items they can sell.

Mrs Cow land's Year 8 class were given the opportunity to take on this task to build a stronger understanding about the lives of the characters in the text as they analysed the argument of child slavery.

9/10 Psychology

What kind of influence did NGARO Have? As part of our mental health topic Mrs Rose brought in her puppy Ngaro. Cats and dogs are proven to instantly decrease blood pressure and relieve stress. As a class we wanted to test this theory. We discovered by having the puppy in the class that our classmates where much calmer and our class was overall much more productive by trying harder and in general being more relaxed. These are some of the feelings our classmates have had towards the puppy.

•The puppy made me feel calm, happy and relaxed because it helped the class so it made me more relaxed.

•Ngaro helped me out because I wanted to come and get my work done quickly and done at a high standard so I could play with her.

•Ngaro had a massively positive influence on the class because it was always more quiet than normal.

•The puppy made the class a lot more relaxed because it just took your mind off all the stress and everybody could just relax properly.

•Of course, that is one of the reasons why I want to come so much on a Friday

•Yes, because I can relax and get to play with a beautiful puppy.

•Happy, pleased and make the room vibrant and active.

•She calmed me down and made me feel very relaxed.

•She reminded me of my old dog that made me feel a little upset because she was stolen.

These feelings should give you a great insight Into what our psychology class is all about and how we are learning about mental health.

Gus, Joey and Aiden

Outdoor Ed

Lower Glenelg River Camp 

On Wednesday 19th May, Miss Boxall’s outdoor education class travelled down to Pritchard’s campground, near Nelson for a 3-day canoeing/hiking/snorkelling camp. We arrived mid-morning and split into 2 groups, one canoeing and one hiking. Groups were taken to their starting points are Moleside Campground and Wild Dog Bend. The groups spent the afternoon making their way back to camp canoeing along the Glenelg River or hiking along the Great South West Walk. Once students arrive back, they set up camp and spent some time playing games around the campground before cooking tea and heading off to bed. The next morning, we headed off on the bus over the border to arrive at Ewen’s Ponds for a snorkelling session. Here, students explored three different ponds and were wowed by the clear waters and abundance of life within the ponds. A massive thanks to the crew at Dive Experience for taking the session and sharing their knowledge with us. Students were then taken to nearby Mt Schank, a dormant volcano, where we climbed the short but steep to the top of the crater. Friday morning, groups swapped over canoeing and walking and continued their journey to Battersby’s landing. Students then packed up the canoes and boarded the bus to head back home. A massive thanks to Mr Lynch, Mr Walsh and Jacki for coming and helping on camp. 

Rock Climbing 

On Friday 4th June, Year 9-10 Outdoor Education students travelled to the Grampians to participate in a Rock-Climbing excursion. Student were able to participate in both abseiling and rock climbing, taking a number of different routes throughout the morning. Students also practiced their skills in belaying and working together to create a safe environment for students to climb.

Community

Over the final few weeks of Term 1 and into Term 2, Community Classes were challenged to create a collage that represented all the members of their class. There were a number of very creative and ambitious entries across the year levels. Thank-you to all of the Community Groups who participated and showed teamwork, pride and persistence. The winner of the hot chips lunch was difficult to judge so it was decided to split the prize between Ms Kemp’s 7B Community Group and Mr Churchill’s 7A group. Honourable mention to Ms Weirs 8D class and Mr Banfield’s 10A.

SWPBS - School-Wide Positive Behaviour Reward System.

 The SWPBS Reward program has developed throughout the semester and many students have taken the opportunity to trade in their points for a range of different prizes. 

The main aim of the program is to recognise the students who go above and beyond the normal expected behaviours and make a positive contribution to the school community. 

As a way of helping staff and students to clearly know what sorts of behaviours are one that are ‘going the extra mile’ the following draft matrix has been put together and will be released in semester 2. 

The hope is that it will encourage the sorts of behaviours that assist students in achieving success and feeling a strong sense of connection to their school community. 

The addition of the school beanies and some gift vouchers for BCF, Xbox Shop, Steam Cards, Play Station Store and Nintendo eShop has sparked some keen competition. Accurate Clothing in town were generous enough to donate 5 beanies which were snapped up with enthusiasm. It has been fantastic to see students wear the school uniform with pride. Also popular are the $5 canteen vouchers and I thank the canteen for accommodating this system. 

Moving forward, it is clear that the system is encouraging positive behaviour across the school and helping students to set tangible goals. The challenge, as always, is seeking consistency across the year levels and ensuring all the teachers are on the lookout for students who are quietly going about being amazing. 

As the program grows, Baimbridge will be reaching out to its valued community business connections to see who would like to get involved in providing rewards and support for our students who get up and work towards their goals every day.

 Mr Macdonald

VCAL Volunteering

We received this last week from one of the kindergartens, where Ethan Bell in Year 12 volunteers.  It reads: 'This guy' at kinder

On a regular basis a student volunteer from Baimbridge College has been visiting kindergarten, spending time doing activities with our kinder group. In these photos the student is shown encouraging Rhylan and Tyler in their participation. Rhylan and Tyler have gotten to know the student well, over the past few sessions and really enjoy being involved in shared activities such as construction, reading a book or sitting together at group time.

I have observed both children work hard to communicate with the students and include them in their day. Rhylan showed the student around the play yard talking about the different areas and games that are played there.

To extend the learning we will be supporting and encouraging the student to work with individuals and small groups of children to choose and complete play based learning activities together.

Way to go Ethan!!!!