MacKillop Review

Term 3 has gotten off to a great start in VCAL. The Year 11s are well settled and the Year 12s are determined to finish off their schooling in a couple of months’ time. Students have been participating in a number of activities both on and off site.

Classes visited Victorian State Parliament as part of a law and justice unit where they learned how laws are made and how both houses of parliament work. “We had a really good tour guide who explained the difference between the Upper House and the Lower House. I never knew that it was illegal for the Queen to enter the lower house” recalled Hamish Raberts of M4.

Year 11s from M5 and M6 have been working on a project of their own with school gardener Chris Braid. Chris spoke to VCAL staff about the school propagating its own plants instead of buying them. To enable this, student have designed, done costings and started construction on a greenhouse. “I really enjoy this project as it teaches us how to work together. We don’t get much instruction from the teachers so we need to figure it out ourselves” relates Adam Buhin of M5.

To support the Citrus Grove and dispose of some of the food waste the school’s restaurants produce, young entrepreneur Jack Patterson of M5 came up with the idea of building work farms. A keen fisherman, Jack is setting up his own business at the school selling the worms as bait. Look out for CRC Wrigglers and also some worm juice for the garden!

On the Twilight evening we welcomed future students and parents which was a great opportunity to explain all of the great things we’re doing in VCAL. Students Lucas Blackman and Keisha Costa were the greatest assets in explaining how VCAL works and what sort of activities they do.

There is a lot left to do this term with excursions to a Road Safety course at Melbourne Museum, a scavenger hunt in the city and a hike in Werribee Gorge.