Peer Support

65 Year 10 leaders were selected by their teachers to take part in the Peer Support Program for 2020. The leaders recently took part in training day at Chelsea Yacht Club. The students had the opportunity to be involved in a wide range of activities which gave them the chance to work on their communication, organisation and leadership skills. It was a great day with full participation from all. Special thanks to the staff involved including Craig Waldron, Molly Lean, Sarah Letho, Kelly Maxwell, Rachel Crowe and Yolanta Chadwick. A big thank you to all the students for coming along on the day, the 2020 Year 7 students are in good hands!

Maree Foster

Peer Support Co-ordinator

Advanced Science - Deakin Excursion

On Tuesday October 8, a group of year 10 students went on an excursion to Deakin University. During the morning, the students were involved in some outdoor ecological activities including; radio tracking, water testing and bird identification. After lunch, students moved to a chemistry laboratory where the fun really kicked up a notch. Students were given the opportunity to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen and then smash different objects that had been frozen in the liquid nitrogen.

Reading Engagement

Bronte Martine, Year 10, enjoyed the novel When Michael Met Mina so much she felt compelled to write an email to the publicist of the author, Randa Abdel-Fattah. She was so excited to not only get a response from the publicist, but from the author herself. It is wonderful to see students so engaged in their learning in this way. Well done, Bronte!

Ms Lamaro

Dear Mrs Drummond

My name is Bronte Martine and I am a year 10 student at Patterson River Secondary College. We are currently studying When Micheal Met Mina in our English class and I just wanted to tell the author that this book is an amazing work and that it would be a great movie or TV show. It could really speak into a lot of peoples’ lives and would really relate to what people may be going through now. My teacher thinks that it would also be a pretty good idea to make it into a TV show because then you can see the true transformation of the characters and bring the magic of the book to life. The book really changed my class and its perspective on refugees and discrimination and how people can change. I hope that this email makes it to the author.

Thanks

Bronte Martine

Thank you Bronte! Glad to hear your very positive reactions to the book and I have passed them on to Randa.

Best wishes

Sheila

Dear Bronte

What an incredibly lovely email to read first thing in the morning! Thank you so much for sending this feedback. It makes all the sweat, tears and joy writing a book worth every second!

The good news is that I’m making a feature film of my first book Does My Head Look Big In This? which will also incorporate some of the story threads from When Michael met Mina. We hope to go into production next year. Thank you again for your email and please send my thanks to your class for opening their hearts and minds to my book.

Kind regards

Randa Abdel-Fattah

Workplace Learning Years 10-12

Workplace learning is an important step in readying students for their careers after Secondary School. They learn new things, gain valuable skills, and may even be offered employment as a result of their accomplishments in the workplace.

Each year, Year 10 students participate in a week’s Work Experience designed to give them a taste of what the world of work might look for them. It’s a chance for them to be immersed in a work place and is a great opportunity to make choices about the type of environment they may like to be a part of in the future. In 2020, Year 10s will be going on Work Experience from 11-15 May.

VCAL students participate in Structured Workplace Learning. For one day every week, they go into a work place related to their VET (Vocational Education & Training) Course. This enables them to build work readiness skills, and allows them to gain practical experience.

VCE VET students may also be required to participate in Structured Workplace Learning and each course has different requirements as to the number of hours required to gain competency. If Structured Workplace Learning is a mandatory component of a student’s VET course, it may be a good idea to arrange for this to happen on a regular basis during school holidays or at a time when it won’t impact on classes – as leaving it until the very end may not allow enough time to complete the required hours to gain the VET Certificate.

Trying to find a work experience place or workplace learning opportunity can be challenging. School holidays may be the best times to start thinking about links to workplaces – talking with relatives, friends, sporting mates and other networks are a great way to research workplace learning opportunities. Doing your own research (try looking at the Structured Workplace Learning Portal - http://www.workplacements.education.vic.gov.au/), and making contact with workplaces that you would like to experience working in is a great way to secure a placement.

Karen Talbot

VET/Pathways Coordinator

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