Camps & Excursions
PAX
On October 11th, a lucky group of CHS students attended the internationally renown games and technology convention, PAX, held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. The event featured stalls, demos and booths hosted by leading games developers showcasing their latest releases. There were also special events, industry panels, eSports tournaments, a huge tabletop games section and cutting edge VR demonstrations. It was an extremely fun and action-packed day for all involved. We’d like to give a huge thank you to Gef for organising the event.
- YR 9 Game Design and YR 10 Digital Technology students
Year 7 Merri Creek Visit
On Tuesday 22 October, 7C had an excursion to the local Merri Creek to participate in observations and field work for their Science class with Lakshmi & Neha (our fabulous pre-service teacher). The students are currently studying the topic of sustainability and visited Merri Creek to explore our local waterways.
After a lovely walk to the Creek, the students explored its biodiversity and geological aspects. They worked in groups and used magnifying glasses and nets to identify different non-living and living organisms that could be found near the creek. Additionally, students observed the rock formations and discussed how they were formed. Students also had the opportunity to observe and describe the pollutants that may be in the water or around the creek and discussed the effects of this pollution on the waterway.
The students took samples of the Merri Creek water; testing the temperature, pH, and turbidity. The students found the temperature to be 15°C-17°C, the pH of the water was 7.5-8 (slightly alkaline) and the water samples had low turbidity, all showing a healthy creek! Students were also able to explore sustainability, and how to keep our local waterways healthy and clean. To end the short excursion, the students celebrated their hard work by eating tasty zooper doopers on their way back to school, which was the perfect treat on a bright and sunny day. Great work from 7C!
Neha Lal & Lakshmi Sharma
Junior British Parliamentary Competition
On Saturday, 20th of October The British Parliamentary competition was held at Caulfield Grammar School. The event brings students from various schools together to participate in a debate. The structure is similar to that of the British Parliament and is quite different from normal debating. Four teams of two verse each other to win the debate. So there are two negative and two positive teams. There are only 45 minutes to prepare arguments; the topics are only revealed on the day. Topics for the debates were: Tasmania deserves a football team; it is necessary to impose a time limit for online gaming; everyone should go vegan. The final debate was the most challenging of the debates. There was much tension in the room. British Parliamentary Competition required more focus and participation than a traditional debate. So the tension made the vegan debate somewhat difficult.
Pepper T from 7F and I (Emma G) represented Coburg in the Junior Competition. We did very well overall, coming first in our last debate. The day ran smoothly and was well organised. The rules were easy to understand and it was fun. The high focus and participation made the day much more interesting.
Emma G
Bridge Building
On September 18th, Esther, Owen and I went to the Aurecon bridge building competition at Mary St Joseph’s High School in Altona. We had spent every Tuesday lunchtime of Term 3 working on designing and building a small bridge made of soft balsa wood and glue for the competition. On the day all the bridges were assessed on aesthetics and then weights were added to test the structural integrity. The work was totally worth the spectacle.
Our bridge didn’t make the top 10, but it was a fun day nonetheless. I’d like to give a huge thank you to Amanda for helping us prepare and organising the event.
Cameron R
Year 9 Outdoor Education
At the start of this term the year 9 Outdoor Ed class went on a 3 day hike to the Grampians. We started the trip with a 3 hour bus ride and that afternoon we completed a 6km hike up to an amazing view. Along the way we saw the Australian Grand Canyon, a Cool Chamber and a large variety of native plants before setting up our tents and cooking dinner on the Trangia. The next day we did 3 hikes that totalled up to 8kms of walking. On the last day we went on a bush walk on a number of tracks and got to wander through areas that we would have otherwise not been able to see. We eventually found the path we were meant to follow, and got up to a massive cave that we enjoyed exploring. Throughout the camp we saw heaps of wildlife including echidnas, kangaroos (and joeys), wallabies, emus and lots of beautiful native birds. The highlights of the camp included walking up to amazing views, crawling through caves and seeing the Milky Way at night. We would like to thank Samantha and Darren for making this camp possible, we all had a great time.
Tali C
Year 11 Camp
Monday 2nd December to Wednesday 4th December
This camp is a fundamentally important part of the transition program for students going from year 11 into year 12. The purpose of the camp is to:
1. Develop a strong sense of cohesion within the year level and promote the school's value of community.
2. Promote a culture of personal excellence (being your best).
3. Enhance students' social and emotional competencies ahead of their final year of school.
We look forward to seeing all of our Year 11 students at this transition camp at The Summit.
Dave Snaddon
