Secondary School

VET Construction

Our Year 11 students who are studying the Certificate II in VET Construction Pathways course, are currently undertaking their mandatory workplacement hours. Work placement offers a range and number of purposes and opportunities for our students, including:

• learning about a particular industry, workplace culture and career opportunities  

• practising skills learnt off the job  

• developing new skills 

• improving work-related skills 

• developing skills including employability skills such as teamwork, using technology and     problem solving

• achieving entry-level competencies

• achieving workplace performance of particular competency standards 

• assessing in a realistic environment or allowing for holistic assessment  

• providing opportunities to build skills in a developmental manner from the simple to the     complex  

• providing opportunities for the learner to reflect on the workplace learning experience in   the context of individual current knowledge and understanding  

• encouraging students to undertake further education and training.

Our VET Construction students who are currently out on placement are Josephine Colacino - with NKP Painting Services, Saxon Baines is working with Total Plaster Supplies – Echuca, and Jaxson McMinn is on placement with Solar Farm Constructions. Next week Kody Kendrick will be completing his placement with Total Plumbing and Hot Water Services. 

Thank you for the continued support of all the Hosts who help to guide and train our students completing their Vocational Education Courses.

Year 11 Visual Art

 Year 11s have been workshopping hard edge and colour-field painting using 'masks' and 'zips' which is underpinned by their Artwise textbook research of Abstract Painting. This practices and supports student application of the STRUCTURAL FRAMES (the study of art-movements, symbols, metaphores and meaning, techniques, and media).

Studio practice skill-building enables students to expand their studio practice in support of their Body of Work Summative Assessments, Critical and Historical Summative Assessment written study and their Exam which tests for development of mind using the FRAMES to analyse cultural expression from multiple critical points of view.

Here the students are using artists-tape to create geometric compositions in layers using acrylic paint and sealants.

Year 8 Art - Still Life Drawings

Mrs Quill's Year 8 art students have completed drawings of shells as a part of their Still Life study. They have been investigating the effects of directional light and how to apply tone to create a 3D effect. 

Year 11 Creative writing

This term Year 11 students were asked to compose a piece of creative writing, using an image to embed in their work.  Here are some samples of their work.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

How strange.

In all the years he has been gone, the street has not changed. The potholes in the bitumen remain where they once were, deep enough to drown in, as his mother used to say. The streetlamp three doors down from the corner of the block is still warped and twisted from where that drunk driver struck it the year he turned fourteen. And the eyes peering out at his pristine car from smudged windows are the same eyes that peered out those same windows the day his old car peeled away from the driveway in a hurry. 

The only change is to that of his childhood home.

By Kaitlin Weiser

Grandpa’s Body 

The door to the house was left open, creaking slightly as it was pushed from its hinges by dusty winds. He must be home… unless he finally dropped dead. 

In this house, every spot on the deteriorating wood floor groans, agonising in the silence. I entered cautiously, remembering Grandpa’s stubborn resolve to not fix the brittle floors and rather attempt to do it himself. The house was dead quiet, yet the door was open. Perhaps Grandpa was taking a nap, resting his old bones on the harsh springs of his sunken mattress. 

By Tahlia McMaster-Sharrock

Swallowed

Step by step I navigated the rickety boardwalk, trying to avoid rusty exposed nails.  I glance across the depths of the lake and I feel as if I’m looking through a window, the water as translucent as glass. In a matter of seconds, dawn turns to dusk, and darkness creeps over the water. The crisp grey clouds rolled throughout the sky. Waves crashed against the edge of the lake, loud as thunder.

By Lucas Jettner

Blooming Lillies Under The Stone 

He couldn't tell how long he had been walking. He couldn't even tell where he was. The only thing he could see was a large stone dome in the distance, so he continued towards it. No sun touches the cursed grass on this land, so he finds his way by the light of the iridescent orb in the sky. His bare, bleeding feet disturb the soil but nothing else changes, nothing stirs upon this insensate territory, not even the wind. Only the shadows move, rustling in the inky dark fog that suffocates the trees and smothers the life that once belonged here.

By Kithmini Kumarasinghe

Silver and gold

A glint of silver flashed in my hand as I prepared myself. A gossamer stream of blood flitted through the dark room. My job was done, but I couldn’t turn away, couldn’t leave the room, for fear of what might happen outside. Night was my friend, an ally in my work. But I hated it. I hated the way that it curved around every corner. The way it could never be truly gone. The way it hid every sharp angle and softened the horrors of daytime. And the way it hid my terrible deeds and shielded me from the public’s eyes.

By Jorja Mounsey