Learning & Teaching News

We acknowledge the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we gather, and pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge the vitality of our planet and the responsibility for all to care for it and all its inhabitants. We recognise that this land has always been a place of teaching and learning and we make a commitment to work toward reconciliation and justice for all Australians.

VCAL Presentation Evening

Cranbourne & Clyde North Year 12 students completed their final challenge by creating a sustained oral presentation of their VCAL projects and accomplishments which were presented at the VCAL presentation evenings at respective campuses.

The student’s families were invited along to view some of the work that has been completed during the year. At the Cranbourne campus, delicious food for the evening was prepared by the students, with assistance from Mrs. Cathy King.

Mr. Chris Black addressed the students, congratulating them on their growth throughout the program. Students then broke into smaller groups, where they delivered their presentations.

It was wonderful to hear about the many projects the students had been involved with and to hear of the many different pathways which they would now be following, including full-time employment, apprenticeships, or further studies.

It was lovely to hear about the students' personal journeys, many of whom credited VCAL with giving them a new sense of engagement with the college and our wider community.

We wish all graduating VCAL students all the best in their endeavour’s in future education, training, and employment.

Dakota Ashford and Sandra William Oresto with their VCAL project dosplai at the Clyde North Campus.

Art, Design & Technology Exhibition

The annual Art, Design & Technology Exhibition was welcomed back in its original form after three years of virtual exhibitions due to the global pandemic. Staff from both campuses were very excited to bring the student work and the St. Peters College community together in their respective art spaces. Students alike were excited to see their work and the work of their friends exhibited for all to see and discuss. At both Clyde North and Cranbourne Campuses, a sense of excitement was shared amongst the families who attended to see their children be recognised for their talent and creative pursuits. Celebration of award winners for Years 7 -12 echoed throughout the art spaces with special attention given to the most coveted The Principals’ Art Prize and Peter Young Design Technology Award recipients:

The Principals’ Art Prize

Alannah Egan, Yr. 11 (Unit 4 Studio Arts) Cranbourne Campus

Charlotte Francis, Yr. 12 (Unit 4 Art) Clyde North Campus

Peter Young Design Technology Award

Liam Foggo, Yr. 11 (Unit 2 Product Design & Technology Resistant Material) Cranbourne Campus

Mia Legeant, Yr. 11 (Unit 2 Product Design & Technology Resistant Material) Clyde North Campus

The Principals’ Art Prize recipient

Alannah Egan, Yr. 11 (Unit 4 Studio Arts) Cranbourne Campus

In my first final piece, I depicted the portrait, to communicate the notion of identity. My focus for this artwork was to display how people can have different emotions without showing them physically. I illustrated a figure with a passive emotion using gouache. My intention was to define the physical aspects of the emotions that one will show on their face. I then used clear acetate to outline the basic details of two more faces with more emotive facial features representing depression or sorrow. This executed my theme of Private vs Social Identity by juxtaposing that what you display to the world may not be what is going on inside. These outlines were drawn in different proportions between themselves and the painting to add another element of contrast. The lines are white because it delivered more of an intangible feeling as the lines represented a feeling or emotion, than physical lines. The lines added a haze to the artwork to depict the emotion that the painting was purposefully lacking. The painting contained a neutral colour palette to display a ‘blank canvas' or emotionless face and then placed each layer of the artwork a few centimeters apart on display.

The Principals’ Art Prize recipient

Charlotte Francis, Yr. 12 (Unit 4 Art) Cranbourne Campus

My work explores the social disconnection within current modern society. Our dependence on technology ultimately weakens our connections in social and communal instances and blinds us to any events surrounding us. This painting allows me to depict this through a realistic and reflective manner. The red glow surrounding the characters is used to emphasise the alarming events that many of us shut out due to our out of touch understandings of reality. Despite the attention-grabbing colours, the character in the middle is shown ignoring these signs and continuing with his life. Conclusively, the lack of sonder (realisation that everyone is living their own life) is the focus of this piece and features our existing habits.

Liam Foggo, Yr. 11 (Unit 2 Product Design & Technology Resistant Material) Cranbourne Campus

Mia Legeant, Yr. 11 (Unit 2 Product Design & Technology Resistant Material) Clyde North Campus

Examinations

With the Year 12 practice exams completed, our attention now focuses on the Year 10 and 11 examinations period on the following dates:

Year 11 Exams: November 4th – 11th

Year 10 Exams November 7th – 11th

Changes to be noted this year are in the examination session times. Three exam sessions will take place on Monday, 7 November, Tuesday, 8 November, and Thursday, 10 November.

Session 1 9:15 – 11:00 am

Session 2 11:45 – 1:30 pm

Session 3 2:15 – 4:30 pm

Rationale:

Three exams per day will help remove some of the exam clashes where students find it difficult to complete all exams during the examination period.

Three exam sessions a day is also the best practice that mimics the Year 12 VCE exams preparing our students in Years 10 & 11 for the best outcome in Year 12.

Reminder:

As session 3 exams will continue until 4.30 pm, students on school buses will need to make other arrangements for getting home if they have been allocated session 3.

Preparing for Exams:

We know that examinations are important but must be put into perspective. A study score does not define your child, nor can it sum up their educational experience over their time at St. Peter’s College. So that students are having the best possible experience during the exam period, the following suggestions and tips can be used to balance study and downtime.

Try avoiding this ….

By trying this…..

Examinations can seem like a daunting prospect, but they don’t need to be if you’re well prepared.

These tips will help:

Make sure you’ve got notes on each of the Key Knowledge and Skills set out in the Study Design or rubric on the SPACE class page.
Do 3 or 4 past exams to revise – if you can, work with friends to check and comment on each other’s answers
Read the VCAA examination reports. This will give you an indication of how to answer the question.
Don’t try and cram at the last minute. Draw up a revision schedule that makes the best use of the exam lead-up period. Take breaks to eat and drink water regularly. Try doing some stretches or light exercises to revitalise your brain.
Better to get more sleep than stay up late studying during the exam period. Take a break, sleep and be awake for your exam.
Make sure you have two or three spare pens. Don’t stress yourself out by attending an exam and your pen doesn’t work. Remember to bring the correct equipment such as calculators, drawing material, ruler. Ask your teacher what you need before the exam and be prepared.
Read the questions carefully. Talk about DECODING the question with your teacher as part of your revision.
If you are stuck on a question, mark it, move on to the next and come back to it at the end.
Keep track of the time during the exam, and make sure you try and answer as many questions as possible.
Use any leftover time to revise and check. You can’t leave anyway so you may as well use it!
And the last bonus tip – make sure you have read all the examination rules and requirements e.g.: no phones, no communication during the exam.
Finally just do your best, that’s all anyone expects from you.

Pamela Fox David Hansen

Middle Years Curriculum Leader Deputy Principal – Learning & Teaching

Visual Arts Teacher

Cranbourne Campus

Year 9 XSPAND Casey Tech Excursion

In the second half of Term 3, the Year 9 XSPAND students took part in the Enterprise program at Casey Tech School in Berwick. Run over three days, the Enterprise program allows students to collaborate in groups, investigate real world opportunities, develop STEAM and Enterprise skills, engage in design thinking, build prototypes and pitch solutions. The students had the following to say about the experience:

"During this enterprise, we were given an industry problem and worked together in groups of 4 to create a solution and then prototype our solution. With Casey Tech's wide range of technology, from extended reality, and VR to robots or a creepy talking fur hat bot - we could do anything."

- Vichit Kan Vong

"Casey tech was an enjoyable experience, being able to collaborate and see the different strengths each of my peers have. I was able to work with equipment that I would never have even dreamt of using."

- Robbie Cuevas

"The last day was crazy but in a good way as we had 3 hours to prepare to present a solution to a problem in an expo, this included some coding with the micro bits which proved to be hard but was a great learning experience."

- Phil Gabriel

"The skills naturally acquired through the program are difficult to practise in normal classroom settings. Skills like self-management, maintaining productivity, leadership and collaboration within our groups, as well as with facilitators are ones which we will carry throughout our lives."

- Junielle Lim

Daniel Green & Melanie Calder

Teachers - Clyde North