Learning & Teaching News

Learning takes place in a number of exciting ways here at St Peter’s.  Here is a sample of some of wonderful experiences had by our students across both Campus’recently.

Lunch with the Winners - South East Local Learning and Employment Network

The Year 11 Vocational Major students were lucky enough to take part in the Lunch with the Winners hosted by the South East Local Learning and Employment Network (SELLEN) at Springvale Civic Hall. The purpose of the lunch was to learn about the career pathway opportunities within the manufacturing sector. The lunch is funded by local businesses who attend the lunch and discuss employment opportunities with the students.Students were treated to a number of guest speakers including Marcus Barber, a Strategic Futurist and Matthew Shannon from Bosch, who are a local employer and discussed how Bosch turns research into those real life “WOW” moments.  The students were engaged by both of these presenters and with many exciting changes happening in manufacturing and engineering, they were keen to ask questions about the future direction of manufacturing and tap into the personal experiences of all presenters, whilst enjoying a light lunch in a formal setting.

Clyde North SIS Debating

Three Year 11 students from Clyde North won in the SIS Debating Semi-Final debate, "That reality TV does more harm than good." The students in the Senior Team are Paige Campbell, Reeya Kumari, and Jonathan Evans. Observing this team working collaboratively to create a force to be reckoned with was inspiring and exciting. Their performance impressed the adjudicator as they argued for the opposing team, passionately defending the positive aspects of reality TV.  In a world where reality TV often receives its fair share of criticism, the students took up the challenge of shedding light on the good that has emerged.  Their arguments concerned two popular reality shows: "MasterChef" and "Old People's Home for Four-Year-Olds."  The team convincingly illustrated how "MasterChef" has nurtured culinary talent and inspired countless individuals to pursue their passion for cooking. Similarly, their discussion on "Old People's Home for Four-Year-Olds" highlighted the heartwarming connection between generations and the benefits of intergenerational interaction. One of the key points made by the Year 11 students was that all participants in reality TV shows willingly sign contracts, fully aware of what they are getting into. They argued that these participants are not coerced into taking part and have the autonomy to leave the show at any time if they feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed. In rebuttals to the potential harm to the participants, they skilfully emphasised that just because there may be correlations between reality TV and specific adverse outcomes for participants, it does not automatically imply causation. This allowed them to challenge the assumptions underlying many of the opposing team's claims.  We wish the senior team the best of luck in the Grand Final on October 6th.  Fiona Gallagher, Jake Charman and Portia Subotsch have supported the team.

Science Incursions during Term 3, 2023

During the exhilarating Term 3 of 2023, our school experienced two remarkable incursions that left our students buzzing with excitement and knowledge. The Year 8s were indeed fortunate to have the renowned Professor Bunsen pay a visit, igniting their curiosity with captivating demonstrations of energy generation. With an array of exhilarating experiments and hands-on activities, Professor Bunsen shed light on the fascinating world of energy production, sparking a new found passion for sustainable technologies, and linking perfectly in their learning in Year 8 Science about energy, light and sound.

Meanwhile, our Year 7 and Year 11 VCE Biology students delved into the realms of zoology with an engaging presentation from Reptile Encounters. This immersive experience allowed them to get up close and personal with a variety of animals, providing valuable insights into the natural world and reinforcing the Year 7 Circle of Life unit on classification and food webs, as well as the Year 11 Biology Unit 2 studies into adaptations of species. These two incursions have undoubtedly enriched our students' learning journey and sparked their thirst for knowledge in these crucial subjects.

Year 10 Youth Ministry - Cranbourne

Year 10 Youth Ministry students organised activities and workshops on servant leadership. They ran the activities with the Grade 5 St Agatha's students on Tuesday 5th September. Both Year 10s and Grade 5s were engaged and had a ball!

Year 9 XSPAND – Casey Tech School Enterprise Program

On the 15 th – 17 th August and the 5 th – 7 th September, Year 9 students at the Clyde North campus travelled to Casey Tech School to participate in the Enterprise Program. The Enterprise Program provides an opportunity for students to explore and propose solutions to real-world problems provided by the Tech School’s industry partners. This year’s problems were:

• improve the quality of life of people living in the City of Casey by using the Long Range(LoRa) network technology.
•  develop effective strategies to reduce vaping in young people.
• encourage the local community to increase the plants and vegetation in their dwellings and backyards.
•  create a digital tool/product or service that empowers young people to improve and manage their health and wellbeing.

The Enterprise Program utilises the Design Thinking Process to support students to formulate ideas and potential solutions and develop prototypes to bring them to life. The program culminates in students pitching their idea to others, which includes representatives from some of the industry partners. This experience provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to further develop their critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and communication. It also gave them the chance to learn and use specialised equipment and emerging technologies such as virtual reality, robotic systems, laser cutters, computer assisted design (CAD) software and 3D printers. It was great to see so many of our students embrace this experience and the challenge of solving real-world problems.

Mr Daniel Green (Year 9 Learning Leader)

Basic exam technique

Some basic techniques apply to most types of exams, so you might find it helpful to keep the following in mind:

• use the reading time to read your whole exam paper very carefully
• plan your time according to what questions are worth – spend more time on questions worth more marks
• try doing harder questions first, while you're fresh
• stick to your time limits – if your time for a question is up, move onto the next one and you can always come back to it later if you have time
• try to make your handwriting legible, no matter how rushed you are – if a marker can't understand your answer, they won't give you the marks
• make sure you've answered the question – if you don't, you won't get any marks
• follow instructions – you won't get marks for information you haven't been asked to give
• aim to spend 5–10 minutes at the end of the exam checking over your work – it's a great way to pick up extra marks.

Ms Carolyn Ellul -  Senior Years Curriculum Leader, Clyde North Campus                              Mr David Hansen - Deputy Principal – Learning &Teaching