School is Never Dull!

The Hope Tour

Nerilee Rinkquest - Head of Junior Secondary

In August, the crew from Unihill Church brought us The Hope Tour which included a dance troupe (Kulture Break), a fabulous host, a guest speaker and none other than Chris Sebastian, winner of The Voice 2020. Hope Tour travels to Secondary schools around Australia with a message of hope and resilience. 

The performance was inspiring and uplifting not just for our students but also for staff. We enjoyed amazing dance performances from Kulture Break and seeing our enthusiastic students doing Mexican waves in front of the crowd. We were joined at the end of the performance by Chris Sebastian, who sang for us and talked openly about his struggles and how he has overcome them. 

Science Week

Leanne Benson - Chemistry Teacher

We celebrated National Science Week 2023 with a multitude of exciting events, from a biology challenge to a psychology taste test, and from pop rockets to playing with fire - literally.

Thanks to the skill and dexterity - not to mention the wicked gleam in the eye - of  John Gardiner, the Year 7s and 8s experienced fire twirling, which attracted a large crowd of students.

Surviving that unscathed, the week ended with two events.

First, scientist and theologian Dr Chris Mulherin, a past Donvale parent, spoke at a Q&A session on the topic of “holding true to a Christian faith and being a scientist” in today’s postmodern world. 

Second, Year 10 students were able to ask Fiona Baxter, Vanessa Botha, Matthew Potter, Vaughan Barras and Chris Mulherin about their career pathways in science. 

Thank you to our guests, staff, students and parents who all threw themselves into this week of discovering how science can be rewarding, fascinating and, especially, fun!

Year 9 Rafting Camp

Ella de Haan - Outdoor Education Trainee

As part of the Year 9 Outdoor Education program several students visited Mitchell River, in beautiful East Gippsland, for a white-water rafting experience. Each group carried all their gear for the two-day journey, rafting down a series of rapids, paddling hard and even learning something of the history of the area.

On arriving at each campsite, students were responsible for setting up their own sleeping tarps, lighting a fire, cooking their dinner, and cleaning up. We were surrounded by blossoming wattles, different species of birds, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, water lizards and even a platypus.

The aim of this camp is to provide an environment in which students are able to challenge themselves physically and emotionally. We saw students work together both while paddling and around camp; forging new friendships as they relied upon one another.

As one student, Zoe, put it:

 I could appreciate the beautiful things like views more, and raft camp made me reflect on my relationship with God since I wasn’t around screens 24/7!