Specialist Program

 Food Technology- Jane Stacey

This Term, we moved in to the new Food Technology Centre and were so excited to use the new space! Students made a variety of delicious meals over the term that they were encouraged to try and make at home – these were very easy to do, were nutritious and tasty! A popular one was homemade fishcakes with salad. All students will finish the term with a special treat of homemade biscuits that they can decorate and take home to share with their families.

Science- Melinda Mossop

In Term four, Year 9 and 10 students participated in the Science Elective – The World Beneath Our Feet. Students learnt that science questioning involves the study of the natural world. Students explored the internal structure of the earth, the surface of our planet, the zones of the ocean, land forms and natural phenomenon including volcanoes. Students discovered how this science knowledge is understood in relation to their real world. For example students learnt that Mount Cooper in Bundoora Park (about 5 kilometres from Concord School) is the highest point in Melbourne metropolitan area, which was a volcanic vent that first erupted 9.2 million years ago! 

Music- Justin Hall

Students in Elective Groups have done some fantastic work this term.  Instrumental skills were pushed to the limit through band work, where classes selected their own tracks to learn.  Students played the instrumental sections of these songs on Keyboards, Bass Guitar, Guitar and Drum Kit.  They have also taken to learning more advanced functions and compositional tools through the program ‘Ableton’.  Students have learnt how to record using MIDI devices, how to manually input notes and how to arrange different instruments into a working beat.

Horticulture- Isobel Baynes

The year 9/10 students have worked hard to maintain and look after the ‘Gardens and Grounds’ at the Bundoora campus. This Term they have weeded, pruned, planted, collected debris and prepared beds for laying turf. Independently, students have learnt how to safely and responsibly handle a range of tools and equipment and also work successfully as a team to complete set tasks. Students have collaborated with a professional landscaper to carry out routine maintenance and further develop garden concepts. They have sown and grown and harvested cress, amaranth and pea shoots, then constructed and ate sandwiches using their own micro-greens! Bird feeders were

created and amazing virtual gardens were imagined online!

Visual Arts - Vera Mitchell

During Term four, were continued the Visual Art elective program, Textiles. Students were encouraged to engage and share their work that they completed at home. Some of the students we introduced to the sewing machine for the first time. Some of the students were able to tackle the sewing machine with confidence.

Digital Technology- Jess Mitchell

In Term 4 of the ‘Make it Move with Robots’ unit, 9/10 students used the Dash-Dot robots and LEGO kits to learn about the Plan, Create, Test and Improve design process. First, we learned how to use the Go and Wonder apps to control the Dash robots. We added the ball launcher and LEGO gripper arm attachments to Dash and used visual code to control them. Then we completed ‘Balloon Battle Bots’ and ‘Jousting’ challenges. Lastly, we explored LEGO WeDo 2.0 and LEGO Mindstorm kits, using motors and the tilt and motion sensors to create movable robots. It was a fun term! 

Performing Arts and Drama- Shannon Quinn

In Performing Arts in Term four the students in Secondary 9/10 went down the road of the rock star and made their own music film clips. The two groups went in very different directions. Monday’s class made a dancing film clip for Concord School’s band Unbroken. The song itself focuses on how everyone had to socially distance from each other throughout the year with remote learning. The group used this idea and had each student do individual dances and then to celebrate being back at school with their friends by having a group dance. Tuesday’s group decided that they would go down the acting route with their own interpretation of the film clip for the song Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. The students re-enacted the chase scenes from the original film clip throughout the school and even used toy cars on a green screen to re-enact the car chase scenes. Both of the videos will be shown to the students at end of year assemblies.

Steam Program- Shannon Quinn

As part of the 9/10 STEAM program, students who selected the Shadow Lab unit worked with teacher and artist, Shannon Quinn, to explore the properties and possibilities of light. They studied the visual effects of projecting through transparent, translucent and opaque objects, the reflection of light and the combination of various substances. They produced some fantastic results, using their knowledge to create shadow puppets, mirror/light puppets, scenery plates and psychedelic patterns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP7FZlSI5F4&feature=youtu.be 

Jane Stacey

Team Leader and Learning Specialist