Bullying No Way Day

On Wednesday 4th September, students contributed to a day of action against bullying. Students wrote words of praise on sticky notes for their classmates, teachers and others, as a way of building up those around them. The aim was to cover the walls of the Senior school corridor with these kind words. The outcome was wonderful, seeing every student involved and praising their friends. Thank you to all involved.

Greg Bond

Senior School Teacher

Year 7

Art

The Year 7 students have been learning about different painting techniques. Here are some of their thoughts on this:

I enjoyed the different techniques Mr. Perry has taught us - Lil J

I loved learning from Mr. Perry about the different types of techniques to use paint and chalk - Heidi P

I liked creating the different shades of colours and drawing the animals over the top - Lottie W

I liked creating this piece because I liked making the Aboriginal signs and doing the chalk and dot painting - Tilly V

I chose a toucan because I liked that it's a tropical bird, and toucans are really funny to me. - Grace W

I chose to do these birds because they are a very colorful and beautiful creature and it looked easy to do. - Amber J

Julie James

Learning Enhancement Coordinator

Food Tech

This week the Year 7's made Fried Rice. We discussed how it was a great meal to use up leftovers, and can be made with anything you have in your freezer or pantry. They are looking forward to making it again at home for their families.

Ally Robinson

Senior School Teacher

Year 9 Guest Speakers

On Thursday September 12th, Year 9 were visited by two guest speakers to discuss the issue of homelessness in Warrnambool as part of their investigation of homelessness in Australia in their English classes over recent weeks.

Mrs Penny Bolton is the executive manager at Brophy Family and Youth Services, while Mr Barry Clark works with the Salvation Army, one of the biggest providers of homelessness services for adults both in the Warrnambool/Portland area and across Australia.

Our speakers presented up-to-date information and statistics about how and why homelessness is experienced in Warrnambool and surrounding areas by different demographic groups in Warrnambool, including youth and women and families. The programs and services available for people encountering homelessness were also outlined, so that the students were able to understand how the needs of different individuals and families are being met in the local community.

The students were highly engaged in this valuable opportunity to extend their knowledge and understanding of homelessness, adding local information and statistics to their growing insights into the issue across Australia. Problems such as availability of appropriate housing, affordability of housing, overcrowding of shared accommodation, and low income levels for some groups of people in the community were discussed in detail.

Today as we were talking about homelessness with Mrs. Bolton from Brophy and Mr. Clarke from the Salvation Army, I learnt that quite a few children are homeless due to domestic violence or their parents are unable to afford to pay their mortgage or pay rent on a house. - Faith D

I appreciated what Mrs. Bolton explained about what Brophy was doing, supporting the family and the people who are really in need. - Max K

I never knew that so many short term homes fall underneath the category of homelessness. This was really eye opening for me personally, especially after hearing how young these people can be and how well they can all hide it. Hearing about such a real topic means a lot to me and helped me find a new found gratitude for my school and home life. - Sierra P

My takeaway from the homeless talk was that more people are struggling with being homeless than ever because of the prices for housing going up and so little affordable housing being available. - Matt H

Today, Penny explained the important work Brophy does for the community. They provide housing and support services for young people in or at risk of homelessness. The statistics she provided were quite shocking with about 60% of homeless people being women and 35% being men. Barry Clark also talked to us about the work of the Salvation Army across Australia. They provide services to many different people, especially singles and couples. These make up two-thirds of homelessness and families make up one-third. Overall, It was an eye-opening experience that educated me on homelessness in Warrnambool. - Victoria H

Mr Clark helped us understand how the limited subsidised spaces and the limited support money is not helping the business to stay up. - Will D

Hearing that 23% of people in Australia are looking for homelessness support was very concerning. - Zach P

The speakers explained that homelessness isn't the generic old man sleeping outside. Many people are invisibly homeless in Warrnambool. - Billy W

Following this, the Year 9's sent emails to South-West Coast MP Roma Britnell, about their concern over Australia's homelessness issue. On Tuesday this week, Roma visited King's College, along with Monique Patterson from The Standard, to further discuss this issue with the students and answer their questions. This was another very informative session for our Year 9's and you can read more about it here.

Jo Van Leerdam

Senior School Teacher

Year 9 & 10 Science & Engineering Challenge

Led by Duncan Robertson for the third consecutive year, King’s College proudly sent a Year 9/10 team to the Science & Engineering Challenge State Finals hosted by Deakin University in Geelong. Students shared their reflections on this enriching opportunity:

The experience of travelling with everyone and seeing all the fancy technology that they had at the engineering faculty, such as the HV room, was a highlight. I also appreciated having the opportunity to travel and experience the challenge, which not everyone gets to do. - Sam St

I enjoyed solving problems with my friends at the science and engineering challenge and learning more about the facilities Deakin Uni Geelong has in the Engineering Department and the courses they offer there. - Toby P

I enjoyed meeting and talking to people from other schools and seeing the high-voltage music display at the Engineering Faculty and learning how it works. - Sam Sp

The Science and Engineering Challenge brings a great sense of challenge with healthy amounts of competitiveness. - Abraham B

At the Science and Engineering Finals for Victoria in Geelong, I had heaps of fun spending the day with the Year 10's and competing for our school. I was fortunate enough to be on the bridge team with Nathan and Laura where we produced a highly efficient bridge that weighed only 84 grams and held an entire 3 kilograms. It was heaps of fun working with our group and producing a fantastic result. - Ben B

I am very thankful for this opportunity because it was so much fun and beneficial to me in many different ways. The challenges that we got to try were definitely not easy but this was good as it helped us learn to be resilient and inventive to solve problems. I learnt how to compromise with team members when they had different ideas from me which is crucial to succeeding in professional work environments. I would love to see this opportunity keep being presented to students in the future. - Harriet D

Something I enjoyed about our participation in the Science and Engineering Challenge is how we worked as a team. - Faith D

Something I enjoyed about our participation in the State Finals at Deakin University in Geelong was collaborating with my team to create a wooden plane and working out how to weight it to fly efficiently. When we toured the Engineering Faculty Deakin University in Geelong, I enjoyed the Star Wars medley played by Tesla coils. Something I appreciate about this opportunity is that I got to witness some of the engineering facilities of Deakin University, and the wonders contained within. - Bethany S & Matthew P

Something I enjoyed about our participation in the State Finals at Deakin University in Geelong is that I got to experiment and test my wooden aeroplane with the Boeing release mechanism. With our special tour of the Engineering Faculty I learned how the Tesla coils work and how simulating new designs is really important. Nekoda and I appreciated this opportunity because I love science, got to learn new stuff about it, and spent a fun day with my class. - Esther W

Mr. Robertson, Mr. Bond and Ms. James were exceptionally impressed with our students’ engagement with these highly challenging tasks, their thoughtful collaboration and their sense of fun in the midst of opportunity. We also comend them on their remarkable maturity in being the only school that noticeably congratulated the success of other schools, and for being the only school that helped with packing up at the end of the day. We are very proud of our students!

Julie James

Learning Enhancement Coordinator

Year 10 Work Experience

Our Year 10 students had the opportunity to experience a small glimpse into what working life is like, through a week spent out in various industries. While most students worked in areas close to home, we had some students travel. One student spent the week in Melbourne in the area of Neuromuscular Orthotics, another in Ararat in a family-owned factory that engineers machinery and a third student in Hamilton. Closer to home, students engaged with a variety of experiences from working in primary schools and child care centers, to IT, lab work, vet environments and dental clinics.

Below are some of the reflections made by students after their week out in ‘the real world’.

A fun week of just spending time with babies/toddlers… feeding them, playing with them, and participating in outside activities with them…. The kids were cute but had too many boogers. - Jemima A

I really enjoyed being able to teach the kids new skills and play fun games with them, like a very chaotic game of soccer. What challenged me was how tiring it was looking after the babies. - Petra A

I enjoyed learning about how laser cutters and robots help to complete repetitive tasks… how engineers create and simulate new machines, and test the strength of materials to ensure they are strong enough. - Nekoda B

I learnt what it is like to work in a hospital, specifically the OT and EP allied health professions. I enjoyed working with recovering patients in the gym, and attending hydrotherapy classes. - Zach B

I was fortunate enough to be at Saputo… Because of the sheer size of the factory, I was taken to many different areas of the business, including five separate laboratories… To learn so much every day was incredible. - Matthew P

I enjoyed learning about all the medical procedures and seeing cute pets. Some of the most challenging aspects of work experience were communicating effectively with the workers at the vets, and seeing pets get euthanised. - Bethany S

During this week I got to shadow a lifeguard and a personal trainer and I even got to jump into an aqua aerobics session. - Sam Sp

I shadowed SWTAFE’s ICT team and learnt a lot about what they do, from setting up computers for classes, to helping setting up projectors - Sam St

I learnt how much effort teachers have to put into the student's work during the school day… What I enjoyed the most about my work placement was spending two days in PE classes, one of which was going out to inter-school football at Mack Oval… What I found most interesting was the different paces, abilities and ways that different students effectively learned….. Most challenging: trying to engage students who struggled or didn’t want to do their classwork. - Blake W

Kath Haworth

Assistant Head of Senior School

VCE VM

On Monday 16th September, the VCE VM class participated in a field trip to Tasweld Engineering. We were guided through the facility by one of the project managers and were given an in-depth explanation of what the business does. Once again, our students were given a valuable insight into the operation of a local business and the different career opportunities which exist in this industry.

Matthew Jellie

Senior School Teacher

Sport

Staff vs Students Archery Competition