Secondary School News
Innovative Solutions unit: Applied Computing
Unit 1 & 2 Applied Computing students have spent this term working in teams to analyse, design, develop and evaluate an innovative solution to an identified need or opportunity involving a digital system.
Students presented a range of solutions to important needs they saw. They worked on basketball scoring systems, gamification of the orientation program for year 7s, better in-flight entertainment systems, facial recognition programs to help you do two tasks at once and a virtual gallery to see artwork easily from the comfort of home.
Students presented their finished product or prototype to Mr Guthridge, myself and the class and really showed off what students can do when they have an idea in mind.
A special thanks to Altona Meadows Library for assisting with 3D printing for the in-flight entertainment system.
Congratulations to all students on presenting excellent solutions.
Athletics Success
Earlier in the month, Charlie competed at the Senior Regional Athletics Championships. She dominated the track, clinching gold in both the 100 and 200 metre events. Her impressive speed took home these victories and has officially qualified for the State Championships! Well Done Charlie
Western Bulldogs and VU Leadership Program
Over the past two weeks our Year 9 leaders have been involved in a program ran by the Western Bulldogs. We thank the club for their ongoing support of our students
Year 12 Recharge Day
Our year 12 students took some time away from formal classes and revision to 'recharge' before their final exams last Friday. The day involved a session of 'Paint and Snack' for art therapy and mindfulness, a pizza lunch and then a lesson on dumpling making.
Next week our students move into a week of structured revision before final exams begin for our class of 2025.
We hope that this day has recharged and reset our students so they can tackle their exams to the best of their ability.
Godolphin Internship Program
Hi, my name is Zelda and on the recent spring school holidays, I was accepted to do a paid internship program at a Godolphin’s Melbourne site at Flemington racecourse!
Godolphin is one of the largest global thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operations that is widely recognised as being extremely prestigious. After doing a work experience there in conjunction with our school, I really enjoyed the atmosphere I got working with the thoroughbreds, so they allowed me to come and do a work placement to see what it was like working full-time as a stablehand/strapper with these elite racehorses, and this was what a day in my life looked like.
I woke up to my alarm at 3 in the morning, quite different from the usual school wakeup! I left at 3.30 to get to the stables at 4am, with my mum very kindly driving me there.
After getting in and putting my things away, I always checked the schedule before doing anything else to see which horses were going out for trackwork and when I would need to make sure mine were ready. I was the strapper for three horses during my time; a strapper is essentially someone who primarily takes care of a horse, ensuring they are happy and ready to go off to trackwork at the right time. I would take their temperatures in the morning and give them lots of pats before talking to my colleagues about the plan for the day and anything I needed to know.
When the other horses would leave to do trackwork, I emptied and refilled their water, mucked out boxes and gave them more hay. Once the time came, I would take my horse to the tie ups to saddle them, and give them a warm-up by walking them around, similarly to how the parades work on race days, when you see the horses walking around the mounting yard. I’d give the track riders a leg up, then continue to help out with bits and bobs around the barn when waiting for my horse to come back.
After they work, we give the horses a nice roll around in the sand pit, since they are basically big dogs and love rolling around in there. Then we give them a nice warm bath, dry them off and leave them to eat their breakfast, and do it all again for another horse.
One time I even got to accompany my colleague with one of our fillies (female horse) to swim her in the massive horse ‘pool’, to aid in recovery after a race and as a nice thing for them to do; they love it!
After all the track work finishes we finally have some nice time with our horses to groom them and check for any injuries or cuts on them. The nice thing about being a strapper for specific horses is that you get to know their personalities really well and what they do and don’t like, so trust is established between you and your horse.
The morning shift finishes at 9.30am, so after that I would go back home on the train and wait until 2pm to go back to the stables.
The afternoon is a lot calmer, with us walking the horses, mucking out boxes and topping up their hay and water, then letting them enjoy their dinners. The horses get to pick at the grass too, and you can see the grey pony Jeoffry (one of our companion horses) having a great time grazing! After that we give them some pats and shut the stable doors to let them relax and go to sleep at about 4pm.
Then I’d go home, have dinner and get to bed at 7.30pm to do it all again the next day. I loved the experience so much and really enjoyed being hands on, it was lovely!
