Networks 

Secondary Life

Purpose Project

Emily Gosbell, Careers Practitioner

The Purpose Project was a pilot program that has been the focus of the weekly Year 10 CELLS period for Term 2. The intention of the Purpose Project was to give students time and space to think about what they are good at, what they love, what they can be paid for and what the world needs.  

 

Early in Term 3, Year 10 students will need to submit their VCE subject choices. The project's intent was to allow students to not only learn more about who God uniquely created them to be but also to understand more about opportunities that are available to them in their future. It is our hope the provision of intentional time to think about their futures will prepare them for making suitable subject choices and motivate them for what is to come.  

  

Students spent their weekly CELLS class preparing for the project. During the preparation stage we saw students navigating finding and securing work experience placements, completing the necessary forms, designing their learning opportunities, writing proposals for where and how they wanted to explore future options, signing up for accredited courses, getting a USI (Unique Student Identifier) and selecting other skill development opportunities. The planning process saw many of our students challenged with administrative processes and the need to adhere to time management requirements. 

  

The Purpose Project itself was a  five day program that ran last week.

  

Day 1: Skills Day

We offered six skill development sessions for which students needed to sign up:  

  • 11 Students completed their White Card 
  • 24 Students completed their First Aid Certification 
  • 23 Students completed their Food Handling Certification 
  • 25 students completed Coaching training
  • 60 students completed some online training modules. 

Days 2-4: Student Proposal Activation 

Students designed and participated in some of these options: 

  • Work experience placements
  • "Finding Life" - a Donvale-led experience where students listened to stories of people serving God and others in a variety of ways. They asked people in their lives to help them dream about their futures.
  • Completed design projects
  • Signed up to develop further skills, or took time out to learn a skill for the future
  • Interviewed people in workplaces and roles they are interested in, to learn from their experiences
  • Visited places where they would like to study in the future.

There are far too many to list them all! 

  

Day 5: Future Focus Day 

Students attended a variety of sessions to help them understand some of the many options available to them after they complete Year 12. They heard from Sid at Deakin Uni who explained what tertiary study is; Karishma from MEGT Australia introduced students to apprenticeships and traineeships; and Tate from the Skill and Jobs Centre addressed the realities of getting work.  We then headed to Deakin University where we attended a student panel, went on a campus tour, and visited either a Psychology or Law workshop. 

  

This pilot Purpose Project was a huge success. Congratulations to the Year 10 students for creating engaging projects and for the courage it took to put yourself out there and try new things.

 

Thank you to all the CELLS teachers for supporting each student in getting the most out of their experiences. Year 10 parents thank you for encouraging and supporting your young person to make the most of this opportunity. To Emily Grimes, Kylie Thorpe, Andrew Astley, Charlotte Stilve, Tracey Bish, Stephen Said and Amelia Burnet - your support in running this program has been incredible. 

 

I am looking forward to developing and running this program again in the future.  

Winter Strings

Janine Power, Music Administrator

On Monday 17 June the first of our concert series “Winter Strings” was held in the Community Hub. There were 166 students involved and an audience of over 300 parents and friends.  

 

The string team is headed by Ms May Gavin with Josh Dobson, Josh Manusama, Emma Amery, Margarita Lourgaeva together with Annabel Young directing the Junior Chimes group. 

 

One highlight of the evening was watching our Foundation Strings students, who have only commenced this year, open the concert with two pieces learned by heart and performed with great enthusiasm!   

 

The evening saw our four DCC string ensembles - Foundation, Junior, Intermediate and Senior Strings, perform with confidence and unity. Each ensemble welcomed the opportunity to perform some of the new work they have been rehearsing this year. 

 

The Junior Strings played A Miniature Symphony and Gap of Dunloe while our Intermediate String ensemble presented the Finale from Serenade for Strings and a Minuet in D.

 

The DCC Intermediate Bells group comprises several of our Primary students who are to be commended for their hard work in mastering the use of the bells. A beautiful rendition of Ten Thousand Reasons by our Senior Bells ensemble had the audience captivated, with many voices softy joining in where moved, during this beautiful worship offering. 

 

Our Senior String ensemble closed the night with familiar songs from “The Sound of Music.” 

 

The evening was well-attended, and we are now very much looking forward to preparing for our major concert “Celebration of Sound” being held at the Besen Centre in September.  

CAW Cake Decorating

Rachel Schijf, Food Studies Teacher

Lights, layers, mini characters and fondant were all on show in the battle for House points in the 2024 Creative Arts Week cake decorating competition. The superhero themed competition included a diverse range of colourful and interactive entries displaying the amazing skills and creativity of our students. 

 

Congratulations to all students who entered a cake and well done to the award winners for this year!

Year 9 Health Week

Taimi Buchan, Year 9 Teacher

Last week the Year 9s were immersed in a week about health. After spending the term investigating many of the ways “The Fall” impacts our lives even today, we had the opportunity to explore what wellness can look like and what things we can do to improve or maintain the bodies we have been given. The Bible tells us our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, thus caring for ourselves is one way we can honour our creator. 

 

We began the week by mapping our own health using “The Eight Dimensions of Wellness” and from there we set some goals for the week. We listened to experts, watched dramatic presentations, built budgets, planted trees, mapped emotions, danced, stretched, bounced and even ate together! 

 

It is our hope that even though the week was jam-packed full of excellent information, every student walked away feeling resourced and empowered to put some things in place to improve at least one dimension of their wellness.  

Health Week Student Reflections

 

This experience has taught me to recognise different dimensions of my health and learn how to take care of them better. My goals have been impacted in the fact that I now better understand the dimensions and know how to set more realistic goals surrounding them.

 

During the orienteering session, I think it benefited my physical health, because I was walking for a long time. It also benefited my emotional health, from being outdoors, and my social health, from spending some time with friends outside of the normal school setting.

 

I think my understanding of emotional health deepened vastly. Before health week, I thought emotional wellness was the state of always being happy. Through the expert speaker and the session, I now understand that it isn’t a straight line, but a rollercoaster of regulating emotions and balancing workload and free time.