Around the Grounds - Senior School

Gold Duke of Ed

A 4-day long hike: no showers, rainfall, steep uphills, and cold rice for lunch. Some people may shy away from such a big challenge, but not our group of 8. We saw potential for fun and growth on such a journey and faced it, head on.

On arrival, I found myself a bit shocked at how lovely the first campsite was. It had an uncover cooking area, a firepit, and also the local shops where we grabbed some ice-cream to enjoy. Of course not everything was sunshine and rainbows as sleeping on a hard mat in-between two other people is just as comfortable as you would imagine. The next day we ventured out on our first all day hiking journey and little did we know that the next few days wouldn’t be as luxurious as the first.

One of the biggest challenges I found with this trip was the constant uphills and big step ups that we had to make while carrying such a heavy bag (around 15kg!). By big step ups, I don’t just mean having to take responsibility and organise the trip on our own, but literally massive stairs and rocks we had to climb over. We even found ourselves ducking and weaving between rock walls. If it wasn’t already challenging enough, the clouds decided to open up and cool us down with a bit of rain. Unfortunately, this rain didn’t stop and made the night extra chilly. All I can say is that I’ve never been so happy to stay in my tent.

The best part of this journey (besides having a rest break during the hike) was having the chance to experience something so tough with a group of people completing it with me. Not only did this hike bring me closer to some amazing people, but it also taught me that taking on a challenge can be made a lot easier when you have your friends surrounding you. It was a chance to test what I was capable of and stretch my limits as far as I could. Nothing can beat the feeling of accomplishment when you reach the peak of a mountain, and you find yourself staring down at the miniature trees down below. That feeling alone is worth the no showers, rainfall, steep uphills, and cold rice for lunch. So, I urge you to also challenge yourself and see how far you can go.

Maxine M

School Captain & Gold Duke of Ed Participant

I am super proud of the Gold students on the camp. They planned and completed all tasks required to organise a Hike in the Grampians including food, navigation, equipment, camp sites and risk management. What was most wonderful was hearing them laughing as they came around the corner when meeting them halfway to return to camp with them after moving the bus. This activity brings people together and allows everyone to grow. Was it tough…you bet ya! Will it be forgotten or regretted…never!

Congratulations Nihar, Joshua, Amanda, Maxine, Daniel, Avaya, Muthu and Shayanne, and thank you for my birthday cake (which added a kilo to an already heavy pack). Love your work.

Mrs Tamara Sheehan

Duke of Ed Coordinator

AME Excursion

The year 11 and 12 (Unit 1-4) VCE Art Making and Exhibiting students went into the NGV Ian Potter gallery at Federation square to view Top Arts on Tuesday 23 April.

Monique gave an enlightened talk on a variety of works highlighting some of the more unique pieces, such as a full-size latex skin that one student peeled from herself. This student had then meticulously illustrated across the chest a personal photorealistic dot rendering of herself and her sister, it was astonishing in its conceptual value and skills. Monique also highlighted the role of the Gallery in undertaking a condition report as the students delivered their work, how the curator and exhibition designers planed the exhibition into 4 specific themes, and that this latex work will deteriorate and become shrivelled and fragile while on exhibit in the natural light.

The students are then privileged enough to view and handle the folios not on exhibit to the general public which is incredibly inspirational and often helps formulate and confirm directions they too would like to take.

With a tiny remaining bit of time we took the opportunity to examine the diverse and momentous work on display from Australia’s First people art and some of the early pioneers, particularly Mc Cubin.

It was a day of diversity, discovery and exploration of enriching opportunities and occupations.