Teaching & Learning

VCE English

To deepen their understanding of Jane Harrison's play Rainbow's End, the school invited Noongar/Gunaikernai woman, Shiralee Hood, and producer James Adler, to explore the First Nation geographical and cultural underpinnings of the text. 

With a mix of humour, authentic stories, and powerful advocacy, our presenters lead students to stand in the shoes of the play's characters, as the reality behind their struggles and hopes were brought into clear relief. 

Thank you to all the students who volunteered to take part in reading and acting out of key scenes, and to everyone else who showed respect and curiosity throughout. 

Aaron Zampichelli

Spanish

This last half of the term, Year 8 SPA3 students have been learning about popular street foods from across Latin America. Along the way, they have built their Spanish vocabulary by learning the names of different ingredients and foods.

To finish the unit, students created their own simple recipes using the ingredients we have been learning in class. They practised writing in Spanish and enjoyed getting creative with their food ideas. It has been a fun way to combine language learning with culture and discover some of the delicious foods enjoyed in Spanish-speaking countries.

(Pictured recipes by Tia, Abby, Miles, Charlie, Bonnie, Zoe, Orla, Daisy and Mila).

Maria Barbera Fernandez

Fine Art

A few weeks ago, our Year 10 class had an amazing opportunity to visit Schoolhouse Studios, a local art studio in Coburg. We were greeted by Claire Lehmann, owner of Studio Lehmann, who showed us around and introduced us to a few other local artists. Claire is a ceramics artist, and explained to us the process in which she creates her sculptures. We learned about brass casting, wax carving and porcelain moulds. We also met Ashley Ronning, owner of Helio Press, who specialises in illustration and screen printing. She showed us some of the amazing, vibrant art pieces she was currently working on. My favourite was a poster for a local concert.

In class at school we had been learning about ceramics, and even made our own sculptures out of earthenware clay. These sculptures were then taken down to the studio, and Claire showed us the kiln that they will be fired in. It was great to learn about the process in which our pieces would go though. Finally we wrapped up the session with a Q & A for Claire and her work in ceramics. I learnt that it costs around $9 of electricity to only fire up the kiln once, as well as that different types of clay have different firing temperatures and techniques. All in all, me and my class had lots of fun learning about what goes on in Schoolhouse Studios and the process behind creating ceramic pieces.

Caitlan Yr 10

Belinda Pringle