Networks 

Secondary Life

EISM Division Swimming

Emily Townend - Head of Health and PE

Chris Turner - Head of Sport 

Our DCC EISM Swimming Team travelled to MSAC on Tuesday 13 March to compete in the Division 1 Swimming Carnival. In the face of tough competition against the top schools in the EISM, our students had a fantastic day in the pool, displaying great sportsmanship, effort, and grace in all events. 

 

As a school, we finished 6th overall in Division 1, and 2nd in the Overall Boys Aggregate. An excellent achievement! See below for a list of students who received a place in their events. A huge thank you to TJ Spence, our parent superstar swim coach and to everyone else involved.

 

A snippet from our Sports Captains, Nat Reichman and Georgia Bonda: The EISM swimming on Tuesday was such an exciting event-filled day, with our DCC swim squad putting all their efforts into each event they were involved in. Each swimmer demonstrated great sportsmanship with the surrounding schools. It was such a great day to show and award each other’s amazing swimming talents! 

 

1st Place: 

  • Charisse Chan (U14 Girls Breaststroke)  
  • Tom Greenwood (Open Boys Breaststroke) 

 

2nd Place  

  • U14 Boys Medley Relay + Freestyle Relay 
  • Open Boys Medley Relay + Freestyle Relay 
  • U16 Boys Freestyle Relay 
  • Joshua Spence (U14 Boys Freestyle A, U14 Boys Backstroke 
  • Matthew Chan (U14 Boys Freestyle B) 
  • Vangie Lau (U15 Girls Backstroke) 

 

3rd Place: 

  • Samuel Han (U13 Boys Freestyle B) 
  • Tommy Williamson (U15 Boys Freestyle B) 
  • Zoe Willis (Open Girls Freestyle B) 
  • Cory Liu (U15 Boys Backstroke) 
  • Matthew Chan (U14 Boys Breaststroke) 
  • Joshua Spence (U14 Boys Butterfly) 

Medieval Madness 

Jane Moyle - Year 8 Coordinator

Last week, our Year 8 students had the opportunity to step back in time as they delved into the captivating world of the Middle Ages during our Medieval Day. This engaging and immersive experience was run by History Up Close, who bring with them years of experience, brilliant props, and crazy tales of life in medieval Europe.

 

At the "Harm and Healing" session, students uncovered the mysteries of medieval medicine, exploring the remedies and practices of the time, from herbal concoctions to the art of surgery, shedding light on both the ingenious and bizarre methods of healing.

 

They also enjoyed exploring "Costumes and Lifestyle" where students were able to sample some of the finest gowns and dishevelled tunics of the time. The spirit of gallantry came alive in a session called the "Age of Chivalry", where students learned about the noble code of knights and their quests for honour. “Music and Dance" gave the students an opportunity to revel in the lively melodies and dances that filled medieval courts and taverns.

 

Medieval Day was an enriching and exciting experience, igniting a passion for history and culture that will hopefully resonate with our Year 8 students for years to come. Thanks so much to our Head of Year 8 Humanities, Natalie Peel, for all her efforts in co-ordinating the day! 

Pi Day

Trevor Carter - Head of Mathematics

Every year on 14 March (or 3.14 in US date nomenclature), the world celebrates Pi Day. To commemorate this day at DCC, the Maths faculty ran several events to celebrate the infinite number pi.

  

A busload of eager Year 9s came across to Tindals Road to join with some keen Year 10s to engage in some problem-solving activities and games in an incursion run by our guest speaker Andrew Lorimer-Derham from ThinkSquare. Participating in some strategy games evoked a sense of curiosity and wonder in the students. 

 

At lunchtime, over 150 secondary students and teachers gathered in the centre of the footy oval to create a human π symbol. A drone captured an image of us. 

Participants then lined up to enjoy a party ‘pi’ with some entering the competition to recite pi to the most digits, with larger pies being awarded to the winners.

Congratulations to all those who memorized and recited pi to over 40 decimal places, with special mention to Jamieson Koh of Year 7 who recited pi to over 100 decimal places… 

Stella Jiang and Lewis McLennan were our Year 8 winners and, in the seniors, Levi McIntosh retained his top standing from last year to win his year level, while Tyler Stokes was our Year 11 winner. 

 

In the afternoon, all Year 7s and 8s gathered in the Community Hub for an incursion run by our guest speaker, who passed on his passion for mathematics by challenging students to engage in mathematical thinking while playing some strategy games. Our students had a fun learning experience collaborating with one another in their table groups. 

 

Thank you to all students and staff who participated in these events. 

Wilderness Experience

Taimi Buchan - Year 9 Teacher

The 2024 Wilderness Experience was marked with incredibly kind weather, in which we admired spectacular vistas across God’s vast and beautiful Bogong High Plains. For five days, we lived in small interdependent communities, and we literally conquered mountains together!

 

Our goal each year is simple: to take the students out of their comfort zones. We want them to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and their place in our community.

 

We hope this event will be an asterisk on each individual’s timeline of life, so when they look back, they see it as a moment when they recognised themselves as a tiny, yet hugely significant part of God’s creation; as a capable, yet continually learning student of life; and as a unique individual in need of a community to flourish in, as it is intended.

VCE Art Excursion

Maria Hotton - Art Teacher

On 14 March, the VCE Art students met at Federation Square to embark on an excursion to visit many of the city galleries. They began the day wandering Hosier Lane to take in the street art, then spent much of the morning perusing a selection of Year 12 student art folios displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria. 

 

It was so inspiring to see what their peers had achieved last year and it provided a great source of stimulus for their own work. Students visited some smaller galleries around the CBD to compare the space, location and conservation practices that will be key learning for their SACs and exam. 

 

What a wonderful time we spent engaging with the varied and inspirational art spaces around our vibrant city. 

House Athletics Carnival

Emily Townend - Head of Health and PE

Chris Turner - Head of Sport

Our 2024 Athletics Carnival last Tuesday was a fantastic celebration of athletic skill, teamwork, and community. It was terrific to witness the efforts of students as they did their personal best in an endeavor to serve their House and help their team to victory. 

 

The day started with House Chants as community spirit and encouragement was generated. Flynn took the prize for their creative and entertaining chant this year!

Here is a snippet from the Flynn House Captains, Zara Baldwin and Takudzwa Nyirenda. 

What a day! As fast paced and hectic as it was, we were both so proud of the level of enthusiasm that Flynn house showed. House chants at the start of the day were a massive success with everyone jumping and getting into the house spirit. This early win set us up for an exceptional day of Flynn house participation in both track and field events, as well as the novelty relays, face painting and even cleaning up at the end of the day. 

We want to thank all the teachers who sacrificed their time to make this day run so smoothly, all parents that came to watch, and to the mighty Flynn house, well done and keep up the amazing work.

This is just a glimpse of things to come. Go FLYNN!  

 

The winning House for 2024 was Cooper. House Captains, Tahlia Briggs and Reuben Bester, commented:

Aths was such an amazing experience, not only did we win, but the participation was amazing. A very enjoyable experience from the perspective of a house captain, with so many people getting involved and putting in the effort. It was a fantastic opportunity to witness the continuously growing DCC secondary community. 

Special thanks to all the teachers and student helpers who were involved, we couldn’t have won without you. GO COOPER! 

Results for the day were:

  1. Cooper 1,821.5 pts
  2. Cuthbert 1,737.5 pts
  3. Burrows 1,729 pts
  4. Flynn 1,561 pts

We are very thankful to all staff for their assistance in helping the day to run smoothy, to parents for their continued support, and to all students for their participation and enthusiasm throughout the day, A big congratulations to our House Captains for all their hard work and encouragement as well.