Around the Campuses
Global Youth Forum
Congratulations to the following Year 9 students who have been involved in the Global Youth Forum as part of the Victorian Young Leaders program:
Aayan Aizaz, Summer Dado, Ambriella Lafaele Falefata, Jade Le, Salome Lotu, Greta McCoy, Catherine Nguyen, Sakith Premarante, Erinn Sarreal and Kenan Tursic.
This program is an initiative of the Victorian Department of Education and Training and facilitated by Asia Education Foundation at the University of Melbourne.
The Forum is an interactive three-part online learning program for students in Year 9 Victorian schools to connect with peers from a range of schools and countries across the Asia-Pacific including: China, Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.
The forums are designed to deepen student understanding of identity, belonging, culture, globalisation, and what it means to be a global citizen. Throughout the program students engaged in a range of activities and regular breakout rooms in small groups with peers from a range of other schools and countries.
Our students covered issues around Globalisation – both the benefits and the challenges, including Intersectionality (how social and political identities create different discrimination and disadvantage)in education. Their guiding question was: What impacts do countries’ political and economic positions have on their citizens’ abilities to access quality education? (This question is based on a UN Sustainable Design Goal).
Students have worked on design solutions to this issue (as part of a ‘Design Sprint’ - using design-based thinking). The program culminated in an excursion to the University of Melbourne for a tour and introduction to the university's programs and facilities.
Thanks to Mr Worthen for supporting these students during this amazing program!
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Visit by Peter Costello AC
On 10th October, former Treasurer of Australia, Peter Costello, presented in front of the VCE Year 11 economics class.
From 1996 to 2007, Mr Costello served in the role of Treasurer, which also makes him the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. As the former Treasurer, Mr Costello was charged with overseeing economic policies as well as managing the money for the Government. His run came with a set of achievements, such as the introduction of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) and reducing income and company taxes. In the current state of the economy, Australia is facing a multitude of economic issues like increasing interest rates and high inflation. Because of these issues, it’s important to understand economics so that current living standards of Australia are improved.
During the presentation, students engaged in asking Mr Costello about key economic concepts and his time as Treasurer. Mr Costello gave a great insight into the world of economics and its importance in the past, the present, and the future of Australia. At the end of the class, Darren Bersabal on behalf of the class thanked Mr Costello for taking time out of his day to come in for such an insightful session.
Students of the Year 11 VCE Economics class also gave some feedback on Mr Costello’s presentation:
“Thank you, Mr Costello, for coming to our school to give us a glimpse into what it was like for you during your time as Treasurer, which made this a really an enjoyable and informative event. We hope you are able to return in order to provide others with a similar experience at VUSC.” – Darren
“Thank you for coming to our school and giving us an informative presentation. It was very helpful. The Australian Future Fund you talked about was very interesting and thank you for answering my questions.” – Bibi
“Thank you for coming to our school VUSC, sharing your knowledge as a former Treasurer, and answering our questions. Your talk was very informative and helped us learn more about the economy. Thank you for everything. This has helped us very much!” – Khin
By Aiden Truong (11F)
Thanks to Mr Anderson for organising this fantastic experience for our students!
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Year 8 and 9 AVID: Model United Nations Conference
On Tuesday 29th August students from the Year 8 and 9 AVID classes participated in a Model United Nations Conference. The program was a whole-day online simulation of a session of the UN General Assembly, which was run as a creative forum of role-play and debate. Students stepped into the shoes of country ambassadors and drew on their negotiation and diplomacy skills to ensure their country’s views were heard about the topic of Zero Hunger.
Prior to the day, students investigated the major issues concerning their country and identified what their nation was doing to address food security. During the conference, students had the opportunity to interact with other delegates during the caucus sessions, present their country’s position to the General Assembly and move and vote upon amendments to a Draft UN Resolution.
Students were engaged and collaborated via Zoom with our sister school in China. The conference was a fantastic opportunity for students to further their skills in public speaking, collaboration, leadership and critical thinking. It allowed students to be become global citizens and to be mindful about the broader issues affecting people from around the world.
We even had a feature article on this event in the Brimbank Star Weekly! Well done to all the students involved!
Mrs Mercadante
AVID Elective Teacher
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Lunchtime Activities
Lunchtime activities are happening at both campuses throughout the week - including sports, board games and more! Students can speak to their Coordinator for more details.
There is also a new Gardening club at the Junior Campus with Ms Grant - on Tuesdays at lunch time and on Thursdays during the second half of lunch. All welcome!
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