Student Stories, Achievements & Community Updates

Student Stories

Year 8 Science 

Students have been exploring cell function and structure in Year 8 Science. Elodea and onion have been viewed using microscopes and students have had the chance to view a range of animal cells such as blood, liver, skin, muscle and lung cells. 

"In class we used the microscope to discover the cells of an onion peel and an elodea leaf. An onion is a complex plant structure composed of multiple cells (multicellular). Like other plant cells, an onion cell consists of a cell wall, a cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, and a sizable vacuole. Now moving onto the cells in an elodea. Just like the onion peel the elodea is also multicellular, but this is because most plant cells are made of more than one cell. Although it is a multicellular plant, it is a much more basic structure." - Lucca M. 

 "There are many differences between animal cells and plant cells. Cells vary is size, shape and function. Plant cells have a cell wall which separates the interior of the cell from the exterior environment."- Hamish M. 

Year 7 Hockey Incursion 

Our students welcomed coaches from St Bede’s Hockey Club to run a 1-hour session with each class. The session's focus was on skills development and participating in skill-specific drills to develop techniques and knowledge of the game. 

Students engaged in small-sided games which put their teamwork, decision-making and strategic play skills into practice. 

"It was hard work, but it was really fun." - Harry K. 

"I had never played Hockey before; I learnt something new, it was fun!" - Lucas J.

"I enjoyed playing Hockey and learning about the sport’." - Chris McC. 

Our thanks to Dave Byrnes and his coaching team for giving our students a fantastic opportunity to develop their skills and be part of the thriving Hockey community. 

Shrek The Musical Rehearsals 

Our inaugural College Production Captain Ethan Hepworth (Year 12) is thrilled to share an update on the rehearsals of Shrek The Musical with Kilbreda College and Mentone Girls Grammar School. 

"Production of St Bede's College long-awaited performance of Shrek the Musical has finally commenced this term! Our cast and crew are extremely enthusiastic and excited by all the hard work everyone has put in. 

 

Our focus in Term 1 has been to chop pieces of Act I together, and by end of term, Act I will be completely rehearsed and locked in. This means from Term 2, we can begin to put all of our efforts together to run Act I start to finish and commence Act II. 

 

Director Drew Downing and I visited a recording studio to create some exciting extra pieces for the show! The whole Shrek team has been working extremely hard and we cannot wait to present the show in all its glory come July."

Geography Field Trip

As part of their studies in Geography, all Year 7 and 8 students have participated in a fieldwork excursion these last couple of weeks. 

Meaghan Ryan, Learning Area Leader- Humanities (History and Geography) Mentone says both year levels had the opportunity to put their learning in the classroom, into action in the field, learning valuable skills and insights into our local environments. 

Student Experiences    

"On Thursday 14 March, students in 7.5 went to study the buildings, recreational facilities and architecture of different buildings around the perimeter of St Bede's College. This was part of a Geography Assessment we are currently working on where we look at the livability of Mentone. We started on the Dixon Street side of the College and ended three-quarters through Naples Rd. Through the trip we took fieldwork photos, completed a map and a table on the positive and negative features of the neighbourhood. I particularly enjoyed this activity as we got to move away from the pens and paper of the classroom." - Alexander N. Year 7 

"In the past few weeks, all Year 8 classes have taken an excursion to Mentone Beach to complete a fieldwork assignment on coastal landforms, pollution on the beach and we as humans can manage the landscape. On the trip, we would walk from Seagull Stack all the way to the dog beach. As we walked, we took photos and completed sketches and tables to analyse the research once we got back to the classroom. Many fascinating things were seen such as a seal having a breakfast of fish in the shallows, and dogs that could do cool tricks!

From my perspective, this trip was incredibly interesting as I learned a lot of information from the teacher as we walked. It was great fun to look out and try to find different landforms or sea life in the bay. We also saw a picture of the beach from 1929 and there was a big difference in the amount of vegetation that shows what we are doing to help the beach is working exceptionally well. Overall this trip was a great experience and it was just relaxing to take a nice walk on the beach whilst learning." - Zac D. Year 8

Year 10 Outdoor Education 

As part of this program, students investigate environmental issues surrounding different outdoor pursuits and environments. Student Will F. takes us through the program's  recent sailing excursion.

"We attended Sandringham Sailing Club and got to learn about the skills of sailing as well as work on our teamwork and communication skills. We were all excited as this was a new concept to most of us. The instructors were very welcoming and explained to us about the skills and knowledge on how to sail, in particular each role of the Skipper and Crew. 

We learned about the no-go zone, how to tack and how to recover the boat if we capsize. My group got better as we practiced these skills. They set out a course that we had to follow. Although a lot of groups had heaps of practice on recovering the boats with a lot of capsizing, this was good fun as it was a hot day and we got in the water. The experience was great and I would definitely do it again. We are looking forward to our next trip in the coming weeks."  

Celebrating Student Achievements

F1 in Schools National Finals 

Congratulations to our F1 in Schools Award-Winners, Team Aiolos! Program Coordinator, Peter Russell is incredibly proud of the team. 

"Team Aiolos - Nick, Roháhn, Matt, Luca and T'zario - were fantastic ambassadors for the College at the F1 in Schools National Final in Adelaide. 

I'm ecstatic that the team came away from the event with the award for Best Graphic Design amongst a fierce field of competitors. Making it through to the national stage of any competition is a huge achievement, and this is testament to the team's drive, passion and motivation across the past 12 months. 

Congratulations Team Aiolos and thank you to the College community for your support!" 

Work for next season is already underway, with 81 students across both our Campuses who have signed up to compete at the State Finals later this year. Team Aiolos will be bringing their experiences and insight from Nationals to mentor our new teams. 

ACC Triathlon 

A group of our Year 11 and 12 students represented the College at the recent ACC Triathlon. In both the individual competition and team relay, we went back to back in both categories and are the ACC Champions for Triathlon! 

Students either completed the 250m swim, 10km cycle and 3km run as an individual or in a team relay.  Gab Incani won overall - including the general public! - and our Top 4 all placed in the Top 5 of ACC competitors and we had many in the overall Top 20. 

With 501 participants in the event, it shows just how lucky we are to have such talented students. Our team relay champions won by a cool six minutes! 

Community Updates

Fighting for Felix 

Thank you to all who have donated and shown support for Felix Burgess and his family as they continue their journey of finding treatment for Felix's Ewing Sarcoma. Felix's mother Elesha has shared an update.

"We are a bit in limbo right now. We are just plodding along but thought I’d share a little update. 

Felix got some new meds to help with the nausea he had through the first two rounds and this third round went a lot better he was only sick once and it was a few days post treatment. His hair has thinned but still hanging on. This makes him feel better. 

Felix had a scan of his lungs two weeks ago. This was to see if any new nodules had grown on this treatment and they hadn’t. There are always these little question marks on scans that you just have to sit with till the next scans. I’d like to say you get used to it but you don’t, you just get better at pushing it away.

We had a zoom meeting with the US Dr on Friday and he said as we are dealing with micro metastases the chemo we are on is the right one, however no chemo alone is enough to kill Ewing’s and he has to have targeted radiation. 

Felix will have more scans next month and if they go to plan SBRR radiation should happen next month. For now we have his 4th cycle to get through in a little over a week, the rest has to wait. 

You can’t go to far ahead with this, you just have to deal with what is right in front of you. He’s doing good, holding his weight and gaming lots and even got to Southland with his dad on the weekend.

Thankyou for your support always, it means more than we can say."

If you would like to make a donation, please visit  Fighting For Felix

Mission Action Day - Win a Signed AFL Jumper 

Want your chance to win a signed Bulldogs or Demons AFL jumper?

Get your choice of either Bulldogs jumper signed by Old Collegian and Coach Luke Beveridge OR a Demons jumper signed by Old Collegian and recent debutant Blake Howes, Captain Max Gawn and Coach Simon Goodwin. All proceeds go to Mission Action Day.  Get your raffle tickets from $5 here. 

Prize winners drawn Friday 19 April 2024. 

In Memoriam 

Our condolences to the Goodchild family - Carolyn, Glenn, Ben (Class of 2017 and staff member) and Jake (Class of 2015) - on the passing of their father, father in law and grandfather, Gordon Dewhirst. Our thoughts and prayers are very much with them during this sad time.

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