Learning In Action
Year 9 City Experience
Learning extends far beyond the classroom, and the Year 9 City Experience provided students with authentic opportunities to build independence, resilience and real-world skills. In the reflections below, students share their perspectives on the program and the valuable learning that took place throughout the week.
City Experience: Student Reflection - Zach
City experience was definitely one of the highlights of my year 9 experience so far. The wild selection of activities kept everyone in our cohort excited and entertained. But I would like to highlight some of my most favourite things I got to do!
The first one being the MCG Tour, now I am a bit biased with this one because I am a mad AFL supporter, but I don’t think that matters. Because the amount of history it has behind the scenes is unbelievable. From old history from many decades ago to nowadays, there is is a wild selection to choose from. One of my favourite things about the history was Don Bradman, the well known Australian Cricketer. Learning about his career stunned me, hearing that he had the highest batting average of 99.94 runs. But another reason the MCG is so high for me is because of the underground fun and games area, from the variety of footy goals to soccer, basketball and cricket brings the tour to an even higher amount of enjoyment.
Another stand out for me was the Eureka Sky Deck. This is because of how high you go, you can basically see the whole entire city from one little glass room. It shows all landmarks and crazy things you didn’t know existed. And if you wanted to pay a little more money then you could go out in a glass box about 3m of the building to see the city from a better view and scary height.
Lastly the Old Melbourne Gaol and for those who don’t know what Gaol means it’s Jail. The Jail was amazing, it had old walls, ropes, statues, armour and sculptures of peoples head in some cell. The excitement never went away when being in this place because of how ancient and realistic it was. But I would highly recommend using a tour guide to tour around the place. This is because they knew every back story, from old people in the cells, to famous stories and even how the law worked back in the day (it was horrible).
But overall, I think touring the great Melbourne city should definitely be on the bucket list for anyone because it brings joy, adventure and great excitement.
City Experience: Student Reflection - Sasha
Over our three-day journey to the city, we got to experience many amazing Melbourne attractions. We started off with a bang, beginning with a competition called “The Amazing Race” it was personally one of my favourite activities as we got to explore around the city to find tourist attractions and complete activities. I enjoyed it because of how we got to experience the city for ourselves and see how people went about their day whilst competing with other teams. By far my favourite activity though was the Eureka Skydeck, being able to see everything in one big picture really brought to scale how big the city really is.
My groups very first activity on the second day was a visit to “The Big Issue” where we learned about how they are helping people who have been misplaced from their homes. At “The Big Issue” they talked to us more about the different programs they have to help people get back up on their feet, mainly through the selling of newspapers to passing people. It really opened my eyes, and throughout the rest of city experience I noticed the people in green vests around the city who have been helped by “The Big Issue”. It felt like an important lesson and is what stuck with me the most.
On our final day to the city I had an amazing time. The group I was in started in the Queen Victoria Market and we were allowed to roam around to look at all the stores. Personally, my favourite stall was the chocolate strawberries. Later in the day we made our way to the MCG for a tour, we learned about the history of the stadium and the different sporting events that had taken place inside. In the end we had an interactive experience learning different fun facts of the MCG through the scannable wristbands that we were given.
Science Week
Science Week at St Helena Secondary College was a fantastic celebration of curiosity, creativity and the world of science! Throughout the week, students had the opportunity to experience science in fun and engaging ways, beginning with the Time for Tech STEM Comedy Incursion for our Year 8 students. Students enjoyed a lively STEM-focused show that combined science, technology and comedy. In addition science-themed music and daily trivia questions added a little science spice each day.
Lunchtime activities gave students plenty of opportunities to get involved, explore and have fun. Students became science detectives in Who’s Who of Science Quiz, tested their observation skills during Mysteries of the Murky Waters by examining pond-water critters under our light microscopes, and unleashed their creativity through Crafting Curiosity.
A highlight of the week was the spectacular Science Demonstrations in the Agora. Students were amazed by dry ice, elephant toothpaste, rocket launches, exploding mocktails while also learning about the scientific principles behind each demonstration. The MythBusters-style demo's encouraged students to explain the science and volunteer their ideas, making science exciting, accessible and memorable.
The week concluded with students taking part in an Engineering Bridge Challenge while the Science Photobooth provided a fun opportunity for friends to snap a pose with our fun science-themed props.
Science Week was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the creativity, problem-solving and curiosity that make science such an important part of our school community. A huge thank you to the Science Domain, staff and students who helped make the week such a success!
From Ms Turkozu and the Science Domain
Year 10 Snow Camp - Falls Creek
Last week, a lucky group of Year 10 students enjoyed an unforgettable experience at Bogong Outdoor School. Over several days, students took on the challenge of cross-country skiing and downhill skiing at Falls Creek, building new skills while enjoying the incredible alpine environment.
Each day brought new adventures, with students preparing their own breakfasts and having new, tasty, themed dinners before heading up to Falls Creek for their skiing sessions. Back at camp, there was plenty of time to relax and connect with others through pool, table tennis and other games, as well as engaging in educational activities exploring the unique alpine environment.
A further highlight was the opportunity to meet and build friendships with students from Mount Waverley Secondary College and William Ruthven Secondary College, who were also attending Bogong Outdoor School.
The post-camp feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with students describing the experience as fantastic and many wishing to return for another adventure in Year 11!
Meeting The Author: Insights Into 'Nine Days'
Our Year 11 students had a special opportunity today, meeting award-winning author Toni Jordan, whose novel Nine Days they are currently studying as part of VCE English.
Hearing directly from the author and having the opportunity to ask questions about the novel gave students valuable insight into the text, helping to deepen their understanding of its themes, characters, and ideas.
A big thank you to Resource Centre Manager Natalie Montalto and English Domain Leader Kirsten Finley for organising this fantastic learning opportunity.