Teaching & Learning
English Language
Our Year 11s have just begun Unit 2 English Language and are investigating some of the invasions, incursions, inventions, infections and inscriptions that have helped to shape English over the last 1500 years.
This week students have been getting a little artistic and have constructed an Indo-European Language Tree to put up on the wall of their classroom, in order to help visualise some of the references and connections they will be making in Term 3.
Students each made a 'language leaf' containing interesting grammatical information about their chosen language and pinned it to the relevant branch (Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Hellenic) on the tree.
Ross Clark
Semester 1 at CHES
Congratulations to our Year 10s completing Semester 1 subjects at the Centre for Higher Studies (CHES)! The following students did CHS very proud at the final Seminar Day of all their hard work. Students showcased their final projects in a variety of subjects to staff and families, reflecting their academic excellence, curiosity and commitment.
Well done to the following:
Kate V - LingoLab - the use of AI in creative writing
Oscar T - Critical Thinking for Creative Minds - Victorian Parliament Prize speech
Seeley C - Introduction fo Algorithmics - coding
Quinn M - Introduction to Algorithmics - coding
James M - Introduction to Algorithmics - coding
Michael P - Introduction to Algorithmics- coding
Sam Morley
Rainbow's End Incursion
Noongar/Gunaikerai woman Shiralee Hood created a program from a culturally informed pedagogic approach, engaging students in key scenes from the play Rainbow’s End by Jane Harrison.
Year 12 Student reflections
"I thought the whole thing was really interesting and engaging, I loved learning more about Indigenous culture and it was really beneficial for me to hear more about her experience with inspectors and fear as this helped me to understand the play more clearly and connect with the characters."
"My main takeaway from yesterday’s lesson on Rainbows End was how deeply the play highlights the strength and resilience of Aboriginal women, particularly through the characters of Nan Dear, Gladys, and Dolly. It was great to see the emotions played by Nan Dear as she experienced so much back in the days when Aboriginal people were mistreated and how she looks after her children to understand the trauma she faced."
"Learning from someone who has experienced it first hand made the learning of it stronger and more memorable."
"I thought the incursion was a very deep and heartfelt event, learning further about Aboriginal culture and the backstory of Shiralee [the presenter] and also Nan Dear [the character], and how they share a similar story of childhood."
"My main takeaway would be how emotional the play really was. I got to recite Glady's speech which gave me a sense of understanding of Shiralee as she told me this is what she experienced as a child."
"That it is really important to be continuously learning about and having conversations about Aboriginal culture, heritage and history, and to be hearing about these experiences from Aboriginal people."
"That there is so much emotional depth behind the events of the play that I didn't pick up on at first, like the scene where the inspector comes. I didn't realise how distressing and traumatic that would be because they could literally just take children away for any reason and they would never be seen again."
Aaron Zampichelli & Lydia Burns
Year 7 English Literature Circles
This whole term 7I did Literature Circle conversations. This was their KLT for the term and they worked really hard on it. Literature conversions are where you are allocated into a group and you all have to read the same book and every two or so weeks you have a conversation. The novel selections were Skellig, Little Women, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Unwanted Children, Runner, Holes and Wonder. The students read all term every week and added lots of detail to their digital workbooks. Their digital workbooks were their planners for their conversations and had all of the detail they needed to stay on track. In these digital workbooks there were the students allocated roles that they chose for their conversations and there were tables for the students to fill out on what role they were doing. For example just say you were a summariser you would have to write a summary in your table so you have it ready for your next conversation. Every group had a digital workbook and they worked really well.
Another thing the class did really well were their reflections. These were online and every student had to write their own after a conversation. They wrote about how they could improve but also how well they went. These reflections were marked as well as the conversations. The students had an allocated paper slip which said how many chapters they had to read. Most of the students have finished their novels because of their dedication to reading every night or so.
Eva W, 7I
Physical Education
As part of the PE curriculum, students have been engaging in hands-on investigations that explore the connection between the mind and body in sport. To complete their recent PE Lab report, students sat in a reflective circle, analysing how different types of music can affect mental performance and focus before physical activity.
Every Friday lunchtime, a dedicated group of Year 8 girls have been hitting the field to sharpen their skills through soccer drills in preparation for the upcoming interschool competition. Although originally scheduled for Week 10, poor weather led to its cancellation. The team will now compete next term, with training continuing in the meantime to ensure they're ready to give it their all!
Zhanet Zyka
Spanish
Term 2 Update
This term in Spanish, Year 7 students have been learning how to describe people’s physical appearance and personality – and having a lot of fun along the way! One of the highlights has been a collaborative activity where students created a mysterious character as a class. As we described this fictional person together, students added details and ideas while bringing the character to life through drawings. It was a fun and creative way to practise vocabulary and sentence building. This activity was following an approach called Comprehensible Input, which focuses on exposing students to language they can understand through engaging and meaningful content. This method helps build confidence and fluency, making language learning feel more natural.Once our characters were complete, students wrote their own descriptive paragraphs using the vocabulary and grammar they had learned – a great opportunity to showcase their developing Spanish skills! ¡Muy bien, Year 7!
Here are our students shared their ideas using mini white boards:
Maria Barbera Fernandez
Exam Preparation
In their final double-period study session before exams, Year 10 Active for Life students took a well-earned break to enjoy a spread of snacks while they studied, a reminder that studying can be a positive, shared experience. By creating a supportive environment students learned how to enjoy the process, manage stress, and build healthy habits as they head toward VCE. The class performed very well on their exam, proof that balance really does pay off!
Zhanet Zyka
Year 9 Fine Art
Year 9 students are sharing their recent artworks and reflections. Here are some of their artworks, and some snippets of their reflections:
"When working on the material that was on the table I tried to make sure that it still had some life to it and in order to give the cloth that purpose I drew folds into the material by erasing certain parts with a moldable rubber then darkening the area around it. These folds then led into the skull, drawing your eyes once more to the main piece. By including both dark and bright parts in my piece it created a dramatic mood that invites the viewer to reflect"
Eden - "The art principle of pattern was highly used in this piece and the multi coloured wool created an ombre and striped pattern. On the bottom of the top piece there is a striped circle that helps to create an eye drawing effect towards the tentacles. Unity is also created in this piece as by creating an ombre blue rim on the top of the jellyfish with the dull brown allows the piece to give a sense of completion and unity."
Head Full of Spring - Jackson K
"this is an original piece I came up with, using the inspiration from a flower pot and a pink Camellia flower. This train of thought led me to make a small person with a flower head and white flower pot characteristics."
Life Moves On - Harriett L
"This sculpture captures the subject of a hot air balloon suspended in mid air. It represents the feeling of wanting to “fly away” or “escape” from yours, and others, problems while still being unable to disconnect from them. The name of the sculpture is derived from the song “Life Goes On” by The Sundays, which also provokes the conversation about the wish of flying.
“Weather the storm,
Well, life goes on,
Feelings ebb and flow by hour,
You're up in the clouds,
And then you sink like a stone.”
The Sundays"
Ivy D - "If I were to make this bag again, I would probably try to make the bag a different shape that is less bulky and more casual as well as using fabric to ensure the whole surface is covered and to add some texture and life to the bag."
Charcoal Drawing - Harriet S
"I wanted the bones to stand out against the blurred fabric in the background, particularly the skull because it is the focal point of the composition. So to emphasise them I used texture. To create this texture on the ram’s horn I repeated curved lines and to create it on the vertebrae I used stippling. For the sheep’s skull I lightly cross hatched some of the darker areas and added small dots and lines to highlight little cracks and other details. This also generated variety within the piece".
Escaping the Sardine Tin - Harriet S
‘Escaping the Sardine Tin’ is my construction sculpture that depicts a tin of sardines tipped on its side. The lid of the tin has been rolled back halfway, exposing three sardines inside. One of the sardines is falling out of the tin, into a pool of oil. Along the sides of the tin, there are wobbly yellow stripes.
The Ring of Diabetes - Ada H
"The name ‘The Ring of Diabetes’ is in relation to the slow decline in human nutrition and how we are ignoring the proper foods that we need to eat in order to stay healthy for small moments of happiness that we get when consuming something sweet and processed. The colours in this sculpture are bright and cheery which enhance the way that the donuts look making it more appealing to the human eye and making them enticed to consume the sugar."