Whole School News
Year Eleven Certificate IV in Business course
Last week, students from the Year Eleven Certificate IV class headed over to the Primary School to spend a period playing games. To get to this point, the Cert IV class had been unpacking communication in the workplace, and identifying how important all forms of communication are in a variety of circumstances. They were posed with the task of designing or remixing a game that exaggerated a particular communication type, and needed to demonstrate the skills within it to the Primary School players. Primary students were presented with a rotation of games they could participate in, culminating in a class game of "red-light green-light" - which playfully demonstrated the power of verbal communication.
GSG students and Albany Community Foundation's BIG Sleep Out event collaboration
I am proud to announce that under the guidance of the Albany Community Foundation, our Year Eleven Certificate IV cohort has begun work on a significant project with far-reaching effects on our community. As part of their Certificate IV in Business coursework, these students will be contributing to Albany's BIG Sleep Out, a community event that aims to raise money and awareness about homelessness in our region. In 2022, the Albany community fundraised $43,850 for the Homelessness Fund. The target this year, is to exceed last year!
The BIG Sleep Out has evolved into a fundraising initiative, organised by the Albany Community Foundation (ACF) with the support of various agencies. The students' objectives include assisting with event organisation, creating a social media plan, liaising with agencies and schools, compiling vendor lists, and promoting the event within the community. They will also conduct a Work Health and Safety assessment and other tasks as major integrations of their coursework. Their work will assist to raise funds to support those at risk of, or experiencing homelessness, and provide real, contextualised learning experiences as part of their training.
Earlier this term, the ACF held their first board meeting, hosted by the class. The classroom was transformed into a hybrid board room, with committee members participating in person, and via Teams. Students were introduced to key stakeholders, and took notes about the reflections of last year's event. They contributed to initial planning ideas, and are about to begin work on their project charters and plans.
Save the date for the 2023 event - Saturday 26 August 2023. You can expect regular updates about the BIG Sleep Out event as the students progress through their planning with ACF.
Check out these two videos, which provide amazing insights into the scope and impact of the work students will be involved in creating. Students were shown these videos this week:
Mr Kyal Rose | Teacher
VACS service rotations
Musical Performance – Written by Gus Andrew (Year Seven) and D’Costa Hardey (Year Seven)
The musical performance group is putting together a showcase of songs that will make people happy. D’Costa Hardey and Gus Andrew went to the music building to 'interrogate' some students doing music practice. We first filmed a group of girls in music rehearsal room one: Venja Ruggera, Laila Barron-Cook, Abby Andrew, Stella Boyce and Rachel Turner. They were practicing performing for students that require special educational support. They said they enjoyed using their talents to bring people enjoyment. In another group, Katie Hartzell, Sophie Harris and Mischa Collin were looking forward to performing “Hot Potato” by the Wiggles and hoped it would make kids want to clap along.
Hunger Heroes – Written by Livi Arnold (Year Nine) and Hudson Hagnhofer (Year Nine)
Students from the Hunger Heroes VACS club have been making loaded fries to raise money to donate to Foodbank. It will be donated to less fortunate people who can’t afford to buy food on a constant basis or to people who are unable to cook for themselves. The people that were involved in making the fries said that it was a really good opportunity to give back to the community and help out.
Primary School – Written by Gina De Giambattista (Year Eleven) and Owen Baxter-Holland (Year Eleven)
On 24 May, the students participating in the VACS club Primary School assisted students with Maths activities and lunch. The participants were spending one-on-one time helping Primary School students with their maths and playing together during the children’s lunchtime.
When interviewed Pierce Newman said it was great for the younger students to meet the Secondary School students, and he met so many students he would not see on a day-to-day basis. Also, he is absolutely loving the activity, and everyone is having a great time playing games.
Tree Planting
A group of students undertook weeding and tree planting at Lake Seppings and a clean up of Ellen Cove.
RSL Albany Sub-Branch Boer War commemorative service
Last Sunday GSG students Pierce Newman (School Captain) and Jack Lange (Year Nine) laid a wreath on behalf of the school at the RSL Albany Sub-Branch Boer War Commemorative service. They were accompanied by Head of Boarding, Mr Ashley Keatch.
