Senior School
Senior School Banksia
At the beginning of Term 2, I began my 8 week stint in the Senior School at Banksia, after some time off on Maternity Leave. I’ve replaced Mr Boyd who is taking some time to spend with his new baby and wife. It’s been lovely to be so warmly welcomed by the Banksia staff and students! We are really proud of how the Senior Students have returned from their Term 1 break. The Year 12 VCE students have hit the ground running with many SACs scheduled in a short period of time. In the second week of term, all of the Senior School students from both Acacia and Banksia attended the Careers Expo at Caulfield Racecourse. There were a range of exhibitors including Universities and TAFEs, as well as seminars that students could attend. The school subsidised this excursion so all students could attend and make informed choices about their subjects and future pathways.
Our school has been selected to participate in the Trial GAT (General Achievement Test), which will occur on Thursday 27th May. All VCAL students as well as students who are studying a Unit 3 and 4 subject will participate in the trial. This trial will enable VCAA to design and implement the new GAT in 2022. Shortly after, on Wednesday the 9th June, all Unit 3 and 4 students will sit the GAT.
Students in Years 10 and 11 are in the process of finishing units of work in preparation for their mid-year exams. Senior School exams begin on Monday 31st May and conclude on Thursday 10th June. Students will receive an exam timetable, and will attend school when they have an exam scheduled. We wish students all the best in their upcoming exams. The Year 12 and VCAL program continues as normal.
Natalie Fode - Senior School Assistant Principal - Banksia Campus
‘Stress hack workshop’
The Year 12 leadership team was fortunate enough to take part in the ‘Stress Hack’ workshop run by the Skyline Foundation. This 2-hour session provided us with keys skills such as prevention of stress, how to manage your time effectively, and importantly how to handle stress. After attending this session, most of the students learnt something which will hold them in better stead for the stressful period coming up for them. The workshop was interactive and highlighted fundamentals on keeping calm and persisting. Throughout the workshop, there was an interactive section for all the eager students who had questions about ‘stress’ which were answered within minutes. I highly suggest attending these workshops as it only takes 2 hours out of your day and is very informative. Your only limit is your mind! Pyrien Chantagit- Banksia College Captain
‘An inside view from a Year 12 student’
The halfway point of the school year has come so quickly for the Year 12’s. SAC’s have been hitting the VCE students left right and centre! With 2020 being such a compromised year, the feeling of sitting in a room with 90 other students, silent, vigorously writing on their paper was missed. The English SAC in recent weeks, gave just that feeling to all students sitting the SAC. For many (certainly for me), it took a few minutes to calm down and focus on the task at hand. However, I’m sure once we all got going, we settled into the work. It’s been good to participate in large SACs like these, so we can be more composed come GAT and exam time! Raghav Anand- Banksia College Captain
Visual Communication Design Excursion Top Designs & Monash University Workshops
On the 28th of April, 6th and 11th of May, year 10, 11 and 12 Visual Communication Design classes attended the Top Designs exhibition at Melbourne Museum which features some of the best folios and final presentations past VCD students have created. Students also travelled to Monash University to participate in different workshops. An experienced architect taught students how to create a scale model of a house using a floor plan. Year 10’s participated in a typography workshop where a professional designer demonstrated various hand lettering techniques. Overall the day inspired many new ideas! Kind regards, Sarah Ng
Raising the Profile of Student Leadership
On Tuesday the 27th of April, Senior School Leaders took our 22 Student Leaders from Year 10 to Year 12 to the Youth Leadership Conference at the Melbourne Conference Centre. This is a conference presented by Young Community Leaders for youth with the purpose to inspire, strengthen and empower our future leaders. The students were involved in a full day program where they had the opportunity to listen to internationally recognised young speakers and engage in team activities designed to further develop their leadership skills. It aimed to empower students to become engaged in their school and community, make students more aware of their own ability to have an impact and to see the opportunities that entrepreneurship brings. The founder of this organisation, Wil Massara is a very inspiring young man at 18 years old. He is very passionate about supporting the youth of tomorrow to realise their true potential. He has presented this conference all around Australia and New Zealand. The students found the day to be very positive and talking to them afterwards it was interesting to see how their perceptions about how they can make an impact has changed. We are building the leadership expertise of our young leaders to expand the role of student voice across the College.
Senior School Acacia
Have continued to explore the pathway options available to them throughout Terms 1 and 2. Senior School students recently attended the ‘VCE and Careers Expo 2021’ at Caulfield Racecourse where they had the opportunity to interact with representatives from over 100 exhibitors ranging from Universities, TAFEs, Ambulance Victoria, Police, the Australian Defence Force and other registered training organisations and recruitment agencies. Additionally, students had the chance to attend seminars related to study skills and pathway opportunities on the day.
Students who nominated to be part of the Monash Mentor Program have now had multiple sessions with their mentors. Year 11 student Michelle Bui reports that “Being able to talk to someone who is currently in your desired pathway allows for an amazing insight on what you have in store for the future. It has allowed me to learn from their experiences and open opportunities, such as going on open days and shadowing students on a typical day. I have learnt about scholarships and applying to different types of courses, also receiving advice on dealing with stressful weeks, time-management & being on top of work.”
In further collaboration with Monash University, Year 11s engaged in an in-school session named ‘Uniopoly’; an interactive trivia game run by the Access Monash Team that allowed students to gain an insight into Uni life, pathway options and general course information.
Students from Year 10 were given the opportunity to attend the South Eastern Careers Expo ‘Try-A-Trade’ at Cranbourne Racecourse to explore different career opportunities. At this Career Expo our students participated in hands on experiences such as Brick laying, Mechanics, Carpentry and Welding. This allowed them to try industries and jobs that they have not had the chance to participate in and contemplating a pathway, discuss any questions they had and even make some items to take home like a phone holder made of wood. These students enjoyed engaging with the variety of exhibitors that were present at the expo and getting a hands-on feel for the skills involved across various industries.
