Highlights of Term 2
Victorian Young Leaders to China tour returns
A massive congratulations to the fantastic group of Year 9's in successfully completing the Victorian Young Leaders to China Program which took them to China for 6 weeks with Mr On. The program has taught them about leadership, intercultural understanding and has accelerated their learning of Chinese at an incredible rate. It was one of the most amazing experiences for every student with new friendships formed and a discovery of oneself. We hope to send another group of eager Year 9 students on this amazing tour again next year.
Student Success Evenings
Thank you to the families who attended the Year 7 - 9 Student Success Evening recently. Families were provided with a range of strategies to support their child with their wider reading, maintaining physical and emotional wellbeing, organising and maintaining their binder and planner and reviewing Cornell Notes effectively as part of a regular homework routine. Five lucky students won the door prize; a stationery pack to set them up for success in Semester 2! The feedback from parents was very positive. A big thank you also to the following students who contributed to the presentation: Sahil Narayan, Chloe Woods, Donald La and Haonhi Nguyen.
The Year 10 – 11 Student Success Evening will take place on Wednesday 20th June.
Senior Music Soiree
Congratulations to our Senior Music students who all showcased great talent and high quality performances at the Senior Music Soiree recently. Well done students and thanks to Miss Orford for her amazing work!
Shrine of Remembrance Excursion - Year 11 History
As part of our Year 11 class, we had the privilege to visit the Shrine, a war museum that taught our group of the true immensity of the wars that Australia took part in. During our time at the museum we were able to look and take in primary artefacts which were taken from the wars that Australians fought in.
As a group we were all amazed at what our brave soldiers went through to make our society safe and free of war.
This amazement really kicked in when we were treated to a talk with an army veteran, who served for Australia in the Vietnam War during the years of 1962 and 1975.
His story was touching to all those involved and everyone in our group cherished this moment with a truly great man, who still to this day represents respect, companionship and kindness to the people he meets today. In return to his service, some students of our group took the ownership to present gratitude and thank him for everything he has done to create peace and freedom for our country.
We were all so grateful for the people who led us through this remarkable museum and could not thank them enough for the time they had given to help us with our studies.
The group would also like to acknowledge the efforts of our teacher, Maria Panagiotidis, who had organised this trip. We thank you for your devotion and commitment to our group's learning.
Ryan Chatterton 11A
On Friday the 4th of May, the year 11 History class travelled to the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne. The students attended 2 sessions, the first being centred around Australia’s involvement in the Second World War, the second being about the Vietnam War. For both sessions we had a guide who was very open about her own family’s history and involvement in the war. This opened the students' eyes to the reality of what occurred. During the sessions students watched videos filled with countless primary sources to assist in their historical research. Many artefacts were also passed around including identification discs, hats, drink canteens and many more. Students were encouraged to discuss their meaning and usage which allowed them to draw on prior knowledge and learn new analysis skills. Throughout the day the class was able to look at various displays in the museum floor of the Shrine and were able to examine areas of interest. Later, students were joined by Vietnam veteran Barry, who spoke of his experiences surrounding conscription and building in the south of Vietnam. This gave the students insight on what being called to war was like. It also gave students opportunities to question and discuss issues with the conscription system, especially. To end the visit students were requested to pay their respects at the Remembrance Garden relating to post 1945 conflicts. Overall the excursion was a great experience for the History class that extended their knowledge of World War Two and the Vietnam War.
Cassandra Sawyers 11B
Holocaust Museum Excursion
On Tuesday 22nd of May, our Year 11 History class visited the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick, Melbourne, as part of our curriculum in Unit 1. We entered with the intention of gaining a deeper understanding of the effects and impacts Nazism had on the world from the rise of Hitler, up until present day. As part of our guide, we were firstly shown an introductory video, filled with confronting images and facts regarding the Holocaust. The messages in the video were detailed in explaining how the Holocaust occurred, the perpetrators and the victims, both living and deceased. We were then lucky enough to receive a firsthand meet and greet experience with a Jewish Holocaust survivor named Rosa Krakowski, who shared with us her stories of living through the most traumatic experience of her life, and the effects it had on her during later years. She was a very lovely woman with a profoundly positive outlook on life, despite her great loss and hardship. It is clear that her past experiences have left their mark on her, but through this she has attained an enormous amount of wisdom and even still, a beaming sense of humour. In our last segment of the visit, we were taken by a guide who showed us many primary source artefacts and described the statistics and facts about the Jewish peoples, the Nazis, the Holocaust, and Australia’s relations with such. Overall, I say with confidence that our whole class represented Victoria University Secondary College superbly, also demonstrating a good understanding of what we have learned thus far, and in doing so could gain a respect from those at the Jewish Holocaust Museum. It was a very enlightening experience and I’d like to thank Ms. Panagiotidis and Victoria University Secondary College for providing us with this opportunity.
Callum Blackmore 11D
22.05.18
Our history class had the great opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick today. It was a day filled with emotions and having the privilege of hearing and talking to Holocaust survivor Rosa which opened our minds about how hard the struggle really was for not only her but all those involved during World War 2 for the Jewish people. The tour around the museum showed us primary sources that we could make a connection. Being able to ask questions and get answers from those who have family that have survived and lived during the World War 2 gave us a better understanding of the hurt people went though, it made us more engaged with the topics we’ve been studying and was a good chance to hear the other side of the stories instead of it all being heard about the Nazi’s. Overall the excursion was an eye opener for all of us and was something that we will be able to cherish and always look back on.
Jovana Markovic 11B
For Year 11 history, our class was granted the once in a lifetime opportunity to go to the Jewish Holocaust centre in Melbourne. There, we met a real holocaust survivor, a friendly and open woman named Rosa, who shared her experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust. We were shown around the museum and learnt much about World War 2, the Nazis and Jewish people. This excursion has helped us to truly understand the consequences of the Holocaust and has assisted our learning greatly.
Felicia Carroll 11B
Melbourne Zoo Workshop
Recently Year 12 VCAL students attended a workshop at Melbourne Zoo, called 'Don't Palm Us Off'.
The workshop allowed students to find out more about the Zoos Victoria conservation campaign and the effects of the Palm Oil industry across South East Asia. They chatted to zoo experts, and learnt how to help Orang-utans, tigers and other wildlife.
