Around the College
More mental health support in 2021: Government initiative
In recognition of the increased mental health challenges posed by COVID-19, the Victorian Government has fast-tracked a roll-out for all secondary schools across the state to receive funding for a mental health practitioner.
As a result, we are pleased to announce that DSC will receive funding for a full-time mental health practitioner from the beginning of Term 3, 2021.
The mental health practitioner will complement our existing Wellbeing Team, offering direct student support, coordinating support for students with complex needs, and contributing to our whole-school approach to mental health.
Our current Wellbeing Team includes a counsellor and youth worker, as well as highly-skilled and knowledgeable teaching staff.
We are excited to be one step closer to offering even more support to our students through this wonderful new initiative.
For more information on Mental Health Practitioners in government secondary schools please click here.
Debating News
Three students from DSC competed in round two of the DAV JSP Debating on Wednesday, 9 September.
The topic was “That we regret the use of participation awards” with our team being assigned to the negative case.
Oliver D, Dina M and James L did an excellent job representing our school, not just in the debate itself, but also by connecting with students from the other schools during the informal discussions afterwards.
The debate was another close call. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful against Emmaus College on the night, but both teams put in a great performance.
Oliver showed a lot of growth from his first debate, stepping into the third speaker role and becoming more confident with rebuttal. For Dina and James, it was their first competition debate and they did themselves proud by speaking confidently despite any first-time nerves.
Well done to each of the students for their time, effort and teamwork. We wish all debate club members well for their next competition.
Mrs Martin
Debate Coordinator
Tournament of Minds: Honours Award
Congratulations to DSC's Tournament of Minds (ToM) team, Bermuda Septagon, for receiving an Honours Award from the judging panel last weekend!
The ToM is an Australia-wide problem-solving program for teams of students.
The team's final presentation was very impressive, and all members should be proud of the team work, dedication, creativity, problem solving and leadership skills they demonstrated throughout the process.
Congratulations to:
Ruby D
Berry E
Danny K
Brandon L
Abbey M
Nikola P
Soumavo P
Student Reflections:
“Tournament of Minds is the perfect opportunity to get out of your comfort zone, interact with different people who have unique skills and contribute to your school.”
“My leadership and social skills have improved, because I’m usually quieter around new people.”
“I developed my leadership and organisational skills throughout the challenge.”
“I am really proud of the outcome.”
Fiona Cowan
High-Ability Program Leader
Building Update: Year 7 Learning Centre
The construction of our new Year 7 Learning Centre has been a positive focal point on the College grounds this year. Despite stage 4 restrictions having slowed progress, we’re pleased to report that the project is now 75 per cent complete.
As restrictions ease, more trades will be allowed back on-site. This will help speed-up progress, and we are still hopeful of a completion date in early December. We would love to welcome our Year 7 class of 2021 to our fantastic new facility. We will update you as the project enters its exciting final stage.
STEAM Club: RMIT and Quantum Victoria present Physics Workshop
STEAM Club members were given the opportunity to participate in a series of online workshops provided by RMIT and Quantum Victoria.
As a team, it was decided that we would attend the Science/Physics workshop.
Student reflections are below:
Betty Z, STEAM Student Leader:
On Friday, 4 September, STEAM Club was fortunate to attend an online workshop about physics hosted by RMIT and Quantum Victoria. We learnt about magnetism and electricity and how they are linked. We also learnt about how 'Labster' is used for pracs in university. We saw some amazing videos on neodymium magnets and how they work. We were also given the opportunity to contribute and ask any questions. The main thing I took away is that physics is everywhere in our daily lives and that there are many different opportunities in the science field.
Philip H and Max W – Year 7:
The topic we learnt about was based on physics/science. First we were introduced to the hosts, before watching a video on what physics is and what the RMIT course was about. We learnt about types and branches of physics including Newtons Law of Motion, E=mc2, gravitational pull, elliptical orbits, friction, turbulent flow and much more. We were then introduced to a student in the course whose report was about electric magnets and what she had done throughout the project. We watched a video about neodymium magnets destroying objects. We ended the incursion by playing a quick science quiz. Overall it was a super fun incursion and we enjoyed it very much.
Ms Jodie Purches
STEAM Learning Specialist