Student 

Achievements

World’s Greatest Shave

While restrictions have prevented us from holding an event at school so far, the SRC is hoping to organise an event for Term 3 if it becomes safe for everyone to do so. Despite these challenges, the WHSC community has done an amazing job of participating in and supporting the World’s Greatest Shave remotely!

Congratulations to everyone who has taken part remotely so far – Shay C in Year 8 has coloured her hair, and Harry C in Year 11 and Paige C in Year 12 have shaved their heads. Staff have also supported this worthy cause – Pedro Mello and Jane Callaghan have sacrificed their locks to charity. Our team has already raised just over $4000, which means we’re close to our overall goal of $5000! To donate to any of our individual students or to our overall team and help us reach our goal, please visit our fundraising page here.

Maths Peer Teaching | Star of the Week

Aaron O was being asked questions from his friends about how to do Transformations in Further Maths. Aaron took it upon himself to spend a period preparing a Powerpoint presentation explaining Transformations. He then ran a lunchtime class and went through the Powerpoint with his friends and explained this topic further. Rumour got around about his presentation at lunch and Aaron was in demand. Aaron was then asked to present to students in Ms Galli’s Further Maths class on the same topic. The students gave high praise to Aaron on his patience and dedication to helping other students. It was great to see Aaron’s leadership. Could we see Aaron as a future teacher at Wheelers Hill Secondary College? I certainly hope so!

Ms. Michelle Galli, Numeracy Leader

SRC Projects for Equality

At WHSC we aim to create awareness for racial inequality and reconciliation for Indigenous Australians. As such, on Friday 19th of June, SRC held a free dress day, as well as organising home group activities where students made posters promoting equality. We also held a chalk drawing session outside the library at lunch time, with students creating wonderful images and phrases promoting racial equality.

This free dress day was also to acknowledge National Reconciliation Week, which was held on the 27 May to the 3 June, as we were in remote learning during this time and could not have a whole-school event. This week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Reconciliation must live in the minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In line with this, all the money we raised on the day went towards to Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), a group that works with youth in the Indigenous community and provide them with a range of opportunities. Congratulations to all the students who made wonderful digital posters for equality!

Mikayla H, College Captain and SRC Representative

Year 10 Hospitality | Cake Designs

A child’s special birthday party is a memorable event in any young person’s life. Many parents and carers panic when faced with the prospect of providing food and entertainment for packs of kids. Children love parties and also food presented creatively. Suitable activities and games can mean that everybody enjoys the event.

Year 10 Hospitality Students were tasked with designing a cake to a brief: In this case, they had been approached to cater for a child’s birthday party which required them to CONSTRUCT a plan for the event and provide a party cake that matches the style and theme of the party. Here are just a few of the fantastic creations made by these very creative students!

Ms. Sharon Sharpe, Food Technology

Community Connections | Textiles Projects

The Community Connections Textiles class used their remote learning time to consolidate their knowledge of the Design Process in the development of T shirts that encourage social isolation. They considered some key elements and principles of design throughout their folios. Upon return to the classroom they practiced their collaboration and problem solving skills in the production of machine cut, iron-on, vinyl for the logo’s for the shirts.   

"In order to produce my shirt, I first needed to create a design portfolio, which be a clear guide as to what the steps were to make my shirt and what design I wanted to do with it. When that was done, I started sketching/drawing out my design options, which narrowed my designs down to 4. After that, I could decide which one I wanted to have as my finished product on my t-shirt. When that was chosen, I bought a shirt for it to go onto. When the time came to finally get started with the design, I downloaded the 'Cricut' app onto my laptop, and played around with that along with Photoshop to edit and create the final copy of my design. The steps in these apps included removing the background, drawing things onto it, and experimenting with different tools, layers, and images. Once I had finalized my design, I could then import it into Cricut, and once the machine was ready, my laptop had been plugged in, and it was loaded, my design was ready to be cut out. When that was done, I used the weeding tools to remove the excess vinyl around my letters so that they were on the clear plastic. Then, it could be ironed onto my t-shirt; and, the hard work paid off and I have the finished product!" - Sanober B .

"Some of the process we went through leading to making the shirt was we answered some Kind is Cool question, we drew our designs, We wrote our client profile and design brief, Elements and principles of fashion We also did our design option and preferred last be not least be did our evaluation and then stared on out t-shirt." - Avesta K.

"We first started off by doing a client profile and a design brief.  We then made some evaluation criteria. We also did some investigation into t-shirts which included Kind Is Cool and my favourite t-shirt. We then moved onto making a mood board for inspiration. We then moved onto the element and principles of design before moving onto designing. In the designing stage we did eight visualisations to start with before making two design. We then chose our final design and wrote a justification about it. After that we starting making it. First we transferred the design onto the Cricut design space and cleaned it up. We then used the Cricut machine to print it on the sports flex. To get the design we used a weaving tool to get away the excess. We then used the iron to put the design on the T-shirt." - Chloe M.

VCE Drama | Ensemble Performance

As the VCE drama class we were given the stimulus 'What happens when home won't let you stay?" alongside with texts like "The Happiest Refugee" and "The Arrival" to create a meaningful ensemble piece as part of our Unit 3 outcome. As the Year 12 ensemble group, we wanted to represent many people's different experiences in seeking asylum or immigrating to a new country to show that "not all immigration stories are the same", hoping to diminish predisposed ideas that Australian society has about immigrants and refugees. The refugee crisis is such a big issue around the world today, and is a topic that is usually ignored or seen solely as statistics.

With our ensemble piece, we wanted to bring humanity to the issue in the hopes that our audience can understand that each of those statistics is a person with a family, a life, a story, hopes and dreams. Throughout completing the outcome we were faced with the challenge of creating the performance whilst in remote learning. While this seemed a daunting challenge at the start, it proved beneficial in the long run as we were able to create beautiful, meaningful moments in the performance with a deeper understanding (though we will never truly know the extent of it) of what it meant to be separated from the people we love.

The ensemble task has been something I've cherished and looked forward to every year because not only does it strengthen my skills as a performer and creator, but opens my eyes to worldly issues and the power of the arts. It allows students from all different backgrounds, upbringings, views and beliefs to come together to create one piece of theatre and gives us hope for a future where no matter our race, gender, sexuality, age and religion we can all come together and treat people with kindness and love.

Ayesha S, VCE Drama

Our ensemble was created to get our community to start critically thinking about Australia's stance on refugees and immigrants. Although most people would not explicitly say racist things, I think it is most definitely embedded in the implicit values of Australia. Our ensemble wanted to call out these problematic traits of modern day Australia. We created a piece of theatre that people could identify with and with that identification and relatability we brought the issue of refugees and immigration into the forefront of the minds of everyone that watched our performance, however uncomfortable it may be. I believe that it is important that as a community we are constantly looking at ways we can improve- ways we can help each other as human beings and ways that we can aim to understand and empathise with others. 

Working on this ensemble was a PROCESS! from a mere stimulus; a quote, some images and songs- we created something greater than ourselves and it will always be one of my favourite moments in high school. As drama students, an ensemble requires the complete dedication, cohesion and focus of every single member of the group. We worked hard, we had so much fun, we bonded and we learnt so much about team work, about ourselves as performers and also about refugees and asylum seekers.  

The importance of the arts cannot be underestimated. It allows you explore, discuss, learn and create far better than any classroom or conversation could. Being able to physically connect to a story, empathise with people and communicate with others are just some of the vital life skills I have learnt as a performing arts student. Beyond that, I have learnt how to stand back and think objectively about a topic and create theatre that both touches and provokes deep discussion.  

In the wise words of Mr. G, I can can attest that "Drama changes lives."

Jemma F, VCE Drama

Peer Support | Year 10 Mentors

This semester, the Year 10 Leadership and Peer Support class has worked hard to organise sessions for our Year 7s that focus on helping them to have a smooth transition to high school, and to develop important skills for working together.

Classes through the semester have focused on important topics such as preventing bullying, good communication, being a good friend and well-being. Even remote learning didn’t stop the peer support leaders from running a session with the Year 7s! With our return to school, the leaders have also had to consider physical distancing and other safety measures in their planning, and have risen to the challenge remarkably.

Congratulations to the Year 10 leaders on their successes, and to the Year 7s for their incredible participation in the program!

Ms. Gemma McMahon, Peer Support Leader