School of Entrepreneurs
What’s happening in the School of Entrepreneurs?
Macbeth
On Thursday 2nd of June Year 10 travelled to the Parramatta Riverside Theatre for English to view a production of Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. The production was staged by Sport for Jove. The performance was highly engaging, filled with intense music, enthralling light and image projections, stage fighting, sword and gun fights, and memorable moving sets. The actors were highly talented and entertained the cohort, many of whom had never been to the theatre before today. The students responded well to the message of the play which questioned morality and the futility of war. The production was staged over three time periods - 1045, 1945 and WW2 and finally (and unfortunately) 2022. The play ended with a dramatic poignant political message about war. The actors spray painted the word “Tyrant” on the stage and in Ukranian language quoted the famous words from the Bard’s play, “When will we three meet again’ in reference to the three witches or mysterious sisters who seem to wreak havoc on those they encounter. The stunning image of the Ukrainian flag projected at the rear of the stage was a timely reminder about the preciousness of human lives and the unnecessary blood lost due to war.
Sydney Jewish Museum
During Term 1, Year 10 students were studying The Holocaust. We were lucky enough to return to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Students were guided on a tour and were privileged to hear from Paul Drexler, a survivor from Czechoslovakia. Paul shared his story of how he was 6 years old when he, along with his parents, was arrested and taken in a cattle car to concentration camps. His train arrived at Auschwitz, but by miracle they did not disembark the train. After the war, Paul traveled to Australia where he married and had many children and grandchildren. We were gifted with his book In Search of My Father, a story of how he lost his father during the war and his quest to find out what happened to him. Some student reflections are below:
Bryce
"Paul's story was very moving and insightful, I was constantly engaged as he told us the raw reality of the Holocaust from his perspective."
Althea
"After seeing the children's memorial, I was moved by the amount of children whose lives were lost. I found it to be an extremely valuable experience and I think everyone should educate themselves on this matter for the sake of these lives lost."
Enivee:
“We were escorted into small workshop groups where we were educated on different World War II relics. We were fortunate to have mentors explain in detail what each artifact was and what value it carried in the past and now, whether it was scrolls, films, clothes, written sources or art.”
Carmella:
“It was a really fun and fulfilling experience that I think I will always value. Paul’s speech was really informative yet sentimental because we learnt his whole life story as he came from Czechoslovakia to Sydney Australia. It really made me reflect on how easy my life is compared to theirs.”
Rosary
“When we got to the Sydney Jewish Museum, we were shocked by the culture and history left in this museum. My favourite thing about this museum is the way it’s shaped into the Star of David. It was really cool seeing how the infrastructure was so explicitly detailed for this experience.”
Year 11 retreat
On 14th June 2022, Year 11 visited Benedict XVI Retreat Centre.
Tanvi Shah: As a Year 11 student, I found the experience extremely beneficial to breathe and just spend time with friends outside a school environment, where we’re not just working and working. Eating outside, painting and playing sports really helped me to relax and take a breather from the day-to-day rush of school. I loved the spiritual experience too as you barely get time to reflect these days as it’s always work, work, work as a year 11 student. And being able to spend time with friends whilst reflecting and connecting to God feels really good. During the day, we painted, journalled, took pictures of nature whilst listening to a podcast, and created a rosary-like chain as a reminder of our day of reflection and peace. This experience surely allowed me to grow a little closer with my classmates and surely helped balance with the stress of Year 11, moving into Year 12.
Aisha Abdullah: The experience at the Benedict XVI Retreat Centre was one that many of us found beneficial. Being able to have a day where we could just breathe outside and do activities with our friends outside of school was a nice experience outside of the usual school day especially during this busy time. As a year group we were all able to grow a bit closer to one another and reconnect as we all have been separated for so long throughout the year. Having a day to just reflect, paint, journal, listen, pray and eat in a new environment was peaceful and almost healing at least for me personally. This experience allowed us to learn a bit more about our surroundings and the country we inhabit without the stress of a real school day. It was a growing and learning experience that we will be able to carry into the next two years.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award - Update
During class, the students have been working collaboratively on researching and proposing their next Adventurous Journey. Students have been given a criteria to meet for our next hike and are currently pitching their proposed routes to their peers. The students have had to consider terrain, weather, distance and travel arrangements as well as ensuring there is a suitable campsite for us to use. The class will then vote for their preferred route and we will be completing it in September (when it is a little warmer!). It gives students immense ownership over their learning knowing that one of their routes will be chosen. Check out some of the pitches (above and below) -
The students have also been busy logging hours for their Award. Some students are featured below -
Ariel Delos Santos has reached her goal of running at least 4km. Ariel has trained for 13 hours as part of her physical recreation section -
Lara Derjani has reached her goal of refining her artistic ability as part of her skill section. Lara has been attending art club to achieve this -
Weston Malicdem (left) has reached his goal of committing to 13 hours of basketball training and games over 13 weeks to improve his shooting accuracy and overall fitness.
Year 11 Trial HSC timetable
Many of our year 11 students are currently completing accelerated HSC courses in either Design and Technology and/or Studies of Religion 1 unit. Next term these students will sit HSC trial exams. In order to support these students in doing their best at these accelerated subjects, the attached timetable of support has been created to assist students in completing these exams to the best of their abilities.