Teaching & Learning
Geography
Year 12 Geography students video-ed themselves explaining glacial processes, using models made out of ice-cream! Photos attached. Part of our study of Melting Ice Sheets and Glaciers in Greenland.
Fiona Taylor
Food Tech
The year 12s have been working on producing food that reflects them and their culture. They have prepared meals which reflect their individual identity and shared them with each other to build their sense of belonging and connectedness, related to Area of Study 2. They cooked up a storm!
In the early 2000s, my grandmother was inspired to open an Indian restaurant following a holiday there in which she learned and developed her skills. Her restaurant was opened in Burringbar, New South Wales. She would cook delicious food for the locals of the area and would attract visitors from across Australia. After relocating to Melbourne, to be closer to my Mother and I, she continues to delight us with her culinary skills, preparing and sharing delicious Indian dishes on a regular basis when we are lucky enough to be invited to her house for dinner.
Reuben
Olivia Stray & Chantelle Rowland
Digi Tech
The Digital Technologies department has had a busy start to 2023 with excursions, after school clubs and engaging projects.
Year 10 Digital Technologies
Our Year 10 Digital Technologies students have developed their knowledge in three main units of work. Here's a summary of their endeavors so far this semester: Firstly, they explored the basics of Digital Technologies, covering topics such as binary numbers, compression, encryption, and networking. This provided them with a foundation in understanding the underlying principles of the digital world. Next, they delved into web design, where they learned about design theory, colour schemes, and were introduced to HTML, CSS, and Javascript. These concepts allowed them to create simple web pages and gain a basic understanding of web development.They are currently in the middle of their unit on automation and microcontrollers, where they are working on solving problems by developing autonomous solutions using input devices and sensors, such as ultrasonics, temperature sensors, buttons and various output devices like servos, motors, relays, LCD screens, LEDs, and buzzers. As part of their educational journey, the students had the opportunity to visit the STEM Centre of Excellence at Melbourne University. During this visit, they received a crash course in 3D printing and design, which they are now applying by incorporating 3D printed parts into their microcontroller projects.
Robotics Club
The Robotics Club was resumed with our amazing Year 8s returning for another year and an excited group of Year 7s joining the club. The club provides students with the opportunity to cultivate engineering and programming skills while using current societal issues as a driving force to solve problems. They have been working on building robots to participate in the upcoming FIRST Lego League competition. The theme for the season will be announced in August and is expected to focus on the integration of STEM subjects with the Arts. The teams will be preparing to compete in November/December and updates will be shared with the school community.
Shane Nash
VCE VM
Ben Rogers
On Friday the 12th of May, the Year 11 VCE VM class worked throughout their double Personal Development Skills period to prepare questions for the guest speaker Ben Rogers. When the speaker had arrived, he introduced himself and what he does for a living and the journey that he took to get where he is today. He talked about how most volunteers have someone in their family or someone close to them that would have a strong influence on volunteering too, and for him it was his mother. He travelled the world as a young adult while still in university and while studying abroad he found joy in being with foreign communities and giving back, so he made that his career. His main point through the questions he answered and his speeches about how he had a strong connection with giving back to the community, was that it doesn't take much to give back but just a portion of someone's time and sometimes money to help others less fortunate.
SWL VCE VM Expo
The expo will be us VCE VM students sharing and presenting our individual VET course to other year 9 and year 10 students. We will be making posters and flyers for the students to read and look at to get an idea and get knowledge on the different VET courses we do.
We will be presenting individually or in small groups depending on the VET course we do.
Car Session with Gary
On the 5th of may the VCE VM personal development class was accompanied by the Vice Principal Gary Vella to learn about the ins and outs of a typical car stereo system. He taught us how to install the car stereo and connect all the different types of wires to each other. Other things we learnt were how to strip wires, the difference between positives and negatives and how they are important in wiring.
Basketball Tournament (28 April)
On the 28th of April a group of boys from the VM class hosted a basketball tournament for the senior levels in the school. We hosted this tournament to spread awareness to the communities health and wellbeing as well as bring people together.
The basketball tournament started a bit shaky but throughout the game we had to improvise which showed certain skills to our peers who were watching the game which made the game more smooth and better than how it started.
Sausage Sizzle Trial Run
On the 10th of May, The VCE VM Work Related Skills class had to run a trial sausage sizzle for a pending upcoming event. The class as a group estimated as to how much food was needed and how much everything was going to cost for the trial. After finishing the calculations and gathering the data for the amount and price of ingredients needed, Paul Arney preordered the sausages, onions, sauces, vegetarian burgers and bread a day in advance for the people in the VCE VM class to cook. Roles were allocated to set up, transport the products, cook, clean & organise. Once everything was cooked, the VCE VM class was accompanied by Gary Vella, Olivia Stray and a few other teachers to test how the trial went.
Paper plane competition
On Monday 15th May some students from the VCE VM class ran a paper plane competition. The paper plane competition was created because we had to do a task that improves or can help your health. The task was to make a paper plane to bring people together and socialise, then throw it to see how far it can go, or to hit a locker. It ran at lunch time in AG.01. We provided materials for our participants and there was a really close final between 1st and 2nd place with Jesse M coming out ahead by 1 centimetre, winning a canteen voucher!
Victorian Careers Show
Here is VCE VM class at the Victorian careers show exploring different career paths and opportunities! They got lots of freebies and learnt loads about the range of career paths available to them. A fun day had by all!
VCE VM Class
Forensic Science - Year 9
Recently in Year 9 forensic science we completed the 'Crime Scene in a Box KLT' utilising knowledge we had gained over previous units to construct a diorama of a crime scene in a shoe box. Students formed small groups to plan and construct a miniature crime scene, employing expertise gained over the past term on blood typing, DNA analysis, types of evidence, biometric indicators and fingerprinting. The final presentation saw many inventive exhibits, including oxygen tank poisoning, an affair, a hotel murder and a drive-by shooting
Hanna J.A
STEM
This week our Year 9 STEM students had a KLT about 'designing and building a houseboat from limited materials.' The houseboats were stress tested; the boat that could sustain the greatest mass without taking on water was deemed the winning boat. Students had a budget to spend and were able to choose how they used it. They did a test earlier in the week to see how their initial ideas were going to work and were able to improve their designs based on performance. The weighing competition continues but the boat with the blue balloon was doing the best on the most recent test - Dom had look for extra weights!
