Around The College

International Women's Day Event

On the 10th of March we had the opportunity to attend the Monash Women’s Business Network International Women’s Day luncheon where we had the pleasure of listening to Emma Alberici speak about her experiences and expose us to a range of issues related to gender inequalities throughout world and in particular in the worlds of politics and economics. Emma is one of Australia’s most highly regarded journalists, moving from newspaper to television, becoming the ABC’s Europe Correspondent based in London for four years. She provided a really interesting outlook on the current issues and challenges that are faced by women in the workforce as both a journalist, and a mother. We both found her presentation thought-provoking, the ideas and concepts she presented focused on the competing demands for women who juggle spending their time managing a home life for their families and pursuing their careers. Her keynote was accompanied by very startling statistics related to womens' employment alongside the number of women who graduate from university focused the IWD campaign theme for this year which is to #choose to challenge!!

It was also really insightful talking to the inspiring women who attended from many walks of life and being able to learn about each of their personal experiences and journeys. We were both very grateful to have been able to attend such a wonderful event, filled with delicious food and very inspiring people.

Eva Mason & Hannah Vaughan

Science at Brentwood

Year 11 Biology is in full swing with assessments and practicals happening and our five classes learning about the ultrastructure of the cell and transport across membranes. Our first practical of the year was a welcome task as we delved into how molecules of various sizes move across the membrane. For this practical, we replicated transport across a semi-permeable membrane (similar to those found in living cells) by using dialysis tubing made out of cellulose. 

Students set up two apparatus, one with a dialysis tubing bag filled with a starch solution suspended in a beaker of iodine solution (A) and the second, a dialysis bag full of iodine solution suspended in a beaker full of starch solution (B). The solution levels were measured and colour changes noted over a period of time. It important to note that in the presence of iodine, starch turns black/blue in colour.

After leaving the set ups for some time, students observed that the starch solution changed from a cloudy white to a purple/blue/black colour in both set up A and B, indicating that movement across the dialysis tubing had occurred. It was noted that in set up A, only the contents of the dialysis tubing bag had changed to the purple/blue/black colour and in set up B, only the solution in the beaker had changed to the purple/blue/black colour. This indicated that iodine was able to cross the dialysis tubing, whereas the large starch molecules were unable to do so. To some extent, this replicated the movement of molecules across living membranes, which are selectively or semi-permeable to molecules of varying sizes. 

Thank-you to Lorna and Ellen, our lab technicians, who support all our classes with their practical tasks and to the year 11 Biology teaching team, Eliza Chancellor, Cathy Hunter, Emily Smith, Phil Van Ginneken, and Mel Warner.

Thank-you also to Jayati Savaliya, Olivia Vasiliou, Anisha Chaal and Livina Williams for appearing in the student images below.

Melissa Warner

Teacher

Information Technology at Brentwood

The increasing emphasis on information and communication technology in today’s world means that all students need to be aware of this technology and how it is used. Therefore, there is a need for students to learn computer related skills which they can use both as a tool in their further education and as a skill when they join the workforce. Students studying the Computer Forensics course this semester have been working collaboratively to rebuild a computer and increase their understanding of the functionality of the computer components. Later they will research and investigate computer hacking and societal issues that arise because of technology.

Valentines Day Radio

As a part of our new Valentine’s Day event, this year the School Captains, Ms Kononen and amazing volunteers came together to host the ‘Feel The Love Radio Station’. The radio station was an absolute hit all week last week. Each “caller” could choose to dedicate a song or simply just get there song played for a gold coin donation that will be going towards the idea from the Year 12 House Captains and School Captains of a house points board to help with the continuation of our house spirit. Once we reached the end of the week, we had dance competitions running and an Open Mic for those that wanted to showcase their amazing talents. Open Mic, much like the Radio Station, was a huge success, no thanks to the amazing efforts of Isha Ramji, Hiruni Chandratileka and Ebony Nursalam. We hope to continue the radio station throughout the rest of the year to continue the merging of our year levels and the building of amazing and new friendships.