9-12 Community News

Students have continued working hard over the last two weeks and have focused on completing the numerous assessment tasks and class activities leading up to the publication of reports and the end of term.

There have certainly been lots of exciting and valuable learning opportunities happening around the school.

On Tuesday 16th March, all students in the 9-12 Community engaged in a presentation from Alan Latu from the Pat Cronin Foundation. The Foundation works to educate the community about the dangers of the ‘coward punch’, which, sadly, is how 19 year old Pat Cronin lost his life. We extend a ‘thank you’ to Alan for sharing this important message and reminding us to think carefully, stop and breathe, make wise choices and look after our mates. 

And, there has been a great deal happening in the classrooms across 9-12.

Yr 12 Biology students undertook a practical activity in which they extracted the DNA from strawberries.

The Years 9/10 Agriculture/Horticulture class has been busy in the garden and the kitchen. The vegetable patch cultivated by the class has been going gangbusters!! These photos show the day the garden was established on 16th February and what it looks like today. The class has had produce to pick each week. This week, the students were able to ‘value add’ to their produce and use their abundance of basil to make pesto. Staff certainly enjoyed the opportunity to purchase the pesto to take home and add to their pasta, pizza and salad.

The Year 11 Food Studies students have been focusing on “Food Origins” and exploring the factors influencing the emergence of different food systems, food products and food practices around the world. Students have been learning about the development of early agricultural food systems, including those that enabled the cultivation of wild plants and the domestication of animals for farming. As part of their studies, students were required to produce a recipe that used ancient grains.

As we head towards the end of term, there are still a number of important events coming up. 

School Photos are scheduled next Monday, 28th March. Students are reminded of the requirement to wear their full academic uniform (NO SPORTS UNIFORMS TO BE WORN ON THIS DAY). Please also ensure students are wearing the correct socks (white socks with no logos or navy) and school shoes are clean and polished. The emphasis for students is to ensure that their uniform is “Neat, Clean and Complete” and that the uniform is worn with pride. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents in advance for their ongoing support and assistance in ensuring students’ uniforms are of the highest standard.

In closing, as we move towards the end of term, we would like to congratulate all of the members of the 9-12 Community on a great Term 1 and we encourage all students to enter Term 2 with purpose and enthusiasm. With that in mind, we particularly commend our VCE students to make the most of their break. While it is important for students to enjoy some rest time, it is vital for VCE students to view this time as a ‘non-instruction period’ - a time in which they can prepare for the up-coming term by doing the pre-reading and activities that their teachers set them, making use of the variety of on-line and textbook resources that staff provide to support their coursework. Also, as highlighted in the Elevate Education seminars presented earlier in the term, students should take the opportunity to develop their revision notes from the course content from Term One. Revision notes prepared soon after the teaching/learning, which are then revisited on a regular basis, will help with the long term retention of the content.

Michelle Downie                         Brad Downie

9-12 Community Leader           9-12 Community Leader

Wellbeing & Community          Student Learning and Professional Practice

Year 9 English 

Excerpt from essay by Lily Garth

THE ROAD TO WINTER CHAPTER 22

The days had been quiet since Finn, Kas and Willow had returned to the house in Angowrie. The winter storms were almost unpredictable, coming and going when they pleased, meaning they had been relatively safe from anyone trying to stir up trouble, no one bothered to come out when the weather didn’t favour them.

So far the winter had been spent with Finn rustling up food and supplies, with an eager Willow trailing him every other day, eager to lend a helping hand and learn from Finn. Rowdy had also been good company, Willow seemed smitten with the dog and was determined to give him all the love and affection she could.

On the flip-side, there was a certain tenseness that ran through the house, mostly stemming from Kas. The girl had been fairly recluse lately, swept up in a quiet grief that she kept to herself, which was a far cry from her normal bold and brash personality. It was obvious she hadn’t taken Rose’s death well, nobody would, but at this point she had hardly taken any steps forward, and the only smile that ever came upon her face was when she was talking to Willow, determined to keep the young girls spirits up.

Year 9/10 Literature

 19th Century Literature "Austen Classics"

Excerpt from essay by Molly Farran 

During the 19th century, various authors explored the life and times in London. Some of these writers explored the lack of opportunities for women, whilst also exposing the difficulties associated with social class or lack thereof. One such author is Jane Austen, she was born in Steventon in England in 1775 and died in 1817. Her writing critiqued societies preoccupation with marriage, essentially suggesting people should marry for love and not social standing or wealth.

For example, the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ [1813] by Jane Austin explores women’s injustices, whilst also suggesting that people should marry for love and not wealth. For example, Mrs Bennett’s life is consumed by the marrying of her daughters because she fears that they will be left in poverty, “make them marry”, this reveals the lack of opportunities for women in wedlock. In addition, initially Mr Darcy and Mr Bingly were hesitant to wed Jane and Elizabeth because they were not aristocratic, and they were afraid of losing their families wealth and reputation. However at the end of the narrative Austen's decision for Mr Bingly and Mr Darcy to marry Elizabeth and Jane despite society’s expectations, suggests to readers that marrying for love should be an option. Therefore, the infamous novel Pride and prejudice explores the life and times in London ultimately suggesting that both men and women should marry for love.