Around The College

Recycle old clothes at Brentwood

The SCR old clothes and electricals recycling program at Brentwood has not only raised over $500 in the past 12 months but also diverted several items from going to the landfill by providing them a second life. The Brentwood old clothes and electrical bins are located near the staff car park entrance on Heath street.

In Term 1 this year, 1340 kg of old clothes and 135 kg of electricals were collected from Brentwood SCR bins. The Brentwood Green Team would like to thank all community members for their support in utilising these bins and help us raise funds. To view the items that can be recycling through this program, please visit: http://scrg.com.au/contribute-things/

The Green Team

Year 11 Biology visit to Melbourne Zoo

Parents who fear that their child’s focus is not on school, and that they have no interest in attending or listening in class, there is no need to worry; as the science staff at Brentwood Secondary College have found the solution to this issue that plagues a large majority of our students. More Excursions!

VCE biology doesn’t always succeed in engaging its students with it being such a content heavy subject, but I must applaud the science staff on taking work outside of the classroom and into a more interactive environment. The excursion to Melbourne Zoo offered us an opportunity to see not only the animals that face extinction, but to discuss the preventive measures taken to avoid the elimination of an entire species from our ecosystem.

The Zoo keepers that took time out of their day to inform us of these endangered species (and their involvement in preventing extinction), also deserve recognition for the structure of their presentations, as it was solely based around the personal inquiries’ students had about any biological concepts. This unique and highly praised approach to teaching allowed for some “mind blowing” facts to emerge from the presentations such as the expansion of an animal’s skin caused by fungi as well as how the life span of male reproductive cells in African and Asian elephants differs drastically. Furthermore, those who were on the excursion had the privilege of hearing that the idea of “de-extinction” is in fact a possibility. Andrew, one of the experts from Melbourne Zoo was asked about de-extinction by one of our students, and his explanation of the possibilities of such a technologically advanced idea was scary, to say the least. “Yes, we could even bring back the woolly mammoth, but where would we put them?”- Andrew. Just imagine, woolly mammoths and Tasmanian tigers walking amongst us in our dystopian world.

Conclusively, other subjects at Brentwood Secondary College should take “a leaf out of Biology’s book” and explore out of school learning opportunities that involve and enhance a student’s knowledge of certain topics, as well as gain the extra knowledge that would not be obtainable in a normal classroom.

Alex Peacock, Year 11 Biology Student

Year 10 Environmental Science visit to CERES

Our Year 10 Environmental Science elective learnt topics such as Climate change, Energy resources, Water management and Pollution this Semester. The class was taken on a field trip on May 9th to CERES community environment park in Brunswick to get a first-hand experience on the topics we learnt in our class.

Once we reached CERES, we were greeted by our guide, Nick. He explained the purpose of environmental park and the history of the land. We were involved in four activities during the day. The first activity was conducted near the Merri creek. The aim of the activity was to pick macroinvertebrates from the water and determine the water quality using an identification chart. Few lucky people (including me), had the experience of going into the water, wearing an over-sized jumpsuit. This activity was enjoyable and unique. Based on the signal score we calculated by identifying the macroinvertebrates, we determined that the creek was reasonably healthy.

In the second activity, each group got a different renewable energy resource to explore. We investigated various renewable energy resources including hydro, wind, solar and biomass, using the equipment provided and shared our results with everyone. The third activity was a ‘choice game’. The activity had five different outcomes based on the choices people made and their impact on the environment. The activity was an eye-opener for us to know what the world would look like in 2050, if we didn’t act now! The last activity was an indoor activity where we arranged different objects (plastics, clothes, bottles, paper, etc), based on the time required for decomposing them. The main take away from this activity was that we should keep reusing, recycling and disposing certain substances appropriately.

The program provided us with information to improve our understanding of human impacts on the natural environment. Our class enjoyed doing the hands-on sustainability activities that helped us understand the concepts better and take appropriate measures to protect our environment.

Gigi Mitra, Year 10 Environmental Science student

ABC’s Q&A Excursion

On Monday 6th May, twenty-two curious and inquisitive Brentwood students attended the live filming of a special edition of ABC’s Q&A at Robert Blackwood Hall featuring the opposition leader, Bill Shorten.

We heard a range of insightful and challenging questions regarding a number of issues including aged care, childcare, Aboriginal youth mental health, negative gearing and budget issues, just to name a few. Approximately forty minutes in, Brentwood’s own Dante Harrower was given the opportunity to ask his question of Bill Shorten… “Which international relationship does he value more, the US or China?” This was met with a collective reaction from the crowd of ‘oooooohhhh…’ It was so great to see our students keeping the politicians on their toes.

At the end of the session, Mr Shorten came out and introduced himself to each of our students. He shook each of their hands and engaged in a great conversation with them all. It was truly such a great experience for our students who got a first hand look at politics in action.

Danni Mortimer, Teacher

PSD Tech Free Wednesday!

We had a very successful card making session for our tech free Wednesday. The kids absolutely loved making mother’s day cards! It was like being a preppie again!  We were really proud of them and what they did – and their evident joy.

Victoria Strong, PSD Coordinator