SRC News

A Busy Term For The SRC

As discussed at our Immersion Day, our SRC ran our first official ‘Disability Week’. Throughout the week we hoped to spread awareness of what we believed to be five of the most significant disabilities known today, involving Autism, Asthma, Mental Health, Deafness, and Blindness.

After weeks of planning, on top of our regular work, we were prepared for Disability Week to take action.

‘Disability Week’ started with a low key presentation by Cody Carter and his group on Autism. Information was showcased on tables and noticeboards, and students were welcome to come into the ELC room and discuss the topic or just enjoy the calm and quiet environment, playing board games.

Tuesday’s session was focused on Asthma. Alex Gardner and his group ran an energetic series of activities where the catch was that you had to breathe through straws! This was really hard work and made participants understand how asthmatics struggle to breathe while doing even simple activities. Alex ended the session with a talk on what asthma is and what should be done to combat it, especially raising awareness of the impact of excessive use of spray deodorants.

As we ventured throughout the week, the third day introduced to us an extremely toned down, yet enjoyable session for all year levels. This was none other than our Mental Health Day, focussing on relaxation and meditational discussions to relieve stress, anxiety, and much more. The session was run by a variety of students, including Caitlyn T, Ashleigh H, Hannah D, Isabella T and Eana D. Myself and many other attendants enjoyed the event, which consisted of two activities, including a meditational session to begin with and a small ‘Circle Time’, during which we shared our thoughts and possible ideas for future events. It was wonderful to see our younger year levels alongside our older cohorts bonding over such a simple, yet self-invested topic, which anybody would enjoy.

Over all, quite a great day. The group hopes to get a regular meditation group running in the near future, so stay tuned. Though our Disability Week was coming towards its conclusion, we still had many tasks yet to be completed, which leads us to our 4th day: Deafness.

Our group had chosen the I.C. as the area for our session to be held, and there was no lack in participants. Once our session began, we split our members into two groups. Our two activities held were experiencing famous film scenes, although without sound, and then understanding and learning sign language. I ran the sign language activity. I began with a brief history of sign language, as the original origin dated to the 5th Century B.C., in Greece. Furthermore, I’d split my group into two teams, handing each an alphabetic sign language sheet, explaining the movements and characteristics of each letter. As each group studied the sheets in depth as teams, I was quite pleased to see that none of the teams had raised a hand or asked a question, as they soldiered forth to pursue their learning.

After a few subtle questions (From myself to them) regarding the sheet, I engaged in a custom game of a “Sign Language Spelling Bee.” Simple rules: Each team was allowed their sheet, but only one member could answer at a time. As they answered, they were not allowed to sight the sheet and were required to make constant eye contact, using the intervals in between words to study the alphabet. And lastly, they’d have to use their names as buzzers. I began with a simple, four letter word; ‘GOAT’ and as we progressed, I dimmed down to simpler words such as ‘TO’ or ‘BEE.’

In the end, our ‘Left Team’ had won (They’ll remain anonymous) and bathed in all their glory, but this was not to discredit the other team, as they’d put up a triumphant effort in attempting to secure first place. To conclude, a wonderful session for our students and leaders, combined.

Friday’s ‘Vision Impairment’ activities were a great ending to the week. Held in the PAC and run by Vivone’s team, there were several engaging and interactive tasks. There was quite a crowd, with all students having fun completing the obstacle course blindfolded and working out how to eat their food using an analogue clock model. It was very amusing that many students didn’t know how to read an analogue clock!

Each day had its strengths and catered to different audiences. The activities played out well, and we were pleased to see returning students throughout the week. Next term we will be hosting a Football/AFL Day, where students are allowed to attend school in their team’s attire/colours (any football code is acceptable) and are invited to watch a football game played by none other than our teachers and Year 12 students. So get into the spirit and help raise money to cure cancer in kids. There will be another free dress day with a celebrity/pop culture theme mid-way through Term 3, so get your thinking caps on and start planning. That day will support the charity, ‘Vision Australia’.

Angus Archard

SRC Year 8