Student Reflections

Student Reflections - Lockdown

Lyn Thao Nguyen of Year 11 sent in these wonderful photos of the sunflower she planted from Killester care packs that were sent to students during lockdown. It has grown to 1.55mtrs in height.

Sienna Colcott, Year 10 St Anne

From the very start of isolation, we were dreading the thought of doing school from home. Considering everything that was currently going on in our world, it’s safe to say everyone was feeling anxious and uneasy about what would happen over the next following weeks. When the day finally came where we started remote learning for the first time, the nerves of following the challenge of spending school days in our bedrooms were prominent, besides, of course, eating food whenever we want and staying in our pyjamas all day! All in all, we missed our friends and felt overwhelmed without the eye to eye guidance of our teachers, not to mention the very chaotic first week of remote learning.

However, Ms Buick & Mr McPhail came up with an idea that involved the Years 7-10 coming together and doing something as a community, called Passion Projects: Change Yourself, Change The World. We were divided into random groups in our year levels with a mentor teacher, and we had to come up with a project. It could be anything, from learning how to communicate with sign language, to making a new song, or even designing a whole dress! Simply, anything that inspired us, or something we wanted to expand our knowledge on - while also getting the community involved. These projects were put into place so remote learning wasn’t just about doing our work from home, but also so we could all have a voice to create something we are passionate about.

The course of the projects took place over four weeks. We were tasked with brainstorming, researching, reflecting and showcasing our personal project. Along with our mentor group and teacher, we had project calls once every week. This was so we could discuss what we were up to with our project and share ideas with each other. We asked a lot of questions, gave a lot of feedback, and shared insight into our projects. When we got back to school, the opportunity was given to put the final touches on our projects and work out how we’ll present our projects - then present to our year level. 

When the time had come in that we could finally return to school, we spent the following days making sure our projects had all the final touches to them and were ready to present! At the end of the first week back, the year 10’s had their passion projects showcase, with the year 9’s, 8’s and 7’s following the next week. The presentations were set up like an expo so that each class could present their projects, and they could also look at what everyone else had done in other homerooms. A lot of videos were made by students to showcase their passion project, and other projects were presented on its own. Students in media and photography classes went around to each showcase, capturing and filming the outstanding projects that were presented so that the whole school could get a glimpse into our range of ideas.

Thank you to Ms Buick and Mr McPhail for coming up with an amazing idea that turned into something truly incredible, as these projects gave students the chance to express themselves through something they are passionate about, whilst also getting involved with several communities from the comforts of our home!

Jade and Eden Gundry, Year 7 and Year 9

During our first lockdown, the girls decided to stay active and see what they could achieve. We found some amazing virtual events from all over the world, all were free to enter with the exception of the big events (up to 390km). They entered events in Germany, England, America, Australia, New Zealand (too many to write). They virtually trekked the Inca Trail, The Ring of Kerry, Hadrian's Wall, The Great Ocean Road and  Jade was first in the world to finish The Shark Bay challenge of 180km. Between them, they achieved 55 trees to be donated and planted on their behalf, supported breast cancer with the mothers day walk and proceeds from the Shark Bay event supported Heart Kids Australia I found these events fantastic for the girls as they had something to work towards and every event (free or not) gave bibs and a finishers certificate.   I hope when they're older, they'll look back at this pandemic and be proud of what they achieved.