Senior School 

Term 2

Welcome back from holidays!  It was lovely to see all the Senior School students return from their holidays, rested and ready for the term ahead.  Whilst the term break was a timely opportunity to recharge the batteries, it was also an invaluable time for further study and revision in order to embed the knowledge and skills gained throughout Term 1, something our Senior School students continue understand and appreciate the importance of as they progress through their studies.  We encourage all students to continue this habit of revision and regular study to assist in the understanding of new material and applying this to previously learned content.

It was lovely to see so many students, and especially our Senior School students, involved in Open Night – they were all so full of smiles and positive about Scoresby Secondary College, as well as what they can achieve.  A huge thank you to all students who gave up their time to assist in promoting the College; it was very much appreciated by staff and the visiting parents. 

Our Year 10 and Year 11 students returned safely from Central Camp and, although weary, it was great to see students’ faces light up as they talked about their experience.  Of note seemed to be the walk around Kings Canyon, the reptile visit, and seeing Uluru.  Thanks must go to Ms Morris for her hours of organisation prior to the camp, as well as to those staff who attended – Ms Morris, Ms Lawson, Mr B Phillips and Mr H Wang.  The students were very appreciative of the time you gave up so that they could enjoy this amazing experience!

Term 2 is a busy one, with numerous activities and programs running to assist our Senior School students.  These include lunch time clubs and activities organised by the student leaders, Elevate seminars, Year 10 work experience, exams for the Year 9-11 students, as well as the commencement of Unit 2 and Unit 4 at the VCE level.  For the first time, we are also running trial exams in English and Maths (both Further Maths and Math Methods) for Year 12 students on Friday 16 June.  These exams will give students the best opportunity to practise writing under timed conditions, as well as further experience of exam conditions, prior to their VCAA end of year exams.

We wish all Senior School students well for Term 2!

Ellen Sawyer

Head of Senior School

Central Australia Camp 2017

The end of term one and the first week of the school holidays saw 38 students from Year 10 and 11 and 4 staff head of to the red center on the college Central Australia Tour.

The very first day our central camp started with meeting at school early in the morning, and once everyone had arrived, said goodbye to our parents- we started on the 8-hour drive towards Adelaide. On the way we had a glimpse of both a pink salt lake and some albino kangaroos in Boarder Town, and once arriving and settling at the Adelaide shores caravan park we had a trip to the beach and then dinner in the rain. The next morning saw us on our way to Cooper Pedy, stopping at a supermarket for a snack top-up we hit Woomera, a town that held an old rocket museum as it has been a site of rocket launching. Upon arriving at Cooper Pedy, we got to go into an opal mine, watching an opal demonstration and getting to buy some ourselves. That night we stayed in the underground cabins- which although were a bit smelly and claustrophobic, kept a steady temperature through the night. The next morning we went on to Alice springs- setting up camp for the next two nights. We visited the Royal Flying Doctors Service learning about Sir Reverend John Flynn and the work he had done bringing medical service to the outback.  A visit to Simpsons Gap for the group photo and then we headed to Ellery Creek for a relaxing, although cold swim. That night we had a visit from a reptile expert, and got to hold some lizards and a giant snake called honey. We headed off early the next morning for Kings Creek campgrounds, stopping along the way at an Anzac memorial. Once we set up at camp, we built a campfire and made s’mores and damper.

Next morning we headed off to Kings Canyon- with all the boys prepped up and beautiful for the 6km hike. The climb was challenging, with the first part a very steep incline. It was otherwise a beautiful walk, and we got to see the town stretched in front of us. Once we finished the walk we headed toward Yulara, with a stop at Mount Connor (fake Uluru) as well as a salt lake, arriving at camp before 7 pm. Some of us visited the pool, while others stayed at the camp to relax. We were excited for the next day at Uluru, and once we got there, we were given a guided tour around the bottom of it, and learned about the interesting culture of the Aboriginals and some dreamtime stories. We had the chance to sit on the rock, and we all agreed that it looked bigger up close than in the pictures. Once back in town we had a trip to the shops, and then we went to the Olgas or Katta Tjuda. We walked to the middle of the Olgas, and relaxed there for a bit before going back to Uluru for the sunset viewing watching as the sun changed the colour of the rock.

That evening many students were preparing for the 36-hour trip back home. While it was a long trip we had many stops including hand feeding emus, pizza in Cooper Pedy, watching movies, playing games and we received our awards before finally arriving back at Scoresby Secondary College. Overall, it was an amazing trip and was absolutely worth the visit.

Annie Glossop and Abbey Short

Year 11

Student Highlights of Central Camp

The Kings Canyon walk because it was great to see Australia’s natural land formations and it had spectacular views.

My highlight was going to the waterhole and floating in the refreshing but cold water for a while.

My biggest highlight from Central was the camel riding; it was a completely new feeling but an amazing one!

It is a life changing experience and have never been to places with such a magnificent landscape.