Student Achievements 

SCHOOL CHOIR – LUNCHTIME PERFORMANCE 

At lunchtime on Thursday 31st March, The Wheelers Hill Choir performed for their fellow peers and teachers for the first time in a year outside the Bunjil Centre. We also had two soloists, Teagan Okos and Macy Whetstone who also performed for the first time in a year. It has been a breath of fresh air to see so many students singing again and wanting to be involved. All performers did extremely well, and it was lovely to see their peers supporting them.  

We will be continuing to rehearse at lunchtime and perform as much as possible. The next performance will be held at the Wheelers Hill Open Night. 

Annie Stone 

Vocal Teacher/Choir Director 

Luna Park Physics Day - Tuesday 8th March 2022 

Once again it was off to Luna Park for our Year 12s to explore the physics of amusement park rides. The aim was to hopefully help them to gain a direct experience of the concepts covered in class as part of motion and formed the basis of one of their SACs. It would also be potentially enjoyable for the students, a bonding experience as they struggle through VCE Physics, and mildly amusing for myself. 

At Luna Park, our students had the opportunity to experience acceleration, g-forces, circular motion, and apparent weightlessness as they spun, climbed, dived, and looped on the various rides at Luna Park. We rattled around, climbing and diving on the rollercoaster, hoping it didn’t fall apart. The Twin Dragons produced changes in kinetic and gravitational energy as the ride oscillated backward and forwards. The Enterprise allowed students to measure the forces in a horizontal and vertical circular motion as they spun around at high speed. The Top Drop generated apparent weightlessness and high g-forces as students were dropped from a great height and slammed to a stop. Pharaoh’s Curse spun them upside down and shook all the change out of their pockets. While the Power-Surge was just diabolic. 

As one student said; 

“The best thing about the day was going on all the rides with friends and just having a good time.  Also, it definitely helped me really understand how and why the forces act on objects as we got to experience it first hand, which then explained how and why the force diagrams are presented in a particular way. 

What I wasn't expecting was how much physics is involved in things like rides, and how precise the calculations need to be to maintain safety. The centripetal force involved in the Enterprise was most unexpected for me as it is something we don't usually see in our everyday life." 

The students strongly recommend the experience to anyone studying Physics. Overall a fun, educational, and slightly nauseating day was had by all.  

Paul McGlynn,  

Senior Physics Teacher 

Victorian High Ability Program 2022 Update 

This year we have begun our high achiever's journey running with our students who have been hand-picked by the Department of Education to participate in the Secondary English and Secondary Mathematics Victorian High Ability Programs (VHAP). We finished term 4 in 2021 with ten year 7 students completing the VHAP courses, our largest participation yet, and now this year we have begun with year 8 students taking part in this fantastic program. 

Read below two anecdotes from students who are currently taking part in VHAP this term. 

“The Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP) has been a wonderful experience where I have  been exposed to various challenges that have been fun, engaging and interesting. Our English VHAP class has especially been enjoyable as I get to work with various like-minded children all over Victoria. This special opportunity has been incredible and puzzling. So far we have learnt about juxtaposition, overall meaning of movies, pictures and more. This has been informative and captivating. Our online teacher makes the lesson especially enjoyable with general knowledge and paradoxical questions as a starter for our wonderful feast, and each “dish” is delicious in its own way.” 

Vismaya, 8G 

“In VHAP I enjoy learning different ways to solve problems that you wouldn't find in your everyday classroom. The skills I learned in this course are not limited to maths but can be implemented in real-world scenarios. Although I have yet to complete the course, I enjoyed learning graph theory and paradoxes. To give you an idea of what I learn about in VHAP the following is an interesting phenomenon I studied:  

111111111 squared = 12345678987654321 

1111 squared = 1234321 

We ask questions such as – Why is this phenomenon happening? And what are our findings?” 

Samuel, 8D 

It has truly been a pleasure to see our high-flyers engaged in extending themselves through VHAP and we are very excited as a college to have a record total of sixteen year 7 students who will soar through their experiences in VHAP in term 2. 

Mr. Pedro Mello 

High Ability Practice Leader