Acting Head of Senior Years

Year 11

On Wednesday 11 May, the Year 11 students participated in the Fit 2 Drive half-day workshop. The day consisted of interactive activities targeting the Year 11's understanding of responsible choices, peer pressure, road safety and risky behaviour. In addition to the exciting facilitators, we also got to speak with guest speakers from the Victorian Police and the Fire Rescue department, who emphasised the importance of trusting instincts and following the road rules in times of uncertainty. Overall, it was a very educational and fun day for all of us!

- Bethany O (11CL)

SY Studio for Assembly

The pandemic and gathering restrictions provided an opportunity for SY students (and staff) to reimagine how sub-school assemblies might function. Thanks to the dedication of some senior (mostly Year 12) students and the willingness of staff members, Senior Years Assembly has been transformed into a contemporary media form of rich content for everyone to enjoy. Assembly is conducted via an online broadcast, where a group of students volunteer organise the content and present it to their peers, allowing them to keep a consistent balance between information and entertainment. The presenters also create content that allows the students to interact, one such example being the Senior School Assembly’s “Treasure Hunt,” where students were given an object to look for around the school. This form of content has proven extremely engaging for the students, with some of the highest audience retention our assemblies have seen.

- Vansh B (12JK), Director of the Senior Years Assembly

With our new format of online assembly broadcast, many people saw the shift as something we were forced to do, cobbled together with bits of wire and sticky-tape - to last just as long as the lockdowns.

Instead, we saw an opportunity to repurpose individual camera kits, recording equipment and spaces to build a studio greater than the sum of its parts. Where an individual student was once adequately equipped to create a solo production, groups of students can now communicate in a team that collaboratively produces an engaging, weekly, multi-camera studio production.  It is now so effective and engaging that it has become the preferred format over mass gathering assemblies for students and staff.

Pioneered by students studying VCE Media, the program has since attracted crew outside the elective to prepare and run graphics, operate cameras and switch feeds as well as plan and develop content and segments to air to their peers. As the studio matures more opportunities will arise for broader use across the student community, exciting the next generation of creators with semi-professional equipment and a purpose to create.

- Rhys Gannell, Producer of the Senior Years Assembly

As our SY studio and media team took shape over the last several months, in response to the need to stream due to COVID restrictions, we have observed students producing powerful, relevant content for their peers. Other students watching and engaging with content and a media style that they find fresh. Most of all, we see student choice and student voice crafted through the College values of grace, courage, integrity and respect. Grace in recognising what God has allowed for us. Courage to try something with which they had little experience. Integrity to be real and learn new things. Respect for themselves, their College and their peers in how they develop the content for each assembly. I could not be prouder of their approach and work. 

- Rodney Latham, Head of Senior Years (Acting)

Mapping

Mapping is where text from a lesson is converted into a spatial arrangement of connected key words. Often this has been presented as a concept map or knowledge map, but there are lots of graphic organisers that assist students in this process. While many of these may have application in specialised areas or subjects, they enable learners to arrange information into a different way, to help them see things differently. This is also important because it forces a structure on information, that may seem unconnected or disordered at first, but helps our brains to remember things.  Since mapping causes learners to select information that they think is relevant, this challenging activity assists the brain in remembering. Excitingly, mapping allows learners to combine new information in new ways, and connect it to things that are already known. This process creates a ‘hook’ for memory enabling better recall. While there are many benefits to mapping words, concepts and ideas, it is a simple strategy that any learner can use, to foster creative thought and improve recall.