Co-curriculars @ The Ridgeway Campus

A Ray of Sunshine in                   Co-curriculars

By Ella Ray, The Ridgeway Campus, Year 10

The coronavirus outbreak has made it incredibly difficult to partake in many extra-curricular activities at IGS. Two of the programs I am active in, debating and the A ‘Capella ensemble, have had to adapt to the online learning environment in order to continue. While it has undeniably been challenging, everyone involved in both of the programs has learned many new skills, and the work done – whether that be online or at school prior to this term – is still fruitful, enjoyable and well worth doing. 

In regard to A ‘Capella, prior to quarantine we met once a week during Monday lunchtime. The time slot remains the same, however we have shifted from the rehearsal room at Locksley to a Zoom call. To begin with, it was awfully strange – A ‘Capella is all about blending voices and trying out new sounds, but for the past few weeks the only singing I’ve heard has come from our instructor, Ms Campbell, and from myself. This is because everybody has to be on mute throughout the rehearsal, otherwise the delay from differing internet speeds, coupled with the pre-existing delay on Zoom, results in it being virtually impossible for us to all sing together as an ensemble. However, the piece we are currently working on (Only You by Vince Clarke) is coming along very well, due to the extra time put in by the ensemble members, as well as continuing our rehearsals during our regular time. 

In regards to debating, the situation is vastly different in comparison to A ‘Capella. The DAV brings many students from many different schools together… this would normally be a wonderful thing, if not for social distancing restrictions. As such, the majority of the debates scheduled for term 2 were cancelled. Instead, the DAV implemented an online public speaking competition, in which participants would submit a short video of them presenting a persuasive speech on any topic of their choice. I chose to write my speech on the issue of civil rights within the United States. I thoroughly enjoyed the competition, as the freedom to choose any topic allowed for me to play to my interests in politics and humanitarianism. To my knowledge, online debates are going to commence within the next few weeks, which I hope to take part in as well. 

All in all, quarantine has been inhibiting on co-curricular activities. However, due to the diligence of both the students and teachers, they have still been able to run during these uncertain times. For me, and I know for a lot of other students as well, they have still provided a constant source of reassurance, familiarity and friendship, and I sincerely thank all involved (especially the teachers!) for continuing to offer so many opportunities to us. 

New Opportunities

By Christian Arnel, The Ridgeway Campus, Year 10

As many co-curricular opportunities have been cancelled, new opportunities have arisen in the form of online co-curricular using MS-Teams! A small group of others and myself have been involved with the program called “Letters for Warmth”. In this activity, each week we create and write letters for the elderly community who are separated from their families during Covid-19 through The Brotherhood of St Laurence. It has been nice to spend time every week to create cards for those who need to hear important messages during this time. At the end of each week, we send out all the completed cards. At one point, we sent out around 36 letters to retirement homes and villages around the Melbourne area. I have enjoyed taking part in the program and would urge others to take part in it, as it is an easy task that gives back to the elderly community. 

During this quarantine period, many other music students and I have been using MS-Teams to continue music tuition and other music groups. Generally, it has been a big learning curve to figure out how to properly practice and work around the different style of collaboration and learning through the online ensemble groups. In particular, two of the music groups that I am in is the Flute Ensemble and the Ridgeway Chorale, which have both been great to continue during this quarantine period! Each week, everyone logs onto the appropriate team and we go through recording parts of a song and or playing with one other person to get a greater sense of what we are playing. It has been great to prepare and collaborate so that all of us are prepared for later music events.

Overall, it has been nice to continue to participate in many co-curricular opportunities, which brings some normality back into school life, especially during these uncertain times where the constant staring at a laptop screen gets very hard to do!