Other School News

 Numeracy Week 2022

We celebrated numeracy week in Term 4, with lots of numeracy lunchtime activities such as Bingo, Pi memorisation competition, Treasure Hunt, Kahoot quiz, and Game of 24. There were also daily trivia questions and  Count the Jelly Beans guessing competition! The total number of jelly beans was 548! Those students who joined in the activities had so much fun! 

A BIG THANK YOU to the Maths teachers (Mr Andy Tran, Ms Lucy Chieng, Mr Dean Goulimis, Mr Shankar Chandrasegaran, Mr Jeffrey Pham, Ms Pegah Kasiri, and Ms Jessie Li) for volunteering your time to run these activities for the students to participate. 

Ms Loan Luong-Nguyen

Numeracy & STEM Learning Specialist

Sports Report  

Nearly Halfway through the last term of 2022, we can say that it’s a quiet term as not much has happened with sporting events happening here and there. Back in the first week, we had our very own Israel Moeroa and Nane Moeroa compete in the Regionals Athletics Event versing other competitors across the region. We had Israel put up a hard fight coming 4th in U14 Discuss. We then had Nane smash the competition, coming in first in U15 Shotput and U15 Discuss, which puts her on through to State! We are very proud of the sibling duo for competing and representing Westall. 

Our Next Event was indeed State Athletics, where Nane competed in Shotput and Discuss. Reaching this stage alone is a huge accomplishment! Nane came 4th in Discuss and 5th in Shotput. Nane put up a hard fight and came home with great results. A huge round of applause to Nane and Israel. 

Besides Athletics, we have our Year 7s and Year 8s currently participating in Swimming Lessons over at Noble Park Aquatic Centre, where students are learning different types of swimming strokes, either learning in the water or answering questions outside the water, or learning about safety. They are learning life lessons that might came useful in the future and might save a life.  

We also have our Year 7s girls and other students across the year levels training for Volleyball Events and the Year 7 Girls State Championship Day and our Junior Cup. Students are training hard, practising every day in the sports centre! 

TJ Euese

Sports Assistant

Guest Speaker 

- Boori Monty Pryor 

On 12th October, Year 10 and 11 EAL students had the opportunity to listen to Boori Monty Pryor, an Aboriginal author, and storyteller. During his visit, we were told about his experience as an Aboriginal writer. He introduced us to his newest book “Story Doctors” and walked us through his thoughts, inspirations, and backstories behind the book. He was also engaging and invited us to do multiple activities together, such as dancing to the didgeridoo and roleplaying an Aboriginal song. We had a blast and the lesson we learned was, it’s easy to learn about the stories, you just have to open your heart, your ears, and eyes, and “drink” in the stories. 

He allowed us to become familiar with the illustrations and the poetic nature of the texts in the book that tells us the story of our land, the rich history, and the vast natural environment of Australia dating back tens of thousands of years. He shared how his book came into conception during the pandemic and how he worked with the illustrator, Rita Sinclair, to create the imagery and storytelling element of the book. After finishing the book, Monty set up a dance about warning the local people about the new bees, and how foraging trees can disturb and cause them to sting us. He sang and played a percussive stick instrument, allowing the students and teachers to participate in the dance as well. Towards the end, he played his didgeridoo, which made a deep and resonant sound that is very unique. He also shared some of his knowledge about the Stolen Generation, which was relevant to a book that we had studied, ‘Stolen’ by Jane Harrison. 

Every word spoken by Boori Monty indicated that he is an inspirational, incredibly imaginative, and fascinating storyteller. He displayed a new feeling to the readers by telling them stories about his life, most notably in the book, Story Doctors. What makes his work even more remarkable and unique is the complex political issues he raises in the most simplistic way, through the use of visuals or illustrations. Boori stands out as the aim of most of his stories is to immerse readers in the culture, to encourage them to be a part of it rather than just observers. He has the skills to find strength within to deal with external challenges, but also, to create positive future visions for both Indigenous and Western society.

By Joe Bui, Daisy Nguyen, Milky Edo - Year 11 EAL students and Ms Kaylene Jarvis

Classroom Teacher

iCreate Visual Arts 

- Clayton North PS Taster Day

Clayton North Primary School visited Westall SC during our iCreate Visual Arts program. The students had a taster day where they explored ideas using mosaic art.

Students were given a 15 x 15cm plywood as the base for their artwork and used basic shape designs to make new designs of their own. Colour tiles were kept to a minimum of two colours. Our wonderful Westall students stepped the Primary students through the process of mosaic. The students sketched their designs onto the plywood and then filled in the drawing with coloured tiles. Tile adhesive was used to secure the tiles to the plywood. The mosaic design was finished off with grout, which was used to fill all the gaps and then displayed.

A big thank you to the iCreate class and Ms Besley for driving the work.

Ms Helen Ifandis 

Year 11 & Arts Coordinator

Humanities Week

In the first week of Term 4, we celebrated Humanities Week at Westall. Within the Humanities, our students get the chance to study History, Geography, Business and Economics, and Civics and Citizenship. 

We started the week with a bang, running a staff versus students quiz. Contestants’ knowledge of the Humanities was put to the test and they fought for the chance to publicly 'shame’ the other team. To complement their study of the Middle Ages, we recreated a medieval pillory. Isabelle from Year 10 and Mr Murray kindly volunteered to be ‘locked up’ to simulate the experience of victims who would be publicly insulted and humiliated as punishment. Throughout the week, we also ran various themed activities, including Humanities-based board games, films, games, and trivia, as well as, up-cycled art to promote sustainability. 

Ms Sian Moore

Humanities Coordinator

iCreate Visual Arts

It has been exciting times in the iCreate Visual Arts classroom this term! The students have really moved out of their comfort zone from precision drawing to experimental pouring techniques, fluid brush painting with Indian ink, soft sculpture, and oil stick art with markers. The students have also been working on their individual folio pieces which range from canvas painting, tonal rendered drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. Ms Besley has pushed the boundaries with the techniques, media, and processes to get the students to think about art as not just still! Watching the movement in the room by the students as they move with their work has been cutting-edge!

They will shortly be presenting their studio process and folio to the class, can't wait to hear their artists' talks!

Ms Helen Ifandis 

Year 11 & Arts Coordinator