In the classroom 

A glimpse of the many and varied activities within the classroom across all domains in the last few weeks. 

Year 10 Dance workshops

The Year 10 dance students have participated in a barre pilates workshop. It taught the students a range of strengthening exercises that incorporate elements of ballet. The girls enjoyed the experience and had some sore muscles for a few days afterwards!

Tess Molina

Dance Teacher

Health & PE

This term Year 9 students have been participating in self-defence lessons. This unit has been reintroduced into the curriculum as our student leaders felt this is an important and practical skill for our students to learn. The classes have been taken by Joe Templin from Chikara Karate Studio, Joe has 40 years of experience in karate and self-defence. The classes have taught us how to better recognise, avoid and defuse dangerous situations and improve our awareness and confidence. These have been a great few lessons learning new skills that are practical in our everyday lives

 

Year 8 students are busy performing their hip-hop routines. They have had the benefit of instructors who have made these sessions fun and taught us lots of new skills. On Thursday 22 August during lunchtime Year 8 students will be competing in a hip-hop competition, Mentone’s Got Talent! This will be a fun event for the school to watch and the students show off their skills. Good luck to those competing!

 

Year 7 students have just finished their fitness unit and now moving onto soccer. They will then be finishing the term with Latin dance.

 

Mia Schroen (Year 9) 

HPE Student Domain Leader

 

Year 11 Theatre Studies Excursion

Theatre Studies students are required to attend professional theatre performances as part of their course work. On Wednesday 7 August the Year 11 class went into the city to see One the Bear by Candy Bowers. The play has been described as a ‘fairy-tale for the hip hop generation’ and explores the themes of media saturation, culture consumption and colonisation. The performance was colourful, energetic and moving and incorporated highly engaging audience interaction.

Before the show the students went on a tour of the Arts Centre Theatres and had a rare opportunity to catch a behind the scenes glimpse of actors rehearsing sword fighting for Shakespeare in Love and the Symphony Orchestra rehearsing in Hamer Hall for the opening of their next performance season. An added bonus was a quick trip to view the ‘Australian Music Vault’ exhibition. It was a fantastic day and a reminder of the fabulous array of cultural activities our city provides.

Jenny Connolly

Year 11 Theatre Studies teacher

Year 12 Food Studies 

Year 12 Food Studies students are currently looking at sustainability and environmental issues in our food system. As a practical task, they made beeswax wraps that are an alternative to plastic wrap. They can be used to wrap an assortment of foods and reused for up to two years.

Tess Molina

VCE Food Studies teacher

Year 7 Science 

Many of the Year 7 Science classes  had the opportunity to dissect some Owl Pellets. Owls are birds of prey. They hunt at night and swallow their prey whole or in large pieces. Once swallowed, the prey moves to the owl’s stomach. The specialized stomach includes an upper region called the proventriculus and a lower portion called the ventriculus or gizzard. Prey is partially digested by acids and enzymes in the upper stomach. The remains move to the gizzard. Indigestible parts of the prey - hair, bones, teeth, and feathers - are compressed into a matted pellet. The pellet re-enters the proventriculus and stays there until the owl regurgitates it. The common barn owl produces one or two pellets per day. The owl pellets were sourced from Southern Biological and each owl pellet had been heat sterilised at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for two to four hours. Students worked in small groups to dissect the owl pellet, examine its contents, and identify the number and type of prey consumed using a classification chart. It was a fabulous way to finish their topic on classification.

Emma Holman

Director of Junior School