In and around the Classroom

Congratulations to Jovan Wiranto

Western Chances supports hardworking and motivated students with scholarships to ensure they can achieve their potential. 

Western Chances support many Homestead students however, Jovan Wiranto of 12C was recognised for his outstanding dedication to his studies. 

Michael Fawcett and Kathrine Rix along with Jovan attended the Western Chances presentation at Government House on Thursday 12 May. 

Well done Jovan!

Congratualtion Xander Byre

After Xander’s success in February,  winning gold at the Victorian State Track and Field Championships,  Xander was then selected to represent Victoria at the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships

From Saturday 26 March to Sunday 3 April, the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships were hosted at Sydney Olympic Park (home of the 2000 Olympic Games).

Xander was selected to compete as an under 18 athlete in the following events,where:

i.100m hurdles – 5th in final (new PB 14.63)                   

-qualified through preliminary heats and competed in the final (same day)

ii. 400m hurdles -  GOLD in a new PB 54.68

-qualified through the preliminary round heats, with the final held the following day

Refer to Athletics Australia live stream video from Youtube (Xander in Lane 5)   

(777) U18 Men 400m Hurdles Final 2022 Australian Track & Field Championships - YouTube

iii. 4 x 400m Relay team - GOLD                                           

NB: This is an exceptional achievement, as the event was held 75 minutes following the 400m hurdle final.

Xander is the 2nd runner   (777) U18 Men 4x400m Final 2022 Australian Track & Field Championships - YouTube  Watch the nail biting finish !!!

Please note, Xander also qualified, but choose not to do at the Australian Championships, the 100m, 200m, and 400m events.

Xander has now been selected in the Australian team to compete at the Oceania Track and Field Championships later this year.

First Coffee Making Day-Homestead Cafe

On Friday 1 April the Senior VCAL students headed down to the cafe in the PAPE building to test out the space and make our first batch of coffees. Our purpose for this was to train newer VCAL students who missed the barista training last year and give them a chance to learn, and to refresh the memories of the students who did participate in the barista course last year. 

What we found out was that most of us were particularly good at making coffees. Some of us even took orders from passing teachers to make their desired coffee, the majority felt comfortable using the machine and gained confidence as they went. This will be a tremendous help for the HSSC cafe, if the majority of the students were comfortable using the coffee machine and producing drinks. It will provide less stress for those who are working in the cafe, as we can have a steady roster and rotate those who can work. It will also be more time effective, as having multiple people who can operate the machine will allow for the previous person to have a break from making the drink and to serve the next customer. 

Elsa, was the first person to try a coffee from Logan and said it was “perfect”. She seemed to really enjoy the strength of the coffee and the flavour. The proposed plan for the HSSC cafe to open was, week 1 - term 2, but the harsh reality is more towards term 2 - week 4 or 5. We are still currently working out the roster and who can work on which days, also we are still in the process of building our coffee arsenals, as right now we can only create cappuccinos. This will need to be created so we can make different coffees for staff and students. 

We would like to say a huge, huge thank you to Vickie Turner-Craig. She went out of her way to help us during sessions 1 and 2.. As the Assistant Principal of the school, we can imagine how busy her schedule is, but she still managed to find the time to help. So for that, thank you!

-Written By Cian Evans (Graphic Design = Bol & Tai)

Homestead Basketball League

After a monumental effort from our students and staff, we’ve been able to start the inaugural homestead basketball league; where houses face off against each other, in order to crown and present the winning house with our very first HBL cup, draped in their colours. We’ve had three games in as many weeks so far. With only 3 weeks before the finals, the race is heating up to win the top seed overall. The results so far are as follows:

The great work of our student leaders with the Basketball League has now been recognised by the Huddle Program which runs through the North Melbourne Football Club.

In particular, Howard Chang has been recognised for his excellent leadership qualities demonstrated during his time with the Huddle. Howard has now been invited to the Wyndham City's Sport Leadership Breakfast. 

-Gopal

Homestead at the ANZAC Day Parade

On Sunday, April 24, the college captains participated in the pre-ANZAC day parade, to represent fallen soldiers who fought in the war.

ANZAC day is held every year on the 25 April to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand soldiers that sacrificed their own lives in the hopes of giving us a future filled with peace. On this day, we keep all the soldiers who served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations in our thoughts, publicly honouring them for their services to our country. To commemorate the soldiers who have dedicated their lives for our countries, the Werribee RSL, conduct a dawn service and a parade, among others every year. 

This year, our school, Homestead Senior Secondary, had been invited to participate in the pre- ANZAC Day parade. Our school had chosen our four college captains to partake in this parade, to represent the school in commemorating others every year. 

The march started at 2pm in Werribee and concluded at the Werribee War Memorial, where the laying of wreaths and minute of silence for the soldiers, took place. There were many in attendance, multiple divisions of our army, war generals, and descendants of decorated soldiers to name a few. 

We’d like to thank Merv from the RSL for giving us this amazing opportunity, and his kind hospitality on the day, while also thanking our teachers for picking on us to partake in this historic parade down the streets of Werribee.

-Gopal, Emily, Radhika, Hayden (College Captains)

Top Arts – NGV – Studio Art

On Wednesday the 6 April, the VCE Studio Art students went to see Top Arts in the NGV at Federation Square. It is a collection of Artworks created by the top students from 2021 Unit 4 students who were the most exceptional students of the year. The exhibition is filled with pieces of art that display each student’s own creativity and skills, displayed for the public to be admired. 

As we arrive at Flinders, this artistic class with our teacher Brenton went to Federation Square. 

We visited Hosier Lane to see the eclectic beauty of graffiti on one of Melbourne’s most famous alley ways. Seeing the sites of the city, witnessing arts and voices being made through art, even visiting a Culture King to see design in action.

Then it was finally time to return to Top Arts to receive a seminar about the Studio Art process, and Top Arts process. It was an enlightening and frightening talk as we slowly realise how much work we needed to do by the end of the year to even consider applications into Top Arts. 

With that daunting task looming over us we exit the seminar to explore the art room. Where we saw the amazing art made by fellow students. From painting, etching, drawing, sculpture, sewing and film the diversity in themes, styles, and materials that it was so inspiring. 

After touring the room, we were permitted to enter the room that was filled with the portfolios of the students. As this is the main point of marking for our end of year scores, we entered the room in hopes of getting every ounce of inspiration and motivation. Looking through the folios we could see the process and thoughts that artist went through to end at their master pieces. 

After a full day of art, we were allowed to end the day by grabbing a bite to eat in the city and relax with friends in this city filled to the brim with creativity. 

Overall, this experience was well deserved after we had two years of lockdowns ruining most motivation for school art. So being able to visit the city and see the extraordinary work of other students has really made us ready to explore our themes and make the best art we can.

-Emily Borcea

Homestead Cafe Open for Business

VCAL Excursion to Grand Prix

The Senior VCAL class attended the 2022 Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on Friday 8 April at Albert Park.

The purpose of this excursion was to demonstrate leadership and communications skills by making your way around the grand prix, and also learning how to read the circuit map.

In class, we planned the entire trip by reading public transport schedules and organising the times accordingly. We mostly  arrived on time so the itinerary was very useful, and it enabled people to be more carefree whilst travelling and assisted everyone to stick together. We also selected what gate we would enter, the times we would do each specific venture available at the track, and where we were going to go throughout the day whilst we were there.

We learnt that the grounds were massive and you could look for hours. We learnt that the food is overpriced. Next time, we would strictly follow the plans that we made for the day, as we missed out on seeing some things we wanted. We would absolutely go again.

We say thank you to Elsa for leading the class and buying us all ice cream on the day. Also, thanks to Tania for coordinating the tickets so we could attend. It was a great day.

-Senior VCAL