Student Involvement & Academic News 

YEAR  9 SUMMIT CAMP

Year 9 was fortunate enough to be able to experience a belated The Summit Camp! They pushed through the cold, supported each other and gave everything their best. Next it is Year 8’s turn! 

 YEAR 10 CENTRAL AUSTRALIA TRIP 

As part of the educational program for 2022 some of our Year 10 students had an 8 day camp to Central Australia this June. This is a unique opportunity designed to provide students with the chance to experience parts of Australia that they may not be able to visit, as well as develop further understanding and empathy for our indigenous cultures of Australia.

The camp follows major attractions and experiences. This includes opal mining and underground living in a mining township, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park: natural wonder of the world, an educational and culturally enriching experience and Alice Springs: ANZAC Hill Lookout, Reptile Centre, Camel ride at James Ranges, visits to the Watarrka NP and MacDonnell Ranges.

YEAR 11 OES MT BAW BAW CAMP

Our adventure began in the dark. It was 5am and our 11 outdoor ed class were leaving to spend two days cross country skiing across Mt Baw Baw’s beautiful icy landscapes. The first day we spent learning the ropes from Mr. Wood with Ms. Mason learning alongside us. Most of us picked it up quickly, even though we all fell a million times. While our journey started off challenging with an uphill climb through the tracks, we eventually descended a massive vacant slope which made it all worth it. 

The second day was also an early rise with icy winds and snow all around us. It was a slippery slope that no one seemed to master, but it was with a stunning view across the mountain’s ranges. That day was far more difficult than the first, but it was still so much fun. We finished the day with a sharp decent down the mountain that left many of us falling and sliding down the run whilst laughing.

INDIGENOUS PROGRAM NEWS

We have had another busy term for our Indigenous students at DSC. We hosted a NAIDOC week BBQ and art activities on the first week back to acknowledge NAIDOC week. NAIDOC week is an important time to engage with and celebrate the history and cultures of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island people. This year’s NAIDOC theme was Get Up! Stand up! Show Up! encouraging systematic change, truth telling and rallying behind our mob.

Special thanks to our parent helper, Kylie Armstrong, for her generosity in running the art activities and also hearty thanks to our Indigenous Leaders for manning the BBQ. We cooked up some kangaroo sausages and burgers and had free samples for everyone to enjoy. Some students had never tried Kangaroo meat before- so it was great to see so much cultural connection and community involvement!

We also attended the KELiS conference [Koorie Emerging Leaders in Schools] at Rosebud Secondary College, where Indigenous Leaders of the bayside Peninsula schools could connect to culture and promote their leadership skills. We had a visit from the Korin Gamadji Institute (KGI) and Richmond Football club’s REAL Program, promoting leadership and cultural pride.

Olivia Roeding

Marrung Coordinator

YEAR 11 GLOBAL HEALTH TREE PLANTING

Students from the Year 11 Global Health class participated in two planting events at range of properties on the Mornington Peninsula, installing several indigenous shelterbelts alongside Landcare. This was part of the Greens Bush to Arthurs Seat Biolink - strengthening connections project.

LEAP 

Last Friday the Year 7, 8 and 9 LEAP classes had the opportunity to work together on a multi-grade project. This is the second time as a cohort we had participated in a Challenge Day, with the first being a Model United Nations to solve world problems.

Friday's LEAP Challenge Day was centred around the concept of social enterprises and how they apply commercial practices to maximise benefits for stakeholders, who are people or groups that have a stake in the outcomes of the actions of a business/organisation. To do this we were given our challenge: create your own social enterprise within your group of year sevens, eights and nines, in only one school day. Our social enterprises had to create a product that would meet at least one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This could be a water filter to meet the goal of clean water and sanitation (which many groups did) or a 2-in-1 wind and hydro turbine. My group collaborated to create greenschools™, a social enterprise that renovated schools in urban areas to have green roofs, decked out with water tanks, native flora and other sustainable systems.

We then displayed our models (did I mention we had to make prototypes of our ideas) and gave our pitches to our Judges. Whilst preparing for this speech we also had the opportunity to learn about the golden circle method of presenting, which touched on ideas in human biology and psychology. Ultimately the day developed our critical thinking skills in a fun, engaging way that ties into real-world contexts.

Written by Jasper Lawrenson

Year 9 

DEBATING

Debating this term has been very successful! At the start of term we had our last round for the local region. Our C grade team ended their season on a win, and finished third in the region for the year. Congratulations to Natalia who was the best speaker! Our D grade team finished the regional season undefeated, and progressed to the state finals series. Despite losing their last debate, our VCE team still finished top of the ladder and also progressed to finals. 

Towards the end of term, the team had a long drive to Northcote High School, to take part in the elimination finals. These debates are against other top ranked schools in the state, including many prestigious private schools. Our VCE team fought valiantly against Star of the Sea College but ultimately lost. However, they spoke well and were a credit to the school. Our D grade team debated against Haileybury Newlands, and successfully argued against implementing a tax on meat. Sylvan Owen was best speaker for this debate, and the team now progresses to the second round of finals at St Leonards in Brighton. We wish them the best of luck! 

AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHY COMPETITION 

Congratulations to the following students who placed well in the Australian Geography Competition, especially Jethro Donohoe-Scott, Ethan Tangatatutai and John Parker who all received High Distinctions!

YEAR 10 FORMAL

SCIENCE WEEK

The Dromana College Science Department hosted Science Week from the 15th to 19th of August. During the week students were involved several activities:

• Looking at life using a microscope – students looked at liver cells, brain cells, hair and microorganisms in pond water
• Sharing their interesting science fact at lunchtime to achieve a sherbet prize
• Rocket and paper plane making challenge – we are still finding rockets on top of the buildings!
• Making a light bulb from scratch

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS 

FRANCESCA MONTGOMERY 

Congratulations to Francesca Montgomery, Year 12 who has been recognised with a Premier’s VCE Award for her outstanding academic results in 2021.

Frankie received The Award with a perfect score of 50 for Psychology in 2021. The Premier’s VCE Awards recognise the top-performing students in the state.

Dromana College is so proud and would like to congratulate her on this outstanding achievement!

SARAH WALLACE

Rosebud’s Sarah Wallace has achieved Girl Guides Australia’s highest peak achievement award to a youth member, the Queen’s Guide Award. Early in 2023, she will travel to Government House to receive her official Award from the Governor of Victoria.

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