STEM and eLearning Update

Wednesday 17 May 2023

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

 

Simon Belluzzo
Simon Belluzzo

It has been a full Week 4 at Mordialloc College as we approach the end of our academic semester. Whilst our Year 8s have ventured to Phillip Island for camp this week, a number of our SEAL students participated in the Australian Geography Competition on Tuesday. We also have students from our SEP Basketball program competing in the Victorian Schools Championships, whilst fifty of our girls participated in an AFLW Round Robin Gala on Monday. 

 

Thank you to all our staff involved in organising and running these events for our students, especially our Year 8 Coordinator team Claire Bruce and Andrew Potter, and our Middle School Assistants Amber McHugh and Beth Hogan. 

 

Week 4 has also been a busy time in our classrooms, with many projects and assessments in progress or occuring soon. For our Year 10 and 11 students, this week is the final week of content for Semester 1 classes before diving into revision and exams over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, STEM and Digital Technologies classes have been hives of activity, with our VCE Software Development students deep into the design of their major software projects, Year 9 STEM students creating solar-powered car designs for fabrication on our laser cutter, and our Year 7 Digital Technologies and the International Language Centre students learning to code using micro:bits to create virtual pets.

There are many competitions and additional opportunities for students interested in STEM and Digital Technologies, and we publish these regularly on the Compass Newsfeed. Over the next few weeks, we will be seeking expressions of interest from students for participation in the Victorian Coding Challenge and the CyberTaipan Cybersecurity Competiton. Keep an eye out for them on Compass!

 

Student Devices

Mordialloc College is a BYOD school, and it is expected that students will bring their device in good working order, charged and ready to go each morning.

 

We do tend to see students coming early in the day with uncharged devices after staying up late gaming. This not only impacts their ability to participate in class, but as our Principal Michelle Roberts discussed in last week’s newsletter, can impact on their ability to learn. Our SchoolTV parent resource has some suggestions on how to support your child to manage their digital device usage at home.

 

As the weather turns, it is worth thinking about how your student’s device is protected from water in their bag and while moving around the College. While a proper case for your child’s device will give the best protection, placing a plastic bag over a device in their bag can provide some protection.

 

Recognising our Education Support staff

Finally, in light of Tuesday being Education Support Recognition Day, I would like to acknowledge the hard and often unsung work of all of our ES staff members, without whom the College simply wouldn’t function. To our dedicated Aide, Careers, International and Wellbeing Teams; the dependable Administration staff both in the General Office and dotted around the College; our faculty assistants and managers in Science, Arts and Technologies; and our Facilities and IT teams, thank you for all you do to support the staff, students and parents of Mordialloc College.

 

Simon Belluzzo

Director of eLearning, Data Analytics and STEM