Senior School

Year 9 Wheelchair Basketball Incursion

As part of our Health curriculum, the Year 9s have been studying a unit called 'Disability in Sport'. This unit is greatly relevant to the world around us, and has focused largely on the recent Commonwealth games and winter Paralympics.

On Monday the 23rd of April the Year 9s were blessed to have Paralympian Peter come in and discuss disability in sport with them - after which they participated in a wheelchair basketball workshop. The Year 9s were a great representation of our school and put in an amazing effort!

Cailyn Holland 

Health Teacher

Last week we participated in wheelchair basketball. Our instructor shared his story with us. He has polio, a virus that affects the movement in his legs. As he grew up in Nigeria back when there was no vaccine he struggled through bullying and crawling on his arms to go place to place. The only way out of this was with sport. He became a Paralympic powerlifter until he severely injured his arm. Due to this injury he was unable to continue powerlifting so he pursued wheelchair basketball. He preached that all our choices have an end result. No matter if the result is negative or positive we have to accept it. After he shared his life story, we hopped into wheelchairs and started to play wheelchair basketball. It was an enjoyable and unique experience and we would definitely want to do it again.

Brendan Lam and Thomas Audet

Year 9 Students

10B Geography Excursion

On Monday, 10B went on a geography excursion to Mornington Peninsula. While studying different coastal landforms, we explored three different beaches and learnt about coastal management. A chef from a local cafe shared how important maintaining our beautiful beaches is. We stopped for lunch at a local fish and chip shop and ate on the beach surrounded by seagulls. We had a great day seeing lots of fish and having dangerously close encounters with seagulls.

Karin Siahay and Katelyn Farmer

Year 10 Students

St Andrews Career Guidance and Pathways Program

At St Andrews we teach our students that each is an individual, created in the image of God with a unique purpose to fulfil as part of a great picture.

I am passionate about supporting our students to reach their career goals and ensure they receive all relevant information to help them prepare for the future. In Careers Newsletters I provide information about the latest offerings from universities and TAFEs, upcoming Expos, Open Days and workshops and it is inspiring to hear students’ comments about the programs and workshops they’ve attended.

I’ve asked three Senior School students, Robert Vardapetyan, Yr 10, Mykaela Coppens, Yr 11 and Raaya Singh, Yr 12, to share about what they did during the Term One school holidays and here are their reflections:

Robert Vardapetyan, Yr 10, ‘Hands on Engineering and IT’ The University of Melbourne

On Friday the 6th of April, I travelled to the Parkville campus of Melbourne University to experience the Hands on Engineering & IT Workshop recommended and arranged for me by none other than Mrs Yevlahova herself. When I arrived at the registration desk in the Old Engineering building I saw students from all around Victoria, I met a Jack from Ballarat and an Anton from Werribee just to give some perspective on the diversity of the students attending. The first workshop we attended was hosted by a man from Denmark, Harald Sondergaard whom spoke to the 30-40 of us about cryptography. It really was enlightening to learn about the charms of data transfer and encryption and decryption. Moving on, after our 15 minute break concluded we made our way back into the Old Engineering building to participate in a workshop of App development led by app developer Greg Wadley. We then synchronized our app coding to our phones using the MIT’s App Inventor application and tested out are apps, my partner and I managed to create a direction sensory oriented ball game just to give you a taste of the depth of app development we achieved.

During the lunch break we visited a literal workshop managed by mechanical engineering students who built 1-2 lesser Formula 1 style race cars every year. They provided some of the students and I with a tour of their workshop and explained to us some of the processes of creating the chassis of the race car. After lunch we headed up back to the Old Engineering building and made bridges out of plastic parts in comparison to the role of a structural or civil engineer and we tested each group’s bridge design to see which could hold the most weight before collapsing. After some experimentation with the plastic parts making rigid or flimsy bridges, it was 3pm and we made our way to a lecture hall to conclude the overall Engineering and IT workshop as well as to present participation certificates to all the attending students. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, experiencing the vibrant atmosphere of the busy university student life, travelling to the city independently from Ringwood Station to Melbourne Central and just absorbing all the knowledge there was to absorb regarding the workshop and its various utilities.

Robert Vardapetyan, Year 10

Mykaela Coppens, Yr 11, ‘Step on Campus’ Deakin University

Before reading the 19th of March 2018 St Andrews Careers Newsletter I wasn’t aware of the Deakin ‘Step on Campus’ tour. It opened my eyes to an opportunity to walk around campus and learn more about university life. By specifying the courses I was interested in, I signed up to the appropriate free tour using the available link. I went to my tour on the Burwood Deakin campus and was guided by two current students studying in the biomedical science field. They walked myself and ten or so others around the campus, showing us the facilities, library, labs and study rooms. They also explained the day to day life typical to University students including those with part time jobs, explaining Deakin’s flexibility and support with online resources and lectures. It was a really rewarding experience that was made easily available by the Careers Newsletter run by Mrs  Yevlahova. After the tour I looked through the information pack that I was given, going over it again and again with highlighters. Before this experience I had little to no clue what I wanted to do after school. I now have a direction that I want to take. I’m aiming to accelerate Health Practice and Research through the online campus in year 12. After school and taking a year off I want to pursue Deakin’s Bachelor of Public Health and Health Promotion to continue following subjects that interest me, equipping myself for a future career that I enjoy.

Thank you so much Mrs Yevlahova for providing me with such easy access to these valuable resources.

Mykaela Coppens, Year 11

Raaya Singh, Yr 12, ‘Business Scholars Day’ Monash University

Business Scholars Day is an inspiring full-day program to help extend students’ academic studies and to sample university life.

Over the school holidays, it was a great privilege to attend an elite event at Monash University. Held at the CBD on a glorious day, Year 12 students from different parts of  Victoria, experienced the life of a business student at Monash University. Some of the workshops that were offered included: International Business, Accounting, Economics and Business Management. It was interesting to see just how applicable theory taught in VCE  is in business scenarios.

It was a great opportunity to build upon academic skills and knowledge, attend workshops taught by leaders in their field and discover more about what Monash Business School can offer.

Raaya Singh, Yr. 12

Universities offer a range of hands-on events, specifically designed for Senior School students to explore the university and investigate courses and career areas. It is a chance to ask questions, take part in a workshop and get an advice tailored to your interests. Careers Newsletter is a great resource for our students and it is available to students on Canvas, emailed to all Senior School parents, and is included in every school newsletter for the school community.  

Irena Yevlahova

Careers Coordinator

Careers News

Please find attached recent St Andrews Careers Newsletters.

If you have a question about a topic featured in the Careers Newsletter, please contact Careers Coordinator Mrs Irena Yevlahova iyevlahova@standrews.vic.edu.au

Irena Yevlahova

Careers Coordinator