WELC Report
Message from the WELC Coordinator
- Mrs. Carmela Santucci
This term, students have maintained their focus on language learning and have shown improvement in all areas of study. There is much to learn in the twenty weeks students are enrolled in the language centre and their commitment and hard work can be seen in the progress they have made. Many students at the Language Centre are also preparing for their transition to mainstream school in 2020. It is an exciting time as they prepare to join the community of students who will become their classmates, friends and support.
In addition to their language studies, Westall English Language Centre students have had lessons of a different kind this term.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade visited the Centre and delivered an informative session on fire safety. It was an interactive session with many aspects of fire safety discussed. The focus was on personal safety. The presenter, Fireman Mark Crowe, explained how important it is to be vigilant and responsible whether it be in the home or school environment. It was explained the importance of knowing how to respond to an emergency and how to get help as quickly as possible.
Officer Damian Morgan, from Public Transport Victoria, also visited the Language Centre and gave a presentation on travelling safely on trains. Students participated in various activities and role-plays that demonstrated their understanding about travelling on public transport. Some of the topics covered were how to purchase MYKI cards, how to read a timetable, behaviour when travelling on trains and fines if caught not doing the right thing.
Art Elective
As part of Halloween Day (celebrated each year on October 31), students in art created art work around the theme of Halloween. They printed silhouettes of bats, owls, witches and haunted houses. As well as this, they had fun creating scary masks using black markers.
Here is the students’ art work which is on display in front of the WELC staff room.
Ms Anna Kotsiou
WELC excursion to Sovereign Hill
On Monday the 4th of November, the Language Centre went on an excursion to Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. We went there to discover what life was like in 1850s Ballarat during the Gold Rush. We left school early on a coach and travelled for almost two hours. We arrived just before 10 o’clock.
First we explored the Chinese Camp where diggers lived during the Gold Rush era. There we saw a Chinese temple, a shop, a chemist and many tents where the diggers slept. We then went on a gold mine tour to The Secret Chamber. There we got on a tram that took us through a dark tunnel into the gold mine 30 metres below ground. As we went down to the mine, some of us felt scared because it was dark and we couldn’t see a thing. When we reached the end of the dark tunnel, we walked through tunnels lit by candlelight until we got to The Secret Chamber. There we watched an interesting story of two Chinese brothers who were sent to Ballarat by their father in 1850s in search of gold.
Next, we had a 30-minute educational session inside an old classroom. There, Michelle and Vincent were chosen to dress up in costumes from 1850s. They looked very smart in their costumes.
After lunch we went to see a gold pour demonstration by a blacksmith. He melted a 3kg gold bullion worth $220,000. It was amazing to watch. Before we left Sovereign Hill, we had a go at panning for gold at the creek. A few of us including Maani, Trung and Alisa were fortunate to come home with specks of gold.
We left for school at 2.15pm. Everybody had a great time despite the wet weather. We learned a lot about the Gold Rush era in Ballarat.
Group 2 WELC