AROUND THE COLLEGE
Cyber Security Challenge
Students from Western Heights College have been accessing programs run by Skilling the Bay in association with The Gordon for a number of years. Numerous students have attended the Internet of Things and Gaming with Python programs. A new program about Cyber Security has been developed and Western Heights College was invited to participate in the pilot program. Students from 9C have attended the Gordon East campus for the last few Fridays. They have been introduced to the terminology of Cyber Security, investigated malware and cyber-attacks and checked how easily a password can be hacked. Last week students used the Python programming language to encrypt and decipher messages, beginning with the simple Caesar cipher, then the more complex Vigenere cipher. Students finished the day with a coded challenge. The first two students to decipher the message won a block of chocolate! The program will be available to all Year 9 and 10 students each term through an application process.
Katrina Lynch | Maths/Science Leader
Year 7 – Personal Learning
This week in personal learning, Year 7A focused on Attendance. We learnt about why attendance at school is so important by reading through a statement from the Minister of Education, as well as what happens if students take too many days off.
To begin with, the students logged in to Compass to find out how many days they have each been absent this year. Some students didn’t realise how quickly it all adds up. They then organised themselves into a line that ordered them from least to most days absent.
To finish of our lesson, 7A worked in groups to put together a presentation on attendance that highlighted their own attendance records, the importance of coming to school, and facts and statistics. Some new things we learnt when viewing each group’s presentations were:
- By missing just one day every two weeks, you could be on track to miss 10% of the school year.
- School only gets harder when you stay home too much.
Susan Harrington | Leading Teacher AVID
Student Leadership Forum
On Friday 30th August three student leaders, Amanda Briese, Stephanie Dyer and Nathanael Briese, were invited to Geelong College Senior Campus to attend a local student leadership forum. There were nine other school in attendance and the forum focused on developing styles of leadership, skills involved in leadership, strategies to assist students in making decisions and how to integrate student voice and leadership into school environments.
The final part of the day was a very informative presentation around leadership growth by Dr Peter Miller, Principal of Geelong College, recapturing his journey and the many diverse leadership skills required in an education institution.
The day was fantastic and really enjoyed by all students.
Paul Rogers | Student Voice & Agency Coordinator
2020 Year 7 Dinner
On Monday 26th August we welcomed our 2020 Year 7 students and their families to the College with our annual dinner.
One hundred and sixty-four guests attended the evening, enjoying a wonderful three course meal prepared by our Hospitality Students. Fran Smith did an amazing job at coordinating this group and they represented the College proudly.
The guests gained a small insight into the upcoming year from three of our current year 7 students Harshit Bhatia, Alex Mostart and Lacey Hobbs, who were able to recall some of the significant changes and positive experiences they have experienced in 2019.
Thank you to Nathaniel Briese and Tami O’Hare for leading the evening.
The evening was concluded with Fiona Taylor, College Principal, presenting an overview of programs and support networks available to Year 7 students and their families.
Paul Rogers | Year 7 Transition Coordinator
Physics Lecture
On Tuesday the 27/08/2019 Western Heights College hosted a Physics Lecture “How Neutrons Will Save the World”. This Lecture was sponsored by the Australian Institute of Physics. Western Heights College had visitors from schools all over Geelong to attend the Physics Lecture in the PAF. The lecturer, Dr Helen Mayard-Caseley, told the students about her work at the Nuclear Reactor in Sydney and how they use neutrons to solve modern problems. She explained how neutrons could potentially be programmed to attack and kill antibiotic resistant bacteria without damaging the human cells, also engineering new materials which can capture C02 to help solve our world’s climate change problem. Dr Helen told the students about how they run the reactor and how Physicists from all over the world use the reactor to conduct their research. After the lecture students were given the opportunity to ask Dr Helen questions. Our students took great advantage of this time to learn more about Dr Helen and her research. The presentation was excellent and very captivating. Our students were well behaved and disciplined. Well done!
Mr Farid Anawati
Write a Book in a Day
Recently, four team of students competed in this Australia-wide writing competition. Organised by The Kids’ Cancer Council, the entry fee is used to support children with cancer. Completed books are judged, and then distributed to children in hospital battling cancer to enjoy.
Teams must plan, write, illustrate, edit and produce a book for children using set parameters sent to them on the day.
Our Year 10 team, Michael McConachy, Chloe Meade, Breannah Stonehouse, Jade Nieto, Mikayla Versace and Matthew Pantelimon titled their book 5 lessons to be learnt, and constructed their story around a down-and-out chef called Phil who goes on a journey with a magic horse to learn some important life lessons.
Amelie McLean, Lily Zanic, Monique Mercuri, Noah Evans, Tess Loather, Sarah Dimovski, Qudrat Rehman, Abbasi Rehman and Ella Arsenijevic of Year 9 named their book, The Gamer’s Quest, and took us on a journey through a mine to crack a code and escape back to Australia.
Our Year 8 team, Unesa Ibrahimi, Isabella Grbin, Amanda Briese, Stephanie Dyer, Katie Combridge, Roseanna Mitchelson, Rahmat Ali Ahmed, Noah Evans, Cambelle Edwards and Kieran Eastgate, titled their story, The Goblin Hunt, where a postman and a beekeeper work together to capture an evil goblin terrorising the local school.
Alex Mostert, Amber Egan, Marley Saunders, Tahlia Spitty, Nikita Wall, Lacey Hobbs, Macen Burr, Zahir Nazar, Libby Hunter and Charli Matthews, named their story, Aussie Got Talent : Behind the Scenes, about two rivals for a prize who must resolve their problems in order to win and become the stars they want to be. Will they succeed?
The way that the competition works is that teams work together to plan, draft, edit, write, illustrate and bind a 4000 – 5000 word story aimed at children aged 10 – 16 years of age in one twelve hour period.
On the day of the competition, details for each particular story are released, so our team had no prior knowledge of what they would need to include in their story.
All teams enjoyed taking part in the competition and look forward to hearing, during next term, if we have been successful in winning a prize.
Kerrie Sirotich | Literacy Extension
Legacy Junior Public Speaking Competition
Victorian State Preliminary Final
After winning his Regional Final earlier this year, Year 8 student Jesse Miller recently represented Geelong at the Victorian State Preliminary Final in Melbourne.
Presenting his six minute prepared speech titled, Enough is Enough, Jesse spoke on the idea that political correctness is morphing into an attack on freedom of speech and social justice.
All finalists were then required to present an impromptu speech on the topic, What Summer Means to Me. Contestants were given five minutes preparation to write and then present a two-minute speech on this topic.
The competition on the day was tough, and Jesse represented himself and the College to a very high standard.
Jesse placed sixth in a field of seventeen competitors.
Well done Jesse!
Kerrie Sirotich | Literacy Extension