Student News
VCE Psychology Incursion
On Thursday 19th July, Unit 3/4 VCE Psychology students participated in a full-day Psychology incursion. The day consisted of three different workshops and seminars that helped students to better understand the theoretical aspects of this semester’s curriculum, and also provided useful insight that will be helpful in future assessments. We were fortunate to begin the day with a presenter from the Epworth Sleep Centre, who helped clarify misunderstandings regarding sleep waves and sleep disorders. We were guided through the process of analysing a volunteer’s brain wave activity, which helped us to understand the distinction between the different stages of sleep much more clearly. We also learnt more about disorders such as sleep apnoea and circadian rhythm shifts, and got to experience first-hand some of the treatment options that are available.
In the middle of the day we all participated in a workshop that helped us to better understand various research methods and guided us through the best way to approach research-based evaluation questions in the exam. To do this, we conducted an experiment into the effect of chewing lollies on our ability to tear a Minties wrapper into the longest strip possible. It was a fun way to approach the theory, especially because the teachers bought too many Minties so we all got to eat a lot of lollies!
The first two sessions were extremely valuable, but the highlight of the day was definitely the presentation by ex-Australian soldier Rob Atkins. Rob’s candid discussion of his experiences with PTSD was not only useful to understand mental illness but also emphasised the importance of caring for our own mental health. Rob talked openly about how his former experiences as a policemen caused him to exhibit symptoms of depression and PTSD, and develop abusive tendencies. Talking about his past experiences and the reality of confronting his illness caused all of us to cry at times during his session, including Rob. It was really moving to see such a big tough-looking guy talking honestly about his struggles and openly showing his emotions. Rob also emphasised the importance of his assistant dog, Jimmy, who is his constant companion and helps him to cope in stressful situations. Rob and Jimmy demonstrated how Jimmy observes and monitors Rob’s mental state and intervenes when Rob starts to become overwhelmed.
Even though the three sessions were all very valuable, the best part of the whole day was definitely petting Jimmy and watching him run around! Overall, the incursion was a really great day and provided us with lots of useful insight and resources for the rest of our VCE Psychology studies.
- Benjamin (Year 12)
SCHS Musical 2018: "We Will Rock You"
The first term of school had barely begun and the entire cast and crew of the school production, We Will Rock You, were already hard at work, rehearsing and perfecting aspects of the role designated to each of us. The rehearsal process came with its challenges, but overcoming these progressively became easier as the bond between the cast strengthened with each day that passed. Each member of the musical had their own individuality; they were respectively unique, quirky and mysterious. Ms Moore brought all of us together and produced a family - the most enthusiastic, outgoing and joyous group of students to ever exist!
Throughout the seemingly unending weeks of terms two and three, every one of us were worn out by the amount of practice and rehearsing that we invested in order to get everything polished. Practicing was more intricate than purely memorizing things, we also had to convey the story and develop our characters. It was hard work, but compensated by the enjoyable things that came alongside the long hours. It consisted of the smallest things, like being able to pick and adjust costumes to your liking or just simply spending time with our fellow cast members, making new friends and enjoying the fun, warm vibe of the musical production.
Acting, memorizing lines and nailing cues were the real challenges. It was a difficult stage to overcome, especially for the leads who had to remember all their lines within that 85 page script! Props and mad respect to Duy, Sanika, Jane, Nam, Ricardo, Julia and Cameron for their superb efforts. The process of getting through the vocals was hard yet quite enjoyable as the cast went wild jammin’ to most the songs. Ms Wu demonstrated great motivation and diligence in taking care of the vocals, and her cat. Of course, it wouldn’t have been complete without the band’s exceptional accompaniment which was led by Mr. Paye. Thanks also to Mr Donaldson for keeping everything running smoothly with his 10/10 stage managing skills.
The resilience and hard work everyone put into the show was well worth it. Everyone killed it and the performances were so outstanding that our shows sold out! The audience each night gave us overwhelming amounts of positive feedback and the primary school students who attended the matinee enjoyed it so much that they sent us fan mail. Everyone was grief-stricken at the end of the final performance, as we realised that it was all over and we would never get to share the We Will Rock You experience with the same group of people ever again.
I can definitely say on behalf of the cast, band and crew, being part of the school musical was an amazing experience and was most certainly rewarding on all counts. Sets were damaged, costumes were misplaced, microphones were broken and lots of lines were forgotten, but what we will remember is the fun we had and the friendships we made. Even though it was hard work, and sometimes very stressful, we all loved the experience and would gladly, without a doubt, do it all over again.
- Ryan (Year 10)
Bio21 Tour of Melbourne University
On Thursday 16 August, ten Year 10 students visited Bio21, a University of Melbourne research institute. At the institute, students learnt about microscopy, structure of cells and the lifestyle of research scientists. Students then visited the Parkville Campus for lunch, and were treated to liquid nitrogen ice-cream cooking demonstration at the Department of Chemistry. Students finished the day by visiting the Tiegs Museum to view their zoological collection.
- Mr Brendan Taig (Careers)
NAB Connecting Women in IT - Year 9 Immersion Program & Work Experience News
The National Australia Bank (NAB) Women in Technology Program was started in 2014 to address diversity challenges and increase the number of women in technology where they are underrepresented. The aim of this program was to create sustainable change and an easier path for women to enter into a career in technology. As a result, the School’s Immersion Program was piloted around this time to Year 9 girls covering subjects such as Human Centred Design, Cyber Security and Data Science. Students have an opportunity to interact and collaborate with female students from other schools as well as with professional women in IT at NAB.
So far this year, 11 of our Year 9 girls have already participated over 2 programs, with a 3rd program due to be held around Oct/Nov. Furthermore, 2 of our Year 10 girls have successfully participated in the NAB pilot Work Experience program which was introduced this year. This is an excellent way to introduce more girls into IT and get them engaged in related activities to help them build important skills for the future.
This year, we have introduced to students of Suzanne Cory a greater variety of work experience opportunities. This is to enable students from all levels to experience a variety of workplace environments and tasks with the focus on participation and engagement. Through this, they are becoming more aware of the fact that they can acquire transferable skills in any area and apply them elsewhere while also having fun. So far, many of our students have completed or will be participating in work placement at MYER Melbourne in the City with some of the students having been offered employment at the completion of their placement. Overall, we received glowing feedback from MYER for all our students who have completed their placement.
There are other wonderful opportunities for Work Experience some of which are with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO), Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC), NAB and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. There are also opportunities to participate as a volunteer with the Korean Film Festival and Epworth just to name a few. For more information, please refer to our Careers Website or speak to Ms Paye or Mr Taig.
- Ms. Lina Paye (Wellbeing/Careers)
SCHS Symphony Orchestra Performance at Manorvale Primary School
On August 30th members of the Suzanne Cory High School symphony orchestra and string orchestra were invited to perform a few pieces for the young students of Manorvale primary school. Between performances individual members of each section also presented the children with a short demonstration of their instrument.
It was a lovely experience for the orchestra members and the children both! It was amazing to see the children so keen to listen to what we had to offer, after all one could imagine that most of them had never witnessed a live orchestra performance prior. More than that, they were all so bright, able to name and pick apart the different instruments in our orchestra when asked. It's a very different experience than, for instance, playing for an audience of parents. Children are so active, wanting to be a part of whatever it is they are witnessing. This was especially the case for the students of Manorvale primary school; they'd clap and cheer along to whatever we'd play. And that's what made the event so fun! Credit goes to Mr Paye and Mrs Scott for overseeing the proceedings and organising for us to have such enriching opportunities like this one.
Thanks also goes to the members of the SCHS symphony orchestra and string orchestra, made up of equally incredible people: needless to say it was their individual talents and dedication that made our orchestra appear so amazing to the children.
- Antonio (Year 12)
Wyndham Council Learning Festival Performance
SCHS Wind Ensemble Performance at Point Cook Shopping Centre as part of the Wyndham Council Learning Festival on Saturday, September 1st saw the SCHS Wind Ensemble congregate on the basketball courts outside Target at the Point Cook Shopping centre to perform as a part of the Wyndham Learning Festival, an initiative of the Wyndham Council. The day started off well in sunshine and reasonably warm, but little were we to know that was all about to change! The Band was engaged to perform a short set as a part of the opening remarks and then a longer set later.
The first set went well, the band played its repertoire to aplomb. Many interested members of the public stopped by to watch and the band received many favourable comments. After a short break, the band members reconvened to provide our second set. After about a half an hour, the heavens opened, and we were completely drenched in a few minutes! After running away for shelter the band managed to take the stage again and played very well only for the rain to return and this time there was no letting up from the weather and we were forced to abandon proceedings. I would like to thank the Wyndham Council for providing the School with this opportunity and the members of the band for demonstrating such resilience and perseverance on the day.
- Mr Tony Paye (Director of Music)
Rothwell News
House News
Term 3 has seen a shake up to Rothwell with Miss Breed leading the house temporarily while Mr Hand is acting Sub-School leader. The term has been fun with the senior debating and the year 10 house netball and soccer competitions. Coming up we have the senior dodgeball competition in week 8, I’m sure the Rothwellians will come out to play, I look forward to seeing them dodge and weave their way to success. I love the camaraderie of the Rothwell students and their enthusiasm towards everything including the lip sync battle.
Year 10 Sports
Term 3 has been an interesting time of the year in the sport domain, with the highlight of the term being the year 10 inter house sports. The students took part in a series of high octane netball and soccer games during lunch times, in which we performed exceptionally well in netball and gave tough fights in soccer. As the sports leaders it was extremely pleasing for us to see the enthusiasm among the students during sign ups and the hard work they put in during the games. A special mention to Caitlin Mudford of year 12 for helping to umpire the netball games.
- Preeth and Genevieve
Senior Debating
There were many highlights this year for Rothwell Senior debating. While we did not come first, we had good participation and achieved our goal of having 3 high quality debates, providing much entertainment for fellow students. There was incredible team camaraderie, with the more experienced debaters mentoring the younger members of the team. This spirit was mirrored in the number of Rothwell students who came to support our debaters at all the debates. The house debating season is not over, with Intermediate House Debating in Term 4 to look forward to!
- Annie and Michael
Kororoit News
Senior Debating
This year’s Senior House Debating competition has come and gone in a flash with an intense competition during week 5 of term 3. It was great to see such enthusiasm from both participants and the audience. During each lunchtime students were able to see the fiery passion our debaters had as they spoke and engaged in debate with each other. The audience turnout was also incredible, with both rooms for the debates filling up.
We would like to thank and congratulate all the house debaters, particularly those of our own house, Kororoit, who despite their busy schedules, were dedicated in making sure that they were organised for the debate. Although we may not have won the overall competition, each of our debaters were able to display their public speaking skills in a fun and engaging manner. Furthermore, we would like to thank the student adjudicators who had the incredibly tough job of deciding on a winner from each house. Overall, this year’s House Debating competition has been exciting and we look forward to see next year’s house competition starting with a bang with the Junior House Debating Competition in term 4.
- Kororoit House Debating Captains: Kai and Amos
Year 10 Sports
In house sport this term, our year 10's engaged in either netball or soccer, in which they placed third in netball and came close with a second in soccer. In relation to the year 9's and their intrahouse sport competition, they have managed to secure a second place. Both grades have done an incredible job in making Kororoit proud, and should keep up their efforts.
- Kororoit Sport Captains: Vinoli and Andy
