7-10 Electives Term 1

We were so pleased to once again be able to offer face-to-face electives after the year that was 2020. 

If you (or someone you might know) would like to offer a weekly elective we would very much appreciate your involvement and love to hear from you. Some suggestions from students have been: Basketball, Jewellery Making, Fashion, Music Industry,  3D Animation, 3D Printing, First Aid, Book Club, Journalism, Criminology, Business and Community Service ideas, just to name a few. Alternatively, if you are able to supervise a weekly student-run elective, when required, please let us know.

Following was what we offered this term.

Debating

with Matt Barker

Students have been preparing debates on a variety of topics. Learning speaking roles, how to prepare, gaining public speaking skills and the all-important art of rebuttal.

On Monday 29 March, Preshil took two debating teams to Camberwell Grammar School to compete against Trinity College for Round 1 of the Debaters Association of Victoria Debating Competition. The Year 10 team - comprising Felix, Josh and Luca - argued against the topic ‘That alcoholic products should be subject to plain packaging laws’. Meanwhile, the Year 9 team, an amalgam of Manny, Kason and Banjo, argued against the topic ‘That the government should subsidise tourism in regional Victoria’. All debaters spoke with immaculate form and made very convincing arguments for their topics. 

Round 2 is on Monday 3 May. Year 10 will be debating the topic ‘That we support mandatory national service’ against Camberwell Girls Grammar School. Year 9 will be debating ‘That animal testing should be banned’ against Box Hill High School.

Watercolour painting

with Simone Braid

This elective was a time to unwind and learn a new skill. Whether students are interested in abstract art, painting botanicals or they just want to dabble, watercolours are a great way to make easy and impactful art. 

Chess

with Yuri Kourtchatov

Students in this elective had fun learning and playing chess while developing problem-solving skills, improving memory, patience and their analytical ability. 

Laser printing

with Lewis Kingston and Tim Greaves

Students have been introduced to the world of stencil art and given the opportunity to design and create their own stencil on the laser cutter. They have also been able to learn new techniques, and some have built upon skills they already have in digital media. The elective has been focusing on creating designs that can be used primarily for stencil art, but students also had the opportunity to design and create a number of different art forms.

Tinker and repair club

with Anthony Cavagna

This elective aimed to provide a service to repair household items that are too good to be thrown into landfill, while giving students the opportunity to learn basic repair skills to safely fix common items and reduce waste. 

Modern games

with Rob Grundy

The world of board games is so much bigger than Monopoly, chess or Scrabble. Together, students have been exploring some lesser known but equally classic table-top games, including some that have hit the shelves in more recent years. This elective was about giving students a taste of what the 2021 board game landscape has to offer as well as learning to be strategic and cooperative. 

Programming Arduino

with Karl von Moller (current parent)

This elective is a great introduction to computer science. Students learned how to program and interface, through hardware, to the real world. Students have been confidently uploading code to an Arduino uno and running sketches that blink LEDs, sense light, create sound and music, detect magnetic fields, temperature and coding a simple game.

Kitchen garden

with Natalie Kunst and Kat Girbau

Kitchen garden is focused on creating a shared lunch for the group based around a theme. Jobs involved food prep, cooking, cleaning, planting, weeding and mulching. The group rotated between sessions in the garden and in the kitchen, with all students enjoying a shared lunch at the end of the session.

Writing club

with Victoria Osborne (past Preshil parent)

Students have been examining the What and the How. What = content = idea. Where do ideas come from? What is inspiration? Do you need a muse? How = form = play, poem, article, song, journal, cereal packet, novel, speech, movie, zine, Tv show. Students looked at structure and where it might lead, inspired through challenges and games to loosen up words. Shake them? Slide them? Force them? Ease them? CHANGE THEM!! 

Soccer

with Shede Olukhale

This elective focused on the theory of match rules, winning, losing and drawing. Underpinning each session was a focus on improving fitness specifically relating to soccer. It also had a social benefit too, through encouraging teamwork which helps build a healthy self-esteem.

Rowing

with Hawthorn Rowing Club, supervised by Kris Austin

Students have been learning the basics of rowing, including how to carry the boat and simple sequencing and technique. Each week students have been rowing in a ‘coxed quad’ (four rowers, each with two oars) with an experienced coach from the Club.