Next Week @TC

19/08/2022

• Road Smart - More Than A Licence - Nillumbik Parenting Hub

• Winter specials at TC Nursery

• End of term 3/ Beginning of term 4 arrangements

• End of year arrangements including other key term 4 dates

• Beginning of 2023 arrangements

• TCNEWS - Art Day YAY

Road Smart - More Than A Licence - Nillumbik Parenting Hub

Join Road Smart to learn helpful tips on teaching your young person how to drive.

Delivered online, this one hour session covers the essentials of supervising a learner driver including:

• How the Graduating Licencing System (GLS) works

• Taking a staged approach to learning

• Choosing a safe vehicle

• Reducing your Learner's risk of crashing on their Ps

• Tips for helping you and your Learner stay calm and drive safely.

Date and time: Wed., 24 August 2022, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm AEST via Zoom

This event is suitable parents, carers and grandparents of young people who are commencing or currently learning to drive. 

Register by clicking here

LATE WINTER SPECIAL at the TC Nursery

• A bag of fire wood reduced to $10 a bag. Heaps of plants ready to plant in your garden.

• Seedlings of Celery, cabbage, rocket,

• Happy Chicken Eggs $5 for 1/2 doz.

• Gorgeous candy stripe beetroot.

OPEN TODAY 2pm-3.30pm

Come down and support our students.

End of Term 3/ Beginning of term 4 Arrangements

• The last day of term is Friday 16th September. TC will be closing at 3pm on this day.

• The first day of term 4 will be Monday October 3rd.

End of Year Arrangements (and some other term 4 dates)

• Monday 31st October – whole school Professional Development Day. Student free day. All staff will be onsite and working on the new school strategic plan. VCE Exams will continue as normal.

• VCE Unit 2 Exams – Thursday 17th - Thursday 24th November. Timetable to be released.

• Friday 25th November – all teaching staff PPD (professional practice) day. No classes running on this day. TC will be open if students need supervising.

• Monday 28th November – Friday 9th December – Head Start Program (VCE/VM classes will only run in the first week) for all 2023 Above Entry Students. All students attend this unless VCE/VM Students who do not attend in the 2nd week.

• Monday 12th - Thursday 15th December – alternative program runs for 2023 FLE1 & 2 Students

• Tuesday 13th December - 2023 Entry Orientation Day. FLE1 and FLE2 students will be onsite.

• Friday 16th December – whole school professional development day (student free day)

• Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th December – whole school community pride days. Students dismissed earlier on the Tuesday (at 1pm)

Beginning of 2023 Arrangements

Currently we have the following arrangements for the beginning of 2023:

• Friday 27th January - Staff Professional Development Day. No students on site. General Office opens after 11am

• Monday 30th January - Staff Professional Development Day. No students on site.

• Tuesday 31st January - 2023 Entry Students begin. VCE students return TBC.

• Wednesday 1st February - all students are onsite.

Art Day Yay!

Last Wednesday, welcomed the first art workshop since covid! Filled to the brim with creativity, the art hub hosted 7 different workshops for students of all ages. The art workshops began with the idea to invite all students, whether they are studying art subjects or not, to experience and explore a variety of techniques in creative practice. This year the workshops included textile felting, make a zine, documentary filmmaking, senior art extension, screenprinting, nature photography and exploring watercolour & ink. Also, the provided pizza lunch was definitely an added bonus for students!

Nature Photography:

During David's workshop, his group embarked on a guided photography trail walk along Ruffy Creek to the lake while "discussing nature photography and exploring the elements and principles of composition to capture plants, animals and landscapes. The students considered their place on country and their relationship to the local area by capturing images using a specialist lens and professional photography techniques." For David, he "really enjoyed seeing the students... enthusiasm for photography and exploring the trail was really rewarding". 

Screenprinting: 

During the screenprinting workshop, students got to come up with a stencil design, cut it out, and print it onto a t-shirt or tote bag. Guided by Jason, "the entire day was great fun, there were a few challenges; students didn't know what they wanted to show and sometimes were not sure of the stencil process [but the] best part was probably seeing the final prints - our students are very creative!"

Ink and Watercolour: 

To produce an awesome piece of work, students prepared their paper to create a border and applied transparent layers of overlapping colour to achieve sift, delicate hues and shifts of colour within their subject matter. Portraits, furry and feathered creatures were the imagery most popular amongst the artists. Demi's favourite part of the workshop was when students began to realise that "patience and waiting for layers to dry effectively contributed to the success of the work" she also "loves teaching this particular technique as it is so simple and so effective!" For Oscar, her favourite part of the workshop was "the ink, [as] there were so many different techniques to use it was a lot of fun"

A huge congrats to all staff and students involved in the art workshop!

Check out the TC Art Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/tcvisualart/

By Bonnie-Mai Smith
TC Journalist

Last Weeks Announcements

• Students leaving school grounds during the day

• TC Specialist Wellbeing Donations to Doncare

Students leaving school grounds during the school day

On Monday we will be reminding all students that only Grads should be leaving the school grounds during the school day, unless those non Grad students have been signed out by parents. Please ensure that students have enough food for the day if needed or money to be able to buy food from the canteen so that there are not any reasons for students to leave the school grounds.

Donations Needed in our community

Announcements from Previous Week

• Student Services Website Update

• Laptop Donations

• Key Dates for Term 3

Student Services Website update

Please click on the link below for our new-look website for the TC Student Services Team. This encompasses our four colour Community Teams, Specialist Wellbeing Services, Learning Supports, Community Integrated Learning and Careers/Pathways. The site outlines the roles of these teams and the processes for accessing support.

LAPTOP DONATIONS

‘Do you have any unwanted laptops or laptop chargers, in working condition, taking up space in your house? TC will happily take them off your hands. Our IT department will wipe all your information from the laptop, and repurpose it for one of our students? Please hand your unwanted laptops and laptop chargers into TC’s IT department in the HUB.

KEY DATES FOR TERM 3

Below are some of our key dates for next term repeated from the last next week @TC in term 2. This is not the entire list, but one which will help families to plan ahead. This is a very busy term as we spend a lot of time on the course planning process so that students are able to select their 2023 subjects after the Course Counselling Day:

• Staff Professional Practice Day & GAT Exam (all VCE Unit 3/4 and VCAL Students) - Wed 7th September (Week 9). All day. No lessons running onsite.

Previous TCNEWS Articles

Term 3 Our Place on Country 

Next week marks term 3's Community Integrated Learning week (CIL)! This term's theme is 'Our Place on Country'. While developing this term's CIL week, TC Staff participated in professional development with Deakin University-based Dja Dja Wurrung academic Dr Al Fricker to learn about 8 Ways Indigenous pedagogy as well as embarking on guided walks of local sites with renowned local historian Jim Poulter (Reconciliation Manningham). With this knowledge, specific events and activities have been designed to connect the TC community with the significance of our local area and Wurundjeri people. By visiting, mapping, and learning about these places CIL week developer Ryan, "hopes to deepen our understanding of the importance of Country thereby reflecting on our own connection to place, the environment, its myriad species, and the stories within the landscape We are excited to share our learnings with the students and community".  Throughout the week, there will be a series of subject-specific activities, events and special incursions including a Welcome to Country and a whole school Indigenous Games day to "celebrate, play, and experience an immersive introduction into traditional Indigenous games". 

Whole school events

Tuesday:

Indigenous Games Day and Athletics Carnival with Wanyara 

Deadly DJ Mowson 
Traditional games
Painting and story-telling
https://www.wanyara.com.au/the-origins-of-our-games-1
(Consent required via Compass)

*In the event of forecasted heavy rain, we will notify the Community on Monday with alternative plans.

Thursday:

Start of the day P1 Welcome to Country with Wurundjeri artist Mandy Nicholson and Djirri Djirri (All classes welcome) 
P1 Entry Q&A with Mandy Nicholson

Friday:

Connect

Wurundjeri Country & Language mini-lessons

Connect TV

‘Our Place on Country’ feature episode Week 9

Subject-based activities:

All Food electives

Bush food experience 
The Bush Food Experience will be a live streamed/recorded talk on the Rain Garden at William Angliss TAFE. Students will also be cooking Wattle seed Damper in the TC pizza oven and Lemon Myrtle Anzac biscuits! The food experience will involve cooking with indigenous ingredients and learning about how they grow and what they taste like. 

Animals 

A guest First Nations wildlife presenter will be bringing several important native animals to the animals students and talking about their significance to local Indigenous people. 

Science/Photography 

The annual science photography competition is back and with awesome prizes! The winner will receive a $100 Camera House voucher and a double movie pass. The runner-up will also score a $50 Camera House voucher. Check out the community teams page for criteria!

Science

Exploring Force - a learning map of Birrarung 
The 'Exploring Force' was a learning journey about our Solutions course this term. It follows the path of Birrarung (Yarra River) and is modelled on the Aboriginal 8 Ways of Learning.

Tim’s Connect 

Working with stakeholders to explore the naming of TC Wings after significant local Aboriginal Change Makers. 
Tim Sproule's connect class came up with the idea of renaming the different parts of the school with names more relevant to country. "We spoke to Jim Poulter (a local historian who emailed us some ideas about where to start). We then started thinking about significant first nations people who we could name parts of the school after... we will be asking for input from the wider student body before putting our proposal to the School Leadership team".

Anna's Connect 

Mapping the Rapids - A collective map of Birrarung

Music 

Outing to Finn’s Reserve to compose songs inspired by Birrarung. 
"Finn's Reserve is a significant Wurundjeri place not only because of the presence of the river but also due to extensive archeological evidence of shell middens, mud ovens, permaculture and aquaculture. Many important trees suggest Songlines and cultural stories. As aspiring musicians, the Stage and Beyond students will discover how other songwriters have used the natural world as a source of inspiration for songs, and then ask how a sense of place is communicated through music".

English 

The Babbling Brook - Poetry Project 
Prep English - 'Dust Echoes' short stories
TC Street Podcast ‘Our Place on Country’ episode 
Ruffy Lake Poetry Immersion Excursion 
Aligned with the Entry English poetry unit this term, students will be going down to Finn's Reserve to check out the old aquaculture area. While learning more about the Reserve, students will be encouraged to "write poetry whilst thinking about their connection to country or anything they have learnt about the indigenous experience".

VCAL Senior 

Local walk and discussion about what the land was before colonisation - First Nations spotlight writing piece

VCAL Intermediate 

BBQ fundraiser at Indigenous Games Day

Maths 

8 ways in action: Sharing culture through symbols 
Throughout the FLE math classes, next week students will explore one way of indigenous learning. By using symbols and images, students will explore indigenous artwork and identify the symbols used, share the symbols and images that they use as adolescents (emojis, memes) and then share collective knowledge about all the maths symbols and images they are familiar with. 

Media Elective

Students’ connection to place
Inspired by a viewing of Bob Randall, a Yankunytjatjara elder and traditional owner of Uluru, telling his story of place on country, media students have explored indigenous stories of place on country and reflected on their own stories, brainstormed ideas, storyboarded visuals, filmed, drawn and photographed their interpretations and edited together a narrative for a presentation next week!

Art 

My Story through Pottery - Creating pottery adorned with personal symbology inspired  the Hermannsburg Potters 

Crime and Punishment

Looking at methods of communal law enforcement prior to colonisation    

VCE History Units 1&2

Watching videos of atomic testing at Maralinga (Indigenous sites) and discussing ongoing effects

Get ready for an exciting and educational week! 

• Learn more about 8 ways of Learning here: https://www.8ways.online/

• http://reconciliation-manningham.org.au/wp-

By Bonnie-Mai Smith 
TC Journalist

Student-Led Recycling Program

Since the start of the year, our TC school captains have participated in some amazing opportunities. In February, Maiya McClean was involved in TC's school review that occurs every four years and fellow captains Madeleine Ng and Kyra Teichtahl recently visited Parliament House with other School Captains from the Eastern Region. As part of school captaincy at TC, each of our captains have their own legacy projects. For Maiya's project, she's chosen to focus on sustainability and environmental education by developing a recycling program! 

Here, I asked Maiya a few questions about her school captaincy and legacy project. Read on.

Could you tell me about your role as a school captain?

Maiya: As School Captain, my role includes supporting my fellow students in collaborating and making plans to benefit TC, both as a school and community. I aim to facilitate discussions between students and staff to help new ideas for TC come to life! 
I participate in multiple weekly leadership meetings that revolve around whole-school activities, community announcements, student meetings, fundraiser ideas and the creation of each school captain's legacy project. 

What are legacy projects at TC?

Maiya: Kyra, Madie and I are the first School Captains to try and build ongoing projects and events that will continue after our year of leadership. This vision, created with the help of Sally Holloway, aims to make the School Captain role worthwhile by sparking inspiration in leaders and strengthening student collaboration.

What is your legacy project about?

Maiya: I've chosen my legacy to be based on sustainability within the school, and I'm currently in the process of creating a recycling program! I have many goals for this project so my intention is to stay connected to its development even after I graduate at the end of this year. As the definition of legacy suggests, I hope the projects that myself and my fellow School Captains are developing, stay a part of TC's community for years to come.

Why did you choose sustainability and environmental education as your legacy project?

Maiya: For years now I have been passionate about environmental education and action, and have worked hard to be in leadership roles to help spread awareness of our rapidly changing climate. I hope to encourage students to get inspired and learn how they can help build a more sustainable future through small changes in their daily routines.

How does your recycling program work? 

Maiya: With the help of Jeremy Carr, I've been able to find some potential companies to ship all the things we collect to be properly recycled. 
Tubs will be placed next to Jeremy's office in S-wing with labels indicating what materials go in each (they must be emptied and clean). Each month, some volunteers and I will sort through all the tubs and ship them off to companies who will recycle them for us! 
I'm running the program as a two-month trial to be able to get a clearer plan on which companies we'll be utilising the most! 
Make sure to drop off your items between August and October.

How can the TC community participate?

Maiya: Simply set up a small shoe-sized box somewhere in your home and start collecting things like bread tags, bottle caps and drop them off whenever it suits you. 

Donatable items include:
Household:

• Writing pens, highlighters, biros and markers

• Empty correction fluid and tape

• Plastic bottle top lids

• Plastic bread tags

• Single-use cutlery and straws

• Prescription drug packaging (blister packs)

• Filters

• Party supplies

• Coffee pods

Beauty:

• Toothpaste tubes, floss containers and old plastic toothbrushes

• Electric toothbrush heads

• Medical ointment tubes

• Hair gel tubes and caps

• Lib balm tubes

• Face soap dispensers and tubes

• Lotion bottles, tubes, dispensers and jars

• Shaving foam tubes (no cans)

• Plastic razors and blades

• Lip gloss tubes

• Mascara tubes

• Eyeliner pencils and cases

• Eyeshadow tubes

• Concealer tubes and sticks

• Medical blister packs

What are your aims and goals for the project?

Maiya: I have many short and long-term goals set for this project but I'm currently just focused on getting it up and running! I do, however, hope to make it as simple as possible so it can continue after I graduate. 
I aim to find companies we can rely on to recycle all the items we collect, and hopefully inspire students and future leaders to further develop the project in more sustainable ways. 
I'd absolutely love to one day have the items we recycle be exchanged for donations to a fundraiser, such as providing refugees with funding to purchase sustainable items for their new homes.
If you'd like to become a monthly volunteer or have any questions about the program, please contact Maiya McLean at mcl0015@tc.vic.edu.au

Stay tuned for more updates about the program. Let's start recycling!

By Bonnie-Mai Smith 
TC Journalist

Events Wrap

Over the last week and a half, TC held some awesome events, specifically the TC Market, Elevate Education Presentation and the Monash Psychology Sleep Incursion. To learn more, read on. 

TC Market:

Students Edward Astill and Jack Wheeler were the minds behind last Tuesday's TC Market. As part of their community health and wellbeing project, the two choose to run a market featuring stalls, live music and food. Students and staff could grab a snag and browse the stalls run by TC students while jamming out to some tunes performed by TC's resident musos. Stalls included handmade jewellery, stickers, crochet and more! 

Elevate Education Presentation:

On Monday this week, guest speakers from Elevate Education delivered a valuable talk to our VCE students. The multi-award-winning study skills provider came to TC last semester to discuss organisation, motivation, time-management, note-taking and confidence in abilities. This semester their interactive talk focused on, utilising memory mnemonics and speeding up memorisation. This presentation was a great opportunity for students to learn more about how they can improve their performance. 

Monash Psychology Sleep Incursion:

On Wednesday and Friday this week, TC had some very exciting guests! Aligned with the Unit 4 Psychology curriculum, Monash University came and performed a practical sleep demonstration. The incursion involved a "comprehensive 1.5- hour sleep education session [that covered] the purpose of sleep, normal sleep patterns, identification of sleep stages and how these are interpreted using EEG, EOG and EMG, the effects of sleep deprivation and recovery sleep and adolescent sleep patterns". During the Wednesday session, student LJ was wired up to a portable sleep diagnostic device while the other students observed his brain waves (EEG), eye movements (EOG), heart (ECG) and muscle tone (EMG). 

Congrats to all students and staff behind the events!

Check out some of the vendors for the TC Market:

Nouche Jewellery: 
http://nouchejewellery.com/
https://www.instagram.com/nouche_jewellery/

Little Nick Nacks:
https://linktr.ee/Littlenicknacks

Elevate Education: https://au.elevateeducation.com/

Monash Sleep Program: https://www.monash.edu/turner-institute/community/vce-psychology-sleep-program

By Bonnie-Mai Smith
TC Journalist

Subject Expo

Save the date! After three years, TC's subject expo is finally back. This Wednesday, the 27th of July, expect bundles of fun and valuable information regarding subjects for 2023. The expo will be held in S-Wing (bottom of the school) from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. Information sessions will also be held in S-Wing, about the transition from Entry to the FLE program and FLE transitioning into VCE.
Sessions:
2:30 & 3:30 pm - Entry students moving into the FLE (Flexible learning environment)
3:30 & 4:30 pm - FLE moving into VCE

Each faculty area will have their own snazzy booths, featuring information about their subjects and pathways.
You can try out a wide range of delightful props in the photo booth, run by the Photography Elective students and grab a hot chocolate, coffee or a waffle from the Food Tech.
With a growing number of unique visitors to their website, Yelling at Children will be on show! The site is entirely written and edited by the Level Up: Game-Based Writing students.
If you hear a few crying babies, no need to fear it's just the Health classes Realtek babies!
Head to the Music booth to grab some freebies and don’t forget to say hi to the mudskippers, rats and lizard at the Animals stall. Student work will also be showcased in most areas and you can see examples of text books and typical class activities for all our TC subjects.

With course counselling and subject selection later in the term, it is strongly recommended the TC community attend this event. Don’t forget Student Parent Teacher Conferences are also in Week 3 & 4 with a focus on planning ahead for 2023 so the subject expo is a great opportunity to meet staff, ask questions and gain student insight into the subjects at TC.
Hope to see you all there!

By Bonnie-Mai Smith
TC Journalist

The Pat Cronin Foundation - Be Wise Presentation 🦉

Welcome back! On Wednesday, the Pat Cronin Foundation (PCF) came down to TC and talked to the FLE 2 & 3 students regarding the importance of preventing social violence, making good choices and looking after your mates. In the past PCF has come out to TC but sadly, their work was impacted by COVID, so it was great for them to see them back!

On Saturday, the 16th of April 2016 after playing his first senior footy game, Pat Cronin went out for a few quiet drinks with mates. A brawl started to build outside the pub and Pat stepped in to pull a friend away. He was then, punched in the head from behind. Sadly, Pat was taken to the hospital unconscious and two days later, passed away. After the tragic death of their son, Robyn and Matt Cronin established the PCF in hopes to raise awareness, education and research about the Coward Punch. 

Seeking education surrounding the Cowards Punch the foundation has developed a highly successful 'Be Wise presentation' which aims to "address the psychological, social and economic impacts of violent acts... It encourages students to reflect on attitudes and behaviours around anger and aggression and together discuss strategies to deal with these issues personally, and as mates and bystanders". 

Throughout the presentation, students gained an insight into Pat Cronin's story and the effects of how students can "create solutions to Be Wise, Think Carefully and Act Kindly". For presentation organiser Ryan Griffith, the talk is "so meaningful and relevant for our students. As young people become young adults it is important to consider the consequences of one’s actions and to know that we can all play a part in reducing violence in our communities".

For more info on the foundation: https://patcroninfoundation.org.au/
Check out their Instagram page for updates: https://www.instagram.com/patcroninfoundation/?hl=en

By Bonnie-Mai Smith
TC Journalist