Term 4 2020

Discover what TC go up to as we returned to onsite learning in term 4.
Click on an area of interest or scroll through to discover amazing pictures and videos of our experiences.

Congratulations everyone as we reach the end of what has been a roller coaster of a year! As a community, we have made it to the end of the year and are all hopefully looking forward to a well-deserved break. 

I often describe this year as a roller coaster as many of us have experienced all sorts of highs and lows through the past few months. We have all had to experience a wide range of emotions as we have not just navigated the changes from onsite to remote learning, from remote to onsite, from onsite to remote and then back to remote (!!), but we have all had to experience the pressures that a global pandemic puts upon the world. Whilst we can not predict the future, I hope that we can all learn from 2020 and use it as an experience that has helped us all grow.  

Despite all of the external pressures placed upon us this year, we have still seen a huge level of success throughout the school at various different levels and taking various different forms. Our newsletters throughout the year demonstrate this as a celebration of many things that our students, supported by staff, have achieved. 

Many of the key buzz words of 2020 can be used to describe our community. We have pivoted, we have shown resilience, we have been in lockdown, we have contributed towards flattening the curve, we have remained cautious, we have reached out to support each other, and we have socially distanced. 

We can now, however, look forward to 2021. I would like to congratulate all of our newly appointed School Captains, our Student Leadership Development Leader, our School Advisory Council leaders, our Community Leaders and our Sports Leaders. We are really looking forward to seeing what these leaders can do in their new roles as part of our newly developed student leadership model created by students. Many of our student leaders have demonstrated their leadership capabilities through their everyday actions. This is a key focus that I am looking forward to sharing with the community in 2021 as we look at the way that how we lead ourselves and others every day continues to make a massive difference to our community. 

I would like to finish by wishing everyone a safe break. There have been many things that we have had to put aside this year whilst in lockdown, and I encourage students to make the most of these things over the break. As part of this, I encourage everyone to put away the screens, to get outside and be healthy and active with friends and family wherever possible in order to mentally recharge ahead of the return to TC at the end of the break. 

Peter Ellis
Principal
Templestowe College

2020 Final Assembly

If you are interested in watching the final assembly held on the 4th of December please click the link below. This assembly included a celebration of musical and dance performances, introduction of 2021 leadership and a message from Peter.

2021 Entry Students Orientation Day

The TC Communities had the pleasure of welcoming our 2021 Entry students on site for their orientation day on December 8th. In small groups the future students met their Community Leaders and other staff and students around the school. They were given a taste of some of the activities that take place in our electives and learned how to find their way around our school. It was great to see friendships and connections already developing! We were so happy to meet you all and we can't wait to have you here as part of the Community in 2021. 

Peer Support for 2021

In the last week of school we held a day of leadership training for our 2021 Peer Support Leaders. This group of enthusiastic and dynamic young people brought great energy to the activities. It was terrific to see new friendships develop as they discussed the issues of transition, ideas of leadership and role-played at being beauty pageant participants and household machines.

The 2021 Peer Support Program will look a little different next year, with Entry classes meeting with their 4 Peer Support Leaders one Connect session per fortnight over Term 1 and part of Term 2. The aim of this program is to provide support and connectedness for our new Entries and to deliver activities related to building positive relationships with their peers.

Our leaders are very excited and can’t wait to meet their groups in Week 3 next year.

Zen Garden Update

In the last week of school we held a working bee in the Zen Garden to move along a few landscaping and art projects that stalled this year. This awesome team of students and staff tidied the landscaping, shifted rocks and completed the mosaic (well, nearly!). We also finally started painting the mural that Claire Maroske designed with her Connect students in 2019.

This project commenced with my first Language Centre class in 2015 and I can’t believe we are nearly at the end. The next stage of the project, in addition to completing the artwork, is filling the pond with fish. This will be a project for the Fish Elective class in 2021.  

Thank you to everyone who has helped with this project in 2020. I have loved working with our ‘Zen Team’.

TC CAnteen

Practical Math

In Practical Maths during Headstart, students worked on planning their very own Christmas lunch, including all the behind-the-scenes work such as budgeting, and portion allocations. Beginning with figuring out the number of guests, students then needed to plan out how much food & drinks would be required based upon the average amount eaten per item. For example, it was assumed that each person at the lunch would eat 150g of turkey, therefore students needed to use this information to work out how much turkey would be needed for their guests. Once the quantities were calculated, students then researched the prices of each of their items on Woolworths Online, all the while ensuring that they stayed within their budget. It was fantastic to meet each student during Headstart, and discuss their planned Christmas menus with each student individually. Who knows, maybe they can plan Christmas lunch for 2021! Myself & Mark are very much looking forward to teaching Practical Maths in 2021, and we both wish you a wonderful Christmas, and a happy new year.

By Alex Curl

FLE Math

In the new FLE Maths subject during our Headstart program, students worked on creating a mathematical representation of themselves through various number sentences, ranging in complexity. In this activity called 'Figure Me Out', it was fantastic to see students stretch themselves and create complex number sentences including the use of square roots, algebraic terms, and difficult multiplication problems. The beauty of this task, is that it was 'low floor, high ceiling', in that it enabled students of all abilities to engage with the task. The solutions to the number sentences provided the answer to questions such as age, number of pets, height, birth year, and shoe size. This activity was perfect for Headstart, as it allowed students to have conversations with, and learn about their classmates, after such a long period of disconnection from remote learning, and as lots of students were meeting each other for the first time. The questions have been collated from each class, and will be used in classes to help students learn more about their classmates, and explore new mathematical ideas. All FLE teachers are very excited about launching FLE Maths officially, and working with their new classes in 2021!

Entry Science

This term our Entries have been busy engineering a multitude of creations based on designs observed in nature. This is known as biomimicry, and our students were asked to design one of the following: a machine that picks up seeds, a machine that disperses seeds far and wide or a glider.

They researched designs, learnt about physics concepts such as forces and types of levers, planned their products and finally created and tested them. The variety and creativity in the designs was truly inspiring. We also learnt about forces and using the engineering design process to make parachutes.

In the last 2 weeks of term we returned to some chemistry concepts such as learning the difference between chemical and physical changes and how to separate mixtures.

Waves - Light and Sound

Sports Leadership Group 2021

During Term 4 the TC Sports Leaders conducted interviews to appoint the 2021 sports captains and leaders. All applicants performed to a very high level in their interviews, with the team being finalised before head start begun. I would like to congratulate Ollie and Tayha on being appointed as the 2021 Sports Captains for Templestowe College. Ollie has been involved in the sports leadership group over the past few years and bring a passion for improving on the strong foundation that the sports leadership group has built, whilst Tayha bring extensive leadership experience from her basketball background outside of TC and in the ESDP program. I would also like to congratulate our vicecaptains Ruby and Finn and our newly appointed Community Sports Captains; Alex for GREEN Community, Rebecca for RED Community, Jess for GOLD Community and George for BLUE Community. We have also added Matilda, Logan, Josh and Zoe to our leadership group alongside Frankie and Chloe. Well done all and looking forward to seeing 2021 be a big year in TC Sport.

2020 Turner Trophy Winner

Congratulations to Austin and Patrick who won the prestigious Turner Trophy award in VET Sport and Recreation. Austin became the first student to win back to back awards in unit 3-4 while Patrick won the unit 1-2 award. This involves consistently performing well across all sports delivered by the student managers each week and is likened to the Brownlow Medal . This will open many avenues for these students and places them in distinguished alumina from previous winners. Well done.

Art Elective

This project saw students draw inspiration from Collingwood based, Spacecraft Studio. We used alternative print-making processes, then used D&T facilities to print onto Tote bags.

Photography

TC Visual Art Instagram

FAF

TC animals Instagram

Design and Technology projects

3D Modelling

Students in Computer 3D Modelling, started off Term 4 by following a tutorial series, where they re-created the Pokemon Victreebel in Blender. The skills from this tutorial series, allowed them to create a Pokemon of their choice for Learning Task Two. It was fantastic to see students display their 3D modelling skills, and push themselves to create a Pokemon to the best of their ability. Pokemon made included Geodude, Oddish, Eevee, Staryu, and Squirtle.

String ensemble being filmed performing’Clocks’ led by Helen Bower

Helen recommenced the Ensemble in Term 3 and students were keen to resume rehearsal resulting in a beautiful performance filmed by Ryan Griffith

During the HEADSTART week, students had their first CONNECT 21 session with their mentors. These 25 minute sessions will occur twice a week during 2021. The purpose and aim of CONNECT 21 is to build connection and belonging whilst also exploring weekly themes supported by CONNECT TV. Students will work with their mentor on course planning, subject selection, developing strengths, and confidence as well as participate in games and activities that build connection to community.

Please note as an internal TC production only TC students can log in to watch CONNECT TV.

🎊🎊 TC wishes everyone a festive season and a happy new year 🎊🎊