Newsletter, Term 1, 2023

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Congratulations to everyone on a great term 1! From reading through the newsletter below it is obvious to see that there has been an abundance of activities taking place throughout the community so far this year. The range of activities taking place is also amazing, with something for everyone!

Some highlights for the term include:

• Our highest ever attendance at our Pool Party

• Our first Community Integrated Learning week with a theme of “a breath of fresh air”

• Our Grad Dinner

• The Entry Camp held at Camp Howqua

• The numerous other camps held across many different learning areas

• The open air cinema night for our younger students

• The many, many different excursions held

• Many, many more throughout the school!

The depth and range of the activities available to our student has been great to see. Term 1 has definitely been a sprint with everything taking place. In term 2 we are looking forward to moving into a more stable pattern as our focus does sharpen to the learning taking place in the classroom. The school year is a marathon, not a sprint, and we are looking forward to building on the connections made in the busy term 1.

Looking big picture, we will see more take place in the classroom focusing on the Expanded measures of success as part of our new strategic plan “TC: The Next Level”. Our expanded measures of success go beyond the systemic measures of NAPLAN and exam scores, and focus on the areas of working with others, independence, problem solving, technology and Global citizenship/connectedness. Students will be hearing more about these and receiving feedback on these areas in their classes throughout term 2. These measures will also start appearing in the developmental rubrics that can be seen in learning tasks.

Congratulations once again to all for your contributions towards the TC Community in term 1. We look forward to seeing everyone back in term 2 for another great term.

Peter Ellis
Principal

2022 VCE Subject Awards

Congratulations to our 2022 VCE subject award winners. Graduate students from 2022 returned to enjoy a breakfast with Peter and their classroom teachers while current students who scored the highest marks in their particular subject in unit 3&4 2022 enjoyed a lunch with Peter.

2023 School Captains

GET TO KNOW YOUR 2023 SCHOOL CAPTAINS!

What’s the last greatest TV show or movie you watched?
Chloe: The last movie I watched was Star Wars: A New Hope which happens to be my favourite movie!
Finn: Notting Hill, I love a good romcom!
Bonnie-Mai: I'm currently on season 13 of 24 of Law & Order: SVU and I loved Megan.

If aliens landed on earth tomorrow and offered to take you home with them, would you go?
Chloe: Yes, I would pretend to forget I was ever taught about stranger danger because I really want to go to space and see another planet!
Finn: For sure, I love a good adventure.
Bonnie-Mai: Yes, but only if they were from Pandora!

If you could be great at any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Chloe: Gymnastics! It looks super fun and I want to be able to do a flip without injuring myself.
Finn: Hockey, I've played since I was 6.
Bonnie-Mai: Synchronised Swimming because I love the costumes and it seems cool!

What's the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery today?
Chloe: A house on a farm so I could adopt lots of ducks, dogs, cats & sheep, that and a real-life R2-D2.
Finn: An investment property.
Bonnie-Mai: A bubble tea to celebrate!

If you could attend a dinner with any celebrity, living or dead, who would you choose?
Chloe: Jacinda Ardern, Albert Einstein or George Lucas.
Finn: The Gallagher brothers (Oasis) because it would be fun to see them talk!
Bonnie-Mai: Marie Antonette because she knew how to have a good time or Amelia Earhart because I want to know what happened! 

What was your favourite childhood board game/sport/activity?
Chloe: When I was 9, my teacher at school had this really cool card game called 'Frog Juice' and I loved to play basketball as a kid and still quite enjoy it now. 
Finn: Trouble! The noise would drive mum crazy!
Bonnie-Mai: Any card games but specifically 'Spit'.

What is your go-to comfort meal?
Chloe: Thai food or butter chicken from the Donny food court.
Finn: I'm an avid sushi fan!
Bonnie-Mai: A Hawaiian Pizza from Dominoes at the Pines. 

Introducing our International Leader

TC is proud to have a vibrant international program, severally impacted by COVID and travel restrictions, we are now so happy to be welcoming more students from overseas to study at TC in 2023. We thought it was time to reintroduce the International Leader, a student that will give international students a voice at TC amongst the student leadership teams. Congratulations to Santiago Escalante, here is an extract from his application:

 If I earn the position of International Student Leader, my main purpose will be to include every international student in at least one school activity to accelerate the process of socialising and reduce the feelings of depression, anxiety, and homesickness from being new to Australia. If possible, meetings, excursions and hangouts outside school supervised by the staff will be arranged. I will also introduce a plan where you’ll improve your english without being bored. Overall, make every international student feel like they are in a safe space, without discrimination against religion, sexual orientation, or any other type of characteristic that makes us unique. All of these plans, yet to develop, are promises. I know what is like to feel like an outsider, and I’ll do what’s possible to include everyone to bring the us international student community and the Australian student community together.

Turtle Camp

On the second last week of term 23 of us drove up to Cohuna (North West Victoria, on the Murray). We met up with Turtles Australia and spent the week helping with turtle conservation. It rained the whole drive there, which is absolutely perfect! That meant that all the turtles would come out of the rivers and start to nest. 

We set up camp, right on the edge of a beautiful lake. When we found a turtle laying her eggs we would wait for her to finish and then cover her nest with chicken wire. This stops the foxes digging up the eggs and eating them. Foxes eat close to 90% of the eggs the night they are laid. The eggs need to incubate for a year. So we also spent some time digging up last year's nests and releasing the gorgeous hatchlings straight into the water. 

Some of the other things we did that were fun were helping to repair a fox-proof fence that keeps the turtles safe on Cocakatoo Island. We also got to watch the teachers try to drag a four tonne pontoon with a kayak. The pontoon was built for the turtles to use as a nesting site, they had to position it out in the middle of a lake. No-one fell in, but it came pretty close!

All the students enjoyed the campfire night, the Christmas carol sing along and smore roasting were definitely highlights. 

The four nights flew by and we were suddenly back in Melbourne's traffic and just the amazing memories and deep sense of pride left from another brilliant camp. 

Thanks to everyone who came along and a special thanks to the staff who make these camps happen. 

Fish Count Excursion

On March 23 a group of amazing TC Fish students went snorkelling at Rye Pier. We were trying to identify as many of the local and exotic species as possible. We were taken by a fantastic Scuba company, who run this as a school holiday event. Their instructors were really friendly and they helped us; put on wetsuits, learn to snorkel, identify fish, rays, sea stars and even a sea horse. The water was pretty clear, so we could even see the bottom when we got out to the very deep water. Everyone was really excited and loved the chance to swim with these amazing creatures. 

The staff from Diveline said that the students were so keen and mature that they would offer us a similar experience, but with scuba instead of snorkelling!!! Nearly every student present said that they would love this opportunity, so looks like we will be going back, but swimming on the bottom instead of the top of the bay. 

Victorian Herpetological Society Expo 

Whilst many of us were sleeping in and relaxing over the labour day weekend, a small team of TC Animals students were working hard representing the school at the annual VHS Expo. The Victorian Herpetological Society  (VHS) was formed to bring together like-minded reptile enthusiasts. The VHS is dedicated to learning and sharing all they can about reptiles. Templestowe College had two tables at this event, and we had some of our keenest students on hand to represent the school and share information to the public about what we do and talk about our reptiles. We had some raffle items that were kindly donated to us by some of our equipment suppliers, and managed to raise $1200. The expo is a large event for the sale of reptiles and amphibians too, and we managed to secure some species to add to our program which we haven’t yet experienced. The students were very excited to have played an important role in the development of their program! 

Check out our Animals Instagram page @tc_animals 📷 and Facebook page Templestowe College Animals Program | Facebook

Community Intergrated Learning Week - A Breath of Fresh Air

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR was all about exploring the outdoors, being in nature, play, and exploring mental health. The TC community took advantage of the great weather to bring the classroom outdoors in week 5, the best way to show you what we got up to is in pictures!

Breath of fresh air - community festival

The community festival was buzzing with students and staff alike enjoying so many activities. On the astroturf, there was a 3x3 community basketball competition, there was a silent disco featuring DJ Rainsey. Students could tune into a disco set list from Rainsey or select a collaborative playlist that students had added to during the week to dance to.

Bike 'n blend smoothie bikes got everyone moving and the students made about 100 smoothie cups. The Grads channelled 'A Breath of Fresh Air' with their Thursday Fun Theme, dazzling in their 70s hippy costumes fit with flared pants and flower prints!

There were also multiple busking stations around the canteen featuring some awesome TC musos, Allara, Charlotte and Sky. Sky had a delightful experience busking outside the canteen, they performed lots of covers such as "Kiss" by Prince and "All Too Well" by Taylor Swift and a couple of their original songs such as "the loudest souls" which was recently released on streaming services.

Roving performers added to the atmosphere of the festival. Award-winning Aussie author Ailsa Wild, the creator of The Naughtiest Pixie and the hilarious Squishy Taylor series was in costume as a roving ye olde poet, writing poetry on the spot for students.

School Clean Up

On the 3rd of March we had a school clean up, building on the ideas of sustainability and respect to our environment that we explored in 'A Breath of Fresh Air' week. Together, taking ownership and responsibility, we have cleaned up over 50 bags worth of rubbish. Amazing work to our winners, James and Julian's Connect groups, who collected the most bags of rubbish! We are enthusiastic to continue reforming the idea of 'a green future' at TC and instilling a passion for caring for our environment.

Community competitions term 1

TC has hit the ground running this year with a barrage of fantastic events for the students to get involved in. Already we have completed the Debating, Basketball, Swimming and Drama competitions. 

The Community Debating Competition was held very early in the year, so we could get ready for the inter-school competition. Each community had a team ready to argue a range of different topics. Some students were away on the day, but in true TC style we had others ready to jump into the breech for them. The debates were fast, furious and fantastic! Arguments ranged from the well researched, mature and convincing to the ludicrous and hilarious. Gold came away with the first win of the year, if you check out the CET office you might see the trophy proudly displayed on Craig's desk. 

After debating we went straight into preparations for the Community Basketball Competition. This event was brilliant as it happened in the middle of the "Breath of Fresh Air" week we were having. The astro-turf came alive as ten different teams represented the four communities. The games were wonderful. Students of all ages and skill levels came together to shoot for the win. Even some staff were seen on the court playing for the much wanted trophy. After all the games were finished we had a 2 point "shoot out" where each Community had ten minutes to get as many points as possible. This was mad to watch and great fun for everyone who got involved. Green Community took the trophy this time and the trophy now sits in their office. 

During this week we also had the school Swimming Carnival "Pool Party". This event is definitely one of the best days on the TC calendar. Students came in their hundreds to get behind this fun filled day. We believe that this year we smashed all previous years attendance records. Students and staff had a go at; swimming, water slides, inflatable obstacle course, dolphin riding, DnD, art, circus, portraits, mini-games, throw the sponge at the teacher, selling nachos and much more. It was a cold day but this did not quench the enthusiasm of our keenest swimmers. The grads started the day with a colourful parade of their costumes (definitely something we will do in the future), then everyone else showed off their great outfits too. We then did the relays and started up all the other events. The entire day was truly a Pool Party and lots of people said it was their favourite day of the year so far. Red took home the win and the trophy. 

Our final Community Event for Term One was the Drama Competition. The students (and staff) performed in a range of different Theatre Sports Games, like on "Whose Line is is Anyway". The acting was brilliant, as students had to improvise a story under a range of difficulty and bizarre regulations. The games played were; Questions Only, Sit Stand Bend and Death in a Minute. We laughed so hard it hurt for many of these performances. Three of the school's A.P.'s volunteered to be the judges, give scores on technique, story and entertainment. At the end of the day Blue Community came out on top, so that's one win for each of our four communities so far. 

There will be heaps more community events coming up, so make sure you speak to your CET about what you can get involved in. 

pool party

Trip to the Circus

On Wednesday Feb 28 20 students took Duncan and Stephanie to The Circus Spot. We all had a great time learning to juggle, do basic circus tricks, learn trapeze and be able to bounce and flip off a mini-tramp. The students and staff all behaved wonderfully, making the most of this exciting and wonderful opportunity. It was great to see how everyone's confidence grew as they practiced on the equipment. 

Entry Camp

My favourite moment on entry camp was…
‘Playing spotlight with my cabin friends’ – Grace B
‘Getting wedgies on the Wedginator’ – John McC
‘Getting over my fear of heights in high ropes’ – Joel M
‘Fighting with pillows in our cabin’ – Yutong G
‘Playing chinese whispers at dinner’ – Thomas H
‘When my horse tried to knock me off by going under low branches’ – Reilly P
‘When I pushed Gus into a pit of mud’ - Thomas C
‘Making friends’ - Ngurah P
‘Realising, as I was halfway through climbing a milk crate, that there was a picture of Jesus nearby, as if the camp was saying, "if you die, he's got your back"’ - Willem V H
‘The cake with apple and custard’ - Luca C

I laughed the hardest when…
‘Playing UNO in my cabin’ – William D
‘I went upside down on the zip line’ – Ebony K
‘I saw one of my group members get pooed on by one of the horses’ – Matthew S
‘We were doing survivor’ – Arlo A
‘My cabin went crazy ‘ - Abbie A-L
‘I went to the dance party’ – Ava H
‘Maeve went down the Wedginator 50 or so times’ – Alice F
‘When I was playing volleyball with my friends’ - Lily P
‘When I went down the water slide playing rock, paper, scissors with friends’ - Synclair A
‘When we did an abs workout’ - Tyler B
‘I was laughing at Dolly in the cabin’ - Taioma G
‘When Ivy hung upside down like a bat’ - Natasha P

A big shout out to…
‘The camp staff’ – Chase W
‘My cabin mates for actually going to bed’ – Austin L
‘Dolly and Tai in the activity group I enjoyed hanging out with them then’ - Naomi S
‘My cabin  + Lucah <3’ – Max V
‘My mom and dad’ - Sergei M
‘Everyone in my cabin’ - Dominic S
‘Huston. Don't ask. Just don't.’ – Jacob R
‘Indigo Brown because she helped us when we had any problems’ – Leah B
‘Craig, for being the group leader. Lana (my horse) and all my mates who I hung out with’ - Will K

Connect TV Collaboration Day

The Connect TV team ventured into the city, producing a game show type segment in association with @rmitv. The RMITV team, directed the TC crew throughout the day, guiding them through scriptwriting, how to use the equipment and the rehearsal stage, and they got to shoot a full 25-minute segment!
This episode will air sometime in the next month on @c31melbourne so stay posted.
We would like to thank all of the RMITV team especially Bill who helped organise the day, and for giving us access to the incredible studio! 🎬🎞️🎥
Crew Roles📺:
Will-Host and Writing
Kiannah-Guest
Eve-Guest
Dante- Director
Ben-Camera Operator
James- Camera Operator
Dexter- Vision Switcher
Joshua- Sound Mixing
Alyssa- Auto-Cue and Writing

@tc_connecttv now have their very own Instagram to follow for updates and behind the scenes of the making of their tv show! If you have a TC login you can watch the end of term episode here.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR POETRY

The Essential English class visited the TC Permaculture garden in term one, to take photographs and use this experience to write about what they observed. The theme, ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ worked so well and inspired students to consider their environment beyond the classroom. Some students contributed free verse or poetry on topics related to the theme.

Some student comments: ‘I am quite proud of what I've written because I was never really any good at poetry’. ‘I feel like I could have written a little bit more in all of them but I’m overall proud of my work’ ‘I enjoyed going to the TC permaculture garden and it helped me to write ideas for ‘Breath of Fresh Air’. ‘The ducks are funny’. ‘The garden is so green’. ‘One of the poetry pieces I liked writing was the one when we went down to TC gardens and took photos and wrote poetry which was then titled "a breath of fresh air’.

By Julie Campbell.

The 2023 Grads have had an awesome start to the year! We have had two major events, the Grad Dinner and Grad Camp. Both these events were aimed at getting the cohort to know each other better and bond as a group. Grad Dinner was held at the San Remo Ballroom in Carlton and students enjoyed canapés and mocktails on arrival before a sit down three course meal. The theme was masquerade cocktail and everyone look fabulous in their outfits. The highlight of the night was definitely the dancing with everyone getting up as soon as the lights went down!

We have also enjoyed “Thursday Fun Themes” this term, every Thursday having a dress up event for students to get involved with, another way to highlight connection and enjoy some crazy theme ideas. So far, we have had the following Thursday Fun Themes:

We look forward to continuing this fun into term 2! The final highlight of the term was definitely grad camp with 150 students heading to Anglesea, they had excellent weather and got to surf, go stand up paddleboarding, do raft building, the giant swing and high ropes courses. Congratulations to all grads that have seized the opportunity to start their final year with a bang, looking forward to a packed and equally fun term 2!

Division Senior Volleyball

What a great turn out for senior volleyball! 5 wonderful teams of students to represent TC at the first inter school sport competition for 2023. Each team put their best foot forward, managing to win one or more pool games to make semi finals! Although there were no volleyball champions today, they all have a winning attitude and had a ripper day. Thanks to all that participated on the day and made an effort at lunchtime trainings, we look forward to seeing you get involved in the next senior sport day.

Division U14 Volleyball

We had a great day with the U/14’s playing volleyball at Dandenong stadium. The mixed team put in a solid performance and the girls team stepped it up with a place in the semi-finals, just missing out in the grand final.

Physical Education

PE12 has had a busy, busy term and 2 fun sporting experiences. The students have had the chance to play ice hockey and fencing, two great sports that aren't typically done in the community. Ice Hockey was full of laughs as some students became 'bambi on ice' and spent a lot of time falling over in hilarious fashion. Our ice hockey game was competitive with Ronan particularly standing out for his quick skating and competitive nature on the ice. Fencing Victoria came to TC to run an incursion for the students, where they learnt basics of movement, strategy and the rules. The main rule that was learnt was that you only had one turn to attack your opponent, and after your turn it would be your opponent’s turn, you would keep taking turns until someone got poked, and the person who got poked would be deemed the loser.

There was also a salute you had to do before you started to fence, you and your opponent would do this at the same time, so you know that the other person is ready. The students really enjoyed learning something new.

Outdoor Elective Adventures

Outdoor Unit 1 Camp

The recent VCE ½ Outdoor Ed camp provided a memorable experience for the participating students. The camp involved activities such as rafting and river sledding down the Yarra, rock climbing and abseiling in Warrandyte, caving at Britannia Creek geological reserve, and camping in wet and soggy conditions which challenged their physical and mental limits.

Through these activities, students learned important skills such as teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving. The experiences will be used to facilitate classroom discussion in future lessons, allowing students to reflect on their experiences and apply the skills they learned to the VCE curriculum. Overall, the camp provided a perfect blend of adventure, learning, and fun.

Outdoor Unit 3 camp

On the 14th – 17th of March the senior Outdoor Education students embarked on a journey paddling along the Goulburn River or Waring in local Taungaurung language. The camp was facilitated by Rubicon Outdoor School where we stayed for the first night of our journey after some basic paddling skills assessments. Wednesday, we set off on the river for two full days of journey paddling. The students were able to engage with and experience first-hand the content that we had been discussing prior to embarking on our journey. They were able to identify some of the key features that demonstrate some of the characteristics that have shaped Australia over time. The deep protruding roots of the eucalyptus trees that were vastly more evident in the aftermath of floods, which had eroded away river banks, demonstrated the River Red Gum’s adaptation to our hot and arid climate, as the roots depth is indicative of their deep search for nutrients. Students also identified that the leaves of these trees droop downwards in an effort to mitigate water loss in our variable climate.

Students engaged in discussions on how the Taungaurung people of the Murrindindi shire engaged with the land prior to their displacement from said land. We identified scar trees which were cut into to make coolamons -used for; baby carriers, pestle and mortars and seed winnowing, as well as canoes that were made in the same fashion yet left a distinctly larger identifiable scar. We discussed the process of fire stick farming and songlines followed by Taungaurung people -specifically mentioning the corroboree’s that took place atop Mt Torbreck to harvest Bogong Moths. Students came away from this experience with a suite of practical examples and experiences to call upon and utilise in their classwork moving forward. I am not doing anyone a disservice by speaking on their behalf and stating that the camp was a raging success. Students showed camaraderie and care for their fellow classmates, working together to ensure everyone was happy, comfortable and nourished. All in all, this paddling journey fostered the beginning of some lasting and supportive friendships and heralded the simplistic beauty and peacefulness that can be attained so easily in the great outdoors.

ESDP TERM 1 WRAP

The ESDP basketball program has tipped off 2013 with a series of friendly games against schools with similar sports electives.

These games were against Box Hill Secondary College, Berwick Secondary College and St Monica’s College and were played in good competitive spirits with a mixture of results for our teams. Our players have displayed great sportsmanship and teamwork (a focus for us in 2013) so we are looking forward to Term 2 when the organised school tournament begin.

As usual the term finished off with a series of shooting test and physical testing. It should be noted that our overall program displayed an improved level of fitness across the board which is really satisfying for our coaching staff.

The coaching staff for 2013 is going through some changes. Josh Cheney, who has been with TC for 4 years has accepted a coaching role with the Brisbane Bullets NBL team so he will be departing TC at the end of Term 2.

Replacing Josh is Peter Buckle who brings a wealth of experience to the program Peter has coached several WNBL teams, been an assistant coach with the National Women’s team, the Opals and has also coached the Great Britain National women’s team. He brings experience at the World Championship and Olympic levels which is great for the TC basketball program.

Also joining the coaching staff this year is Tayha Watkins. Tayha is a former TC student who spent 6 years in the basketball program, she is currently playing NB1 with the Nunawading Spectres. Tayha has lived the basketball program so she has unique experience that will be a great resource for the students at TC.

We have also had some significant achievements for former students this term. Last-Tear Poa (LT) this week won the NCAA Championship with the Louisiana State University in the USA. LT’s basketball journey from TC was to the Centre of Excellence in Canberra, then to the USA to attend Junior College before landing a scholarship with LSU. She is one of few Australians who have won a NCAA title.

The opening round of NBL1 last weekend also saw some former students come our of the blocks fast. Gabe Hadley scored 37 points for Geelong and Olivia West had 31 points for Launceston. Both these students moved from Tasmania to attend TC in the early days of the basketball program so it is fantastic to see them still achieving great things in basketball.

Other TC students past and present competing in the NBL1 this season include Zac Anderson, Mitch Blackburn, Kai Woodfall, Lily Carmody and Lilly Amor.

Great work by all.

Legal Studies Visit to Melbourne Magistrate’s Court

Student Reflection
”My favourite thing was getting to speak to the magistrate. He was extremely insightful in regards to the courts. I was surprised by how many people of the public were there taking notes on the courts proceedings, which I thought was cool. I walked away with an understanding of how crimes/goings on in the magistrates court are handled not only by the magistrates themselves but by the other staff in the building, and that no one person could be in charge of the whole courts. Collaboration was very evident!”
Miles

Language Centre Science

The Language Centre students did the “Flame colours” experiment in the General Science 1 room this term. Students further strengthened the safety consciousness of the laboratory in practice. Moreover, they reviewed the use of Bunsen burner by practical operations. Students observed a variety of coloured flames was created by burning a small amount of different metal salts in a fire. They have learnt that the flame colour is the result of electrons moving from a higher energy level or electron shell to their normal shell. After the experiment, they will also write an experimental report. We had a great time!

Language Centre Excursion Healesville Sanctuary

As part of their Humanities and Science subjects the Language Centre students went to Healesville Sanctuary to learn about Australian animals.   Favourite part of the zoo: Abi liked the Spirits of the Sky bird show, Jerry loved the Echidnas and Jade really enjoyed the Lyrebird Aviary.

To include the Easter festivities in their experience everyone was gifted chocolate bunnies for a snack on their bus ride. Last day of term and perfect weather made the excursion extra enjoyable! 

Meet the Language Centre Students

A Report on The Beechworth Landcare Camp

Camp was awesome, we started off packing our stuff into the trailer, and preparing to go, leaving at around 9:30. The bus ride was long, but we had maniacal bus songs to tide us over, which obviously went on for approximately three hours. (All the bottles of beer on the wall…)

We arrived at the Euroa Arboretum, where we had a tour on the local flora and fauna, along with a yam tasting! After that we arrived in the camp and set up tents, some people struggled but we all helped each other out! We had baked potatoes that evening, which was fantastically made, with a many toppings! The nights were rough for some, but much better than Noojee which was sopping wet, instead this time, most people’s stuff was dry. Despite that there was something comforting about sleeping on the ground, and many people slept quite well.

We had many fun experiences with Landcare, primarily when we met Callum’s father, who works with Landcare and had us throw big rocks over a river for two hours, which despite sounding boring, was a great deal of fun. Some more Landcare activities included clearing out weeds and learning about them.

We also had many of our own fun activities, including a very large rock, and I mean VERY large (not to be confused with Uluru). The rock had been worn down over time and effectively had slide, which we all had a great deal of fun sliding down. We explored a local waterfall as well and were allowed to wade in it, which was so much fun!

We met another Montessori school, called Beechworth Montessori, they made us lunch and we played freeze tag, they were all quite lovely people and it nice to meet other Montessori children!

There was a repurposed jail, turned into a tourist attraction, we got to learn about Ned Kelly and his life, along with the strict rules of the jail and hanging the inmates (ew). The town was really lovely, and we had some free time to explore it, some noticeable attractions were the op-shop where some people bought some stuff, the bookstore where we did some reading, and the bakery, because who doesn’t love confectionary. In the town we had the best honey in the world, and a honey tour, we learnt about the honey production, bee’s biology, and how honey is different depending on the environment.

And finally we played campfire games every evening, and ate banana boats and marshmallows.

To summarise, this was an incredible camp, and an invaluable experience, where people bonded and learned new things and I would recommend to anyone who’s looking for new experiences.

Thanks for reading!

By Jai and Xavier

Pattern Project

In this Collaborative Poster project students designed their own pattern to explore with a friend and recorded their results on an A3 poster. They collected results on a T table (input/output) and variables were used to represent the rule. Some patterns were linear rules, others were curves and a few students designed patterns were fractals. Students researched the meaning of iteration and recursion.

unleash

Unleash is a project developed by the Stage & Beyond classes with a grant from Manningham Council.  It consists of three under-18 gigs scheduled this year with local bands hosted at our school and the first of these gigs took place this term!  My role on the night was serving drinks and snacks to everyone. We had several TC bands playing on the night plus some Doncaster bands (Pizza Ace and Offswitch) with our headliner, The Crookeds.  The whole thing went for around three hours and our hard work really paid off! Everyone had a great time and it was a super successful night.  My personal highlight was meeting the Doncaster bands for the first time (TC has worked with Doncaster in the past, but this is my first time in Stage & Beyond).  Keep an eye out regarding information about the other two gigs still to come!
By Eirron Wong

Follow UNLEASH Youth gigs on Instagram to stay up to date with upcoming gigs! UNLEASH YOUTH GIGS (@unleash_youthgigs) • Instagram photos and videos

Entry Science

Students receiving their Bunsen burner licences this term!

Solutions using science

In the second half of term one in Solutions for Science students are learning about light and sound waves. They will be exploring the properties of light including reflection and refraction. Solutions students will be investigating the fundamentals of sound and learning how to describe sound waves using scientific terms such as frequency, wavelength and period. 

The in-class eye dissection enabled the students to understand further the question "How do we see?”

Physics Fun Day

We got to experience the Supernova, a ride that used the centripetal force, a physics concept we had just studied, to lift us into the air, rotate us in circles, and bring us inward. We continued the process throughout the day, recording the gravitational acceleration of the dizzying Enterprise that spun our heads and actually understanding the change in forms of energy as we rode the Scenic Railway roller - coaster up and down. We furthermore measured the momentum and impulse of the bumper cars we crashed onto one another. It was a wonderful way to put into practise what we had been studying in class with the aid of our instructors, who maintained fun and coordination, resulting in a planned and exciting physics expedition.

Environmental Science

Earlier in the term Environmental Science students visited Nangak Tamboree (LaTrobe University Sanctuary) to learn about water sampling and the challenges of managing a restoration park within an urban zone. They were prompted to think about issues such as light pollution and managing an over abundance of kangaroos with limited resources.

We also went on TC’s first Environmental Science camp to Wilson’s Promontory. The focus of the trip was learning how Parks Victoria are experimenting with using fire as a land management tool to restore habitat for endangered species such as the New Holland mouse and southern bandicoot. Despite the rain and cloudy conditions, we had a lot of fun exploring the stunning surrounds and learning from the very knowledgeable Prom Education employees who claimed ours was the best group they’d ever had. The only feedback for camp improvement from students (other than to provide better weather) was to stay another night!

Zoology and Ecology

This term in Zoology and Ecology students have been learning about theories of evolution and how diversity of life has arisen through these processes over millions of years. We have also learned about how scientists use evidence to back up their claims, such as using fossils, computer models and field data collection. We have been practicing some techniques for identifying what species is present and learning how to estimate populations. We had fun looking at many different types of scats in our school animal enclosures and conducted an experiment to estimate the number of animals in the TC paddock based on the distribution of scats. The goats and alpacas were very interested in what we were doing! We also continued to train our star eel, Comet, to swim through a hoop. As part of our study of cool adaptations we did a lesson on bioluminescence and made a luminescent solution to simulate the chemical process some living things are able to create. 

Technologies Expo

Students and staff from the Technologies Learning Area held an open expo on Thursday 23 March 2023 to invite family and friends to visit each Technologies area and see and hear from student leaders and experience design technology in action. Visitors experienced permaculture, design technology, jewellery, robotics, and food technology and engaged in a variety of activities all led by TC student leaders. It was awesome

Entrepreneurship Elective

Chazz has done an amazing job applying their crochet skills to their Entrepreneurial energies. They have spent hours upon hours creating perfectly proportioned cuddlies that are comforting and colourful for the whole family. These reasonably priced crocheted marvels were all sold out at the Warrandyte festival last weekend. Given the response to their creations Chazz will continue to create a bevy of acrylic friends to sell at more markets in the future. Chazz is to be commended for their efforts in Entrepreneurship and TC looks forward to Chazz taking over the world with high-quality handmade friends well into the future. For all enquiries, orders, feel free to contact James Paraskeva and he'll put you on the Chazz waitlist!

Magnetic Fishing

As part of the Community Integrated Learning week - 'Breath of Fresh Air' students from the Design and Technology Elective ventured down to Ruffey Creek to try their hands at magnetic fishing. Students used high-powered neodymium magnets on rope lines to cast into the waterways and try to snap onto scrap metals to salvage recycle-able materials for future DT projects.

EAG

Meet Montgomery, the sustainable rainbow, dancing, growling, grass frog.  He was made by Backyard Permaculture and Environmental Action Group students at TC. He is made to enter into the recycled scarecrow schools competition at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.  

He is made with all recycled and reused materials, including chicken wire and timber as his skeleton, newspaper and recycled photocopy paper for the paper mache, old fruit tree netting as his skirt, an old plant pot with bottle caps as his crown and recycled plastic bottle caps melted and flattened into a sheet for his feet. The students are so proud of the work they did to create this magical dancing frog scarecrow. He was on display at the MIFG show between the 29 March - 2 April.   

Term 1 has been a very busy term for the VCE Vocational Major students. The unit 1 & 2 students worked closely with Vicky to get their Safe Food Handling qualification and plan and execute the delivery of delicious Nacho Bowls to the participants at the TC Pool Party. They did the costings and ordering of the ingredients as well as the cooking prior to the day. On the day they did a roaring trade and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Many lessons were learned as a result and improvements will be made in time for the Athletics Carnival. I can’t wait to see what they have on the menu for us next.

As part of the TC Pool Party, the students from all four units sought to raise money for Laps For Life, a charity that aims to prevent youth suicide. We had people volunteer to swim continuous laps on the day, with students and teachers jumping in to donate their time to participate. Students could purchase the opportunity to throw wet sponges at staff. There was face painting and temporary tattoos available, as well as a donation page open to the entire community to offer donations. Other students in the program ran novelty events and assisted in the running of the entire day or organised the Hot Cross Bun drive with Macedon Plaza Bakers Delight. Thanks to everyone who donated their time, money or purchased hot cross buns. As a result of your generosity, the students managed to raise an amazing total of $1417.41.

The students have been very busy in the Literacy classes, focusing on compiling numerous stories for their memoirs in unit 1&2. There has been a focus on the drafting process and helping others with feedback on their work. In unit 3&4, the focus has been on instructional and informational texts. They have written a course guide for Vocational Major, an infographic for a Lego creation and an instructional text on a card game of their choosing before finishing the term with a travel itinerary.

As part of Personal Development Skills (PDS) the students have participated in various activities. The idea is to try something new that puts them out of the comfort zone, where they can critically reflect on their own interpersonal skills when it comes to working as both individuals and collaboratively. Both the unit 1&2 and 3&4 students had the opportunity to go sailing with the Victorian Sailing School where they worked in teams to sail a small boat at Geelong Foreshore. The unit 3&4’s also participated in numerous team-building activities to help them meet Outcome 1 for Unit 3 – Social Awareness and Interpersonal Skills. These included working with students they may not have worked with before, to achieve a common goal. Some of the activities they did were rock climbing, escape room, kite building with confusing instructions, engineering a device to retrieve a ping pong ball, catapult assisted take off flight decks and team initiatives. Each activity was followed up with critical reflection on their own performance and the performance of their team with strategies devised to improve performance in the future.

For Work Related Skills (WRS) the unit 1&2 students attended an industry excursion at Aquarena. The staff talked to them about their own pathways, what they had studied prior to work at the centre, where they were planning on going in their career and how they could get there. The staff in charge of hiring new staff spoke to the students about resumes and interviews and gave advice on what to include in their own resumes to stand out, as well as information about how to present themselves in a job interview. The same students also attended the Gateway Career Expo where they were exposed to a huge range of employers, industry associations and training partners with several interactive activities to participate in. They got to talk to people from universities, TAFE’s and training providers, local employers and business owners, industry groups that provide traineeship and apprenticeship information and government agencies. This was a great networking opportunity for the students.

The unit 3&4 students attended a seminar with Young Workers Centre, an organisation who assists workers under the age of 30 with legal advice. They learned about workplace bullying, discrimination and harassment and what they can do if they think they are being treated unfairly in the workplace. This was followed by a tour of the Trades Hall building and an introduction into unions, how they began and important historical events such as the Eureka Stockade and the introduction of the 8-hour workday.

Overall, a busy but productive term with lots more to come in Term 2.

By Nikki Burrows
VCE VM Leader

A Breath of Fresh Air Mural

To celebrate a Breath of Fresh Air week student from the Visual Arts Department and English collaborated to create a giant mural. Art and Visual Communication Design Students transposed images of their positive characters that they developed throughout the term, photography elective students photographed spaces around the school that inspired peace of mind, English students wrote poetary and the architecture elective contributed images of the animal enclosure designs.

This took place over many weeks. As time progressed the mural became longer and longer, slithering over the floors and tables in the Art Hub. As work progressed it was impossible to see the piece as a whole but the day of the unveiling various pieces were pasted together and rolled up ready for unveiling. Anticipation and excitement built with many Connect classes present and resident DJ Deadly DJ Bowson created a buz! The intention had always been to wrap the Art Hub in the work, but as we never saw it complete, we had no idea of how far we would get. Many hands took part in the performance, holding up the fragile paper as it. Excitement grew as we neared the corner of the far wall and reached the opposite door.

Many photos were taken before the work was rolled up again in preparation for being pasted up onto the exterior of the Art Hub in Term 2. Over the year the performance will continue as the work will change under weather conditions, fading and peeling. The Art and English Team thanks all involved for their enthusiasm.

Heide Museum Excursion

Both Unit 1&2 and 3&4 Art Creative Practice students visited Heide Gallery to see Animal Instincts: Moya McKenna and Albert Tucker. Students received an intimate lecture from gallery staff explaining the purpose behind the exhibition and what links them together. Tucker’s rendition of the biblical subject ‘St Anthony in Australia 1987’ provides not only an unexpected starting point to the examination of McKenna’s idiosyncratic visual language which is often dream-like, libidinous and populated with animals, but it also encourages consideration of some of the formal correspondences between the two artists’ work, and their shared intuitive and visceral approach to painting.

Students also got to view the permanent exhibitions on the Heide estate and take inspiration for their Outcomes. It was a beautiful day and it was lovely to explore the gardens and see the unique setting Heide offers just around the corner from Templestowe College.

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