Parent Bulletin 21

Friday 23 October
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Report from School Council October Meeting

Update on Building Project
The ground floor slab was poured on Friday 16th October. The in ground sewer works are also complete. Works are currently tracking ahead of program by 1 or 2 weeks.
Remote and Flexible Student Survey Results
Three hundred and eighty one students completed the survey during the latter part of term 3. There were two parts to the survey:
Part A: COVID-19 Remote Learning Experience
Part B: Student Wellbeing

The four items that received the most positive response were;
  • My house has the necessary IT equipment for learning from home - 94% agreement.
  • I found it easy to use google classroom to access and complete my work - 88% agreement.
  • I signed into form assembly each morning- 84% agreement.
  • I had everything I needed to learn from home successfully – 84% agreement.

The four items that received the most negative responses were;
  • I accessed the wellbeing activities provided in form assembly everyday - 78 % disagreement.
  • My teachers often organised group work during remote learning - 75% disagreement.
  • The wellbeing workshop day made me feel like part of the school - 70% disagreement.
  • I felt that I could learn just as well at home as I could in the classroom – 66% disagreement.

Remote and Flexible Parent Survey - Term 4
A short survey was posted on Compass this week designed to collect information from parents/carers on their Term 3 experiences. The results will be used to drive school improvements and reflect on this unprecedented time in our history. We value your honest feedback and encourage you to complete this 10 minute survey by the 6th November 2020.

Please be reassured that the information you provide will only be used by the school to drive school improvements in its communication and engagement strategies with parents.  Your responses will be anonymous. We will not be able to identify who you or your child are.

Jill English
College Principal

Year 9 Art

​Remote Learning Creatives!
From the beginning of Term 4 the year 9 Art 2s have been learning about the Art Movement Surrealism. From home, the students got innovative with paper materials they could find around the house to create weird and wonderful juxtapositions inspired by the Surrealist artists. Well done everyone for completing some amazing work over the entire remote learning period and we look forward to having you back at school next week!

Visual Arts Faculty

VSSEC Launching New Radio Astronomy Telescope

​VSSEC getting ready to launch its new radio astronomy telescope
After several months of planning and preparation, the Victorian Space Science Education Centre took delivery of a new radio telescope system last month to be used as part of a new radio astronomy program for Victorian government schools. 

The telescope will be used by students to ‘listen’ deep into the galaxy and discover what’s happening in the outreaches of space. A structured preparation activity leads to the opportunity to use the real radio telescope equipment to scan a section of space that they’ve selected to examine radio signals from deep within the galaxy. These signals can tell more about the life of stars in that part of the constellation.

Built in Italy, the telescope was delivered in component form before being assembled and installed at a radio-silent site in Tallarook State Forest, about 85km north of Melbourne. From July to mid-September, the VSSEC team had been feverishly preparing the site (amidst the need for extra care due to COVID), transforming it from a highly overgrown area of wild shrubbery into a remote observatory facility. The installation includes a control cabin, a solar power system, fencing, site-monitoring equipment, and the structural base for the telescope itself. 

The radio astronomy program is currently being piloted with some of the Year 9 cohort at the school before it is offered across the State. At a later stage, it will be offered for individual students to book a slot of “scope time” for their exclusive use so they can further extend their astronomical curiosity.

Funding for the program has come through the Student Excellence Program and is offered as part of the Victorian Challenge & Enrichment Series.

VSSEC Team

Year 7 Art

The return of the Magnificent Year 7s!
The first week in the Art class.
It was a pleasure to see our Yr 7s come back on site, and we wanted to give them the opportunity to engage in some practical work as soon as they returned to the art rooms.

This term, we are looking at, amongst other things, "Colour": how to choose, mix and apply colour for various effects.

One group was working on painting various plant and floral motifs to cut out and create a collaborative collage, whilst another group, created abstracted portraits that were emboldened with bright combinations of ink.

It is odd to see our students in masks: we shall have to get used to it. Thankfully, they do not impede their attention to the work at hand. 

Visual Arts Faculty

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