From the Deputy Head of Campus
Our college philosophical statement shares that “The aim of Christian College is to develop the spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional capacity of students as part of their total character, and to develop an appreciation of the wonderful world in which we live, to enhance it, as well as to preserve it.” This is a wonderful ideal to aim for and we try to be intentional in the learning and experiential opportunities we encourage our students to embrace.
The theme of the upcoming International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8 is “Embracing Equity”. As previously shared, the Senior Campus will host an IWD breakfast with three wonderful guest speakers on this day. However, the challenge to embrace equity goes well beyond a day or a breakfast. We are grateful for the resources our House Mentors will put before the students over these two weeks that will hopefully challenge their thinking about equity and the role they can play, both currently, and as future adults, in aspiring towards a world where this is embedded in every practice.
Our students have also been privileged to host visiting staff and students from our sister school in Indonesia, SMA N 2 Mataram. Again, this opportunity has provided our young people with an appreciation of the vastly different lived experiences of others, as well as a beautiful reminder of what we have in common.
In addition, we have commenced planning for our Year 11 Presentation Balls that will be held in June. These nights and the weeks leading up to them are an opportunity for students to practise life skills that are both valuable and enjoyable. The opportunity to work as a team, to learn together, to create a wonderful evening as they host a table of invited family and friends will develop both lifelong memories and lifelong skills. The Presentation Balls are an occasion where they can represent themselves, share their excitement and enjoyment and hopefully share what they have collectively been able to achieve as a Year 11 cohort towards supporting a community cause.
Finally, in helping to develop our students’ character we see the opportunity to invite student feedback on their classroom experiences. Over the next two weeks, the Student Perception Survey invites each student to provide insights into their classes, with questions relating to each of the first 5 AITSL teacher standards, which are:
- Effective teachers know students and how they learn.
- Effective teachers know the content and how to teach it.
- Effective teachers plan for and implement quality effective teaching.
- Effective teachers create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments.
- Effective teachers assess, provide feedback and report on student learning.
We look forward to positive student participation in this process and we value the understanding that each learner will share with their teachers so that we can continue to improve their educational experiences here at Senior School.
Dianne Martin, Deputy Head of Campus
Chicks at Senior school (VCE VM News)
Recently, as part of a project, we the Year 12 VCE VM class have been collecting fertilised eggs from the Senior Campus chicken coop to incubate. We are very excited to find that 21 days later some of our eggs have started to hatch. We have had to maintain the incubator as a class and this has required daily monitoring of the heat and humidity in the incubator. Our hope is to breed more chickens to expand our campus flock for year levels to come. This will also help to increase our egg production. We could then look in to selling our eggs as a way to earn money towards paying for the feed, upkeep of the chickens and the maintenance of the coop.
Phoebe Arnott, Year 12
Year 11 English
This week Ms Stringer’s class enjoyed putting together the jigsaw puzzle made up of key scenes from our text ‘Lion’. It really helped consolidate knowledge of the narrative and showed us where we have some gaps. Many thanks to Ms Brandon for creating it!
Lee Stringer
GISSA Girls Cricket Competition
On Tuesday Feb 28, our girls cricket team ventured to Belmont Common to compete against other GISSA teams. The Christian College team comprised of girls from Years 10 to 12, with some very welcome support from two experienced Year 8 cricketers. Whilst some of the team play regular club cricket, we also had a number of students who were experiencing the game in a longer format for the first time.
In Game 1 against Kardinia International College, we faced a team with a strong core group of a few players who had experience and strong skills. Our philosophy of giving all players a chance to contribute saw a number of players scoring runs in our total of 65, including Emily Totton, Jessica Phelan, Phoebe Chisholm, Molly Cooper, Nyah O’Brien and Isabelle McKinnis. Despite the big hitting top order of KIC looking ominous, there were fantastic bowling efforts from Imogen Oliver, Ella Fields and Suzanna Mavromihalis. We ended up losing this game by 17 runs, but the team spirit was definitely not dampened.
Our second match against Saint Ignatius College was a nail-biter, with CCG winning by just 1 run! An important hit for two runs by Tilly Andrews in the last over proved to be the difference. Wicket takers in this match were Imogen, Phoebe, Jessica, Mia Little, Tilly, Alice Joyce and Nyah. Great energy in the field provided a couple of terrific runouts as well. Overall, the improvement in the girls’ skills in just one game was fantastic to watch, and I hope that many of these players will be back to play again next year.
Player of the tournament for the CCG team was our ‘pocket-rocket’ Jessica Phelan (Year 8 Bellarine). Jess scored the highest total number of runs, took a wicket, and was instrumental in a crucial run-out. Together with outstanding bowling from fellow Year 8 student Phoebe, the future of female cricket at CCG is looking bright.
Leanne Doran
Product Design Classes
Year 10 Product Design is off to a great start with students displaying good hand tool skills and positive attitudes. Students have shown great enthusiasm for the skill-building activities, including boot pullers, steel coat hooks and wooden tool totes.
The Year 11s are coming to grips with the design process and will soon begin materials and process testing for their sustainably redesigned products. VCE Product Design is weighted towards folio work which prepares students for further study of design at university.
Last week Year 12 Product Design (Materials) embarked on an excursion to TimberZoo, a salvaged timber recycling facility in Moolap. The purpose of the excursion was to learn about the importance of sustainability and value of recycling. Students found inspiration for their projects this year in the stunning cabinetry timbers on display. I was fascinated by the scaled-up versions of the machines we have at the Villa.
Duff Swanson
The Senior School Hub & VCE matters
Last year we introduced a new learning and resource tool for our Senior School community – The Senior School Hub. It is constantly being updated with new features. If you have not had a chance to peruse through the information that it contains, I would encourage you to do so. This page can be accessed via the student portal and parent portal and provides students and families with a wealth of knowledge on how to navigate their VCE and other elements to support students within the Senior School context. Sections include study tips, assessment calendar, VCE protocols, information on VCAL, VET (vocational training), school-based apprenticeships (SBATs), wellbeing support and much, much more.
One of the main tools for students to use is the assessment that lists all scheduled School Assessed Course Work (SACs*) or School Assessed Task (SATs*) for Semester 1. Whilst every attempt is made to keep this calendar up to date and accurate, it is a guide only to support students in their planning and preparations for assessments. Students should refer to individual subject teachers’ instructions regarding assessment dates, times, and locations.
As we head into a busy assessment period, families should be aware of the protocols surrounding SACs and SATs. Importantly, in unforeseen circumstances where a student may miss a scheduled assessment, students are required to provide a medical certificate or statutory declaration declaring a valid reason for the absence. School-based events such as camps and sporting/musical representation do not require this.
If families are planning a holiday during term (not recommended), please be aware that notification as early as possible is required, with a minimum of four weeks’ notice. Please note that there is an expectation that students will attend a minimum of 80% of their classes for each subject.
*SACs and SATs at Unit 3&4 will incur a numerical grade that will contribute to a student’s study score in that subject. Please note that the mark awarded and displayed by Christian College Geelong for any SAC or SAT is a raw score only and is not the finalised score for the assessment. This mark remains subject to statistical moderation and review by Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).
If you have any queries pertaining to the operation of the VCE, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Daniel Fanning, VCE Coordinator
CCG Tennis Championships
Christian College’s finest tennis players contested our annual Jon Ryan Shield recently. Congratulations to all participants and both junior and senior finalists and winners!
A MYTERN Thought for This Week
It’s easy to rush through a cup of tea or coffee and forget to stop and appreciate the moment.
Take time out now to simply appreciate being able to breathe in fresh air. Take a long slow breath and feel it rejuvenate every cell.
Make that your intention and watch your body smile from the inside 👍❤️
Discover more about MYTERN here
