Term II Draws To A Close

There were times over the past ten weeks when I did not think we would make it through to this point – but here we are. I think it would be fair to say that many, if not all, students and staff are really in need of this break.  We should never underestimate how the effects of last year, combined with a couple of short notice and short spanning lock downs have an ongoing and accumulative effect on us all.  I really encourage everyone to have a relaxing break over the next two weeks and try to re-charge as much as possible before Term 3.

Term 3 is always a long term with no scheduled public holidays or breaks on the horizon.  It is another busy term with the Year 12 GAT being scheduled for Thursday 29 July. The GAT is undertaken by all students who are studying a Year 12 VCE subject or scored assessment.  From 2024, all Year 12 students, and those doing a year 12 subject will be expected to undertake the GAT, as the VCAL course gets absorbed into the VCE.  We also have a number of camps scheduled for Term 3 and hopefully they will be able to go ahead without interruption.

Farewell Miss. Chambers

Following 6 months teaching, today was Miss. Chambers last day with us at St. Arnaud Secondary College.  Amongst a whole range of reasons, many beyond our control, Barbara has decided to return to Melbourne with a longer-term view of re-joining family in England. The COVID pandemic has been difficult enough for those of us who are living close to family, but it adds a whole extra dimension for those who are a long way from “home.” There is no doubt that Barbara has been able to bring a great deal of mathematical knowledge and effort to her classes.  On behalf of the College I would like to thank Barbara for her time with us and wish her and Amelia, all the very best in the future.

Miss. Chamber’s departure creates some changes to the timetable to Semester 2 which students will receive via Compass during the school holidays.  In short, Mrs. Jackson will take Year 12 Math Methods, Mr. Marland will take VCAL Numeracy, the Year 10 Maths class will be split into 2 classes with Miss. Bertalli and Mr. Calvert, and Year 8 Maths will be taken by Mr. Calvert and myself.

Year 8 Rubicon Camp

Reports from the Rubicon camp have been positive with our students getting to see and play in a reasonable amount of snow – many for the very first time. What is clear is how tired students and staff were at the end of the week – near the end of a long term.  It was a great effort by everyone, but thanks in particular to Miss. Griffith and Mr. Knight for attending and driving the vehicles.  Thanks also to Melissa Esmore who attended the camp as a staff helper.  I know Melissa was very tired still on Sunday – a nice initiation into teaching.

LMR Cross Country

We have gone a week and there has not been another change to the LMR Cross Country.  It is still scheduled to be on Tuesday 13 July.  Hopefully this will not change.

QR Codes

Schools, like all workplaces and visitor locations, are now required to have all visitors register via a QR code reader every time they enter the school.  Our QR codes are at the Front Office, which should be the first port of call of parents or any visitors.  The bright side is that once the app is downloaded, it is much easier and quicker to use than some of the previous versions – of which there seemed to be many.  This requirement may change during the next two weeks. I will aim to keep you informed.

Enjoy the break!

Tony Hand

Principal

Year 8 Rubicon Camp Photo Gallery

Day 1 - Tuesday (Dusty martin, Heidi, Hamish, Owen, Abby, Leila) 

On Tuesday the 15th of June we met at the front of the school at 8am to pack the bus and head to Thornton. We had to take both the large and small bus, plus the trailer to fit us all in. It was pouring, and Mr Knight and Mr Hand had to pack the trailer in the rain, getting wet. We left the school at 8:30am, right on time for departure. We stopped at Heathcote for a stretch of our legs and a kick of the footy. We then continued on our way. We did some singing and some sleeping until we finally made it to Alexandra. At Alexandra, we stopped at the park and ate lunch. A few students forgot their lunch so there was a quick bakery stop to grab some extra things. Also, Miss Griffith had to go and buy a towel as she forgot hers. When we got to camp, we unpacked the trailer and were allocated rooms and duty groups. Duty groups were for breakfast set up, delivery and wash up and dinner set up and wash up. We also had lunch preparation duty which included a subway-like set up, preparing rolls and wraps for the day ahead. After this, students were allocated into group A, B and C. We then went and got some gear which included thermals, over pants and an over jacket for the next day. We then went with our group leaders to go for a walk in the valley where we spoke about different flora, fauna and some history of the area. When we got back, we had some free time before dinner which consisted of baked potatoes with all the trimmings and a chocolate cinnamon dessert with ice cream. After this we had some free time and then completed a rogaine activity with Chris, which involved running around the Rubicon campus. We were then told to go to our rooms at about 9:30-9:45 where Miss Griffith, Melissa and Mr Knight paced the halls of the dormitories until we went to sleep with lights out at 10. The rooms were quite hot, but all in all we all slept quite well.

Day 2- Wednesday (Elsie, Lara, Frankie, Sophie, Kynan, Fraser)

On Wednesday duty group had to be ready by 7:15am to get organised for breakfast.  The rest were woken at 7am but got half an hour to wake up and get dressed before breakfast at 7:30am. During breakfast we were told about what we needed for the day and the plan for the day. We split up into our groups and just after 9:30am we left for Lake Mountain for a snow journey. It took us a long 45 minutes to reach the mountain. Scarlett and a few others kept singing ‘In the Jungle’ on the bus. When we arrived, all groups got off the buses at different spots and at different times. Groups got off the bus and it was freezing.  It was very foggy, and it started to spit rain. We had a talk about who would be in charge of the map and who would hold the walkie talkies. There was someone chosen for the map and someone chosen for the front and the back of the group with walkie talkies. It felt like we walked for 24 hours, but we only walked for about 2 hours through mud, rocks, puddles, inclines and traces of snow. We stopped every now and then for a snack and a regroup. We made it to the summit and also a look out which was amazing. We ate our lunch at the summit. When we arrived at the end, we all ran and started to make snowballs to throw at each other with the snow that was in the corner of the parking lot. After we left here, some groups went to a waterfall and some groups went to a park to make themselves pancakes to warm up, accompanied with some hot chocolate. When we got back to camp, we had some free time, where most people showered to warm up. We then had a dinner of chicken korma and a dessert of apple crumble with cream and custard, which was yummy. After this we had some free time before we watched ‘Unstoppable’ with Bethany Hamilton, learning about resilience, with resilience being the theme of the camp.

Day 3- Thursday (Tahli, Oscar, Gus, Jackson, Brody, Scarlett, Ava W) 

On Thursday we were woken at 7am to go and have breakfast at 7:30am. After the breakfast duty group had finished doing the dishes, we all went to get ready for the day's events. This was our challenge day where we got to pick out of four activities and the majority ruled. We ended up having a fishing group and a rafting group. Miss Griffith and Melissa went with the rafting group and Mr Knight wen with the fishing group. The group who were going rafting had to collect the appropriate safety equipment which included a wetsuit, helmet, a spray jacket, a fleece jumper and a PFD. The group who elected to go fishing went to collect the fishing rods and knives they needed. At 9.30, the groups departed with the group who were rafting departing on an hour-long journey to the Big River. The fishing group headed to the Buxton fish farm. When the rafters arrived at their destination, we had to learn all of the safety techniques needed in case someone fell overboard. We also had to help pump up rafts and select raft groups. On the other hand, the fisherman were finding the perfect fishing spot, and then the group sat down and waited for the fish to bite. Everyone caught a fish. The fish were taken inside, gutted and eaten for lunch, cooked in foil with lemon, herb and spices with a side salad. Meanwhile, water fights had started amongst the different boats along the river. Buckets of very cold water were being thrown at students and instructors alike. Some students were even pulled out of their boats by some of the instructors whilst trying to navigate the rapids of the Big river. We stopped for lunch along the river where we had hot drinks and our pre-made sandwiches and wraps. Some of us even put the hot water from the thermos into our shoes to warm us up. We were freezing! We danced and sang to stay warm before we headed back onto the river for the second half of the journey. The second half consisted of more rapids and more students falling over-board with some swapping of rafts occurring. We had been rafting for about 4 hours when we finished. We had to carry all the equipment up the bank and get changed in the bushland which was funny! We then all hoped on the bus to return to camp with blue lips and frozen fingers. The fishing group then went to Eildon Lake to try their luck at catching wild fish. Brody was the only one to manage this, catching a rainbow trout. Brody decided he wanted to share this with his fellow class mates and bought it back to be cooked up after tea. When we all arrived back, people had showers to warm up and to wash off any remaining fish guts. We then had some free time before dinner. For dinner we had some Spaghetti Bolognese and sticky date pudding with ice cream. YUM! We then had some free time before completing some cleaning jobs, such as washing wet suits and thermals. We lit the fire outside to cook marshmallows and Brody’s, fish which was delicious. We then went inside to complete an artwork describing our time at camp where we were resilient. We then went to bed feeling quite tired but had to make sure our bags were packed ready for the morning.

Day 4- Friday (Ryan, Tom, Caidon, Erin, Ava T, Natasha, Gypsy)

 On Day 4 the girls started off the day with Miss Griffith playing some music, and the boys started off the day with some vocals from Mr Knight. At 7:15, people who had breakfast duty left for the dining hall to set up the tables, and to get the butter knives and spoons out. At 7: 30 we went to the dining room for breakfast. After we had breakfast, we took our plates, bowls and utensils to the tray to be cleaned by the duty group. After breakfast we headed back to our rooms to pack up our luggage and get ready for the day. After everyone was ready for the day, we headed to the deck to put all our luggage out to be picked up and put onto the trailer. We sat in the rock circle and we were told what we were going to be doing. We were told we were going to be filling in the spaces in between the rocks since they were good spots for snakes to hide in the summer Kate, a Staff member from Rubicon, got out the speakers and started playing some rock classics for us whilst we worked on filling in the spaces in between the rocks using gravel and small rocks. Some fruit was taken outside for us to snack on whilst we waited for lunch. After this we returned our backpacks, over pants and over shirts, having to sanitise the backpacks. For lunch we had Sausage rolls and wedges.  The wedges which was definitely the favourite. After this we did some camp reflections with our group teachers and packed the trailer to set off on the journey home. We stopped at Bendigo where we were given ten dollars each to enjoy some food. We then arrived home at 5:30, keeping Mr. Knight and Miss. Griffith awake by singing the whole way home!

‘VET – A Pathway to Jobs of the Future’.
The NCTTC and NCLLEN will support Industry Partnerships through industry engagement- students had the opportunity to link with industry representatives to gain an understanding of how VET can lead to opportunities for future jobs, both locally and regionally. Session one involved an Industry Panel, then the students had 3 sessions trying out different VET subjects on offer. A BBQ lunch was provided to all students.

Try a VET Day Photo Gallery