Enrichment Program

From the Humanities Department

Year 8 Medieval day:

On the 11th of May, all the Year 8 homerooms were involved in a ‘Medieval Day’ where everyone could dress up in medieval costume and learn about the Middle Ages with a more ‘hands on’ approach. To help us learn more, a group of amateur historians called ‘Days of Knights’ came to our school and talked to us about life in the Middle Ages. This was a very unique experience as they not only dressed in very realistic medieval costumes, but taught us a few crafts of that period.

The first of these sessions was taken by Jason who talked to us about the trades-people and their different crafts such as cloth making or armoury. He himself was a blacksmith and could make some very impressive armour. He taught the group how to make chain mail, a very long and slow process, with over 12, 000 links in one shirt.

Peter took the second session dressed as a peasant, so, naturally that was what he talked about. He told us how peasants would work for long hours in another’s field just for a knight’s protection, but would barely have enough food for themselves. We also learnt about peasants’ past times and entertainment such as juggling and spinning thread, both of which we got to attempt ourselves, but with not a lot of luck.

Ages and the kind of things that they would have been taught. We learnt a traditional dance that seemed a lot like ‘follow the leader’ and we even tried our hand at calligraphy, all the while trying not to get ink on our costumes.

For the fourth and last session with ‘Days of Knights’ a very realistic enactment of a sword fight in a tournament between took place. They both wore fantastic armour and used broad swords based on a design from the 14th century which they had forged. Each had their own crest, Jason’s crest was a hammer and Peter’s crest was a castle. Everyone barracked for the under dog Jason, but Peter always won having had much more experience. Before leaving, they explained the life of a knight and the job opportunities they would have if they were not the first born son of the family.

However, Medieval Day was not over when ‘Days of Knights’ left. All the Year 8’s had a large feast in the hall for lunch. We could only eat foods that Medieval people would have eaten. Even then there was quite a variety in foods, although everyone’s favourite was bread. After trying to quickly stuff the last pieces of food into our mouths there was a fashion parade to show off the fabulous costumes people were wearing. There were knights, ladies, prisoners and even one horse. The best costumes from each home room received a prize of two movie vouchers. From 8 blue, a courageous knight, Chantelle Tarola, won best costume. 8 Red had another fabulous knight in golden armour, Ashley Marshall. Nicola Smyth, an elegant lady, won best costume in 8 Green and Kimberly Barraza, a crusader who had even made her own form of transport, won in 8 Silver.

This day, however could have not run so smoothly and successfully if it were not for the organisation and effort put in by some of the Year 8 teachers; Mr. Tomassini, Mrs. Chieppo, Mrs. Holt, Mr. Craig and Ms. Zierk, or without the co-operation and enthusiasm of all of the students.

Nicola Smyth 8 Green 2006

Australian History VCE Excursion

On Friday 27 th of May, the Australian History students visited the National Gallery of Victoria to experience first-hand some of the extensive collection of Australian art. The purpose of the excursion was for students to make a further connection between how artists have depicted Australia and Australians and to chart changes in Australian Identity over time.

Like writers of the time such as ‘Banjo Paterson’ and Henry Lawson, Australian artists in the late 19 th century tried to capture what was unique or special about Australia and they too looked to the outback for inspiration. In the 1880’s, a group of artists called the Heidelberg School developed a style of painting that would capture scenes of the Australian bush and bush life, rather than city life or negative images of Australian society.

The most notable members were Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Frederick McCubbin, Charles Condor and Clara Southern. I believe all the girls left suitably enlightened and impressed by the experience.

Mr Alan Tomassini, VCE Australian History Teacher

Carlton Brewery: Thursday 21 July.

As part of the topic, Operations Management in the subject of Business Management, students were invited to attend an excursion to the Carlton Brewery in Abbotsford. Carlton & United Breweries was formed in 1907, an amalgamation of Melbourne's six largest breweries at the time - McCracken's, Victoria, Carlton, Shamrock, Castlemaine and Foster breweries. Several were struggling financially by this stage and only the Victoria and Carlton breweries continued to operate after the merger.

The history of Carlton & United Breweries onwards has been dominated by brewery takeovers and more than 100 individual breweries have been absorbed into the CUB conglomerate. The Melbourne Co-operative Brewery, based at Abbotsford, was acquired in 1925 and it was here that CUB eventually consolidated its Victorian beer production facilities.

We had the opportunity of having a tour of this enormous facility following the production process from start to finish. The brewing and packaging facilities make it one of the biggest of its kind in Victoria, supplying all of Victoria and parts of New South Wales. The facility has the capacity to produce over two million stubbies over a 24 hour period, making it a major employer and highly profitable company. The automated system of production and quality control procedures ensure the running of a tightly organised workplace that pride themselves on their very impressive safety record and a reputation of being a leader in excellent employee relations. They have a flexible multi-skilled workplace based on the proactive application of a myriad of policies and procedures in the areas of production, safety, remuneration, human resource management and technology.

There is no doubt the girls found this experience a worthwhile exercise in seeing many of the theoretical aspects discussed in class in practice.

Mr. John Andritsos, Business Management teacher

From the Humanities Department

Last Wednesday, the 7th of June Ms Brunato and the Year 9 and 10 Australians at War class travelled by tram to the Shrine of Remembrance. We have been studying both World Wars and the Vietnam War in detail and the Shrine is a dedication to the soldierswho fought for Australia in these wars.

Upon arriving at the Shrine, Ms Brunato led us around the back to read the inscription on the Shrine and see the statues and to whom they are dedicated. It was interesting to see that there are no statues dedicated to specific people but rather battalions as the Shrine is a memorial for all soldiers who fought for our country.

We then entered the Shrine through the visitors' centre and met our guide, Coral. Coral led us to a room where she handed out poppies and postcards depicting the Shrine and then put on a short film about the history of the Wars and the Shrine.

After the film, Coral took us to a hallway which housed 4000 medals, each one representing 100 men, a fact that for many of us was shocking. We also saw a statue of a man and his son who fought together in the War, and the Stone of Remembrance. This stone is unk into the ground where people must bow their heads to see it, and it is inscribed with the words 'Greater Love Hath No Man'. Coral told us that once a year, on 11th November (Remembrance Day) at 11.00am, a ray of sun passes through a hole in the Shrine's roof and falls on the word 'Love'. Thousands of people come to see this. We also went up to a balcony on the roof of the Shrine and were able to see the beautiful views of Melbourne. To end our trip we went to see the Eternal Flame. Travelling to the Shrine was a very thought provoking experience for our class.

Sophie Mesis, Year 10 Blue 2006

Core Week

In the tradition of leaving the best until last, CORE WEEK ended with a focus on the most iconic figure in Australian History, namely NED KELLY. Throughout the morning, the students were either introduced to or familiarized with the story of Ned through the medium of film and the latest incarnation of the Kelly myth, namely the movie starring Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Naomi Watts (as Ned’s love interest). The girls were transported back to the late 1800’s as the Drama Studio became a Hoyts cinema (without the macho teenage boys or popcorn).

To perfectly contrast this, students then experienced the brutal reality of the experiences of Ned and many other prisoners {or ‘guests of her Majesty’} in the Old Melbourne Gaol. Students were confronted by the ‘death masks’ of executed prisoners, read their stories and stood inside their cramped cells where prisoners spent 23 hours of every day (1 hour was for walking back and forth in hoods so as to prevent communication and conceal identities). The highlight–or lowlight for some-is standing across from where Ned Kelly was executed following his immortal words “So it has come to this; such is life”. Incidentally, Ned’s mother was less than 20 feet away when her son was executed, for she too was serving a harsh 3 year sentence for slapping a policeman!

In the afternoon, the girls were treated to a drama performance from Complete Works Theatre Co. who creatively brought to life 3 short stories from Henry Lawson, most notably ‘The Drovers Wife’. The day was full of worthwhile experiences and thanks to all who participated, supervised, and of course Ned for his brief but fascinating life.

Mr Alan Tomassini, Head of Humanities

Core Week

Many of our students in Year 9 are at an age where they are seeking or already have a part time job or are receiving other types of income. It’s imperative that everyone has a taxfile number issued to them from the Australian taxation Office. We are very pleased once again to be associated with the taxfile school program where students had the opportunity to listen to a representative from the Australian Taxation Office explain the purpose and the importance of receiving this unique number. All Year 9 students were then able to apply for the number and receive in the mail within the next six weeks their new number.

All students also experienced a tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol, with our tour guide explaining to us some of the fascinating history associated with the Gaol and some of the weird and alleged sightings of ghosts within the Gaol.

The focus was on Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang which certainly spurred the interest of the students who then followed up with a viewing of the Kelly film in the afternoon. The feedback from students was excellent with some students interested in doing the night tour of the Gaol at some stage.

The Core Week program continues to be an important week of the school curriculum and most importantly provides the students with an excellent repertoire of events and activities.