Pastoral Care

Girls’ Pastoral Care

Iftar Dinners

The Girls’ Pastoral Care department would like to thank all families who hosted a home iftar during the month of Ramadan. It was a month full of joy and sharing and assisted in the bonding of the students.

Girls’ Pastoral Care

Year 7 Girls’ Pastoral Care

The Year 7 girls enjoyed a fantastic day on Monday 25th June. The students read, discussed and presented topics on values, had a lovely lunch then a stroll along the beach and ended the day with a relaxing colouring in session.

Year 7 Girls’ Pastoral Care

Science

Food Technology

Kitchen Wizards!

Again our Food Technology students have been cooking up a storm. During Ramadan, take home delights for iftar meals included chocolate truffles, chocolate coated strawberries, golden syrup dumplings and chocolate caramel slice. Winter warmers included baked jacket potatoes cooked by the year 7G. The Year 8 students finished the term by creating beautifully decorated cupcakes. The students are looking forward to making some hearty winter meals in term 3.

Food Technology

Year 7 Science

Science Year 7 - When we flush…

Year 7 students this term studied the Earth’s resources: how we use them and why we need to conserve them. Students created excellent posters on the range of resources including rocks and minerals, energy sources (both renewable and non-renewable) and importantly - water.

One aspect of water we all take for granted is our sewerage system, and to learn more about it the year 7 students visited the Eastern Water Treatment Plant in Carrum Downs. Our guide, Ms Jane Petch gave the students great insight into the process of sewage treatment, the reasons why it is important and its positive results i.e. greatly reduced sea pollution, recyclable water and fertiliser production.

While the students found it interesting, particularly the fact that sewage is mostly water, they did find the visit quite an assault on their olfactory sensory cells. It did smell! Another mind blowing point of interest to the students was the job of sewage diver! But not even a salary in the thousands of dollars per day would coax any of our students into that career!

Year 7 Science

Year 9 Science

Research Science Year 9 – Soap makers extraordinaire!

For one of their research projects for term 2, our year 9 students investigated various aspects of common cleaning agents. This included testing the acidity/basicity/neutrality (pH) of the agents and their effectiveness in killing microbes. The students also investigated the quality of soap produced when they made it from raw materials, different groups using different vegetable oil bases.

As well as being interesting and enjoyable, this project gave the students excellent grounding in chemical and biological analysis techniques (pH measurement and microbial culturing) and emphasised the appropriate safety precautions required. This experience should prove beneficial to the students in their future VCE studies.

Year 9 Science

English

Darshanaa Shakespeare Creative

The Dark Lady

William Shakespeare cavorted onto the stage with an immense grin. He held Lucentio’s and Tranio’s hand as they bowed and were thrown flowers. As they stood up, he eyed a special guest sitting at the highest platform of audiences. Queen Elizabeth had a fan in front of her face whispering covertly to one of her servants. Her coruscating, red hair was now tinted black, influenced by the night sky looming over the Globe Theatre. Her eyes were as bright as stars and as dark as the night blanket they dozed upon. William refused to admire her beautiful eyes as he concentrated on the intricate fan that covered her coral red lips. Ha, she always has that fan in her hand, doubtlessly to extricate her servants form her reeking breath. William criticised another mere flaw from the helplessly beautiful queen. Her fair complexion appears grey now, under the night sky, hiding her naturally rosy cheeks. William strode down the stage and was approached by the same servant Queen Elizabeth was conversing with.

‘Sir Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth formerly invites you to her palace to discuss some issues. She would like to meet immediately as she says this is an urgent matter,’ the servant stated firmly and respectively.

‘Yes, Sirrah, whatever pleases the Majesty,’ William responded holding his urge to beat the servant for serving such a despicable sovereign.

William impatiently knocked on the palace doors. He felt filthy touching the home of a Protestant and a disobedient woman. The doors opened and William was sent to the Queen’s court room where he would meet an infuriated Queen.

‘How dare you William Shakespeare mock me in front an audience!’ Queen Elizabeth screeched as soon as Shakespeare stepped over the threshold. The virgin queen was enveloped by dozens of fabrics and sparkling jewellery. William was blinded by the light reflecting off her overbearing crown like small daggers skinning his body.

‘Katherina was never a shrew, she was inflicted that title because she lost her mother…’ Queen Elizabeth raged. ‘Just like I lost mine. Her wretched father, Baptista, must have executed her,’ Queen Elizabeth’s incensed screams dissolved into uncontrollable sobs. William could not believe the sovereign’s eyes, once admirable, now they looked like glassy streams. William did not understand this situation, he thought he was brought here because the Queen found out about his secret; he was not a Protestant, he was clandestinely a Catholic.

‘Your Majesty, I do not understand-’

‘Why did you do that? Why did you remind me of my haunting life? My mother Anne Boleyn was executed because she did not produce a male heir; my stepmother Catherine Howard was executed as she fell in love with another man and my favourite aunt, Katherine Parr died from childbed fever. I loathe men and their imposing laws for a patriarchal society!’

William prompted by the Queen’s response he remembered why he despised the queen immensely; she was a shrew unwedded to a man to tame her.

Queen Elizabeth did not notice William’s sudden mood change as she turned her back to the loathsome man and continued soliloquizing her traumatic past, forgetting there was another presence in the room.

‘My father, King Henry VIII, had a total of six wives whom he had killed three and the other three died from infectious disease. His last wife, Katherine Parr, who you beleaguered to be the shrew of your play, had shared a special bond with me. She arranged for the most distinguishable tutors in England. My love for scholarship never faltered and in an age where women were considered inferior to men, I was a glorious exception. Meanwhile, when my father died, Lady Katherine married the duke’s youngest brother, Thomas Seymour. He reminded me of Gremio. When Lady Katherine became impregnated she was unable to join Thomas Seymour on his trips to my bedroom. He would tickle and wrestle me which I thought was simple fun; however, he was more serious. Fortunately, I left the household at the age of sixteen because it was rumoured he, aged thirty-five, wanted to marry me to be an eligible King after my sibling’s sovereignty. I am glad young and beautiful Bianca did not marry Gremio, an old man eager to marry her for her money and compliance. Subsequently, as the years passed by, my half-sister, Mary who had inherited the throne after my half-brother’s death, had grown distant from me. She was a Catholic and I was Protestant. During her reign, she revolutionised England into a Catholic supporting country after my brother’s rule as a Protestant monarch. I was imprisoned by my sister who had deprived me of food, water and freedom like Petruchio had enslaved poor Katerina. Furthermore, she believed I had supported a rebel group of Protestants aiming to overthrow her kingdom. I wanted to end this sisterly feud. I wrote my sister several letters beseeching for my liberty so we could resolve our problems. However, she was occupied by her new husband King Philip II of Spain. Soon she believed she was impregnated with a male successor. However, Mary was diagnosed with a tumour growing in her stomach as the reason for her swollen stomach. Her husband left her because she could not give birth and Mary perished afterwards. From the day, I took my sister’s throne, I vowed never to marry a doleful and slow-witted male who would bring me sorrow.’

Vision blurry, Queen Elizabeth could not face William with her weighing eyelashes. Abruptly, she felt a touch on her back, as warm as the tinge of a clover,

burnt brown as it reached to kiss the sun.

‘I am sorry,’ his warm breath had filled a void in her heart that made it beat uncontrollably. Expecting to find William behind her, Queen Elizabeth was confronted by emptiness and it made her blood stiff, stopping it from filling that empty void. Was she talking to herself again?

William Shakespeare took his ink and paper as he reminisced of the time he spent with the monarch. He abhorred her because she was a Protestant and he was a Catholic. Her curst attitude towards men was revolting and was obliged to be tamed. Although as much as he hated her, he was profoundly drawn to her too. He wrote:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head;
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Humanities

Year 8 Humanities Japan Project

During Term 2 the Year 8 Humanities students completed wonderful projects about Historical Japan. One of the students Leena Mazin even made a ‘Japanese’ cake to share with the whole class and to add taste to the creative atmosphere created by the fabulous projects.

The following are some of the samples of the Year 8A and 8C students’ creative work.