Term 4 2011

27

Nov

Alex and Ellie’ student leader blog Print E-mail

Did you know that 10% of the world’s population owns 90% of the world’s wealth?

This is one of the mind blowing facts we learnt yesterday as for we put ourselves in the shoes of the less fortunate. At lunch time we got put into random groups that represented the wealthy and the less fortunate. There were 4 wealthy people who got a three course meal and a fully dined table and there were 5 henchmen who sent the less fortunate people into jail if they complained about the food and there were 2 waiters who served the fortunate people.

The rest of us were the less fortunate - we had to sit on the floor in our “families” with our “house” made out of butcher’s paper. Alex and I were a family and between us we had to share 1 bowl of rice that we ate with our hands. This was a huge shock to the whole community and it was a real eye opener to how lucky we are.

It was surprising to see how many people complained but for many people around the world this is their everyday life style.

Alex and Ellie

 

24

Nov

Taylor and Daniel's Student Leadership Goals Print E-mail

Taylor:

I’m Taylor from Dromana College. Today I was student leader with Daniel and we did a fantastic job working together.

The day started with a call to the other 2 campuses, we discussed our personal goals, community goals and what our highlight of the past 24 hours was. The highlight of my past 24 hours was passing my CPR exam. Daniel and I came to the agreement that our community goal was that we would try to get everyone to do their own duties as an individual, without being asked. ...

Daniel:

I’m Daniel from Lakes Entrance Secondary and today I was student leader with Taylor. We started our day with a link up to the other campuses and we stated our personal goals, community goals and our highlight of the last 24 hours. My personal goal was to learn a lot about the indigenous culture of the area on the indigenous walk and my highlight was caving. ...

Read more from Taylor and Daniel
 

24

Nov

Jamie and Darcy's Quiet Day Print E-mail

We were student leaders over parent visiting weekend which was a very easy job. We both enjoyed our weekends and seeing our families. 

It was great to be able to get out and relax with them by the beach.  It was a fun and enjoyable. It’s good to be back at this school though and being able to see all our friends and hearing about how their weekends went.  It was really great to get back into the swing of things at school and continue our experience at Snowy.

Today was a rather sad because everyone was tired and missed their families.  Everyone is keen for the second expo which is coming up soon; at the moment 1A is on expo. We are sure that they are having fun and it is definitely way quieter without them here.

By Jamie and Darcy

 

24

Nov

Marlo Primary Students Come to Snowy Print E-mail

Marlo Primary School Students

Yesterday it was both our second turns of being Student Leaders.

We had to really step up our mark as we had Marlo Primary School students came here for our LLP (Local Learning plan) day.

The day ran really smoothly with all the children enjoying themselves and also gaining a little bit of knowledge about their local surroundings. Both of us really enjoyed being role models for the students as some of them might even get the opportunity to attend a Leadership School just like us. It was a little more hectic for both of us considering we have only ever had to lead our community but with everyone else being here it made it a more challenging, but yet a fun and enjoyable day for everyone.

By Tom - Swifts Creek School & Chelsea - Parkdale Secondary College

 

16

Nov

Will and Busta's Blog Print E-mail

Will and Busta

We are half way through week 5 and its parent visiting weekend on Saturday. We are so excited to see our families for the first time in just over a month. We have our LLP (local learning project) tomorrow and we are teaching preps about the local environment for the day. We all have a group of 5 students and we have to choose a subject and run a work shop for them. We have our second expo on Monday which is really exciting; it is our one and only 2 night and 3 day expo.

We get to canoe for the first 2 days and then hike the last one back to campus. Sunday night we had a disco night and everyone got into it. The dress up theme was bright. Everyone had a blast and we all had some good moves. Everyone came out of their shell so much which is good to see at this stage in the program.

Will - Dromana & Busta - Portland

 

15

Nov

Alex's Caving Adventure Print E-mail

Today I was student leader and I found easier this time as I have had been student leader twice now and had fun last time.

For my class today I had caving I was feeling excited but also nervous as this was a new experience for me. The first cave I went to was called the Wild Cave and now I was excited and less nervous. We all walked down a hill that lead us to the entrance of the cave and I was astonished as  the entrance seemed to be a little gap that you had to wriggle yourself into, once I crawled further into the cave I was amazed on how amazing it was as I stepped into a bigger area.

Once we had got in we started our journey through the cave ducking, crawling and climbing through, we then reached a small gap in between these two rocks with a slope going upwards, the instructors told us to follow them as we watched them climb up and into a hole at the top. The first couple of people went up slowly but they made it look easy. It was my go and I started to climb up noticing that this was hard as, it was slippery, half way up I realised that I was starting to slip and I thought I was going to fall but luckily it was a tight gap as I pushed my back into the rock above me to stop me from moving, this incident didn’t stop me though as I pushed myself to the top and I was proud. At the end we all got our faces covered in mud as our overalls were already dirty enough.

The instructor told us there was one last challenge and it was a wombat hole that was small and hard to get through. I took the challenge and started crawling only noticing at the start that my shoulders were stuck but I kept pushing and I made it through. That was the best moment of the day, other than having a shower. The second cave was the Fairy Cave and it was a bit less active and muddy as there were pathways and handrails leading to where we had to go. It was still good as there were some interesting rock formations but I enjoyed getting dirty and crawling and around in the other cave. At the end of the day I was proud of myself and others for completing that adventure.

Alex - Parkdale Secondary College

 

15

Nov

Krissy Goes Caving Print E-mail

Krissy Goes Caving

So, where starting on the fifth week now, it’s going SOOOOO fast! I have been student leader twice now, the first time I was really scared but the second time i thought it was really fun!

I went caving last Tuesday and it was so scary but so much fun! My group, 1B which consists of my school Alkira Secondary College and Swifts Creek School went into the wild cave first. We had to crawl and army crawl through most of the cave and I was so scared! Then we had to go through this part of the cave called the letterbox and we had to slide on our tummies to get to the other side. At the time I was really scared but once we finished I wanted to do it again!

After the wild cave we went into the show cave and it was really pretty! There were heaps of stalactites and stalagmites hanging from the roof and coming out from the floor. Some of them were really shiny and pretty, our guide said that fairies lived in the cave and it was their fairy dust all over the rocks. Our guide told us a really cool way of remembering that stalactites hang from the roof and stalagmites come from the ground. Stalactites hold tightly on to the roof and stalagmites might touch the roof one day. I had an awesome day caving and would love to do it again!

Kristen - Alkira Secondary College

 

14

Nov

Our day in the Leadership Workshop Print E-mail

Today was very enjoyable to be student leaders. Shaylene’s personal goal was to get the most out of the Leadership Workshops by asking a lot of questions when she didn’t understand. Tristan’s personal Goal was to get the most he can in the leadership workshop by listening to what they were saying and retaining as much information he can. Our community goal was to get the Leadership workshop to run smoothly by encouraging people to get to classes on time.

Debbi Gray attended Snowy for a day and spoke about her life and how she grew up with discrimination but still held her head high. We learnt no matter what you look like we are all equal, people just view each other differently.

We also attended leadership workshops throughout the day, consisting of Metaphors, Leadership Tool Kit, Rock and Water, and Leadership Styles. All of these activities taught us about the aspects of a good leader, also how you need to be flexible in different situations you come across in life.

In evening class the community had the option of watching a movie ‘Whale Rider’ or working on our passports. The movie was about a girl who was the only girl born into her family in the long line of chiefs. She tried so hard to get her grandfather’s approval for being a girl but he didn’t want to hear it. So she stood up for herself and took matters into her own hands.

We learnt a lot throughout the leadership conference, some of the knowledge we will take on to our future. One of the many things we should be looking forward to. It has been an amazing 4 weeks; we can’t believe we are nearly half way through the program, time flies when you’re having a great time.

Shaylene - Alkira Secondary College and Tristan - Parkdale Secondary College.

 

14

Nov

Ellie and Erica's Poem Print E-mail

Ellie and Erica

Yesterday was a rest day,
Student leaders were Erica and Ellie – May.
Some went on a trip to Raymond falls,
While the rest played with cricket balls.
The weather was nice,
But the waterfall was like ice.
We all had fun but some got burnt by the sun!!!

By Ellie and Erica

 

12

Nov

Poets in Motion Print E-mail

Although the weather was dull and grey,
The SRC kids were out to play.
With lots to do and things to see,
Some go for a trip to the sea.
We planned to go and play some tennis,
But they had locked the doors, so it was a bit of a menace.
“Hey” we said lets go for a ride,
We peddled and peddled and we tried and tried.
With lots of mud and pouring rain,
Some of us rode with a broken chain.
Along came a role model, smart and wise
And tells us his story of an MP’s life.
As we crunch and munch on our delicious lunch,
Darren tells us we are all an inspiring bunch.
We sat down for a movie cold and tired,
But at least now we are all inspired.

By James - Maffra SC & Ellie-May - Dromana SC

 

12

Nov

Sarah's Blog Print E-mail

Today I was student leader with Cam.  We had a video conference with the students at the other campuses and spoke about our personal and community goals for the day.  Our community goal was to ensure everyone was having fun and enjoying themselves, we did this by playing a community game of ‘Honey, I love You’. My personal goal was to complete the next required criteria for my passport.

In the morning 1B had Thinking and Learning 3 with 1A. We learnt about the different ways we learn, I am an Aural learner. We also played a memory game.  Later I the afternoon 1B had passport 4. I got a lot done. I completed my next criteria and helped others with theirs.  For evening class we introduced Ranger Mike to our community, he came in and spoke to us about his job. We learnt a lot about the native wildlife and marine life in the area and what are the positives and negatives that are involved in being a Ranger. 

Today was another great experience and I had a lot of fun being student leader.

By Sarah, Alkira Secondary College

 

08

Nov

Cameron's Caving Experience Print E-mail

Today we went caving at the Buchan caves. 1A and 1B went together.

Once there we split up into groups, one going to the fairy caves and the other going to the wild caves which you climb down into, then at lunch you would swap.

Caving

My group (1A) did the fairy caves first. We had a wonderful time in the caves! Our guide was really good at explain how the stalagmites and stalactites were formed. He also taught us that the caves were opened purely for the reason of tourist.

Inside the cave there were stalagmite and stalactites everywhere. Some were wall to ceiling, while others were just starting. A 15cm stalactite takes just over ten million years to form. We were in the cave for about forty-five minutes and after a long time walking back to the top we burst out into sun light. We walked down to the car park to have a lunch that consisted of chicken that coincidentally tasted like KFC.

The wild caves were up next. I was really excited about these. I love adventure and I was going to enjoy this. We got there and placed on our overalls slowly not knowing what to expect. The people from parks turned up and handed us some headgear with flashlights. We hobbled down to the cave entrance and peeked in this tiny forty-five centimetre gap that we had to crawl through. We headed in one by one. We had awesome fun and a big adventure. At times the gaps got about fifteen centimetres wide! Overall the whole day was absolutely fantastic!

By Cameron - Dromana SC

 

07

Nov

Lyanne's Marlo Challenge Print E-mail

It's been four WHOLE weeks since we all arrived here at the Snowy River Leadership School. It has gone waayyy fast I tell you! Every time I get settled in to new covers, we have to change the sheets, AGAIN! I swear, it’s such a drag... But, what can you do about it?

We’ve been caught up in all kinds of activities, it’s just WILD! So, nobody really takes note of time around here, until it comes to meals, then we’re all like FOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDD!!!!!! So like, yeah.

For the last few weeks, I had noticed the plaque reading “Marlo Challenge” sitting at the very corner of the front desk. All my friends and I were constantly questioning what it was about. No one knew what this mysterious “Marlo Challenge” was. If I remember right, I think it went from finding shells at a beach, to surfing to us thinking it was a Triathlon! Nobody had even the slightest clue what it was about besides the obvious; it was a challenge, set in Marlo.

So a couple days before, we get put in groups of 5 for this ‘challenge’ and we’re told we have to dress up, themed and with a group name and a camera. So we’re all like, yeah we can totally do this! The night before we were told that we had to take replica photos of photos that we were shown, with only a pen and paper to hint us off. 9 AM we were all set off and down at Marlo, we all group up one at a time we go sketch the pictures, then BAM! Off we go with a map left to wonder around Marlo. My group had heaps of fun, wondering around taking pictures just strolling around, before we knew it we had to be back! Got our camera marked off, and then we were back, time flies…

Marlo Challenge

At the end of the day, my group the ‘Giraffes’ came seventh, and congratulations to the trainees who came first!!!

I love the amount of fun we have here, and any other student thinking of applying, GO FOR IT!

No regrets!! Signing off.

By Lyanne - Alkira SC

 

07

Nov

Marlo Challenge by Oisin Print E-mail

Yesterday we did the Marlo Challenge which was really fun. We got to run around Marlo and take photos of stuff that has already been taken and we got points on how difficult the object was to find and if it a was good shot.

We came back for lunch and then it went to the afternoon class which was passports so we got to sit in our rooms and go on our laptops. Over all, the day went really well and most of us had lots of fun. For tea we got to choose who people got to sit with because some people always sit with the same people over and over again. I think the night went really well and I enjoyed it.

Later for evening class we watched a movie called the ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence’ it was a really good but sad movie because it was how the white people treated the black people in the older days in Australia. We have not finished the movie and we are going to watch the rest tonight which is going to be good.

Well that all I have to say about yesterday, I hope the people reading this have a good day.

From Oisin O’Loughlin - Portland SC

 

02

Nov

We Survived! Print E-mail

On Friday, we were the student leaders. This task was a bit daunting because we don’t like public speaking but I think that we did a good job. We, as well as having to hold student meetings, also had to attend a staff meeting and that was a bit scary but we survived! In the morning three of the four groups worked on their CLP and made lots of progress.

Surfing - We SurvivedIn the afternoon all the groups did different activities. 1A went surfing which was great fun and nearly everybody stood up! There were a few good wipe outs that were pretty funny! And 2B did a half day bike ride that was also lots of fun.

We all worked well as a team and no-one complained about how hard it was. The temperature was also fairly high so it was important to keep hydrated. We all have been having a really good time here, met heaps of different people, made lots of new friends and already had some life-changing experiences.

By Olivia – Maffra SC and Hayden - Portland SC

 

01

Nov

Day as Student Leader Print E-mail

Today was exciting as I was Student Leader for the day with Busta Carroll. I woke up at 6:15 as I wanted to get a shower and have breakfast at 7:00, at the end of breakfast we had to start headcount which is basically where everyone calls out their number that was given to them at the start of school going through from 1 to 45.

I had to say the timetable for today explaining what each group has for day whilst Busta read out who was on duties. At 9:00 we did the same thing but we had to prepare our goals for the day and explain what the weather was like for the day.

My goal was to keep my school group on task for our CLP; I believe that this went well as our team completed our master plan. Our community goal was to make sure that everyone was on time for headcount and their classes. This worked well as we had a plan to walk up and down the bedrooms hall to tell everyone that they had to come to the common room. At the end of the night we had a music talent show and everyone had fun and enjoyed the night.

BY Alex - Parkdale Secondary

 

31

Oct

Brodie and Erica's Blog Print E-mail

Brodie and EricaBrodie’s blog

Today I went for a half day bike ride with my group 2B. It consists of two schools Lakes Entrance and my own school Maffra Secondary. I took on the role of leader and led everyone along the road, it was daunting at first but I soon got the feel of things and ended up having a good time. When I got back I ate some cake because it was Taylor and Busta’s birthday and it was good. The two schools in my expo group are getting along really well, almost feels like they are part of my extended family.

Erica’s Blog

Today I had my CPR exam, in one word, it was daunting. I was scared when I got there even though I knew I could just keep doing the exam until I got it right, I still felt like I had to succeed the first time. It’s weird, when you’re doing it, you don’t really think of it as a practice, you think of it as though you’re actually helping someone. I hope I never have to use first aid, but it would be an amazing feeling to save someone’s life.

 

30

Oct

Get Involved! Print E-mail

Get Involved!On the 23rd October both myself, Chelsea and Taylor were student leaders for the day. We were both very keen to do a great job as the morning came. We started off with a live video cam between the three campus’s sharing our goals for the day. My community goal was to make sure everyone was on time to class and headcounts. Taylor’s goal was to make sure she was encouraging everyone to get involved with everything we did throughout the day. It just so happened to be Bush Dancing night so it was a great to time encourage everyone to get up and have a bit of a dance and a laugh. We both felt really positive throughout the day and really enjoyed being student leaders.

By Chelsea - Parkdale and Taylor - Dromana SC

 

29

Oct

Setting Goals Print E-mail

I had ILP (Individual Learning Plan) and intro to CLP (Community Learning Project). In ILP we learnt about what our ILP was and we learnt about goals. We had to set 4 goals that would be achievable by the end of our time at Snowy River Campus. In Intro to CLP my group changed our CLP. We were originally going to do something about healthy living but we changed it to road safety and we got a lot of work done.

I am having a really good time here and I am becoming good friends with many of the other students here.

Krissy, Alkira Secondary College

 

21

Oct

Clare's time at Snowy so far Print E-mail
First Week at Snowy River Campus

We all arrived at Snowy River alpine campus on Sunday the 9th of October this day was exciting. There were a ‘zillion’ questions going through my head though everyone’s I think, what’s my room partner going to be like? I wonder if they’re nice? This was also the day that 45 students parted with their families to undertake a 9 week alpine experience. On the first night there were a few really enthusiastic people and most of us were shy and trying to figure everyone else out. However, by day 2 it felt like everyone had known each other for ages.

On Monday we meet with our expo team which involved my school and Dromana College students, making a team of 11. Most of the students are getting used to class times now and becoming really relaxed around everybody else. We have fitness classes in the morning and everyone is up by 7:30 am for morning head count. This school isn’t like any other, the teachers treat you as equals. The lessons are really creative and not like your normal sit down classes. Already I can tell this is going to be an unforgettable experience.

On Saturday we had our first rest day there was a few activities to choose from (fishing, golfing, or going for a swim at the beach). Cameron was planning to go golfing and walked outside and said to us “where is the golfing bus?”. I couldn’t help but laugh as we pointed down the driveway, where the golfing bus was driving away.

Clare – Portland Secondary Collage

 

20

Oct

Bike Intro and Bridge Building Print E-mail
Term 4 2011 - Bridge Building

1A started our first activity day with bridge building. Our group got up at 6:30am as usual and made our lunches at 8:00am. We then packed our day packs with all our goretex (waterproof clothing) and lunches. We left in four layers of clothing complete in thermals, long pants and long sleeve top and a jumper or two. We hopped in the van looking like we were about to go on an expedition to the Arctic. We got to our bridge building site next to the angling club and unpack the trailer with wood and other goodies.

After finishing that we headed out and discussed our team and personal goals. With that finished it was time to climb into our goretex because it was pouring down with rain with 20km odd winds.

Read more about Cameron's bridge building
 


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School For Student Leadership

School for Student Leadership is a Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) initiative offering a unique residential education experience for year nine students. The curriculum focuses on personal development and team learning projects sourced from students' home regions. There are four campuses in iconic locations across Victoria. The Alpine School Campus is located at Dinner Plain in the Victorian Alps. Snowy River Campus is near the mouth of the Snowy River at Marlo in east Gippsland. The third site is adjacent to Mount Noorat near Camperdown in Victoria’s Western District, and is called Gnurad-Gundidj. After consultation with the local aboriginal community, this name represents both the indigenous name of the local area and an interpretation of the statement "belonging to this place". Our fourth and newest campus, currently known as the Don Valley Campus is located at Don Valley, Yarra Ranges.
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Our school community acknowledges the Gunaikurnai and Monero-Ngarigo people as the traditional custodians of the land upon which our school campus is built. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their Elders past and present, and especially whose children attend our school.