Student's from Mr Stewart's Year 9 Space Science Elective recently experienced a virtual trip to the planet Mars thanks to the VSSEC. Here is an interview with Emily Quach about the day.

• What does the VSSEC stand for?

Victorian Space Science Education Center

What is the purpose of the VSSEC?

This specialist learning facility is meant to enhance the learning experiences in STEM for both teachers and students. VSSEC provides an interactive environment that encourages students to use problem-solving skills and teamwork to fully engage in the scenarios. 

List all the facts you knew about the Planet MARS prior to attending the excursion.

-Mars has no oxygen.

-Mars has shown signs of liquid water on its surface, which may have carried micro-organisms.   

-Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.

-Mars has habitable conditions

-Mars has the biggest volcanoes out of the entire solar system.

-It takes 4 light years to travel to Mars from Earth.

What was your Role and Responsibility during Session 1?

My role was a geologist in session 1 and I was responsible for identifying and assessing the location, quantity and quality of mineral and rock deposits all across the terrain. 

What was the most interesting responsibility you had during this time?

What I found most interesting about my responsibility was that I was in charge of locating where past volcanoes and water formations were through the presence of certain types of rocks and minerals in that area.

What was the most important skill you held that pleased you at this time?

The oxygen that was being blown into my helmet helped prevent it from becoming foggy and impairing my vision. 

What was your role and responsibility during Session 2?

My role in session 2 was the BCE and I was in charge of managing all the astronauts' body temperature, breathing rates and other internal bodily factors, along with guiding the biologist in achieving their job on Mars. 

What was the most interesting responsibility you had during this time?

I found the fact that we were able to see the astronauts through a camera was interesting, as I could easily identify my astronauts' location and what they were doing, if they were unable to communicate. 

What was the most important skill you held that pleased you at this time?

It was helpful that we had more information and resources up in the control center, as we can help our astronaut diffuse a problem more quickly. 

What was the main piece of information/findings that you were able to contribute to the group with regards to the history of Mars?

As we investigated the true contents of particular rock samples, we could identify which parts of Mars contained volcanoes, water…etc

Why is it important to know the history of other planets?

The more we understand about other planets, the more we can understand our own. It’s also important to investigate the potential habitability of other planets to advance human civilization. 

What was the highlight of your experience at the VSSEC?

I had the opportunity to use the scientific equipment to identify rock types and meet specialists. 

Year 8 STEM

Year 8 STEM classes have recently completed their 'Low Rider Race Cars'. After planning, creating, testing and amending, the students were able to race their cars against each other. Overall, they were all able to experience levels of success, but like many things, the most significant learning came from the many struggles and difficulties along the way. 

Pictured above are some of the classes, with the fastest groups at the front and center. Well done year 8s!

- Mr Justin Mead

Interim Reports and Student/Parent/Teacher Interviews

Interim Reports will be accessible through the Parent Access Module (PAM) on Wednesday 6April.

Student/Parent/Teacher interviews will be conducted online on the following dates and times:

Thursday 7 April 4:00pm to 8:00pm

Friday 8April 9:30 am – 2:30pm (no classes)

As all teachers are involved in interviews, there will be no classes on Friday 8 April.

Families are asked to complete an online booking through PAM by Sunday 3 April.  The booking system is available through the College website or the SIMON Everywhere App. 

We look forward to meeting with families and students to discuss their academic progress, achievement and goals.

- Ms Cini, Deputy Principle of Learning and Teaching

The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Online

11 May – 21 May 2022

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. 

The assessment window for NAPLAN Online is nine days instead of the three days provided for the paper tests. This is to give schools flexibility in scheduling and to accommodate laptop and/or network capacity.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN Online is tailored (or adaptive) testing, in which the test presents questions of higher or lower complexity depending on a student’s performance.

The Year 7 and Year 9 students will be completing writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy tests.

Online National Assessment Platform

Currently the students in Years 7 and Year 9 are being provided with the opportunity to complete a Practice Test so that they can familiarise themselves with the Online National Assessment Platform. 

Students may also wish to complete their familiarisation with the online test tools via the use of the ACARA NAPLAN Online public demonstration site.

For more information about NAPLAN Online, families are encouraged to visit nap.edu.au

Message from our Junior Team...

Hello, our names are Katya, Raghd and Maryam and we will be telling you about our experience at cricket. 

Cricket was fun. At first, some of us didn’t know how to play or anything but some of us did, which was good. We lost our first 3 games and we were starting to give up until we heard that we had the chance to play for fourth place when we heard that everyone in the team started shouting and saying “Yes”.  We were practicing batting and throwing and we got even better which was great to see a change in everyone. We played for fourth place and at the end we all went up to the people that were doing the scores and after a minute they said that the other team got 40 runs and we had 79 runs! We were so happy and excited when we heard we got 79 runs. We were ecstatic, not only was that our first win of the day but we just won by 39 points! We had just won fourth place! We were so proud of ourselves. We also shook all the people's hands we versed. We all enjoyed cricket and had a lot of fun. After all, we learned that it’s not just about winning, it's about having fun. 

Message from our senior team...

Hello, my name is Janelle, and I was one of the girls who represented CRC St Albans in the SACCSS Girls Cricket Gala Day on Friday the 11th of March. As I played in the Senior Team, my team competed with many cricket-skilled girls from different Catholic schools. My teammates and I were shocked by the astounding skill our competitors demonstrated. The excursion to Parkville encouraged all girls to participate in sports activities by having schools compete in three cricket games each. The Gala Day was pleasant and inclusive, providing the opportunity for female students to learn new skills and further develop an understanding of cricket. The format of the games was modified, as was the equipment and playing area. The day was a chance to compete with other schools and to understand the value of teamwork and sportsmanship. Despite the extreme heat from the glaring sun and some game losses, CRC female students portrayed utmost persistence and optimism. Our students showed respect and pride when cheering and congratulating teammates during the competition. I would also like to thank Mrs. Jurcec and Mr. Marshall for motivating and inspiring the girls to have a go. To conclude with exciting news, the Girls Junior Team made it to the quarter-finals in which they came fourth place! Congratulations to all girls who participated and may we continue to encourage women in sports!

In outdoor education this semester, we have been focusing on overcoming fears and having some of the best experiences of our lifetimes. Overall, I had such an amazing time considering my fears and worries of the ocean (mainly of sharks) which Mr. Boudaher and Mitch never heard enough of. To go snorkeling, we had to have a few swimming lessons which helped quite a bit. Our bus ride to Queenscliff was long but worth the time it took; as we were able to form a better bond with our classmates and also have time to ourselves. We went for a walk to a couple of viewpoints which were pretty. We ate at a local park while we mentally prepared to go snorkeling. The wetsuit was a struggle to put on. We boarded the boat and went out to sea, where we reached our first destination, Popes Eye Marine Park. I was so scared to jump in but I faced my fears and took the plunge. The water was ice cold and not pleasant, however, despite the cons, I encountered marine life, like seals, a humongous stingray and a couple of little fish face to face. I also got to see the ocean in its true form with my own eyes. My personal highlight of the day was swimming with the seals. They were all so adorable sleeping on the pontoon. I came at least half a meter away from a seal and swam right over the top of a giant stingray. Although the current kept pushing us out and further away from the pontoon, it was worth the energy to swim right back to them. All of the staff and even the wildlife were so friendly. I am not necessarily over my fear of the ocean, but this experience has definitely helped me and given me a little more courage.

- Arwen Godino, 10 Mannix