VCAA Season of excellence: Top Designs

On Saturday 25 March, Top Designs opened to the public showcasing the innovative works of Victoria’s emerging designers. The exhibition featured 70 students as part of the VCE Season of Excellence, among them were four Padua students. We congratulate Ella Hennessy, Jack Maliszewski, Luke Bouwmeester and Emma Simmonds on this fantastic achievement in recognition of their talent and hard work.

This is the third consecutive year that a Padua VCE Systems Engineering student has been featured and this year’s candidate, Luke Bouwmeester, Class of 2022, was one of seven students that were selected from all the entries from around the state as examples of exemplary work.

Luke designed and built a Solar Tracking Parabolic mirror using Fusion 360 CAD design software, electrical simulation software, 3D printer, laser cutter and a CNC milling machine. The parabolic mirror was designed as a prototype, to track the sun and focus the sun’s rays on a fixed point to pre-heat water entering a hot water system. According to Luke’s teacher, Paul Barton: “This was a great achievement, and well deserved for all the hard work Luke did throughout the year”.

Sport & Recreation Camp

Our Unit 3/4 Sport and Recreation students recently enjoyed a three-day camp at Ocean Grove where they planned and conducted all meals and activities, including a cricket tournament, trampolining, scavenger hunt, spike ball tournament, mini golf, trivia night and coastal hike. The students did a fabulous job, showing excellent initiative and teamwork.

Anna Whittaker
Year 10-12 Sports Co-ordinator

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

Students need different types of help at school. Some students need a little help sometimes while other students need a lot of help nearly all the time. The type of help given depends on the needs of the student. The help can include changes to the school buildings or grounds (e.g. ramps or things like special desks or chairs), extra teacher help in classes, special learning programs, changes to the work they give the student or extra adult help.

Schools work together with families to understand the needs of each child. It is helpful if families give their child’s teacher a copy of any letters or reports they have. The letters or reports will help the school understand the child and the help that they might need. Letters from doctors, psychologists, speech pathologists, doctor, and occupational therapists etc. can be very helpful for schools. These reports along with information that the teacher has (i.e. school based tests, your child’s work and learning plans) helps the school to understand and meet your child’s needs.

Schools must complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability.

Further information about NCCD can be found here.