From nurturing lambs to swimming with seals in Port Phillip Bay, term four has presented some exciting opportunities for student participation at the Tyabb Campus. In continuing to celebrate student voice as a means of empowering our young people, students have shared some of their experiences below…

Caldermeade Farm Excursion

Throughout this term, Tyabb’s plant and animal class has been studying animal behaviour and lifestyle.

On Monday 23 October, we got to go to Caldermeade Farm and spend the day learning about how they look after all the cows on the farm and also about their diet and how often they get milked. We were fortunate enough that we got to stay there for their 2:30 pm milking and see how they milk the cows. We also got to see the vet come out and do pregnancy tests on the cows, see an abscess being popped, and a cow give birth. What a great day full of amazing experiences.

Aurora Bampton, Year 9 Geoghegan

Academic Challenge Day

On Friday 19 October, some of us went on a bus to compete against primary schools and the other Padua Campuses in an Academic Challenge Day. The day was full of fun, engaging challenges that tested the perseverance and intelligence of the students. We had three sessions, with different subjects in each. Categories such as English, Poetry, Design, Maths, Science, and Drama Performance were just some of the subjects covered.

It came to the moment we had been working so hard for... the results. We were runners-up in Coding, Art and Poetry and were overall fifth place out of 11 schools. It was a great opportunity and a memorable day giving us a great experience.

Charli Scott and Harriett Rogers,
Year 7 Geoghegan

Golden Valley Camp

During the September holidays, I was fortunate to be nominated to attend the Golden Valley Camp. I wasn’t sure who else was going for the whole week, but I knew Lachlan was coming on Wednesday. Shortly after arriving, I was pleased to see Michael, Matthias and Max were on my team (Go Green!!). There were other Padua kids from Mornington and Rosebud too and it was great getting to know them better.

It was a week filled with activities and challenges, and I definitely stepped outside my comfort zone. With the encouragement of teammates and the camp leaders, I conquered every activity and surprised myself with what I was able to achieve. All I can say is that if you get the opportunity to participate in a camp like this, grab it with both hands.

Harper Ross, Year 9 McCormack

Mornington VCE Art and Technology Exhibition

On Thursday 12 October, the Tyabb Art Club went to Mornington Campus to see the VCE Art and Technology Exhibition. My favourite piece of art was the piece ‘alone’. It contained two photos of people sitting down in the dark alone. The images show feelings of being alone and sadness, with a young girl covering her face with her hands. Rebecca’s favourite piece was a short black dress, it was a fitted dress that clung to the body and complemented the features. The sleeves flared out making the dress stand out. Isla’s favourite piece was an orange dress with a flannel-type design, the coat hung on the shoulders, almost like a cardigan. The dress was a rough fabric and gave vintage vibes.

Special thanks go to Ms Colcott who went through a ton of work to get the Art Club to Mornington. I would also thank Mr Tyrrell and Ms Blake for taking us around to look at the exhibition, and to Lyndon for taking us for a tour of the different classrooms and making us all an amazing goody bag.

Abi Hunt, Year 8 Doyle

Aspire9 Marine Excursion

On Wednesday 11 October, classes 903 and 904 went down to Sorrento for one of the last Aspire9 programs of this year. On that day we took part in two activities. We were split into our core classes to participate in these experiences. The first class went out to try to find some dolphins and seals to swim with on the boat, while the other class went into the main street of Sorrento to go and look around at all the different stores.

To start the day we went down to the pier to meet the crew who run the Polperro Dolphin Dives. We were given wetsuits to put on, and they explained to us what to do once we got in the water. Giving us snorkels and flippers, we were then allowed out into the sea. We saw seals, lots of them. We then came back up onto the boat and the crew gave us hot chocolate to keep us warm. The boat came back up to the pier where we got off and got out of our wetsuits.

We then journeyed up to Main Street of Sorrento where we were allowed to walk around and look at the shops. It was a nice sunny day, so it was good weather to be out in a nice place and looking around.

It was an amazing experience to take part in with my classmates, the weather was perfect and it was very valuable to have the opportunity to experience something as special as this.

Max Walles, Year 9 Doyle

SIS Chess Championship

On Thursday 7 September, we participated in the SIS Chess Championship at Nazareth College in Noble Park. Our best performer on the day was Christian Hills, winning three out of the seven games played. We were unlucky with the result in the end, but overall, it was a pretty relaxed and fun day for everyone. Well done to everyone who participated.

Will Doughton, Year 9 Doyle

Training Band

The Year 7 Band and a handful of Year 8s have been practising and rehearsing once a week for the concert near the end of the year. At the start of each rehearsal, we bring our instruments and set up the music room for Mrs Wilkinson. The band is so much smaller than last year that we kept setting up the room too far forward and when one person is missing it sounds off or wrong. After setting up we go through a warmup and then practice a few songs. In a few weeks, we will go to Mornington to join the other two bands to perform to family and friends with a few other Padua acts. It will take a bit of practice and time but hopefully will be a good performance.

Bella Birks, Year 8 Cardijn

Book in a Day

On Thursday 20 July, the Book in a Day team (Kai McCoy, Eden Huddy, Maddy Little, Isla Hart, Jade Ross, Molly Green, and Abbie Green) headed down to John Paul College for our workshop day. During this workshop day we were split into authors and illustrators. The illustrators were Nicky Johnston and Dean Rankin, whilst the authors were Andrea Rowe and Coral Vass. These illustrators and authors shared advice and techniques that they hoped would improve our end product and overall knowledge.

On writing day, we headed down to Balcombe Grammar School, sat at our table and received our parameters. These parameters told us our primary characters, our non-human character, our setting, issue, and five random words we had to include. Our parameters were tricky to incorporate with each other, but in the end we managed and had a lot of fun.

Finally, on Thursday 12 October we headed down to Cornish College for the awards presentation day. It was an extremely suspenseful event but in the end, we were awarded an honourable mention for our illustrations, originality, and their relevance to our story. After the awards ceremony, everyone sat down and participated in a book trivia including many questions about various authors and illustrators. By the end of this, the winners were announced and it was known that it ended in a three-way tie between Cornish College, Balcombe Grammar, and Casey Grammar. We went home, unfortunately not as winners but as grateful students who felt blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate in this year's Book in a Day competition.

Jade Ross, Year 8 Geoghegan

Thank You

On Friday 27 October, the Tyabb community will celebrate World Educator’s Day and it is timely in conclusion, to acknowledge the incredible teachers and support staff that enable the extra-curricular activities and opportunities, along with so many more throughout the year, to occur. We look forward to sharing many more experiences with you throughout the term.

God bless.