Lakewood Reserve

The Vcal students went on an excursion yesterday to the Lakewood Reserve in Knoxfield. A previous Vcal class visited the site in 2006 and planted a variety of native plants to improve the area.

One highlight that the students found interesting was when they were looking through the microscope at the samples and seeing how many different species of creature were within the water.
Another highlight the students enjoyed the ponchos that were taken as a precaution for the lovely Melbourne weather.

Below are some of the before photos 

Below are the photos taken from yesterday's excursion

The students enjoyed the experience of walking and getting to know the area as well as researching and seeing the improvements in over 10 years. There were plenty of wildlife present but we missed the opportunity of taking photos because they were too quick!!

Student Profile

Dylan Hamilton-Thomson



I am studying to be a Personal Trainer. I am completing ...

My hobbies include playing/watching footy, I play for the Scoresby Magpies. I also enjoy watching tennis and going to the gym whenever I have spare time. I can dead lift ...

My favourite food is a chicken parma and Schnitz chips with a glass of lemon, lime and bitters. My favourite genre of music is a variety of different music from the 2000's. My favourite movies are the Fast and Furious sequels. 
The items I cannot like without are money, fitness, friends and family (in that order) 
What I enjoy most about school are my friends. I love catching up with them and organising where to hang out on the weekend. 

My ambition is to become an AFL player 

My life quote is: "What I do when I see someone pretty is, I stare, I smile, then when i get tired I put the mirror down" 

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Student Profile

Angus Chen

I am studying to be a pastry chef. I am completing a Certificate 2 in Kitchen Operations and Certificate 2 in Hospitality. I want to be a Pastry Chef because I like to bake. 




When I'm free I really bake and create new foods and experiment with my imagination. My favourite food is sushi, I love a California roll. My hobbies include watching MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules. I love researching new recipes to bake and to let my imagination run free. 

My favourite movie is Chef and I have no favourite music. I love all music. I cannot live without my phone or food. What I love most about school is being with my friends and creating new memories everyday. 

My ambition is to design and create my own cafe or cake store. I cannot wait to design the menu and the experiment with different flavours of cakes. 



My life quote "Don't allow someone to make you feel like you're not enough"

Student Profile of the Week

Marie Capon Pittorino

I have many nicknames like cocoon, aoili and biscuit. I am not sure where they came from but I always answer to them. 

I am studying to be a Music Therapist as i do not believe that medication for depression works and you can heal in a variety in different ways.
My hobbies include using social media, hanging out with my friends, eating and anything artistic. My favourite foods are munchies, fast food and avocado. My favourite genres of music are R & B, house, rap and mainstream rock. My favourite movie genre is horror. 

The only items I cannot live without are food, Wifi and my phone. What i love most about school is being able to see my friends everyday and helping with the project. I am very hands on and I am proud of the work that my fellow class mates and myself have achieved so far this year.

My ambition is to finish school and my degree and to help make a difference in the world and help people in the future to find their happiness. I will continue to do anything artistic. 


My life quote is "Happiness is not a destination, it's a choice. There is no point in living life unless you make history, and the best way to make history is by helping people"

Student Profile of the Week

Ryan Booth 


I am studying to be in the construction industry. I have completed Certificate 2 in Building Construction (Carpentry).
My hobbies include kicking a footy with my mates and I love sleeping and being able to have a sleep in on the weekend. My favourite food is steak and vegies. I love my red meat!! I have no favourite genre of music but I do have a fondness for rock music. I would like to give the person who created Netflix a handshake because it is amazing. 



I could not live without food, my bed and access to Netflix.
What I love most about school is Numeracy and being able to design projects especially designing my own future house. It is something that I cannot wait to do and the 3 o'clock finish.
My ambitions are to finish school with my certificates and to start working in the Carpentry industry. I would like to own my own business in the future. I am eager to advance myself and push myself to the limit. 

My life quote is: "I don't understand why people have to 'get ready' for bed because I am always ready for bed". 

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We have BIRDS!!!!!

Thanks to our lovely Business Manager, we finally managed to photograph some native birds in the are trying out our new bird boxes. Our bird boxes were put around the school a couple of weeks ago and we have seen some birds investigating the new boxes, as shown below

Student Profile for the Week

Andrew Diaz-Baird 

I am studying to be a Mechanical Draftsman Engineer. I have completed Certificate 1, 2 and 3 through Swinburne University. 

My hobbies include hanging out with my mates, cooking and sleeping. My favourite food is tacos. I have no particular movie because I like all genres. 

I could not live without a bed, food and water and also my friends. 

What I love most about school i

I designed and created this tower in class. It outlasted the rest of them

s designing and creating new projects. 

I am not sure of my ambitions, I am still young but I know I would love to own my own company and become a successful sort after engineer. It is a passion of mine. 

My life quote is - "Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me" 

Student Profile for the Week

Tiarna Abbott 

I am studying to be a motorcycle mechanic. I am completely my apprenticeship through Kangan Institute. 

My hobbies include motorbike riding, shopping and hanging out with my friends. Pasta is my all time favourite food. I love to watch Netflix and listen to folk music. 

I could not live without my phone, my dog and of course, food and water. 

What I love most about school is the fact that I get to see my friends everyday and form new relationships with my teachers. 

My ambitions for when I leave school is to become a fully qualified mechanic. I want to own and run a successful shop but in the future, I would like to go back to university and study architecture. 

My life quote is "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" 

Sustainability Project

The VCAL students planted the remainder of the plants just before the holidays, as shown below. Stay tuned for some updated photos soon :)

Reflection for Semester One

Student Statements of Reflection:

‘The activity that I enjoyed most this semester was the ‘Wall to Wall’ project. I learnt how to spray paint and I felt really good helping to create a mural for the community’
Marie Capon-Pittorino

‘My work placement was my highlight. I have learnt a lot about air conditioning and refrigeration and have gained more confidence in the workplace’
Kurtis Clarke

‘A challenge for me was the gardening project. I found it hard to stay motivated because I don’t like gardening. Working within a team helped a lot’
Tiarna Abbott

‘Some of my highlights were the excursions to BOSCH Industries, Bunnings and to the Knox Environmental Society. I enjoyed playing sport, working in the woodwork room and working outside of the classroom’
Dylan Hamilton-Thomson

‘I learnt how to buy a car, how taxes work and how to budget’
Renee Howe

‘My landscaping and gardening work placement was my highlight. I have learnt to use different trade tools and equipment such as the reciprocating saw’
Sam Walter

‘The main thing I liked was planting the native plants and watering them. I can't wait till they become established. It’s a good thing for the environment’
Ashlee Carter-Robson

‘I enjoyed going to Bunnings and getting their expert help to build the bird nesting boxes which we are placing around the school, to help our native birds’ 
Tamara Williams

‘I enjoyed my work experience. I was Mr Martinek’s teacher assistant and I helped the Year 7 students in music class’
 Angeline Yeong

‘Things that stood out to me this semester was helping out with the pond project and the garden. I also enjoyed going to Bunnings to build bird boxes’ 

Jack Howe

‘One experience that stood out for me was installing a pond for our school. This was the best project so far and I learnt many things such as landscaping and planting’ 

Austin Reid

‘This year I have learnt many new things such as skills in my VET course while working in a kitchen and how to be independent in the workplace’  

Angus Chen 

Stay tuned for photo highlights from Semester 1 

Planting at Scoresby

The purpose of today’s work session was to lay down all of the mulch and plant as many of the native plants that we purchased from the Knox Environmental Society.

The task that I was involved in today was laying and spreading the mulch evenly. It was a fairly large task but Jordan, Andrew and I got the job done. My job was to shovel the mulch to certain areas and Andrew and Jordan were responsible for raking and spreading it out evenly into the garden bed.

Our project has come a long way and our progress is fairly good, with two more weeks until the finish. I believe we will complete this project on time because there is not much else to do. The planting will be completed by the end of the week.  Then, all that will be left to do is a tidy up around the garden, the placement of the bird boxes and regular watering of the plants until they become established.

Kurtis Clarke.

 

Bird Boxes at Bunnings

VCAL Bunnings Excursion

On the 25^th of May the 11/12 VCAL class went on an excursion to Scoresby Bunnings. The purpose of this visit was to get expert help from Bunnings staff with the construction of bird boxes for our sustainability project. We worked in pairs. The timber was pre-cut and we had to nail the bird box together. We added some wire mesh so that the chicks can climb inside the box.  We put hinges on the top so that the bird box could be opened up and accessed from the top.  We also painted the boxes in colours that will blend in with the environment. These boxes will be hung up on the trees in our sustainability garden later in the term.

Here are some of our thoughts about the day:

‘It was fun. Working on common projects helps us to get along with each other’ Ryan Booth

‘Our hosts Liz and Alyson were very helpful and friendly’ Dylan Hamilton-Thomson

‘This was a great half day excursion and was well organised’ Angus Chen

‘It was good to be out of the classroom and participating on a hands on activity’ Sam Walter

‘The day was great. Thank you Bunnings’ Tamara Williams

‘It’s a good feeling to do something that will help our native birds’ Austin Reid