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

Bosch Industries

On Thursday the 1st of June, the year 11 and 12 VCAL class went to BOSCH Industries in Clayton. We were the first school to be shown through some of the many things they do. We arrived at BOSCH at 9:30am and went for a tour around one of the buildings.

Inside we saw how they make diodes for car alternators.  We saw on one of the computer screens that there were 20,000 diodes that passed and around 40 that failed and were classed as faulty.

We then went out of the building and saw one of their big projects, a self-driveable electric car. The car that they are using is a Tesla, after all the work they have put into it, it is worth around $2.2 million.  Our sustainability project focuses on learning about new technologies to reduce carbon emissions, such as electric cars, as well implementing our own college sustainability practices like revegetation and the conservation of resources, such as water, energy and waste.

Afterwards we went to look at the power tools and the 3-D printing section. The worker at BOSCH explained the different uses for the 3-D printer and hoe BOSCH power tools are used worldwide.  He also spoke about the sub-companies at BOSCH and how many there are about forty-eight around the globe.  We were then quizzes about what he had told us and gave fidget spinners to those of us who were the first to answer the questions.

Overall, the experience we had at BOSCH Industries gave us a good insight into what companies in this industry do. They helped give us an idea of what every country does around the world e.g. Australia has two sites (Sydney, Darwin) designing heating and cooling systems (Sydney) and auto-motive parts (Darwin). On behalf of the VCAL class we would like to thank BOSCH Industries in Clayton for hosting us, showing us around and giving us a great insight into what they do for the world and how they are changing it.

By Year 12 VCAL 2017