Exciting Electives in Year 8
Students in Year 8 are encouraged to challenge themselves and follow their passions. As well as their self-directed independent learning project in the Cre8 program, students choose two electives to complete during the year. We look at some of the 10 electives on offer in Semester 1.
Lachie Chomley (OGC 2013) shows Emma Carroll and the Paddock to Platter students around The Farm Next Door in Norlane.
The Great Outdoors, with Emma Witham
Paddock to Platter, with Stephanie Lawrence
Does household recycling actually end up at a tip? What are major supermarkets and commercial food companies doing to support sustainable food practices? How is global warming affecting the Great Barrier Reef? What is “Fight for the Bight”? How have animals come to be endangered and extinct? What environmental issues am I interested in learning about? These are questions students have pondered in The Great Outdoors.
The Year 8s are cooking. Cinnamon, cardamom and apple aromas drift from the Enviro Kitchen as hot cross buns, with a layer of stewed Enviro apples, bloom in the oven.
During this environmental education unit, students explore the uses and impacts humans have had on the environment over time. Key focus areas in this elective are daily sustainable practices, impacts of climate change and issues present in the media affecting our natural landscape. In Term 1, students travelled down the Great Ocean Road, walking from Point Addis to Anglesea and surfing Urquhart’s Bluff. Not only did it provide them with a chance to appreciate one of Australia’s most beautiful coastlines, but to also have fun and immerse themselves into the special landscape we have in our backyard.
For the past few years, students in the Paddock to Platter elective have learnt cooking skills and tended to their kitchen garden. A new direction opened in 2019, as we became aware of Lachie Chomley’s (OGC 2013) commitment to sustainability and his new venture in Norlane. The Paddock to Platter students ventured to Lachie’s home and site of The Farm Next Door, a community project that aims to grow affordable, fresh produce for Norlane and Corio locals. Students planted spinach and kohlrabi seeds while hearing about Lachie’s vision of “a connected community that provides a majority of its needs for itself”. In response to significant social and environmental issues, Lachie suggested “there is nothing more empowering than changing your household behaviour to affect positive change”.
In Term 2, students learnt basic camping skills such as setting up, cooking, navigation, extended journey-planning and minimal impact practices; a great support for their Year 8 camp in Term 4.
Lachie’s philosophy sits well with the heart of Paddock to Platter. There is such joy and satisfaction in cooking with what you have and what you can grow.
Students in The Great Outdoors elective immersed themselves into the beautiful landscape at Urquhart’s Bluff.
Students take turns piping crosses before baking their hot cross buns in the Enviro Kitchen.
20 Ad Astra Issue No 136
