6 minute read
Education Week 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate our lives, our Greater Frankston and Peninsula communities continue to find ways to get through the lockdown as best they can. Restaurants and cafes are turning to home deliveries or contactless pick-ups; galleries are holding virtual exhibitions; libraries are suggesting apps so you can enjoy their audiobooks and eBooks for free; legal, health and business professionals are conducting video consultations and webinar workshops.
Our schools are certainly not immune to the challenges posed by the health restrictions that have been put in place, and like so many businesses
and services, they have risen to and met those challenges head-on. While remaining open for students whose parents or carers are required to attend their places of employment, they are also offering remote and online learning for those whose carers or parents have lost their jobs or been stood down, or who can work from home. And while ‘home schooling’ is largely a new experience for the students as well as their parents, carers and teachers, it is one they have grabbed with gusto. Such is the resilience and adaptability of this generation. In the meantime, our schools, colleges and TAFEs are taking inquiries for future enrolments, offering virtual tours, providing a host of online courses, and generally doing what they do so well: preparing our children to make their way in the world armed with the skills to succeed and thrive. Find out what they’re doing over the following pages.
Have you ever thought about STEM in relation to a colony of bees and their hive? How about the operations of aquaponics? Perhaps you recognise STEM in the development of a clay sculpture, the pyramids of ancient Egypt, an automated noncontact timer for hand-washing or in the baking and construction of a cupcake tower. All of these are perhaps surprising examples of STEM at Cornish College. At Cornish, STEM is not something we reserve for a STEM centre – it is a lens through which we teach, observe and learn across all disciplines. Integrating STEM throughout the curriculum helps students to understand its tangible, practical role in the world beyond schools, where we draw on scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical thinking as a series of interconnected understandings. It helps consolidate students’ knowledge, ensuring deep, transferrable learning as they apply their understandings and skills across all disciplines. This is why STEM can be found throughout Cornish in unexpected ways – often beyond the science laboratories. Our students apply STEM principles in art rooms, humanities classes, our award-winning Eco Centre and throughout our hundred-acre classroom. Whilst they explore STEM through dedicated disciplines and subjects such as mathematics, coding, robotics and the sciences (physics, biology, environmental science and chemistry), it is more than just a catchphrase – it is a vehicle through which students identify and solve problems as the critical and creative thinkers our world needs them to be. At Cornish College, STEM is not just for our future engineers, mathematicians and scientists, but for all of our students, as they develop the entrepreneurial mindset and skills that will help them to make a difference for a sustainable, thriving future no matter what path they take in their exploration of life. That is education of a different kind. NICOLA FORREST – Principal CORNISH COLLEGE A: 65 Riverend Rd, Bangholme T: 9781 9000 W: www.cornishcollege.vic.edu.au FB: CornishCollege INSTA: cornishcollege Hidden gems: exploring STEM across the curriculum
Finding out more about beehives and honey production
Visual arts teacher on national stage
Victorian artist and Chisholm visual arts teacher Shane Nicholas has taken out the $15,000 Tom Bass Art Prize 2020 for figurative sculpture. Shane’s life-size entry in the national award is titled Scanned Figure with Arms Outstretched and is based on a 3D scan of his own body. It is made from plant-based PLA plastic derived from corn syrup and was constructed using a largescale 3D printer, with its distortions caused by errors in the 3D scanning process. Shane’s journey into the art world started after he left high school early. The curriculum was not capturing his attention, and he found himself exploring his creative side, focusing on painting. This led Shane to study a Diploma of Visual Arts and develop fundamental skills in painting, printmaking, sculpture, and design. “My time at TAFE are some of the fondest days, surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals, learning fundamental skills, techniques and industry knowledge,” he says. “By having learnt the practical skills at TAFE, it allowed me to hit the ground running in the Bachelor of Fine Arts with a course structure that provides less guidance.” While working as an exhibiting artist and teacher, he returned to university to complete his Master of Fine Arts. “I needed to re-connect with education and sought out the connection of people with common interests that allows for the generation of ideas.” During his Master’s degree, Shane produced a collection of works that includes Scanned Figure with Arms Outstretched, which took the prize ahead of artists from throughout Australia. And his advice to budding artists? “Keep doing, work hard, roll with the punches, and don’t rest on your laurels. If your work is exciting for you, it will be exciting for someone else.” To connect and follow Shane’s work, visit www. shanenicholas.com/about.htm CHISHOLM INSTITUTE A: PO Box 684, Dandenong T: 1300 244 746 W: www.chisholm.edu.au FB: ChisholmInstitute INSTA: chisholm_institute
This year, our lives are being shaped and challenged in ways we have never experienced, and a swift shift to remote and online learning has allowed us to learn and grow in ways we never thought possible.
At Toorak College, equipping our students with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to thrive in their future is what we do best. This is the case whether they are learning oncampus or learning remotely. Recently Toorak College developed and launched Agile Learning, a new subject for Year 7 and 8 students. Agile Learning introduces students to design thinking, a process where students must find solutions to real-world problems by empathising, investigating, ideating, prototyping, and presenting their ideas. Our world is desperate for innovative thinkers, and through the design thinking process, our girls learn to approach a challenge with optimism, think flexibly, seek and provide constructive criticism, negotiate, experiment, and work with others. “Agile Learning is a subject of opportunity,” says Year 8 student Bethany. “It takes your imagination to the next level and lets your mind be open to new ideas and concepts. You get to make your own choices and spread new ideas.” In recent months I have watched our students embrace new learning environments, and in doing so they have taken more ownership over how they learn, what they like, and what support they need. It is the resilience and skills they are developing today that will make a difference tomorrow. I have no doubt that agile learners will change the world, and I can’t wait to see them do it! KRISTY KENDALL – Principal TOORAK COLLEGE A: Old Mornington Rd, Mount
Eliza T: 9788 7200 www.toorakcollege.vic.edu.au FB: toorakcollegemteliza INSTA: toorak_college
Toorak College turns dreams into reality.
