Year 9 Westcourt Articles & Class Photos _________Pages

There are many great experiences I had at Westcourt. Some were better than others but I think I should start on my first day. I was so shy and scared on my first day going to a new campus basically to a new school. There was a new class, new students and new teachers but some recognizable faces. I remember walking into the campus feeling petrified because it was going to be a new experience. This new experience over the time being in Westcourt really did change me as a student and as a leader. As a leader it offered opportunities for me to talk in front of the Westcourt teachers and students about upcoming events or social issues. As a student it offered me time to develop more friendships because it was just Year 9 students at the campus. My time at Westcourt was amazing, I have developed new friends, I had chances speaking to students at Westcourt and at the Edmund Rice Campus and finally I was able to develop more maturity and take on new challenges from the outstanding teaching skills from the teachers at Westcourt. My experiences at Westcourt really did change me. It helped me improve academically and it also helped me mature more to lead me to becoming a good man. I would like to thank all the staff and Westcourt for making my year amazing. I would also like to thank all the students at Westcourt for being on your best behaviour at all times and treating the campus with the utter most respect.

Roko Gudasic - Campus Captain

In 2015 we had a magnificent cohort of students at the Westcourt Campus. The boys shared many experiences and achieved significant goals throughout their time at Westcourt. The subjects that were provided not only challenged our boys academically, but physically and emotionally as well. The staff at Westcourt constantly refer to the development that occurs to the boys throughout their time at the Year 9 Campus. On arrival the boys appear anxious, a little apprehensive, excited and physically smaller. As the year progresses we see them develop and mature into young men, ready to tackle the rigorous nature of senior schooling. Some of the highlights from the year include:

ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION

This year we combined the ANZAC Commemoration day with Clonard College. It was a sensational day that combined a moving ceremony in the morning with workshops that highlighted the sacrifices our soldiers had made for us. The day concluded with a solo performance on the experiences shared by the ANZAC’s and Turkish soldiers.

CHALLENGE SUBJECTS

The students thoroughly enjoy the Challenge subjects that are offered at Westcourt. These subjects have provided the students with enjoyment and particular skills that they will carry through with them forever.

AMAZING RACE

All students at the Westcourt Campus were fortunate to participate in an Amazing Race around the CBD of Melbourne. It highlighted to the students the different aspects of the city and educated them on specific history that has made Australia the country it is today.

YEAR 9 SOCIAL WITH CLONARD COLLEGE / FRIDAY SOCIAL DAY

The students at Westcourt are fortunate enough to share every Friday at lunch with the Year 9 Clonard students. We feel that this has developed the boys social skills immensely and also further cemented the strong relationship we are building with Clonard College. They also held a social between the two colleges which was a huge success and a well organised event by the schools leaders.

YEAR 9 CAMP

The Year 9 camp at the Grampians gave the boys the opportunity to appreciate the natural surroundings and challenge themselves physically through the numerous activities. It was wonderful to see the bond that was created amongst the students and watch them develop the necessary life skills through the various challenges the camp provides.

Michael Timms - Head of Campus ANZAC Day

Rock climbing

WESTCOURT CURRICULUM

A few years ago, I read a novel about a man who was left stranded on Mars and had to rely on his own resources in order to survive for over four hundred days until rescued. The novel was The Martian, by Andy Weir and it is a fictional story set in the very near future. I recalled reading the book and wondering how it must have been for this man to dig deep into his memory bank, retrieve information (that he never thought he would need to use) and apply it as a matter of survival. I won’t go on about the journey the main character had and how the book ended, but I do wholeheartedly recommend it.

What I do want to extract from the novel are the endeavours of the primary and secondary characters, who worked together, through countless trials and errors and mishaps in order to bring the main character home. The human spirit endures a lot of knock backs and knock downs, but it is through these times of struggle, that help build resilience and allows us to build the capacity to persevere.

This is how we realise our potential in making a difference.

Our students similarly worked in striving to realise their full potential by building on the skills needed in achieving success in all areas of curriculum. Every subject is centred on skill acquisition and inquiry, with each unit building on the last and all manifested through action. For example focusing on the questioning, analysing and reporting skills with ‘Bust-A-Myth’, a unit where students worked collaboratively to debunk myths like the infamous ‘3 second rule’. Other curriculum focus included promoting problem solving skills, particularly through student’s Challenge subjects i.e. ‘RC Cars’, where students have had to diagnose and apply reverse engineering in order to repair specific components of a model car. Another area where problem solving was applied consistently, was through the problem based questions in mathematics. Student choice was also a successful introduction, which not only focused on empowering students in decision making, but also engaging them. In ‘Think’, students were exposed to matrix tasks, which provided a choice of tasks to complete as part of their final assessment. Students were also introduced to ‘Connected Reading’, a program focused on accommodating student needs, by providing novels to students based on their ability. In ‘Rite Journey’, students participated in informal discussions regarding their development, including how to communicate, respectful relationships, understanding who we are and violence prevention. The skills developed in these ‘Rite Journey’ classes, were put to the test in specific rituals, i.e. The Calling, Year 9 camp, Amazing Race and Solo/ Reflective camp. Students were involved in in-school activities facilitated by external organisations with the aim of bringing together the skills delivered in our classes. Peter Malone led a group, to plant over five hundred trees as part of national tree planting day. Education Interactive presented forensic workshops to ‘Crime Time’ classes and Sam Clear addressed the boys on the importance of faith an integrity, a highlight for many students. Needless to say these activities are just a snapshot of our diverse curriculum, where the intention is to encourage students to change from being receptacles of knowledge, to more meaningful learners.

Ashwin Pillai

Matthew Bily Patrick Boland Samuel Brethouwer Stefan Bukovski Patrick Burchell Matthew Carroll

9A

Lukas Capicchiano

Matthew Dementiev Kauri Farnham Alexander Foss Harry Gough Ryan Hamers Harry HockleySamon Angus Humphrey Thomas Keast Bailey Macallef Max Matthews

Joshua Power Joshua Ritchie-Crichton Mitchell Saba Dylan Sharp Matthew Stosic Matthew Walters Benjamin Willis Fletcher Wilson Matthew Zulumovski

ABSENT: Franjo Dugandzic

9B

Samuel Black Zeke Bourdamis Alexander Chen Dermott Cooney Daniel Corray Mark Demo Liam Dumont Sandro Di Santo

Robert Foster Jack Grigsby Roko Gudasic William Hanley Elliott Horan Domenico Lecchino Oliver Lewry Connor Mackus Baxter Mensch

David Shalders

9C

Alor Anyang Thomas Boardman Jaxon Bruhn Joel Burns Lewis Clarke Ethan Cumming Liam Digby Noa Dragicevic

Kieren Fernandes Daniel Gudasic Thomas Hartney Patrick Henderson Callum Hetherington Jordan Jones Bailey Kampans Isaiah Lindsay Thomas McCartin

Lewis Rancic Jurrin Romanis Luke Rowlands Harry Santospirito Joshua Spork William Tamassy Adam Welsh Lleyton Woolley Thomas Zampatti

ABSENT: Benjamin Pamplin

Brendan Reed

9D

Samuel Arnold Angus Benson Daniel Beron Nicolas Boccassini Jordan Bradaric Tyler Bryan Harvey Carmody Thomas Curran

Colten Dunn Declan Flannery Matthew Fromholtz Sheldon Ham Ricky Ivelja William Kiebert Anthony Larmah Fletcher Long James Maiden

9E

Kaine Abela Jye Bannister Lachlan Barbaro Joshua Brown Jackson Bye Zachary Costa Reef Davie Lachlan Denney Paul Stender

Liam Draper Zachary Fausett Mackenzie Fraser Jackson Harlock Benjamin Jaska Mitchell Johns Thevin Katukurunda Louis Kied Hamish MacKenzie Doyle Madigan

Julian Manaszczuk Michael Modica Eamon O’Callaghan Jamie Reilly James Sherry Jesse Stawyskyj Max Sutton Robert Tigani Dylan van Arend Max Visintin

9F

Romuald Ambrose Liam Benzie Joseph Bifano Nathan Bolger Darcy Conlan Izaak De Agrela Abwi Deng Thomas Devlin Carmen Ahearn

Martin Dujmic Hayden Fell Lachlan Francis Joseph Frigo Connor Hamilton Ben Henkel Cooper Ingles Josh Kiss Joshua Malley Angus Moore

Ashlee Milne

9G

Dallas-Jai Alcorace Nicolas Balta Fraser Berry Oliver Boothey Joseph Caruana Lewis Conquit Sammy Costanzo Ned De Grandi

Michael Di Russo Jack Dunstan Joseph Flintoff Samuel Ford Ged Gallagher Gabriel Hickey Jack Horan Zak Lynch Gene Majic

Angus McKinnon Hamish McManus Andre Prusac Jake Raimondo Alexander Reader Nicholas Scott Hudson Stoop Jimmy Tran Nicholas Vanmeel

ABSENT: Thomas Hartney

John Schlank

9H

Benjamin Africa Dylan Barnes Max Brown Samuel Chalmers Seth Clay Patrick De Grandi Gideon Doble-Appleton Charley Donohue

Charlie Fitzgerald Makenzie Ganim Max Hardwick Griffin Harvey Alexander Jaskiewicz Avery Knight Tom Mahon Arop Makor Bradley Mann

9I

Adrian Augello Samuel Barling Millen Boekel Harley Canny Joshua Chudosnik Bailey Collins Isaac Doroschuk Liam Eibl Damian Harrington

Ethan Gray

Jack Martin Lachlan Handley Lochlan Hardiman

Lochlyn McFarlane Harry McKeegan Samuel Harris

Ryan McNearney Nathan Harwood-van Wegen

Jack Moran Liam Holmes

Nicholas Papic Charlie Irwin Bri Kelly Zachary Knights Thu Sa La

Danny Quach Tanner Sadler Maxwell Uebergang Oliver Wright-Janocha

Joel Andrews-Stacey Lewis Antonac William Beggs Rosario Bove Hudson Brayshaw Louis Clifton Mitchell Coon

9J

Brodie Denney Peter Malone

William Eckhardt Declan Fenton Fionn Guina-Stannard Oliver Hanneysee Jack Henderson Thomas Kahle Paul Kanellos Harrison Keane Harrison Lockyer