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9 SOSE Winners!
This year two Year 9 SOSE classes participated in the Crime Stoppers Youth Challenge. This competition allows the classes to participate in an inquiry project on a set topic. This year the topic was “Bullying – when does it become a police matter?” 9 Red and 9 Blue set about researching this topic and produced a Power Point Presentation which they showed to a year 7 and year 8 class.
Both classes were invited to the Awards Ceremony in Launceston and five representatives from each class shared a bus with New Town High to travel to the event. Despite a brief set back (a truck had lost its hay bails on the highway) we all arrived at the awards ceremony on time thanks to some great driving by First Class Constable Tony Gough.
9 Blue were awarded a High Commendation and 9 Red received the Gold Award for first place in the Senior Secondary Division. Each student in 9 Red received a $25 Coles Myer voucher and MacKillop College was awarded $600. A big thankyou to Crime Stoppers, First Class Constable Tony Gough and everyone who helped with our project!
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First LEGO League at MacKillop College - A first for Tasmania
On Monday the 3rd of November MacKillop College hosted the first ever Tasmanian competition of FIRST LEGO League (FLL). FLL is a curriculum based Robotics competition that is held throughout the world with it’s epicentre in the United States where thousands of schools compete each year. Designed to marry a themed robotics challenge with a topical presentation – this years being “Climate”, teams are encouraged to complete as much as possible of a robotics challenge and provide a solution to a “climate” related issue on both a global and local scale.
For the past six weeks, the Year 9 Science Extended class from MacKillop and a Year 8 Science class from Ogilvie High School have been very busy preparing for the competition. In a unique arrangement initiated and supported by the University of Tasmania Engineering Faculty, both schools enjoyed a terrific cross sector partnership and shared knowledge and experiences over the six weeks to make the day happen. Judges for the day included a retired University lecturer, a RoboCup Junior Soccer Manager and two engineering graduates, who gave freely of their time to participate and help out for this
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historic occasion.
The two challenge rounds of robotics were separated by the PowerPoint based presentations. After a day of lead changes it was the team of “PaperWeight Juggernauts” consisting of roboticists Nathan Nikolai and Patrick Sherlock and presenters Laura Harris, Megan Talbot and Renee Granger who finished clearly in front. Their entry was videoed on the day and will form part of a DVD that will be used to compete (in their absence) at the upcoming FLL tournament in Melbourne.
It was wonderful to have the Ogilvie girls join us at MacKillop for the day and to see them fully embrace the concept, challenges and spirit of the day. Their teacher, Susan Bowler, played a very important part in this happening.
Other teachers from other schools popped in throughout the day to witness the birth of FIRST LEGO League in Tasmania and liked what they saw. I certainly look forward to writing next year of the expansion that will occur due to the efforts of all concerned in making this year’s inaugural tournament such a success.
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Opening of the MacKillop College Reconciliation Garden
With the spring weather threatening invited guests, MacKillop College Ministry Team students and College staff gathered to witness the opening of our Reconciliation garden within the grounds of MacKillop College.
Sam Mitchell, a Year 10 student, outlines the history of the project:
The Reconciliation garden project began in 2007 following the College’s annual walkathon, the “Walk of Hope”. This event is organised by the MacKillop College Ministry Team; a group of enthusiastic and motivated students. The “Walk of Hope” involves the whole school walking along Seven Mile Beach to raise awareness of a special cause and raise funds for Caritas.
Last year was the anniversary of forty years of citizenship for Australian Aboriginal People; we also celebrated fifty years of NAIDOC Week and twenty years of Mabo. The members of the Ministry Team chose to raise awareness
of education and health issues of indigenous Australians and bring to the wider school attention these significant milestones.
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We raised $2500 from the Walkathon for a remote community in the Northern Territory.
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As part of the walk in 2007, the Ministry Team wanted to give something back from what we had taken from our environment in a symbolic and practical way, so we decided to plant some native trees along the back of the dunes and pull out many pine seedlings that cover the dunes. The Ministry Team sort advice about what plants we should plant in the dunes along seven mile beach from Mr. Joe Smith who is here today and the local ranger. The planting were very successful and our MacKillop trees and grasses are growing well.
Following the great success of the ‘Walk of hope’ the Ministry Team wanted to create a lasting and ongoing reminder of the need for Aboriginal Reconciliation. The garden would be a way of raising awareness and creating a space for peace and reflection in our school that everyone could value and enjoy. |
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The process has taught us a lot about applying for grants and writing formal letters to businesses, making personal and individual contact with organisations connected to our school and beyond.
We are deeply grateful to the Catholic Education Office for their grant of three thousand dollars and to all the businesses that have supported the project that without their patient support we would not have created this beautiful space in our school.
Sam concluded with a reading of a section from the MacKillop College Reconciliation Statement which hangs at the front door of our College along side our Reconciliation symbol created by students with Aunty Verna in 2006. This statement is about what we can achieve now and in the future. Today is a step in the right direction:
We the students and staff of MacKillop College commit ourselves to developing a greater understanding of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture, striving to build equality, peace, justice, friendship and togetherness within our College.
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Alcohol, Drugs &
Teenagers Seminar for Parents
This session will explore the link between adolescent development and substance
use. It explains key informat ion to help parents understand about adolescent
substance use including which drugs and why. The session will also discuss useful
strategies for parents.
The seminar will be held at MacKillop College on Wednesday 15th of October. To view full details and RSVP, please download the leaflet here (Acrobat Reader Required).
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Eastern Shore Marine Design Competition
Eastern Shore Marine ran a novel art competition during August at MacKillop College. The competition was to find a suitable graphic design decal for a SEA JAY runabout.
Colin Stokes from Eastern Shore Marine sales and marketing said “we wanted to try something a little different this year to promote the range of boats we have as well as realizing most kids on the eastern shore live close to the water and often have the chance to get out boating”.
The competition captured the imagination of many students thanks to the promotion of the competition by MacKillop College art teacher Ms Toni Pritchard.
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“The response from students at the College has been amazing” said Colin. We have well over 160 entries and decided to expand the range of awards and prizes to reflect the great work of the participating students.
The MacKillop College acting Principal, Sally Towns, said she was extremely pleased to see such a good relationship forming between the College and local business, especially as we are almost neighbours. Sally went on the say that the College hopes to continue to foster the relationship with Lew and Glenda Bush, managers of Eastern Shore Marine. Especially, as the boating season will soon be upon us with both fun and safety at the forefront.
The winning entries are:
Best Slogan Award
Novelty Award (humorous imagination)
Commendation Award (concept, colour, visual impact)
Finalist (satisfied criteria)
Finalist (satisfied criteria)
Third Prize
Second Prize
First Prize
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Maddie Hollick, Year 8
Jimi Treweek, Year 8
Chloe Cumberland, Year 10
Jed Leary, Year 8
Deakon Broad, Year 8
Maggie Butler, Year 10
Kiara Frediani, Year 8
Mykaela Briggs, Year 7 |
The winning entries are currently on display at Eastern Shore Marine 14 McIntyre Street Mornington.
Remember Eastern Shore Marine will be at the Motor Yacht Club of Tasmania’s boating expo on the 8th and 9th of November.
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MacKillop College rescues Gold at the Tasmanian Robotics (RoboCup) State finals
On Saturday 2nd August the MacKillopers Premier Rescue team became the first ever MacKillop College robotics team to win an event at RoboCup.
“This is the third year of robotics at MacKillop College” said teacher and mentor Mr. Chris Bracken. “We are pleased all the hard work and enthusiasm has paid off for our students”
The centrepiece in the Robotics calendar for students in Tasmania is the RoboCup Junior State Finals held on the 1st and 2nd of August at the University of Tasmania.
“Primary and secondary students from across Tasmania build and programme robots such that they compete against each other in a variety of events. Once the robot is on the dance floor, rescue obstacle course or soccer pitch they are fully autonomous relying on their programmes to guide them without any further control by their designers” Chris said.
This year 25 MacKillop College students competed across all 3 robotics challenges of Dance, Rescue and Soccer. After months of preparation, mostly after school and during the school holidays, MacKillop’s robotics team had its most successful year so far.
RoboCup Premier Rescue – open to all students of any age:
The two MacKillop teams, Landcruiser and MacKillopers, posted some good scores in the Friday heats to gain a place against each other in the first semi final.
Technical dramas unfortunately halted the progress of Landcruiser at this stage, handing victory to the ever improving team of The MacKillopers.
Facing a final against a strong heat performer from Newtown High School, the MacKillopers tweaked their programming and found themselves unexpectedly 14 points ahead of the Newtown team after the first round of the final.
This set up one of the most exciting spectacles ever seen in a state RoboCup Jr Rescue competition. The crowds swelled as the Premier Rescue course became the focus of the whole event.
A weaker second round by the MacKillopers meant Newtown would win if they could negotiate the course up to, and including, the difficult “gridlock” tile. Despite repeated attempts within the two minutes, Newtown weren’t able to manage this task and to the roar of the crowd, including a sizeable MacKillop cheer squad, the MacKillopers were pronounced winners. The MacKillopers, became the first ever team from MacKillop College to win an event at
RoboCup Junior.
RoboCup Dance:
This year saw MacKillop with two entries in the dance competition – the Gexicans and the Guitar Heroes. The Gexicans with a novel theme about competition for a lady’s true love and an eventual shoot out to decide the winner; all set against a Mexican back drop, showed sufficient novelty and interest for the judges to rate them as 3rd overall after the interview stage of the competition.
RoboCup Soccer:
MacKillop fielded one soccer team this year, Lolrus United. Despite a slow start in the morning rounds, Lolrus United improved their robots and programming throughout the day to start scoring goals, win a match and ultimately finish 10th out of 16 teams, just missing Saturday’s finals.
The three Year 9 students who made up the team were pleased with their efforts and improvement on the day and are very excited about their chances next year.
RoboCup Rescue:
This year, for the first time, there were 3 divisions within the Rescue Challenge:
Junior Rescue (Yr 7 and under): Our single entry in this division, J and S, performed consistently throughout the heats to make the Semi finals.
Senior Rescue (Yr 8 and 9): By far our most popular division with four MacKillop teams entering. McRatzinger and Linemaster competed well on the Friday but unfortunately missed out on the Semi Finals. MAP and Pimp mobile made it through to the Semi Finals with Pimp mobile winning their semi and making it through to the final. After being the first rescue team to rescue the victim on the Friday hopes were high for Pimp mobile going into the final, but as the course difficulty increased for the final, a tricky bend proved the difference between the MacKillop team (Matt Hope and Liam Sherlock) and the eventual winner from Riverside High.
George Wise for the MacKillopers, said that all the MacKillop College Robotics students would like to thank their teachers (and mentors) Chris Bracken, Pat Graham and John Snell for the time and energy they put in to preparing the different teams. They would also like to thank Kathy Tyquin for her “behind the scenes” preparation, Corey Petersen and Osman Yildiran for there work with computing requirements and the Head of Science, Rosemary Graham for her ongoing support of Robotics within the Science department.
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Local Students awarded $1100 grant to Do Their Bit for Recycling and Waste Reduction
Students at MacKillop College are getting ready to launch their “MacKillop Recycles!” project having recently received an $1100 grant from Visy through Landcare Australia’s Junior Landcare Grants Program.
The $1100 grant was awarded through the Recycling category of the program, sponsored by Visy, and will be used by MacKillop College to purchase recycling wheelie bins for staging around the school and for use at school events. The support of the local Bellerive LandCare / CoastCare group was instrumental in being awarded this grant.
Junior Landcare is one of Australia’s largest ever environmental education programs, involving over 50,000 students across Australia, with a focus on putting lessons learned in the classroom into practice out in the field.
Corey Peterson, Network Manager and Sustainability Promoter, said the Visy/Junior Landcare Recycling Grant would be a much needed boost for the school’s environmental program.
“The Junior Landcare Grants Program is a huge help to schools, especially to those that may not otherwise be able to afford to get students involved in environmental projects. The physical presence of more recycling bins around the school will be much more effective in encouraging use. This project ties into the College’s sustainability and awareness initiative, where we have established a food garden, a native plant-based Reconciliation Garden, installed the first photovoltaic system on a school in Tasmania, and our 165,000 litre stormwater storage tanks used for flushing student toilets and watering the lawns and oval.”
“As an educator you are always looking for new and different ways to educate children and working on the projects out in the field provides excellent opportunities to do this,” said Corey Peterson.
Landcare Australia Chief Executive Officer, Brian Scarsbrick, said “Junior Landcare encourages ownership through involvement as kids not only learn how to help care for our environment, find solutions for environmental problems but can also participate in local Landcare projects”.
“Visy is an important part of the Junior Landcare Program and provides an exciting and new grants program. Thanks to Visy we expect 100 schools to participate in the Recycling category in 2008,” Mr Scarsbrick said.
Further information about the Junior Landcare Grants Program is available online at www.juniorlandcare.com.au or by phoning Landcare Australia on 03 9662 9977.
For more information please contact:
Ellen Gray - Landcare Australia: (02) 9412 1040 or ellen.gray@landcareaustralia.com.au
Corey Peterson - MacKillop College 03-6245-0099 or sustainable@mackillop.tas.edu.au
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2008 Tasmanian Youth Environment Conference, Hobart 12th and 13th August 2008
MacKillop College was one of 12 Tasmanian schools to be invited to participate in the conference. The conference aimed to bring about cultural change in the way we perceive our natural environment through hands on, student-centred learning.
“Sustainability: The New Frontier”
One small step for MacKillop. One giant leap for all Tasmania.
Our mission was to boldly go where no school has gone before: to embrace sustainability. See how we journeyed into the unknown. Learn how easy it really is to get started. Find out how your school can embark upon the journey to sustainability too. All you need is an open mind, energy and enthusiasm, a belief in the future, and the courage to blaze a trail in your own schoolyard.
This was the teaser that five eager students from MacKillop College (Declan Siedler, Declan Clifford, Kate Stephan, George Wise and Kelly Fall) used to attract audiences to the two workshops they conducted at the recent Tasmanian Youth Environment Conference held at the Derwent Entertainment Centre.
Their presentation allowed them to educate students from across the state about the variety of sustainability initiatives the school has undertaken. They discussed the school’s installation of photovoltaic panels, conservation of water, recycling initiatives and the establishment of both the food and reconciliation gardens. They went on to lay down the challenge to other schools to see what they too can do to ensure that sustainability is a primary consideration at their schools.
Their workshops were well received and generated positive discussion amongst the audience. Accompanying staff, Mrs. Nina Dobie and Mr. Corey Peterson, were very impressed with their efforts and were complemented on the informative and entertaining workshops.
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ABC Classic FM Grand Piano Competition
ABC Classic FM are running a competition offering the chance for entered schools to win a grand piano. MacKillop College students performed their entry, a grand piano rap, live on air at ABC Hobart radio 936 on the 10th of July.
To download the segment click here
To view ABC coverage of the performance, click here |
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