‘In Knowledge there

is Opportunity’

October 2017, Issue 9

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Student Learning

2017 is a special year for Phoenix P-12 Community

College; this is our fifth year as a P-12 school

representing the merger of the former Redan Primary

School and Sebastopol Secondary College. To

commemorate this special occasion we will hold a

special Art Exhibition and P-12 College Presentation

Evening on Tuesday 28th November.

It was a great privilege to attend the Redan Campus

Community Celebration in the last week of term. This

new format was developed so that all students could

participate. This was an exciting night where the

students showcased their exceptional talents. We had a

huge gathering of parents, friends and extended family.

Building Works - ALL Systems GO!

The term began in the most sensational way – I had the

opportunity to share with our Redan Campus students

that the redevelopment of breakout spaces in the Prep-1

and Grades 2, 3 and 4 spaces is almost complete. These

spaces are for students who are working in a 1:1

situation or who are in small groups for the purpose of

de-escalation. This building program represents the

injection of over $120,000 to our primary learning

spaces. The Grade 2 students were especially pleased by

the hand painted mural on their wall.

Work continues on our Stage 3 development. The steel

frame for the Grades 5-6 Student Learning Village and

the new Technology building is now complete. In the

next week, the roof will go on and the final elements of

the slab will be poured. Progress on the new Performing

Arts Centre and Sport spaces has been delayed by wet

weather, but the slab is almost complete. Once we are

out of the ground, any delays caused by weather will

diminish.

VCE and VCAL Students

There is no doubt that Term 4 represents a stressful time

for many students as they approach their Year 12 exams

and the completion of thirteen years of school. I was

tremendously proud of those Year 12 students who

dedicated their first week of the Term 3 holidays to

sitting practice exams and undertaking additional

studies. This is the second time that we have had

practice exams in all subject areas. We know that the

completion of practice exams is not just important in

terms of helping students be physically and mentally

prepared for sitting exams; it is also critical in refining

the process of study. Practice exams play a substantial

role in affirming for students what they have learnt

successfully and what still needs further revision. The

coming weeks are critical in ensuring that students focus

on the task at hand and maximise every opportunity to

complete work and revise.

Enrolments

Enrolments for 2018 are filling fast. If you have a family

member or know of someone who is intending to enrol

for 2018, please contact the College as soon as possible.

Mrs Karen Snibson

Principal

MIDDLE/SENIOR SCHOOL REPORT

We have come to the beginning of yet another high-

powered Term 4. This is a time for students to increase

their focus on their goals and work harder than ever at

achieving them. With exams and final assessments

around the corner, a focus on positive learning

behaviours is necessary for creating the conditions for

success.

Year 7 (2018) ICT Transition Days

Students from a number of our feeder primary schools

attended two ICT Transition Days led be Mrs Joosten,

Mrs Dwyer and Mr Sharkey. These days form an

important aspect of our extensive transition program

where we prepare students for aspects of our Year 7

program/s. The students were actively involved in using

technology to collaborate online and engage in reflective

practice as well as some activities where they applied

their coding and programming skills. This is a wonderful

segue into the 1:1 Year 7 Laptop Initiative. The positive

feedback from students on both these days was

overwhelmingly positive and it was great to meet some

of the faces of 2018.

Teachers and ES Staff learning from and with each

other

Throughout Term 3, we worked collaboratively as a staff

in professional learning around Social and Emotional

Learning. As part of our commitment to our own

ongoing learning, as well as that of our students, all

teaching staff and our classroom-based ES staff worked

in small teams throughout the term in order to improve

how we ENGAGE students more positively and

productively in our classrooms. Some of the areas of

focus included:

Fostering positive classroom discussions.

Improving student self-management.

Providing feedback.

Personal goals.

Not only did this include research and collaboration, but

also teachers observing each other’s teaching in order to

provide feedback and facilitate continuous

improvement. During the last week of term, each of the

teams presented their professional learning findings, and

the impact that this change in practice had on the

engagement and learning of our students. An exciting

celebration of our learning as professionals.

REMINDER: Behaviour and Excursions/Incursions

As a part of the rich and varied programs on offer at

Phoenix P-12 Community College, we run almost daily

incursions and excursions. Whether this be an excursion

to the Melbourne Zoo as part of a Science unit, or a

weekly visit to the Pool/Gym as part of the PE Program

or an incursion linked to Phoenix Connect Curriculum,

we expect the conduct of ALL students to be exemplary.

Students and parents should be very clear that if a

student’s behaviour is contradicting the expected

behaviour aligned to our school values, then students

will find themselves missing out on these valuable

opportunities. We want all students to partake in every

incursion or excursion that we offer, however this will be

at the discretion of the staff members coordinating

these events, in consultation with House Managers and

Assistant Principals based and each student’s

behavioural record. Any concerns around this will be

communicated home during the planning phase of such

activities, and alternative work/programs put in place to

ensure academic outcomes are still being met.

“Sooner or later, those who win are

those who think they can.” Paul Tournier

Mr David Garner

Assistant Principal

VET/VCAL REPORT

Progress We are on the home stretch and we have been contacting parents to make sure that students are up to date. If you have received a message, SMS or letter please contact the College ASAP. As the end of the year will come very quickly for all Year 12 VCAL students, it is vital that parents/guardians access their children’s report/progress via COMPASS.

Pathways Years 9, 10 and 11 students will need to talk with their House Managers and teachers over the next few weeks about possible pathways. If your pathway includes VCAL or VET it would be a good idea to book an appointment and get a complete picture of how this would look for the success of your child.

We have had a lot of students access via the Highlands LLEN which offer great opportunities. Confirmation of which courses will run will be released soon. If your child has a course that is low on numbers then the course may not run and you will need to talk to us about having a backup.

DENTAL CLINIC PARKING

Ballarat Health Services has again asked that parents not utilise the Dental Clinic Carpark for drop-off and pick-up. They have received multiple complaints from service users unable to park in the car park when accessing the clinic. We have been advised that they will placing signage in the carpark and may call on parking officers to assist if needed.

We ask again for your cooperation in not using this car park for the dropping off and picking up of students.

English Camp The Years 11 and 12 English camp is on in Week 2 of this term and you will have received a letter. Please be aware that it will require sleeping arrangements to be provided by the student. The College has some equipment but it is limited so the students will need to be very organised and get in quickly. Students also need to bring snacks and lunch for the first day.

Mr Andrew Greed

VET/VCAL Coordinator

PRESENTATION EVENING 2017 Our College Presentation Evening is a whole

College Event this year.

Tuesday 28th November

7:00pm - approx. 9:30pm

Founders Hall, Federation University

We have started preparing for the Presentation

Evening for 2017.

Please make sure you keep this date free to attend

the Phoenix P-12 Community College Annual

Presentation Evening. We are always very proud of

our students and this night is a great night to

acknowledge and celebrate achievements and

hard work during 2017.

Riley Caldow and Tara Kelly have recently graduated from the Western Bulldogs Leadership Program. They were selected to represent the City of Ballarat and Golden Plains Shire in a program that spanned approximately six months. The program included Melbourne and Bacchus Marsh Camps, leadership training at Whitten Oval, attending games at Etihad and Mars Stadiums and countless local workshops which focused on leadership development, empowerment and community involvement.

As part of the program students needed to develop, implement and report on a Community Project. Tara's group created an anti-bullying video "One Voice" which is being shared around the schools of the students involved with the Golden Plains Shire.

Riley's team decided to raise awareness of homelessness by making Care Packages, which included socks (the most under-donated item at charity shops). As a result of this program, the Western Bulldogs have now committed to "Socks of the West" an ongoing sock fundraiser to support homeless people.

Congratulations to both Tara and Riley, outstanding representatives of Phoenix P-12 Community College. The future looks good!

NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER

2018 ENROLMENT: Additional Documents Required A reminder to anyone who has not completed their full enrolment by supplying all the relevant paperwork (birth certificates, immunisation certificates and any family documentation) to please drop their documents in at the General Office as soon as possible. Students cannot start the year unless their enrolment interview has been completed and all documentation received.

Forgotten to enrol? If you have a child intending to commence at either campus of Phoenix P-12 Community College in 2018 and have not attended an enrolment interview, please contact the General Office (5329 3293) and arrange for an appointment to complete your child’s enrolment. This will ensure you have a place for next year, involvement in our Transition Program and a smooth start in 2018 for your child.

Orientation Day 2018 Orientation Day for Prep and Year 7 students commencing in 2018 is scheduled for Tuesday 12th December.

Belinda Dwyer, our Transition Coordinator, has been busy this week visiting Primary Schools and delivering Information Packages and Booklists to our 2018 Year 7 students.

If you do not receive an information pack within the next two weeks from your child’s current primary school, please check with the General Office.

The Prep transition process in also well underway at the Redan Campus. Please make sure you read the information provided and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the College General Office.

Please make sure your booklists are checked and returned to the General Office by the due date.

YEAR 7 LAPTOP 1:1 Program A reminder to Parents of 2018 Year 7 students that the Laptop 1:1 Program participation Option forms are due back to the College General Office ASAP. If you are taking OPTION 1 the total cost

MUST be paid in full by 20th October to make sure your child receives the device on Orientation Day.

BOOKLISTS 2018 Booklists will be distributed early in Term 4 and are due back to the College by Tuesday 12th December.

Sebastopol Campus: Our booklist service is still being provided by Ballarat

Books. Booklists will be distributed separately. You will be able to collect your booklist packs directly from Ballarat Books Warehouse – 61-63 Scott Parade, Ballarat from mid-January, 2018. Families will be notified by Ballarat Books of actual dates for collection. This should make it easier for families to collect with more days and a central collection point.

Redan Campus: Booklists for the Primary Campus will again be supplied by Radmac. Full payment will be expected by Radmac when the books are collected from the shop from Friday 19th January 2018.

If you are looking for Second-hand books, they may be available on the Sustainable School Shop Website www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au All College families have free membership.

FAMILY ACCOUNTS REMINDER ALL 2017 EDUCATIONAL COSTS ARE DUE. Family statements will be sent out shortly and are due for payment by the end of October please. Payment can be made at the General Office on either campus.

NOTE: CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursions Funding) affects the balance on your account. Please check your statement to see if you have unallocated CSEF Funds sitting on your account. If you do, and have outstanding Core or other costs, you need to pay the amount outstanding, (Outstanding costs + the unallocated CSEF amount) not just the balance on the bottom of the statement.

I apologise if this sounds confusing, but the way the statement works is that it deducts your CSEF from the outstanding balance – confusing to some families who are just paying the final figure at the bottom of the statement.

For example: If your balance due says $100.00 outstanding at the bottom, but you have $120 CSEF Funding unallocated, then you add the two together and you need to pay $100.00 (outstanding costs + $120.00 = $220.00 to clear the outstanding costs – leaving the $120.00 balance unallocated as we are unable to use those CSEF Funds to cover other educational costs.

The $120.00 unallocated CSEF funds will remain on your family account for use against Camps, Sport or Excursions when the costs arise. The balance WILL CARRY OVER to 2018 and if you have unallocated CSEF Funding it will be sitting in your account to be used for your child’s camps, excursions or sports costing next year.

PAYMENT OPTIONS We have the following options for payment of accounts: Cash, BPAY, cheque or EFTPOS. Centrepay is also available for those who receive Centrelink payments. A periodic payment directly from Centrelink can be set up to assist with paying accounts.

Please contact the General Office if you need to discuss your account, or wish to devise a payment schedule.

IT IS SMART TO PLAN FOR 2018 The end of the year and holiday time is always an expensive time for everyone. NOW is a great time to start your financial plan for 2017 to help with your educational costs. You need to start thinking ahead and saving for the costs at the start of the year. If you wish to pre-pay funds into your Family Account to help save money to cover the start of the year costs 2018, regular automatic payments are a great way to build your account. Pre-paid amounts will remain in your Family Account and are allocated to the new expenses in the New Year.

IMPORTANT Help us keep our data accurate please. Please contact the General Office or update COMPASS if you have any changes to your family contacts, emergency contacts, employment or family guardianship. We need to have current data to make sure we can contact you if required. If you have a new or recently changed email, please make sure you let us know. The monthly Newsletter and Family Accounts are emailed out to families, along with other vital information regarding the education of your child(ren).

Ms Lorraine Hayes Business Manager

ATTENDANCE:

COMPASS PARENT PORTAL IS EASY

The easiest way for you to let the College know if your

child is away is through the COMPASS PARENT

PORTAL. If you cannot log into the portal, please contact

the General Office and the staff will help you with a log

on code.

You can also call the College Absence Hotline – 5329

3210 and leave a message.

Remember a SMS message will be sent to the nominated

mobile telephone number for all unexplained absences.

IT IS NOT OK TO BE AWAY

The College expectation is 95% attendance. Regular

attendance is vital if students are to achieve their full

potential.

Work Experience Update – Term 3

A big thank you to the following businesses for

supporting our Work Experience Program this term.

RSA Engine Restoration

This is such a valuable opportunity for our students

and we gratefully acknowledge the ongoing

support of our local community.

Ms Terri Giri

Careers Coordinator

2018 Educational Costs

Phoenix P-12 Community College adopts a philosophy of education being a shared responsibility between parents and the school, striving to achieve the best possible educational outcome for each child in our care. This shared responsibility extends to the provision of resources which enables the school to provide the facilities and resources which allow our extensive curriculum program to run effectively. All costs fall within the Department of Education and Training’s guidelines and are approved by the College Council. The costs enable us to provide a wide variety of different learning opportunities, activities and classroom excursions to deliver the best learning outcomes possible for each individual. The fee structure includes Essential Items, Electives (for senior year levels), Camps and Excursions. The College Council has approved the Essential Items charge across both campuses and a class provided activities charge as appropriate to each year level, which parents are required to pay. These are non-refundable as the activities are a part of the curriculum and students are expected to attend. Charges for camps and electives are charged separately at the time of the activity. Educational Costs cover all essential items supplied through the College to make their experience and educational opportunity at Phoenix P-12 Community College the best it can be. Class Provided Activities Cost covers all Curriculum based excursions for the year.

Additional Costs

Senior Elective fees (Years 9-12) are incurred when students choose their subject and are charged to family accounts accordingly. Musical Instrument hire, Specialist Sports, Years 9-12 (Including VCE) electives and other extra-curricular activities are additional costs and charged when selected. Elective charges will be processed for each semester. Camps and some excursions are NOT included in the above charges and are charged nearer the time of the activity. Family payment envelopes will be attached to camps and excursion notices and can be used for payment. Notices and payment MUST be returned to the College General Office or dropped in the “slot” for processing. Payment for excursions MUST be paid one week prior to the activity. Receipts will be issued if requested. The Swimming Program offered at both campuses is charged separately but included in the Excursions and Activities costing. Eligible families will be able to use their CSEF Funding to cover some of their Camps and Excursion costs. Curriculum Excursion payments are non-refundable (except for special circumstances) as participation is a required part of the subject program.

Level Excursion/Activities

(Including Swimming) Essential Items Total

F—Grade 1 $ 170.00 $ 70.00 $ 240.00

Grade 2 $ 205.00 $ 150.00 $ 355.00

Grades 3—6 $ 240.00 $ 150.00 $ 390.00

Year 7 $ 235.00 $ 145.00 $ 380.00

Year 8 $ 240.00 $ 120.00 $ 360.00

Years 9—10 $ 165.00 $ 120.00 $ 285.00

Years 11—12 $ 80.00 $ 200.00 $ 280.00

The sixth annual Phoenix P-12 Community College Cabaret was held at the Strides (Ballarat Greyhound Club) this year. Our students produced remarkable performances, many performing in their first Cabaret Evening.

The evening started with the Senior Band’s favourite ‘Les Miserable’. This is an epic and inspiring piece of music which brought the 160 or so audience to indulge in the beautiful sounds of the band. The band also performed a funky version of ‘Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony’, which got the toes tapping. Great drum work from the very capable Hudson Sharp.

Mr Reuben Morgan led our String Ensemble; the sweet music of ‘Jocul Cu Bata’, Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ that was beautifully sung by Year 9 student Frances Robbins and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’.

The Phoenix Singers continued the relaxing mood with ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and ‘Hey Soul Sister’ led by vocal extraordinaire Miss Lana Ford.

New band Funky Phoenix, under the direction of Mr Geoff Woods, played three charts: ‘Cantaloupe Island’ with a brilliant trumpet solo from upcoming star Samuel Shaw and a ripper guitar solo from Tara Kelly; ‘What a Man’ and ‘Funky Music’ with Lucienne Connell and Isolde Kieni-Judd also starring.

The next act was amazing; they had audience members in tears of emotion. ‘The Prayer’ was inspiring, sung by Miss Lana Ford and Mr Reuben Morgan. A truly brilliant performance.

The Phoenix Stage Band, led by brass guru Mr Ian Govan and assisted by Music Captain Phoebe Norris, the mood to a wonderfully “groovy kinda feeling”. They performed ‘James Bond’, ‘Tequila’ and ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’. This was the band’s first gig with no doubt many more to come.

The Phoenix Teacher’s Band did a rendition of the Mamas and Papas song ‘California Dreaming’ sung by Ms Angela Quinn and Mrs Deanne Joosten - what a pair of gems. They sounded as though they have been singing for months not weeks. Other band members included Mr Brodie Glen on guitar and back-up vocals, Mr Netherway on clarinet, Mr Matthew “bass man” Oates and the ring-in ripper student drummer, Dakota Campbell.

Two rapidly developing VET Bands went back to back. VET 2 performed two Red Hot Chilli Peppers numbers, being ‘Car Tissue’ and ‘Californication’. They were not chilly—they were piping hot. Then VET 1; these guys really rocked Strides with Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ and Blues Brothers ‘Sweet Home Chicago’. Mr Glen has certainly inspired both of these bands to perform at a very high level indeed.

The Senior Band topped off the evening with ‘Sway’ (conducted by Phoebe Norris), ‘Time warp’, ‘Seven Nation Army’ sung by Year 8 student Charlotte Eastwell; ‘Orange Coloured Sky’ and ‘Runaway Baby’ both sung by Isolde Kieni-Judd also a Year 8 student and the evening was polished off by our version of ‘Take On Me’ by A-ha.

Thank you to all students and staff performing in the Cabaret, such a marvellous job. Thanks to Music Captain Phoebe Norris for her endless support and expertise; Mrs Andrea Waterhouse for organisation of venue, program, meals and more; Mrs Jacinta Curnow for photography; Mr Brendan O’Brien and Mr Shane Parkinson for their expertise in sound and terrific support. Most importantly, the parents of the students and audience who attended our Cabaret.

Mr John Netherway Director of Music

Applications are now open for students interested in joining our Phoenix Debating Team 2018.

Teams will be participating in Regional and State public speaking competitions. Students from Grades 5-6 and Years 7-12 are eligible to enter this program.

Please submit your name (you can enter individually or part of a group) and year level to the "Phoenix Debating 2018" box at the General Office on our Senior Campus.

Mrs Jade Browning

On Monday 18th September we held a free BBQ for our Term 3 SWPBS Celebration. Students were nominated by their teachers for consistently demonstrating our College Values and for their positive behaviour.

This is a great achievement by these students; congratulations and keep up the good work. A special thank you to Mr Glen, Mr Netherway and their music classes who did a wonderful job providing the entertainment.

It was lovely to see the outstanding musical talent of these students. Well done! Looking to next term we will again be focusing on our College values and attendance. I encourage all students to strive to achieve their best and focus on achieving our 95% + attendance goal. SWBPS Team

Invitation to Join Phoenix Singers

On Thursday 21st September our Phoenix Singers performed to a full audience

for Cabaret Night singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Soul Sister".

We are now looking for more students to join Phoenix Singers Term 4

as we have more exciting performances coming up both in Melbourne and Ballarat.

Rehearsals in B20 every Monday at lunchtime. Hope to see you there!

First Annual Phoenix Boat Race

The Grade 5's have been looking at

buoyancy, mass vs weight and measurements,

while designing and building a boat out of

recycled materials in a term long STEM

project.

Both classes visited our Senior Campus to

complete their final competition measurements

in a real Science Lab, and test out their

boats on Lake Phoenix.

On Monday 18th September, eight students travelled to the Regional Athletics which was the qualifier for the State titles this term. These students qualified by beating all other competitors in the Ballarat area and we were fortunate enough to qualify five students for the State titles this month. The students were exceptionally well behaved and competed with sportsmanship and pride.

Mason Keast qualified in the 100m, 200m and Relay, James Spicer qualified in Shot Put and Rodney Davis, Matthieu Brehaut and Carter Prendergast join Mason in the Senior Boys Relay. Please congratulate our students on their efforts and wish them luck!

Please also congratulate Tyson Marinus who narrowly missed out with a second in Discus, Mary Greed who got a third in Javelin and Justin Carlson who placed fifth in Shot Put.

Miss Kiya Eberle Sport and Rowing Coordinator

Holocaust Museum Excursion

On Friday 15th September Mrs Thomson’s Year 9 and Ms Bath’s Year 10 History classes travelled to Melbourne to further build their understanding of the Holocaust by visiting the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne.

Students were honoured to be guided around the important collection of primary and secondary source artefacts by museum volunteers, who were themselves descendants of Holocaust survivors. Then students listened attentively to either Andrew, whose family managed to flee Germany after experiencing great suffering due to antisemitism, or they listened to Tuvia who retold his life in the ghetto and amazing stories of survival in the infamous Auschwitz.

Students were moved greatly by their exposure to the artefacts, film footage and personal testimonies. Frances Robbins, after volunteering to read a poem about the Holocaust experience for Tuvia, was honoured by representing Phoenix P-12 Community College and other musuem visitors with the group in lighting a candle for the memorial. Although the experience was “upsetting” for the students, all were aware that being one of the final generations of students to hear direct testimony from Holocaust survivors was a “privilege”.

Students learnt “that resilience and the ability to overcome major things and move on in life is important and possible” (Alicia Marchant) and that “hatred is learnt, and we should always be able to find it within ourselves to forgive” (Frances Robbins). Mrs Kirstie Thomson and Ms Elizabeth Bath

In a hard fought clash at Victoria Park, Ballarat High School just beat our Year 7 boys in cricket on Thursday 12th October.

A promising batting effort of 47 left our boys in with a chance of bowling Ballarat High School out thanks mainly to a cavalier 25 by Xander Bidwell, who carved graciously through the fielding side like a knife through butter. He was stoically supported by Landon Coulter who opened the batting and lasted until the last over for a Boycott-like 8.

Ballarat High School started poorly and were left quivering with two early wickets, thanks again to Landon Coulter and Xavier Moon. Xavier demonstrated a very impressive leg-bowling action that also contained a googly that no batsmen could pick. The side fielded excellently, all contributed and were very unlucky to have their score overtaken with 3 overs to spare. Other wicket takers included a very accurate Sahashveer Singh and Liam Weidemann.

Thanks also to Peter Moon for scoring and umpiring. Mr Andrew Greed

The BallaRat Pack, a 35-piece orchestra and seven

singers, performed twenty Broadway pieces from

musicals such as Les Misérables, Wicked, The

Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins and West Side

Story (to name a few) in St Arnaud on Saturday 7th

October.

The orchestra featured seven members of the

Phoenix community, Mr. Reuben Morgan, Mr. John

Netherway, Year 12 students Molly Hodgkinson,

Phoebe Norris, Escher Russell and William

Stephens, along with past student Clare Shelton.

Phoenix’s strings teacher, Mr. Reuben Morgan,

arranged the music, conducted the orchestra, and

sang in the performance, wowing the 400 audience

members with his talent.

This event took four weeks of intensive rehearsals

and preparation with musicians from all around

Western Victoria coming to the Community Hub

every Thursday night, creating excellent music for

everyone to enjoy.

This performance was a wonderful opportunity and

experience for the four students and Clare,

providing insight into the broader music community

outside of school. The music community in Ballarat

is huge and continuously growing, and it was an

honour to be part of it.

The evening received all positive feedback from the

town of St. Arnaud, resulting in a standing ovation

and an encore of one of the songs: ‘You’ll Never

Walk Alone’ from Carousel.

Be sure to look out for more performances by the

BallaRat Pack Orchestra in 2018. They are an

extraordinary group of musicians who are well

worth listening too!

Phoebe Norris 2017 Band Captain

Physics Laboratories

and the Synchrotron

On Tuesday 12th September four students travelled down to

Melbourne on a Physics excursion. We braved an early

morning start and public transport to meet some fantastic

researchers at Monash University. The three laboratories we

visited used million dollar equipment to study how atoms and

electrons behave. This type of research will, in the words of

one researcher, be inside all of our laptops and phones in a

few decades. It was exciting to see this research in action.

Our next stop was the Australian Synchrotron, which is a

smaller version of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

This piece of equipment makes electrons whizz around a

250m ring at nearly the speed of light. Researchers use it to

study the structure of disease causing organisms, to

determine if there are paintings hidden beneath paintings and

look at how animals fight off disease. We were able to get

onto the floor of the synchrotron and see researchers in

action, setting up their experiments.

We had a wonderful experience and the students represented

the school extremely well, asking excellent questions and

taking the opportunity to discover different pathways they

could take in the future. A long but productive day.

Dr Joanna Kemp

Science Teacher

The Wellbeing Team welcomes all staff, students and families back to Term 4. We hope that you have been able to have a restful break and an opportunity to recharge the batteries. We look forward to supporting student as they finish off this year and prepare for next. We wish all our VCE students the best for exams that are to come. If you need some support make sure you check in with your teachers or a member of the Wellbeing Team.

By the end of Term 3, the Wellbeing Team was involved in a number of activities including:

Multicultural Luncheon On Thursday 21st September, Shani from Centre of Multicultural Youth visited and held a luncheon with our Phoenix Multicultural Group. The students prepared and cooked a variety foods from Africa, Pakistan, America, Greece and Indigenous backgrounds! The students did such a fantastic job serving the teaching staff. A very special thanks to the students who did a wonderful job and there are definitely some master chefs in the making. Also special thanks to Shani for organising the event with the Wellbeing Team. Thank you to all the staff who supported the students and received a delicious meal in return! Your support was very much appreciated!

You Think On Monday 18th September, Year 9 Phoenix Connect students attended the You Think Program at Ballarat Base Hospital. The program is a Trauma Prevention Program with special guests from Ambulance Victoria, Emergency Doctors, Victoria Police, Physiotherapists, Spin Chat, Ballarat Community Health and Rhiannon and Bev Giles.

R U OK Day On Monday 11th September, Phoenix P-12 Community College raised awareness for R U OK Day with a sausage sizzle and conversations! We sold out of sausages and the students had opportunities to write affirmations and acts of support on the R U OK poster. Thank you to the Multicultural Group who worked hard preparing and cooking the sausages! Be SunSmart! Sunscreen available in all Villages offices and the Wellbeing office.

2017 CALENDAR

October

9th Term 4 Begins

17th VCAL English Camp

(17th-18th Oct)

23rd PICTON Year 10

Work Experience Week

25th Year 12 Final Assembly

25th Valedictory Dinner

Terrace Restaurant (Ballarat &

District Trotting Club) 7pm-11pm

26th Year 12 End of Year Excursion

November

1st Year 12 Exams Begin

7th Melbourne Cup Day

10th Ballarat Show Day

(Student Free Day)

13th Curriculum Day

(Student Free Day)

20th Year 11 Exams Begin

20th Solo Performance Week

27th Year 11 into Year 12

Orientation Week

27th Year 10 Exams Begin

28th Presentation Evening

7pm Founders Hall

Federation University

Mt Helen Campus

Phoenix P-12 Community College

PO Box 49 SEBASTOPOL VIC 3356

P: 03) 5329 3293 F: 03) 5335 7582

phoenix.p12.cc@edumail.vic.gov.au

Pinarc Disability Support is a community not-for-profit

organisation providing services to around 1,000 children

and adults with disability, their families, and carers

across the Grampians Region. More recently we have

begun providing services in the Melton/Brimbank region

in partnership with Gateways Support Services.

They provide direct support through therapy services,

education support, social work, case management, adult

day programs, recreation, advocacy, support groups,

respite, community education and early childhood

programs. All of their service delivery is guided by their

vision of putting each individual at the centre of their

decision making.

Their commitment includes supporting and empowering

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, those from

culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those

identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender,

intersex, and queer (GLBTIQ). We actively promote the

safety of children.

For further information: (03) 5329 1300