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Flourish

Terms 2 & 3 2019

Mount Alvernia College 82 Cremorne Road, Kedron

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CURRICULUM

Welcome to Flourish, a regular newsletter to give you a snapshot of life at the College.

You can read all of our weekly publications at the website, www.mta.qld.edu.au, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram for

regular updates and photos of all that is happening.

Peace and all good

Kerrie Tuite, Principal

Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

Flourish

Year 10 Art

Some Year 10 students recount some of the highlights,

learnings, concerns, and questions they have after visiting

the APT 9 art exhibition at QAGOMA.

The highlight was being able to look deeper into the

meanings of artworks and understand the artists’

inspiration. The artworks of Kim and Novali made me

wonder about the urbanisation of the world and how can

we make changes for the better. This exhibition made me

think about concerns I have for people and the world’s

safety and growth, and how we could maybe alter it to

have a better effect on us. I learnt about how different

types of art techniques can really change an artwork and

its meaning. Lily

The ideas I gathered about the urban environments of

Brisbane, Indonesia, and South Korea were that all three

have many buildings but green spaces are also a feature.

I learnt that this exhibition showed an unlimited range of

artworks all unique in their own way. Imogen

Year 11 Hospitality

Term 3 focussed on creating a High Tea presentation, and

students spent their time practising preparation of the

various items desired for final assessment items.

The final products looked mouth-watering, and their

teachers were very impressed with the professional way in

which they worked in the lead-up.

We have a cross-campus arrangement with Padua College,

hence the young gentlemen in the photo.

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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Year 12 Study of Religion

In May, twenty Year 12 Study of Religion students, along with

the Padua class, went to the Islamic College of Brisbane (ICB)

for a day of interfaith dialogue. This day was definitely an eye-

opener as students saw how life at the ICB is very different to

their own. That being said, the girls found that they all still

enjoy the same things - obsessing over formal dresses,

Coachella, and TV shows.

The students were fortunate enough to hear presentations of

all the wonderful ways ICB gives back to local and international

communities, and this was very inspiring. They heard from the

school captains about how both religions are founded on the

same principle: peace. With the recent tragic events of Christ-

church, interfaith dialogue visits and communications are so

important, as the negative and untrue stereotypes of the

Islamic religion can be challenged. One of the ICB teachers,

along with the senior students, showed the group how they

pray five times a day. It felt truly special, being able to watch

them so dedicated to their religion and faith. The visitors then

had the amazing opportunity of the ICB girls dressing them in

colourful hijabs.

Japanese

In its inaugural year for Brisbane, nine of our students

from Years 7 to 12 put in the hard work to compete in

the Japanese division of the Multi-Language Speech

Contest, held at Griffith University.

These girls performed magnificently and were a credit to

themselves and their college.

Four students were awarded a high commendation for

their work: Dominique, Ashley, Kealey, and Thiana.

Laphini’s high quality leadership of the team was noticed by

many throughout the competition.

It’s not the easiest of tasks to stand up in front of

strangers and speak in a foreign language. I am most

proud of how these young ladies presented themselves,

and was happy to receive the feedback of the teachers

present on the day, who were highly complimentary of our

girls’ presentation and good attitude.

Victoria Uhr, Japanese Teacher

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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On Tuesday 19 June, the Year 9 Digital Technology

class travelled to Kingpin at Westfield Chermside.

My group had to escape an abandoned reactor, which

pushed us to think outside the box and piece together

information. We learned that even the simplest of details

from warning signs on the walls to measurements of liquid

would mean something crucial to get the next clue.

We only were scared when Twitch, the lady who was

helping us in the rooms, opened the main door at the end

and made us all scream as we didn't expect her.

Keeley

We spent the last lesson of

the semester attempting to

break out of an Escape

Room. When we arrived,

some basic rules were

explained to the whole class

before we split into our

groups. I was in a group

with two other girls, and we

chose to do the room called

Total Carnage, the only

horror room out of the

three available to us and based on the movie Saw. When

we walked into the room we were blindfolded and there-

fore had to link arms.

One by one, each of us was led to a separate part of the

room and one of our hands handcuffed to the floor.

Aleisha

Digital Technology, Design, and 3D MakerSpace

Half of Year 8 and the Year 11 Design students attended

a presentation from Steph Piper, who is in charge of the

makerspace at the University of Southern Queensland.

Steph came into our IT class and showed us the process of

3D printing, what is required to 3D print, and what pro-

grams she used. Steph passed around examples of her

work, such as a jacket she made for an interview, and

bunnies made out of plastic that contained multiple

different types of wood, including coconut husk and

timber. Overall Steph's presentation was very interesting

and very informative.

Ella

Steph's presentation was very informational and gave many

ideas for the Year 11 Design students. She enthusiastically

informed us all about her endeavours and

accomplishments regarding the projects she has done with

3D printing. It was very impressive hearing her story,

from building her own 3D printer to designing something

as big as a shoe or as helpful as a hand cast for medical

purposes. Additionally, she introduced many different

concepts and materials that can be used, such as a pro-

gram that is able to scan an object and automatically print

it, as well as different plastics that can be used.

Chloe

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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In the Classroom

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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Year 9 Literacy

As part of the College’s ongoing commitment to

adolescent success and wellbeing, a Year 9 Literacy

Essentials class has been selected as a case study to

explore the benefits of learning literacy skills using an Arts

pedagogy.

As a part of this program, students have been engaging

with the novel When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, and

completing a range of visual literacy activities, specifically

regarding the context of the novel - New York City in the

late 1970s. To this end, students have viewed films and

images related to this era, including the trailer for Saturday

Night Fever, Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down, and 1970s NYC

in 41 Terrifying Photos. Students described these images

using the Dystopian vocabulary list and responding in the

form of a PEEL paragraph. They also explored music and

lyrics from the era, including Grandmaster Flash and the

Furious Five’s The Message, which explores life in The

Bronx in the late 1970s.

One of the Drama teachers joined the class to help the

girls identify emotions that characters were feeling in

certain scenes in the novel. Wearing genuine 1970s

clothing and props, the students collaborated to create

freeze frames. The girls are to be commended for the way

in which they participated in this program which moved

them out of their comfort zone - a crucial component of

effective learning.

Rhiannon Markwell, Teacher

Year 10 English

Students have enjoyed their studies of Romeo and Juliet in

Term 3, engaging in not only the written word, but both dance

and modern drama interpretations.

shake & stir theatre co presented a fast-paced,

contemporary interpretation, performed by three actors

playing multiple roles. They brought the play to life with

moments of high tension, dramatic action, tragedy in fight

and death scenes, and some comic relief.

Karen Farrow, Drama Teacher

The Year 10 English studies of Shakespeare this term

culminated in the girls attending Queensland Ballet’s

performance of Romeo and Juliet. It was such a lovely night

of art, dance, and culture!

Sarah Porchak, Learning Area Advisor—Languages

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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One of the beautiful community partnerships at Mount

Alvernia is that with local childcare centre Molly’s

House.

Here is a report from the centre on one of the visits:

Our mission today was to see the chicken labels we made

and our carrots that we planted from our very first time

there!! Lady surprised Grandma, and Bella got a special

surprise when big cousin Emily showed up with her home room

to take us on an adventure through the garden and up the

ramp! We played the piano and looked out over the beautiful

garden.

Another great morning building and creating more positive

relationships within our community!!

Samaritans is a parish social group, where attendees

can choose their morning’s activity — bingo, painting/

cards/cribbage/Scrabble. Chatters table is popular too,

with knitters and crocheters producing a variety of items.

Each Tuesday morning sees a different group of Year 9

Mt A girls, serving the morning tea and engaging in

conversation with the Samaritans. It is a valuable

connection across the generations, which is enjoyed by all.

Community Engagement and Outreach

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Sony Camp

Each September holidays sees a large contingent of our Senior students combine with students from Marist College Ashgrove

to take on the responsibility of caring for children with special needs, allowing their families some rare and valuable respite.

This ministry is one of long standing in our community, and each year attracts a large pool of applicants eager to extend them-

selves and make a difference to the lives of others. Enjoy some images of this year’s event.

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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On the Field

Working in a place where we offer over

eighteen different sports to try and ignite girls’ passion

is special. To see so many students take this up brings

smiles to our faces.

We are working hard this year to provide both

participation and competitive sporting teams.

We understand that not everybody wants to win a

cup and, while our competitive teams are out there

doing just that, we have a great group of students who

are playing for the love of sport and friendship. It is

important that we marry the right coach up to these

teams - someone who has the same focus, where

enjoyment overrides results - this is how the love of

sport can develop without any pressure to perform.

Josh White, Sport Development Leader

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Life at Mount Alvernia—Terms 2 & 3 2019

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Read Like a Girl with Your Dad

In July we held the second Read Like a Girl with Your Dad

event in the Mount Alvernia iCentre. Dads and daughters

all read The Fall by Tristan Bancks, and then attended an

evening to mingle, hear Tristan speak, and eat pizza.

The book was a crime novel. This genre is a favourite

among readers at the College, and dads reported back that

they found it a great tale as well. The evening has proved

to be real winner, with dads and daughters enjoying the

connections forged through reading the same book.

Helen Stower, Program Leader - iCentre

It Takes a Spark

The It Takes a Spark conference, hosted by Mount Alvernia

on Friday 9 August, provided the opportunity for girls and

teachers across Brisbane to be a part of a student-led

movement in STEAM and entrepreneurship.

The day consisted of three guest speakers: Amy Heffernan,

a field application specialist and research fellow at UQ;

Natasha Huang, who talked about the future of robotics

and how much robotics has developed over the past few

years; and Dr Talitha Best, an Associate Psychology

Professor at Central Queensland University. Each speaker

gave us insights into females working in STEAM and all the

opportunities there are in their respected fields of study.

Between each guest speaker presentation was a variety of

workshops such as What’s in the Box?, which I had the

opportunity, alongside a few other students, to run.

We taught girls from all the way from the Sunshine Coast

and Bundaberg about different uses in technology through

the use of Ozobots, 3D pens, and Sphero Balls, all while

having fun.

From stretching our way through the STEAM Circus to

constructing and flying drones, the day was one to

remember for all students and teachers, who walked out

of the San Damiano Centre with massive smiles on their

faces. Elise (Year 10)

Events