Always a special event on the college calendar, the ceremony was hosted by BSSC’s Student Ambassadors: Isabel Lovriha, Levity Camilleri, Amy Jefferis, Bella Parkes, Joshua Rankin, Nissa Wakefield, Lu Lu Wah and Ed Wilkinson.

The ceremony commenced with a cleansing with gum leaves by our First Nations students, accompanied by Uncle Paul Chapman on the didgeridoo; holding space for the flagbearers to mindfully position the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags as a way of honouring Country and Ancestors.

Maverick Franklin delivered the Acknowledgement of Country.

Ella Honey and Alice McKellar performed the New Zealand and Australian national anthems respectively, with Harvey Jenkyn-Taylor accompanying each of the singers on the piano.

‘In Flanders Fields’ was performed by Amanda Stewart, Isabelle Houghton, Alice McKellar, Ella Honey, Xanthe Thorpe, Zoe Hinneberg, Megan Hooley, Lachy McDougall and Harvey Jenkyn-Taylor.

Along with some other distinguished guests, we were honoured to be joined by RSL President Warrant Officer Glenn Ludeman and special guest speaker Mr Carl Chirgwin, who spoke to the audience about peace-making, peace-keeping and peace-building.

‘The Anzac’ was performed by Josh Russell, Harvey Jenkyn-Taylor, Harley Breewel, Jim Turpie and Jacoby Ah-Dore—an incredible rendition of the song originally by Adam Brand.

The Last Post and The Rouse was performed by BSSC Alumna, Rachael Hamilton and BSSC Teacher Brenton Hayward played the bagpipes, leading the processional walk to the wreath-laying ceremony.

Our special guests—including Mr Pierce Grenfell, Annette Conway OAM and Aunty Janet Bromley— mingled with BSSC students and staff at a luncheon afterwards, where they shared stories and reflected on the ceremony.

Thank you to our guests who were able to be with us today, the dedicated staff who organised the ceremony, as well as our students who showed immense respect as we remembered our Anzacs.

Check out some photos on .

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“I’m so grateful for the passion I have for my art,” she says. “It brings me so much joy and as well as giving me the opportunity to keep developing my skills and exploring new ideas, it can be meditative or an escape.”

Art has also given Katya a goal for the future.

Her main artistic interest is illustrative with a focus on character or landscape. This year she is mostly working in digital format which she is just loving.

Digital format allows much greater colour-blending, capacity to work in layers, and chances to edit her work in a way that cannot be done using most other media.

“I remember last year when I was working in watercolours, I was often nervous about putting in a colour because the piece was part of my assessment—and you can’t undo watercolours.”

Still, Katya found the Photoshop software she uses quite complex and challenging to begin with. However, as her confidence has built, and she has become increasingly comfortable with it, she’s discovering almost endless possibilities.

Katya is planning to apply to study Animation at RMIT.

“I don’t want to be an animator, but there are other great jobs around animation I’m more interested in—such as concept design, visual development, storyboarding and compositing.

“I think I would also enjoy a job as a background illustrator.”

During her time at BSE, Katya was involved in the 7-10 college’s Academy of Creative Arts (ACA) bringing her flexible opportunities both in and outside school to immerse herself in a wider range of art experiences.

“I actually miss that,” she says.

“But I looked forward to VCE at BSSC, and I really like this college, but the flexibility the ACA experience brought just isn’t feasible at this level.”

Despite this, Katya is relishing the general atmosphere of freedom that is pervasive at BSSC. She loves to wear whatever she wants, but says there’s more to freedom than this.

“When you are young, you have this idea about the amount of freedom adults have. It makes you excited for your future—but you don’t necessarily understand that life is quite complex.

“Senior gives you an experience of that freedom while showing you how it comes with all this responsibility. BSSC is truly preparing us for adulthood and I definitely recommend this college.”

Katya also chooses the word ‘opportunities’ to describe the college. She’s not only referring to the breadth of subjects on offer, she’s also noticed the range of learning opportunities each subject offers.

“There are great excursions, chances to work with others and join various groups. Being at this age in this environment is a time to think about what will move you on—to ask yourself: ‘what opportunities can I take and use?’.”

Katya says her biggest challenge is the workload. She has elected to take six subjects this year and was on top of everything until she was unwell for a short time and suddenly found herself in catch-up mode—something that brought its own life lessons.

“Learning that your best is the best you can do at a particular time, has been valuable. It’s not helpful to compare yourself to others, or your past, or set up too-high expectations for the future.”

Asked for a ‘hot study tip’, Katya says connecting what she’s learning to everyday life is really helpful.

“Sometimes it can even be quite silly to take abstract concepts and give them real-life settings—but it works for me.

“I also practise the ideas that are foundational in particular subjects,” Katya says, “so in Maths you need to be able to work sequentially. In Literature, you need to be able to synthesise ideas.”

Katya is also rightly proud of her capacity to persevere.

“I haven’t had any harsh troubles to work through, but I can see my progress—the way I have kept growing.”

Despite her considerable workload, Katya is aware of the importance of a balanced life.

For Katya, this balance includes involvement in the Emily Calder Performing Arts drama school. She has been enjoying drama since late primary school and now teaches the littlest members of the school.

Katya also has another part-time job in retail.

“If I could go back and talk with my younger self, I would say, ‘have fun and keep doing what interests you. Take opportunities. Make things’.”

Katya’s is a truly multi-cultural family, with her mother’s family coming from Russia and her father’s from South Africa.

And just to add variety to this, Katya was born in London and remembers a very multi-cultural city and lots of Russian friends at school.

She emigrated with her parents to Australia when she was aged six but family visits to South Africa have kept her in contact with her cousins.

As she settled into life in Australia, she noticed her initial sense of being English gradually changed.

“We visited London during the last holidays and, although I think of myself as Australian, I also realised that the imprint of England is still there and some small part of me is still definitely English.”

As Katya reflects on contemporary global issues, she names war and Climate Change as the two greatest challenges facing humanity.

“While I cannot do anything to stop the fighting and death, I feel I can take steps to impact Climate Change. I can live my life in ways that will be helpful.”

The post Student profile: Katya Dorer appeared first on ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”18 Senior Secondary College.

Streaming live today (Wednesday 24th April) from the Ulumbarra Theatre at 11:50am.

This annual event is a time for all students and staff, along with members of the RSL, Alumni, and the wider community to come together and remember the contributions made by all those who served in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

Hosted by student leaders and featuring the college’s talented musicians, the ceremony includes a presentation by special guest speaker Carl Chirgwin.

Click to watch the livestream.

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There will be no classes on Wednesday and students are not required to attend the college.

Our staff will be attending a series of Professional Development sessions and Curriculum-based workshops throughout the day.

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Deepcore provided Michael with personalised work wear and all the safety gear required to perform the various tasks in the workplace and off-site.

Michael was able to put into practice skills and competencies he has acquired in both of his VET subjects, as well as interpersonal and employability skills.

“I’ve been doing a bit of everything, from working on the rig to maintaining light vehicles and other equipment,” shared Michael.

He also had the opportunity to visit Fosterville for a day, observing surface rigs and gaining insight into the life of a Driller’s Offsider.

“All of the staff have been really friendly and helpful; it’s been great learning about the heavy machinery and everything else.”

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The college invites students and parents/carers to take a tour of the college facilities—beginning at the Ulumbarra Theatre complex—and access information about the biggest range of VCE, VET and Vocational Major options in Victoria.

At midday there will be a presentation in the Ulumbarra Theatre with valuable information about subject choices, pathway options and the wide array of opportunities the college has to offer students.

Come to ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”18 Senior Secondary College on Sunday 5th May and discover a world of choice.

BSSC’s major Open Day for the year will be held on Sunday 28th July—save the date.

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“I could not recommend NETschool and the wider BSSC college more highly. No matter what your interests, or your needs, there will be a place for you.”

Connor has been diagnosed with autism and endured a difficult time at his previous college where extra support was not put in place to support him.

At the end of Year 10 and with some nervousness, he applied to join BSSC’s NETschool. He worried switching colleges would disrupt relationships with friends he’d had since primary school and the hoped-for support might not be given.

Not only have these friendships survived the move, he’s made many new friends—and found all the support he needs.

“Straight away I felt like I could relax,” he recalls. “I was offered extensive support and quickly made friends. My mentor, Jim Cowie, was just awesome. Every day he made me laugh.”

Connor says he’s much more content, his confidence has grown, and he’s developed study and writing skills that work well for him.

He’s also been impressed with the way his teachers and mentors both push him to excel but are also empathetic about the fact no-one can perform at full-speed all day, every day.

“Joining NETschool has made a massive difference to my life. I had always strived to be happy, but the daily dread I used to feel going to school was crushing. That’s all gone now.

“Unlike other schools I’ve been to, being able to wear whatever I want makes me feel at home—and definitely more comfortable about going to school.”

Connor’s voice is full of enthusiasm as he talks about the variety and quality of subjects he discovered were on offer at BSSC—such as Ancient History.

“Health & Human Development has been a blast too. We’ve looked at health from a physical, mental and even spiritual perspective.”

Connor’s favourite subject is Legal Studies and he has plans for a future career in the legal field with a particular interest in Civil Law and Human Rights.

“The main thing is to help people. I want a good job, but nothing too fabulous, and good friends. I would also like to continue to develop my interest in drawing and maybe even have a go at animating a simple story.

“In the end I just want to be happy.”

Asked how he unwinds, Connor says talking to his friends or playing video games works for him.

He has great support from family at home and suspects his own capacity for empathy has come from his parents who he describes as “warm and kind”.

“Dad is amazing, and Mum, who is a nurse, highly values helping others and loves her job. I could easily write 1000 words on her.”

When he was younger, Connor’s autism caused him to have lots of meltdowns—frequently in the car on the way to school. He saw how much these behaviours impacted his mum but couldn’t control them.

Both Connor and his sibling have autism but their Mum has made sure they got the academic, medical and psychological support they needed.

She also constantly told Connor he was going to be alright.

“She created alternative ‘what if’ scenarios to my ‘what if’ fears, by asking ‘so what?’

“Mum would ask me what was really so terrible? She shrank those fears down with comments such as: ‘So you fail a test? So what? There will be other tests, other days. You will survive’.”

Many people with autism experience distressing meltdowns and learning to deal with them is an important part of building confidence to manage this particularly challenging aspect of autism.

When he looks back at himself as a twelve-year-old, Connor remembers worrying he would never have enough friends—and that he would never get control over his meltdowns or be able to simply enjoy going to school.

“Sometimes Mum would just have to hold me for half an hour or until a meltdown settled. I worried constantly, catastrophising those ‘what if’ scenarios.”

Such worrying drained his energy and made school even harder.

“I’d like to go back and tell myself, ‘You’re going to be fine’.”

“I would also encourage people looking for a psychologist to persevere. I think the excellent therapy I had really made a difference, but it took me a while before I found the right person to work with.”

Connor hasn’t had a meltdown for years, for which he is very grateful. He’s also grateful for being loved.

“Especially, but not just, by my family. The acceptance of friends and support of teachers and mentors is also a kind of love. It doesn’t have to be something intensely intimate to be love.”

Connor’s insight about the power of love/support/friendship spills over into his estimation of global issues.

“I see too much judgement, too little listening, not enough open-mindedness and all of this, when it ends up online, can totally misrepresent a situation or a person.

“I think we need to listen more and be more open-minded.”

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The exhibition gives great insight into of the history of Paris—and the artwork, clothing, iconic posters and other memorabilia had never left the MusĂ©e Carnavalet before this marvellous partnering with ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”18 Art Gallery.

For students with a rich Asian history, some still adjusting to Australia, the excursion was a brief immersion in yet another culture’s history and art.

Students were amazed by some of the elaborate—and probably uncomfortable—clothing and fascinated by the variety and beauty of the artwork.

BSSC thanks the gallery and our two wonderful guides for this valuable and enriching experience.

Guides also reminded students that the gallery is free and a wonderful place to explore any day of the week.

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Heini, a lecturer and well-being researcher at the University of Vaasa in Finland, had not been to the college for over 25 years, since she was a Rotary exchange student at BSSC from 1997-1998.

Although the school has been renovated since her time at the college, she still recognised many of the spaces as she wandered around BSSC; those places holding great memories.

“My exchange year provided me with a lot of skills and capabilities,” she said. “The school offered excellent opportunities for integration, learning, and self-expression.”

“Even then, BSSC was a large, modern school with a great variety of subjects to choose from. My favourite classes were Fashion Design, Psychology, and Outdoor Education,” Heini reflected.

“In my Media class I learned how to create my first PowerPoint presentation—a skill I’ve used many times since. The library and computer lab were the places to be—especially since the internet was relatively new then, and laptops weren’t in use yet!”

Heini is particularly passionate about developing diverse and neuro-friendly learning. She is currently on secondment at RMIT (OpenInnoTrain project), where she is benchmarking learning and well-being services in Australian schools.

We hope Heini and her family have a wonderful time in Australia!

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Thursday 25th April: Public Holiday – ANZAC Day

Wednesday 1st May: Combined Curriculum Day (no classes)

Sunday 5th May: BSSC Open Day

Wednesday 8th May: Parent-Teacher Interviews (face-to-face) 3:20-7pm

Friday 17th May: IDAHOBIT

Monday 27th May – 3rd June: National Reconciliation Week

Monday 10th June: Public Holiday – King’s birthday

Tuesday 18th June: GAT

Thursday 27th June: Respectful Relationships Day

Friday 28th June: BSSC’s Got Talent / End of Term 2 (altered day)

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