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25 September, 2019 Extracurricular

Year 7 Immersion Programs – unique learning experiences

Each year, during the last three days of Term 3, all Year 7 St Michael’s students participate in an Immersion Program of their choice.

This year students participated in six different programs, all designed to give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in an exciting project, learn new skills and develop friendships with their classmates.

Discover more about each of the programs below.

Paper Engineering

Held in the St Michael’s art studio, this program gave students a number of design challenges all using paper as the primary material.

The students created a range of objects from paper planes and pop-up cards to moving objects!

“I’ve been quite surprised at the engineering side of the program, we’ve had to do maths and really think about what we’re how we’re going to make things,” said Tessa.

It’s not something I’ve ever really done before and I’ve found it really interesting and fun.Year 7 student, Max

 

The Life of a Professional Sportsperson

During this program, students had the opportunity to watch the Collingwood Football Club train, spent time at the Victorian Institute of Sport and the MCG where they had tours of the facilities and spoke with professional athletes.

They learnt nutrition tips, studied sport psychology, discovered how to design their own fitness regime and participated in their very own media conference.

The students then put all these skills to use, designing their own training session and participated in a sports clinic at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

 

Tunes and Turntablism

This program gave students an opportunity to enrich their learning in the areas of music-making, music technology, electronic composition and DJ-ing.

They also had the opportunity to explore different elements of music and different genres through acoustic playing as well as techniques including analysis, blending, sequencing, looping, sampling and remixing.

Year 4 student and talented DJ, Remy, also showed the students his skills and helped them to create their own music!

Year 7 Immersion Programs – unique learning experiences Year 4 student and talented DJ, Remy, sharing his skills with the Year 7 students

On the final day of the Immersion, the Year 7 students showcased their newfound skills at an outdoor concert for students in the junior years outside Dolly’s Café.

 

Fashion/Costume Design: UPcycling-OPcycling

Over three full days, students were immersed in the world of costume designing, with an ‘up-cycling’ twist. ‘Up-cycling’ is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and beautiful.

The students spent time in the St Michael’s Drama Studio where they discussed the process of costume design and were given a tour of the School’s costume department.

Mr Ben Moody, Director of Performing Arts, also popped in to give the students a costume design brief that they would work on for the remainder of the Immersion. Their brief was to create a ‘Dreamcoat’ that could be displayed in the foyer of Gasworks Theatre during the upcoming Years 7-9 Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

On the second day of the Immersion, the students attended a workshop at Fashion Masters School in the CBD.

“My favourite thing about the Immersion was the sewing workshop at Fashion Masters where we had 45 minutes to create our own bodice,” said Stella.

Following the workshop, the students returned to School and went shopping at local Chapel St op-shops where they purchased an item for $10 or less, that they could then use to fulfil the costume design brief.

 

Writing Masterclass

Focussed on the genre of historical fiction the Writing Masterclass was a chance for students to immerse themselves in the lives and times of people past, using their creative license to take the reader on a journey.

The three-day on-campus writers retreat enabled students to explore their writing passion alongside like-minded classmates.

We’ve been spending time brainstorming ideas, researching our setting and characters and drafting our stories. I really like writing stories in my spare time so I’ve really enjoyed it.Year 7 student, Audrey

“It’s nice because we’ve been able to choose the story we want to write and have lots of time so that when you have writer’s block you can put music on or go for a walk until you can think again,” said Stella.

Students not only researched and wrote their own stories they had the opportunity to design a cover that best promoted their new novel which will be published and added to the Knowledge Commons for the School community to borrow and read.

 

Garden to Gourmet

This engaging program involved all things food and was a chance for students to spend time in the Octavius Brown Kitchen Garden and learn more about how food is made in restaurants and our very own Dolly’s Café.

The first day of the Immersion involved hands-on work in the Octavius Brown Kitchen Garden, painting the garden beds and even meeting the School chickens!

  • year-7-immersion-programs-unique-learning-experiences
    Meeting the School chickens
  • year-7-immersion-programs-unique-learning-experiences
    Working in the Kitchen Garden

The students spent time working with Dolly’s Café Head Chef, Christian, learnt to use the professional coffee machine and visited Rococo’s restaurant in Acland St where they were taught the art of making woodfired pizza.

A highlight for the students was the final day on the Immersion when they were able to bring together everything they had been learning to make their very own woodfired pizza using ingredients sourced from the Kitchen Garden and homemade pizza bases.

“It was really fun making the dough with Christian yesterday and then getting to eat our pizza today,” said Drishti.

The Year 7 Immersions were a fantastic way for students to finish Term 3 and we would like to thank all the St Michael’s staff members who designed and facilitated these creative and engaging programs.