LIVE IT. LEARN IT. LOVE IT. - Lauriston Girls' School

Senior SchoolA unique first for Lauriston – VCEwith Lauriston HonoursA new opportunity forVCE studentsAs they reach the end of Year 10,Lauriston students are blessed witha choice between the VictorianCertificate of Education (VCE) andthe International Baccalaureate(IB) Diploma, both of which arewonderful – but quite different –senior secondary courses. The IBhas many distinctive characteristics,and we felt that our VCE would beenhanced if it were customised soas to offer a number of learningexperiences currently available onlyto our IB students And so the VCEwith Lauriston Honours was born!The aim of the VCE with LauristonHonours program is to encourageand reward students who, whilestudying for the VCE, take upadditional opportunities to extendtheir development, in both academicand non-academic areas of theireducation, and to actively contributeto the School and to the widercommunity.CriteriaThe VCE with Lauriston Honoursprogram has three ‘strands’:Citizenship and Leadership;Service; and Scholarship. Studentsparticipating in the program elect tofocus on one of these three areas asan adjunct to their VCE subjects.To be awarded Lauriston Honours, astudent must demonstrate excellence4– in terms ofcommitment,personaldevelopment,and performance– in her chosenstrand. Shemust also haveexhibited skillsand talent inher other fieldsof endeavourat Lauriston,generally atthe highestlevel; she must have participatedto a significant degree in physicalactivities and/or creative pursuits;and her conduct at the School musthave been consistently ethical andresponsible.Citizenship andLeadership strandEvery student who receives the VCEwith Lauriston Honours (Citizenshipand Leadership) will have displayeda strong commitment to activecitizenship and will have been aconsistently positive role model, bothwithin the School community andbeyond.Service strandStudents aspiring to the VCE withLauriston Honours (Service) mustundertake and document acommunity service project thatreflects ethical awareness and acommitment to working for thecommon good. All projects willbe supervised by the School’sCommunity Service Coordinator.Scholarship strandStudents choosing to pursue a VCEwith Lauriston Honours (Scholarship)must maintain satisfactory grades inall of their subjects over the courseof their VCE studies. In addition, theymust take a Theory of Knowledgeclass for one year, during which timethey are required to complete, andachieve satisfactory results for, allset assessment tasks. An IB subject,Theory of Knowledge explores differentways of knowing, and different kinds ofknowledge. Students consider the roleof knowledge in their own culture and inthe cultures of others.Personal attributesAll students awarded the VCE withLauriston Honours will have consistentlydemonstrated positive personalqualities, attitudes, values andbehaviours. These include:t an understanding of the importanceof working for the common good,and a willingness to contribute, bothwithin the School community and inthe wider communityt a willingness to think critically andethicallyt a desire to improve oneself,through reflection and personaldevelopmentt the motivation to be organised andto plan aheadt the will to set goals and to worktowards achieving theset exemplary conduct and exemplaryrole modelling.Recognition of recipientsEach recipient of the VCE with LauristonHonours award will:t receive as part of her SchoolLeaver’s Statement anacknowledgement of her awardt receive individual recognition, anda certificate, at the School’s finalAwards Assemblyt have her award recorded inperpetuity on the Lauriston HonoursRoll.We are thrilled that a number of ourcurrent Year 11 and Year 12 VCEstudents are participating in our newHonours program and we look forwardto recognising them, over the next twoyears, as the inaugural recipients of theprestigious VCE with Lauriston Honoursaward!Nene MacwhirterDeputy Principal / Head of Senior School

HowquaSustainability – part of our curriculumand of campus lifeThe Australian Curriculum, currently in development, places considerable emphasis on sustainability.According to the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority:Education for sustainability develops the knowledge, skills and values necessary for people to act in ways thatcontribute to more sustainable patterns of living. It is futures-oriented, focusing on protecting environmentsand creating a more ecologically and socially just world through action that recognises the relevance andinterdependence of environmental, social, cultural and economic considerations.At Howqua, sustainability is not only afocus of our curriculum – it is a focusin the daily lives of Lauriston’s Year9 students. For some time, our staffhave been working towards achievingResource Smart 5 Star Certification forHowqua. To attain this high level ofsustainability certification (awarded bySustainability Victoria), schools haveto meet a number of criteria. A keyrequirement is the implementation ofstrategies leading to reduced wateruse, energy consumption, and waste,as well as strategies that supportbiodiversity. Our students are activelyinvolved in monitoring Howqua’sachievements in these areas andare continually devising new ways tomaximise our progress.The students are highly committedto reducing waste and are eagerlykeeping their eyes on the wastereduction chart that is posted inthe Howqua dining room. The girlsare currently motivated by themuch-coveted reward of a ‘sleep-in’,which will be awarded once thecampus has achieved a 10 per centreduction in waste.The long-term goal of all of oursustainability strategies is, of course,to reduce our campus’s ecologicalfootprint.Learning to live in sustainable ways is akey objective at Howqua, and one ofthe benefits that we are able to offerevery Year 9 student is the opportunityto live her learning.The learning is about a great dealmore than simply reducing impacts:we also aim to assist our students toacquire a greater understanding ofthe environment. This understandingis significantly enhanced when thegirls study aspects of botany andplant adaptation, river ecology, andweather. Our outdoor program thengives the students many opportunitiesto apply – and thus to reinforce – theirclassroom learning. The experienceof a direct and immediaterelationship between learning and itsapplication is itself a unique learningexperience.Sustainability is certainly one area inwhich our students are living whatthey are learning.Don HamleyHead of Howqua Campus5

Junior SchoolEarly years learningLauriston was the firstindependent school in Australiato be accredited to run theAustralian DevelopmentalCurriculum (ADC) in Prepclassrooms. The School hasinvested significant time,training and resources inimplementing the ADC, ouraim being to ensure that ourstudents’ first years of schoolingequip them for lifelong learningand provide them with a flyingstart. The first years of schoolinghave been identified as themost important in a child’sdevelopment, as it is duringthese years that key dispositionsand foundation skills aredeveloped and internalised.The journey from preschool to primaryschool is a critical transition point. Duringthis time it is essential that children haveaccess to concrete, hands-on materialsand learning resources. It is recognisedthat children are more highly motivatedto learn and to sustain their own learningif at this stage of their developmentthey are engaged with their learningexperiences through opportunities tomake authentic choices.Some of the key dispositions thatwe must instil in our children as weprepare them for life and work in the21st century, and establish them assuccessful learners, include knowinghow to learn, unlearn and relearn; tolove learning; to problem-solve; to thinklaterally; to be resilient; and to view lifeas an ongoing opportunity to learn. Thedevelopment of these dispositions is afundamental concern of the ADC.One of the features of a Lauristoneducation is our attention to meetingthe individual learning needs of ourstudents. The ADC provides authenticopportunities for learning to bepersonalised, thus ensuring that theparticular strengths, needs and interestsof each child are met.6Learning in the Prep classroom: Fossils and dinosaursDuring our ‘Investigations’ sessions,an interest in exploring the world offossils and dinosaurs has emerged inour Prep group. The girls have sharedtheir theories on evolution and theirknowledge of the many different kinds ofdinosaurs that roamed the earth millionsof years ago. The classroom discussionshave generated many questions, suchas: When did dinosaurs come intobeing? What was the first dinosaur thatexisted? Where did dinosaurs live? Howdid the dinosaurs die out? How do fossilsform?Following a visit to the class by a retiredpalaeontologist (a grandparent of oneof the children), the girls have beenusing microscopes and magnifyingglasses to examine fossils. They areexperts – just like real palaeontologists.Students have also used brushes andtools to fossick in the classroom fossildig, they have read information textsand have recorded simple facts so asto create their own information books,and they have modelled a range ofdinosaurs from Polyclay. Some girls haveused craft materials to create models ofthe skeletons of various dinosaurs.A fossil is something that has lived longago. When it dries out it leaves a patternin the rocks. It can be pushed into rocks.Fossils are things from animals andinsects that lived long ago. (Holly)A fossil is pushed into a rock and canbe a bone or a footprint. It’s formedwhen pushed into the ground and it getsburied. When some rain comes it canpush the fossil up. The palaeontologistfinds it. The palaeontologist takes it back

and brushes the sand and dirt off it.They try to find out what it is. They haveto be very careful because they couldbreak the fossil. It is so delicate. It canbreak really easily. The bone from thedinosaur becomes a rock. Dinosaurscan leave an imprint in sand and rocks.The underwater dinosaurs died in thewater and sank to the bottom and werein the sand. The fossil is an imprint in thesand. (Grace)One valuable learning outcome ofthis project is that it has developedthe girls’ skills in language. Moreover,students talking about, for example, thecharacteristics of a hydrotherosaurus,while at the same time utilising theirfine motor skills and modelling thissea-dwelling creature, is evidence notonly of their mastery of complex wordsbut also of their understanding of,and engagement with, what they arelearning.One group of girls was eager to draw alarge-scale stegosaurus. The book I CanDraw Dinosaurs (Dorling Kindersley, 2006)took them through the drawing processstep by step. The communication,cooperation, problem solving andintrinsic motivation in the learning wereall clearly evident.The girls worked together to tracearound the outline of their stegosaurusand then to paint it. Next they usedpopsticks, straws, and finally their ownfeet, to find out how long the dinosaurwas. They soon realised that, foraccurate measuring, they needed touse like objects and to place them endto end, without leaving any gaps.During ‘Reflections’, the girls who hadmeasured the stegosaurus drawingshared their findings. The stegosauruswas:t 23-and-a-bit popsticks longt 14 straws longt 16 (children’s) feet long.Early years learning at Lauriston is exciting and dynamic and places the child at the centre of the curriculum, providinga rich

LIVE IT. LEARN IT. LOVE IT. Lauriston Life The Lauriston Magazine Lauriston Girls’ School ABN 15 004 264 402 38 Huntingtower Road Armadale Vic 3143 Australia t: 61 3 9864 7555 f: 61 3 9822 7950 e: admissions@lauriston.vic.edu.au www.lauriston.vic.edu.au CRICOS number 00152F Contributors PRINCIPAL Susan Just