ASPIRE

Late in Term 1 our Year 9 Aspire class took part in a City Experience Excursion, designed to immerse them in some of the many activities Melbourne has to offer, as well as provide an opportunity for students to reconnect and collaborate after an interrupted two years of schooling. This excursion proved popular and will hopefully become a yearly activity that our Year 9 class participates in. 

The Aspire Excursion – City Experience. 
Well, there’s nothing bad, so let’s get straight to the good stuff! 
The Aspire Excursion consisted of the entire Year 9 Aspire class going to the city for a super fun adventure style amazing race! 
After taking a train to the city, we took a tram and walked to a VR place- yes, it was amazing – 
and played a whole heap of games. These included walking off of a plank 200 feet in the air (which was a good level of terrifying), driving in car races and fighting each other in battle games. 
After that great experience, we headed down to an art centre (called ARTVO) where you could literally interact with the paintings and take photos with them! I think my favourite personally was the Marvel Iron Man suits. There were so many though, and everyone took so many pictures! 
Once everyone had finished taking pics, we got some lunch! Some went KFC, some went Subway… but all that matters is that I stole my friend’s food, and it was delicious. Seriously. It was good. 
At the end of the excursion, we headed back to the train station, and by the time the day was done, we had super fun pics under our belts, and the great memories with friends. 

Laura Harrison 9A 

Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP) 

At the end of Term 1 our VHAP students participated in a Masterclass at Yarra Ranges Tech School. This Masterclass involves students from local schools participating and collaborating together to investigate a chosen problem. We had 4 students complete the Maths Program which was built around coding, angles and puzzle solving. It was a hands-on program where students got to use and program their own robot to do a variety of tasks.  

The Masterclass excursion to the Yarra Ranges Tech School was fun because we got to do coding with robots. We could control their movements, change their lights colours and make them make noises, and we had a race through a maze at the end to see who’s robot was the fastest. 

Scarlett Carpenter 8A 

In Term 2 we have 16 Year 7 students participating in the Maths and English programs. If you have any questions about the High Ability Program, or the Aspire program, please don’t hesitate to contact me at aspire@mooroolbarkcollege.vic.edu.au 

Kara Salmon 

Aspire Program Coordinator and High Ability Practice Leader