The last two years have seen the world change dramatically, with a worldwide pandemic that has altered the way we interact and move around the globe. Travel as we know it has changed in many ways, with the steps a traveller must take to be able to move between countries is no longer as simple as packing your bags, grabbing your passport and off you go!

As part of the year 12 ATAR Design course, the students have been tasked with providing an architectural solution to replace the current hotel quarantine situation. They have been provided with a brief that outlines what the state government has provided in terms of their requirements for the project, along with a location for the facility. The buildings are also hoped to be of multiple-use, based on the current global environment. When not in use for pandemic relief, they are required to be easily transported to other locations, for such purposes as temporary housing for towns that have been destroyed by fire, accommodation for immigrants escaping war-torn countries or even utilised for large scale entertainment events, where staff and acts can stay nearby the location.

Students will be using the complete design process to ensure they are able to design and prototype an appropriate solution to their design problem.

Whilst still in the early stages of the project, the students have been compiling initial research from both local and global concepts ranging from Olympic athlete villages to facilities such as Howard Springs in Darwin. They have been collating data, based on surveys that have included feedback from past quarantine travellers and those with a desire to head abroad, once more.

Over the next 12 months, the year 12 design students will continue to build a 15-page design portfolio, as part of their practical examination. Which showcases their journey through the design process, from the initial problem right through to a computer-generated set of renderings and drawings, using commercial grade architectural software, that delivers their solution to the quarantine situation, currently present in Western Australia, as well as presenting it as an option for alternative uses beyond the current pandemic.

One of many of the 4-week programmes offered to all Senior School students during Term 4 is the Industry and Enterprise Taster. This program exposes students to the key components of the Certificate II Aquaculture and Certificate II Fishing Operations qualifications and related industry occupations.

The students gained hands-on experience and knowledge about;

• Key fishing hatcheries in Australia and the growth of the aquacultural sector
• Sedating and grading locally grown Yellow Tailed Kingfish
• Fishing and landing catch onboard a commercial fishing boat
• The role that research is playing to improve fish stocks and the management of a sustainable industry for commercial and recreational use into the future

This opportunity and others like it have been forged through a unique partnership between South Metro TAFE and Aquinas College which as a community we are very grateful for.

As part of their Personal Finance elective class, Yr 9 students, Liam Sannell and Liam O'Keefe, recently competed in the ASX Schools Sharemarket Game competition. The boys ended up placing 5th in the country and 1st in the state!

Their strategy?

The main goal when investing in the ASX share market game was to protect the money invested against fluctuations caused by COVID-19 conditions. This strategy provided a simple ‘blueprint’ for selecting shares. An aversion to buying BIG mining companies specialising in iron ore extraction was the focus, as the syndicate felt that the capital growth the big miners had experienced in 2021 was more than likely to go down rather than continue to rise over the course of the game.

The companies that provided the greatest capital gain were A2 Milk, Reliance Worldwide Corporation and Beach Energy Limited. The first two companies listed were identified as benefiting from COVID conditions. First of all, A2 milk produces powdered milk and baby formula, and it was felt that as the world was ‘stockpiling’ and ‘panic-buying' milk products and thus there was a real chance that these company’s shares would be in high demand. Reliance Worldwide Corporation specialises in high-quality plumbing and heating products, and it was felt that, due to COVID lockdowns and a rise in home maintenance and improvements, that the demand for their products would rise - thereby increasing the company’s overall profit levels and demand for their shares.

Finally, it must be said that the syndicate decided that they would not ride their luck and bank on share prices continuing to rise over extended periods. This ‘mindset’ saw the syndicate sell at the top of a price spike on two occasions for companies that had had share prices rise sharply. All the above being said there was a real element of good luck and timing as on more than one occasion the syndicate sold shares hours before a large price drop.

Another busy term is over! We have managed to fit in 7 units this term with a few outside competitions and a HUGE THANK YOU to Mr Grant Haggerty, Mr Paul West and outside expert Mr Richard Tonello from Astronomy Education Services. I will leave it to the boys who have taken part to explain some of the units they have taken part in this term:

With engineering well underway this term, the focus for the second half of the program shifted to investigating what we could do to improve our designs, how we could change things, exploring why other students had chosen to build things a certain way and generally taking a moment to appreciate each other’s creations and talk together about them. This has generated chatter between students and at times has seen new partnerships develop, with exchanges of design tips and loads of positive comments between students.

Pre-Primary have drawn self-portraits and framed them using materials found in the STEM collaboratory. Then we decided to take it a step further and figure out how we could 3D print the drawings into name tags for their school bags. It’s a work in progress but so far things are looking good. Year 1s investigated repelling and why water paints didn’t ruin their crayon colouring whilst creating beautiful rainbow birds and Year 2 students researched flight mechanisms to create gorgeous paper plate birds they could fly, similar to paper aeroplanes. The flight continued into Year 4 with Rosie Revere inspiring many and varied winged fliers which will be tested this week to see whether bigger wings really do in fact make something fly further and longer.

With only a few weeks left to finish these projects, the students are truly improving and refining their engineering techniques. The exploration will continue into Term 4, with new and exciting STEM projects ranging from sports science to monster madness and of course, Christmas craziness!

The Project-Based Learning (PBL) tasks this year have been a great way for students to enhance their creativity, work ethic and collaboration whilst still learning about some of their favourite subjects. What English provided us was no different as we were tasked to direct, write and act in our very own interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. I enjoyed this task as it put a lot of the work into our own hands, which worked in making no video the same as any other group; and also showed us just how much work gets put into the behind the stage aspect of your favourite movies and TV shows. By far though, the best part of this came at the end, when each student cast in their vote for which recreation won a variety of different categories, including best actor, best adaption and best film. For me, the English PBL was an exciting way of nuancing our Romeo and Juliet knowledge while still having fun with our classmates.

Last Friday, the Middle School students gathered in the Brother Paull Centre for the eagerly anticipated final between Bryan West and Treacy East. The topic was one that everyone in the audience had an opinion on

This term, 12 Aquinas students (Years 9 and 10) took part in the PSA Model United Nations. It is the second time the PSA has held this competition, this year the UN Youth have become involved which has only improved the event! Model United Nations or MUN is a competition that simulates the United Nations Security Council, where teams of three are assigned a specific country and hope to pass new resolutions into international law. Each PSA school was assigned a different country as can be seen below:

• Aquinas- UK/Niger/Malaysia/Estonia
• CCGS - Ireland/Vietnam/Tunisia
• GGS - United States of America
• Hale- India, St Vincent & Grenadines, Spain, Bolivia
• Scotch - Russia/ New Zealand
• Trinity - France, Mexico, South Korea, Australia
• Wesley - China, Norway

This competition was so enjoyable as we were able to take on the persona and policies of the country we were representing. MUN incorporates skills such as negotiating, public speaking and teamwork. In the PSA MUN we had to pass two resolutions about; Artificial Intelligent Weapons and Privacy of Data in Sport. Although the Council failed to pass both of these due countries such as Russia and China exercising veto power, we still had an amazing experience.

In addition to this the Year 10 team of Matteo Conte, Ethan Dixon and Matthew Vinci won the competition as they were awarded the number one team on the evening! I was also awarded ‘best helper’ for my role on the evening assisting my teammates throughout the course of the events in various ways. This competition allowed all the PSA schools to compete in something that wasn’t a sport which led to a different dynamic and arguably more competitive side for all of the Aquinas students. We all had a great time and we hope more teams can get involved next year!

A major assignment for Year 8 Veritas is the Advocacy Presentation.

This involves every Year 8 student working in a group of 3 to collaborate and create a ‘Justice and Advocacy Presentation’ to be presented in front of family and friends.

This project is a strong contributor to the growth journey of a boy at Aquinas College because:

• it allows boys to learn about Justice Issues in the world,
• boys learn about and experience ‘advocacy’,
• students get to demonstrate learning in front of peers & family,
• public speaking and presentation skills are developed in students,
• it builds an even more informed and compassionate Aquinas College community.