Some of our Year 8 students have worked collaboratively to share a glimpse of recent activities at St Brendan’s, Dunnstown.

FOOTBALL AT THE DUNNSTOWN OVAL

By Levi Dunn & Jobe Blazko

Football in the Damascus community is rising in popularity. Here at St Brendan’s, the recent football games have become extremely competitive.

Students are begging for another match, to play with or potentially against their peers.

Football is a very engaging activity among the St Brendan’s peers, bringing us together for matches. This is not only building teams, but friendships as well.

BUTTER MAKING AT ST BRENDAN’S

By Keeley Gillett

A few weeks ago, my Action Habits group made butter. Mrs McMahon put on a video so we’d know how to make it ourselves. We grabbed some jars, poured cream into them, and had to shake them until the cream turned solid. Then we put the jars in ice. That’s how we made butter!

But Mrs. McMahon thought it would be fun to give us a side challenge. We had to pedal on a bike to heat up a cup of water. It was super challenging! Everyone had to take a turn pedalling and, by the end of it, we were all sweaty and tired.

The butter we made was used for the scones we ate. Making the butter was fun, but heating the water was challenging because it was so tiring. We learned lots of interesting things.

SELF-DEFENCE

By Lily McDonald & Lucy Watt

Once a week, one Action Habit group goes to the Dunnstown Football/Netball Club recreation room. That’s where we learn about self-defence. During these sessions we learn lots of new skills, like kicking, punching, yelling and lots more.

The people who ran our session were very kind and inclusive. They supported our learning and encouraged us to try our best. They taught us useful actions that we may need to use in our lives. They were also very funny, often making jokes. They even used a pool noodle to teach.

Most of the time we were there we practised how to back off from someone intruding into our personal space in an aggressive way. We learnt how to kick, punch and yell to keep them away.

Overall, we loved doing this activity and we would do it again. It was lots of fun.

LAL LAL WINDFARM

By Rye Hately & Tom McCarty

Last week the Environment and Lifestyle groups visited the Lal Lal Wind Farm. It was a very interesting excursion.

At the wind farm there were around 60 wind turbines. Each one had a height between 60 and 120 metres.

The average build time for a wind turbine is about a week. But it takes a bit longer for the technical equipment to be put in.

The average output for a wind turbine is two to three megawatts (2000 to 3000 kilowatts). That is enough to power at least 1500 households.

We thought that the Lal Lal Wind Farm excursion was very suitable for the Year 8 students at St Brendan’s. We learnt lots of information about sustainable power.

BALLARAT TRAIN STATION

By Lachy Lund & Callan Reeve

Yesterday the Creative Cultures group visited the Ballarat Train Station and the surrounding precinct. Our excursion focused on some of the famous historical sites and buildings of Ballarat.

The Ballarat Train Station had lots of old buildings surrounding it. It was built in 1862 on the opened on the 11th of April. The train station was renovated between 2016 and 2021 and there is another renovation going on as of now.

The Ballarat Train Station was used for transporting people and gold to Melbourne in the Gold Rush era. It even has a place where gold was stored safely from 1862 before it made its way to the city.

By visiting the Ballarat Train Station precinct we were able to learn more about life in the past. This gave us more appreciation of our local history and architecture.

Visiting the lambs

By Ruby Cookson and Jess Westlake

At St Brendan’s, we recently had a session where three little lambs visited our campus. For many students, it was one of the highlights of the term.

Freddy’s parents brought the lambs to St Brendan’s. They set up a small black pen at the back of the oval to keep the animals safe.

When we arrived for our session, the lambs were introduced to us by Freddy’s parents, who told us a bit about them before letting them out for feeding and cuddles. Then we had the chance to bottle-feed the lambs milk. We also fed them hay.

One of the lambs tried to drink all the milk before the others had a turn. Another lamb, named Wonder, wore a blue harness and was the smallest of the three. Wonder quickly became everyone’s favourite. After their feed, one lamb began bleating like it wanted more milk, while another tried to wander out of the pen!

We were lucky enough to hold the lambs too. We didn’t expect them to be so cuddly—but they were! One of the lambs was wriggly at first, but after a little while, it settled and enjoyed a cozy cuddle. As we held them, we noticed how incredibly soft and fluffy their fur was. It almost felt fake because it was so soft.

Overall, it was an excellent experience, and we hope the Term 3 and 4 groups get to enjoy this amazing opportunity as well.