SECONDARY

SCIENCE

This term, Year 7 science students learnt research skills by investigating a case study of an invasive species. In this investigation students had the below learning experiences.

• Understanding Ecological Impact

Learning about Ecosystems: Investigating an invasive species helped students understand how ecosystems work and how introducing a new species can disrupt the balance of nature.

Real-World Relevance: It highlighted the real-world consequences of human actions, such as introducing non-native species for agriculture, pets, or other purposes.

Critical Thinking Skills and Problem-Solving: Students learnt ways to manage or eradicate invasive species, which involves creative thinking and problem-solving.

Analyzing Data: Research often involves studying data on population growth, spread, and impact, helping you develop analytical skills.

Conservation Education: This research raised awareness about the importance of protecting native species and habitats, encouraging conservation efforts.

Learning About Scientific Research Methods

• Research Techniques: You’ll get hands-on experience with research methods, including literature review, data collection, and possibly even fieldwork.

• Interdisciplinary Approach: Invasive species research often combines biology, ecology, geography, and environmental science, giving you a well-rounded perspective.

• Impactful Presentation

These benefits made researching an invasive species an excellent choice for a science project, combining education with meaningful environmental insights.

Shivani Dutta

Secondary Teacher

Biology Melbourne Zoo excursion

Prior to this week, on 22nd August, the VCE Unit 3 & 4 Biology class decided to go out on an excursion to the Melbourne Zoo. There, we attended an educational program that covered various areas of our biology study. Our teacher, Andrew, was quite enthusiastic and well-versed in the biology of animals. However, it was all study as we did not forget to thoroughly explore the zoo after our program was finished! We saw many animals ranging from lions, gorillas, elephants and sea life. It was truly exciting to observe and study all these different organisms and species. Overall, the program was resourceful and we are grateful to have been provided with the opportunity to attend an experience such as this. We wish to thank our biology teacher Ms. Barnabas, for allowing and making this highly anticipated excursion happen for us!

Gabriella Tam

Vice College Captain

Gravitate - Community Day

On Wednesday, August 21st, 2024, our students participated in the Gravitate Community Day which took place at the Melbourne School of Theology. A day dedicated to insightful sessions and collaborative activities. The event kicked off with a motivating launch session, setting the tone for a day of learning and growth. Students engaged in workshops on topics like assertiveness and participated in an enlightening session titled "The Road," which encouraged deep reflection and meaningful discussions.

A standout moment was the Movie Making session, where students showcased their creativity and teamwork. The day concluded with movie premieres, where each group presented their short films to the audience. We are proud to announce that a group, including students from our college, won an award for their exceptional work. Photos capturing our students winning the award and sharing their thoughts can be seen below, highlighting the spirit and success of the day.

Christopher Surendra

Head of Christian Studies

VCE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT – MARKETING COMPETITION

An effective way to learn the principles of marketing is by applying them to a real-life business scenario. Students in Unit 2 Business Management heard from Mr Anoop Lal, who is a parent and about to launch an online business, along with our very own, Mr John Dawson, Marketing Manager. Students then worked creatively, collaboratively and competitively coming up with a marketing strategy or plan to vie for their approval. Various marketing strategies were examined and justified but at the end of the competition, the winners were announced – Kayla Londy (11A) and Shawish Nyawelo (11C)!

Special thanks to Mr Lal for giving us his time and allowing us to use his real-life business in our marketing competition.

Some life-long lessons from our students as they reflected on this learning activity –

"I learnt that you can never have too much background information about a concept". Anton Hay (11C)

"Consumer preferences and trends are always changing so marketers must have new solutions constantly". Thehan Liyanage (11A)

"I learnt that marketing is more than just advertising". Vivienne Tran (11B)

"This learning activity helped us to work on our presentation skills, group work and communication techniques. It made me think outside the box". Reynold Anandan (11C)

Chin Ee Lor

VCE Business Management Teacher

9/10 Applied Learning Elective

This semester saw a new class of students to the 9/10 Applied Learning Elective. They have been very busy. They have completed a food handler and a kitchen safety short course. This allowed them to cook safely with the produce from the Lighthouse Christian College Vegetable Garden. The students cooked spinach and ricotta rolls and cherry tomato and parsley linguine. Cooking is a cross-curriculum activity being supported by the Food Technology faculty.

The students saw the cooking as their reward for working hard in maintaining the garden. The garden is looking good as the elective has been supported by the Lighthouse Christian College maintenance team.

With these examples the students are experiencing firsthand how interdepartmental organisations collaborate to achieve goals. In addition, the students are currently working on a lesson for the year 3’s.

9/10 Applied Learning Team

Olympics/T20 World Cup Events

Over the course of the last few months, the Launch and Zenith buildings have been transformed into viewing areas for the Olympics and T20 Cricket World Cup, providing opportunities for us students to grow our passion for sport and physical health. We had an overwhelming amount of students with around 650 students show their support for both Australia and their home countries across the two month event.

It was great to be able to bring the community together and hear lovely stories of secondary students teaching primary students the rules of each of the sports. Thank you all so much to those who helped throughout the course of the event whether it be teachers supervising or students volunteering their time for the event!

Lewis Williams

Casey Youth Summit 2024

Last Thursday, Riley and I, joined by a few other year 9 and 10 SRC’s, joined Mr Kan and Mrs Ang on a leadership journey to better our skills! We went to the Casey Youth Summit and absolutely loved it! There was a full day schedule filled with motivational speakers, activities and workshops which helped us build our own confidence and find our voice. What stood out to me was definitely the guest speaker Darren Pereira, who spoke about the importance of figuring out what passions you truly care for and how to use that to propel your future career choices. My favourite quote was definitely “do what you love and love what you do”, this definitely was the highlight of my day because not only did he encourage me and motivate me to do my best, but he also made us all laugh! Not to mention him keeping up with the current trends of today to further his point!

Branching out from the guest speakers, our day was filled with activities and workshops that helped us make new friends and work towards ideas to better our own campuses. We were joined by a few other schools and had a blast during the leadership workshop. It was after lunch and all about acting/drama - definitely my favourite, even though it was outside my comfort zone. I even found someone who looks exactly like one of my best friends, and got a photo with him! To finish off our day Eric Agyeman, someone who's been a guest speaker in Lighthouse many times before, spoke to us about having a voice and leading. Like usual, his message did not disappoint and was so nice to hear!

Caroline and I, on behalf of the rest of the SRC’s absolutely loved our day out and would definitely go to the Casey Youth Summit again!

Caroline and Riley 10B

House Captains

In March of Term 1 this year, Lighthouse Christian College held a house athletics day allowing students to participate in a range of different track and field events. On Thursday 12 September, the top placing students will have the opportunity to compete inter-school providing the chance to represent LCC competitively. This is an amazing accomplishment and on behalf of the senior school House Captains and sports team we would like to congratulate those individuals! We commend everyone who made it to the CSEN athletics, however we also encourage everyone to continue aiming to do their best and honour God in their actions, as Colossians 3:17 states “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

We wish all students the best of luck in the upcoming competition. We hope you perform well and enjoy this exciting experience. For those not competing this year, don’t worry you’ll have the chance to show your talents in the 2025 House Athletics. Your moment to shine will come soon! Remember not to give up. We look forward to seeing what you can do. Good luck to everyone and God bless!

Reynold Anandan and Diana Filamanova

Ten Boom House Captains

Breakfast Club

This is Lynnette, your Luther Knights House Captain. Recently, the school’s reinstated Breakfast Club has been going along very smoothly thanks to the help of many students and teachers alike putting in their time and effort to make it a wonderful experience for everyone involved. We have seen many students come in and out, with great reception back from those who we see in those early mornings. Us Year 12’s hope for this to be an event continued by the next year levels and onwards, continuing an event that can enrich the Lighthouse Community. We look forward to seeing you again for our next session — hopefully with new breakfast items for you to taste!

Lynnette Luk

Luther House Captain