The focus and techniques used in the acquisition of a foreign language have certainly changed over time. Today language teachers successfully integrate digital media with inquiry-based learning. The language student is exposed to a myriad of linguistic and cultural experiences and can interact with authentic material. This enrichment helps students connect and build an understanding of their immediate world and tolerance of foreign cultures. In these unprecedented times, these character traits are expected and highlighted.

Prof Satti explains, ‘Having Pedagogical structure for Junior School students maximises their engagement. Tasks that are relevant really promote creativity and collaboration. The use of technology supports the learning and enhances the 21st-century skills.”

During any given lesson, a Global Studies or Language student will demonstrate critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication and Christian character. These 21st Century skills are transferable between courses and enhanced throughout life.

Mr James Brown who teaches Global Studies comments, “Having a large focus on student-directed learning this year appears to be going very well. The boys have improved their ability to reference their work. I believe this is important for them to develop early if they are wishing to attend university.”

At Aquinas College, project-based learning can occur as a face-to-face discussion or on the dynamic Teams Wall. This training ground provides our students with the tools to succeed in school. It also assists them to be an outstanding contributor to the task at hand and for their peers.

Prof Leopardi reflects, “Students who are confident learners are encouraged to help others and this I believe builds character for all involved.”

The Language/Global Studies teachers are teaching traditional syllabus points using modern methodology. They are especially keen on how the Class OneNote can offer opportunities for differentiation. Students are required to complete a variety of activities in any given lesson according to their level of ability and determination.

Mrs Megan Monks and Mr Michael Evelegh agree that OneNote offers greater diversity for the learner.

In conclusion, project-based learning tasks need a wide-angle lens coupled with clear instruction and strong research parameters. Successful learning occurs when learners work together and listen to different viewpoints. A more complete grasp of the concepts is made. Working independently on the same task would not provide the same depth of understanding.

Two are better off than one because together they can work more effectively. (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

A Year 7 boy’s journey in character development has continued this term with students examining inspiring people from World War 1 and what virtues they espouse. With this knowledge, each boy considered how they could improve their personal character by comparing the conditions their inspiring person faced in World War 1 with their current life circumstances identifying what their character strengths are and which they weak in and could improve.

The next unit of study in the Year 7 Veritas course is Cybersafety. Our students use the internet to learn, relax, have fun, express themselves, share interests, access services and connect with friends, family and online communities. While this increased connectivity has enormous benefits, it also places students at increased risk of online harms such as cyberbullying, image-based abuse, grooming, privacy breaches and online hate. Student’s online experiences play a significant role in their social and emotional development, which is why cyber safety education is a key component of the Year 7 Veritas program aiding in protecting the safety and wellbeing of our students online.

This term the Year 8 Veritas course undertook an evidence-based drug and alcohol education program. The college uses a harm minimisation approach aimed to reduce the risks associated with drug use, and promote healthier, alternative behaviours for students. This comprehensive approach to drug education gives boys the opportunity to gain accurate information about drugs and drug-related issues, including the misuse of alcohol, vaping/e-cigarettes and illicit substances. They were also provided with the opportunity to explore some communication strategies that can be helpful in disengaging people from being pressured into drug-related activities.

This Term sees the Year 9 boys move further along their path of transformation by being confronted with performing in the Year 9 Dance Spectacular, one of the many challenges’ boys will meet throughout the Odyssey Program. All Year 9 boys have been learning a group dance routine choreographed by specialist Dance Instructors with the goal being to proficiently perform their dance in front of family and friends at the Year 9 Dance Spectacular on the evening of Wednesday 2nd June. This will be the night when boys will be challenged to show courage and confront their fear by stepping on stage in front of 700+ people to perform their routine.

The benefits of this event to the development of character in a boy are huge: he has the opportunity to step outside the ‘Man Box’ challenging the stereotype that men don’t dance, he learns to rely on others as part of a team as well as being responsible for his actions within a team; he learns to use mechanisms to lower his stress levels in situations that are uncomfortable; he has the opportunity to demonstrate a Growth Mindset by stepping outside his comfort zone, and above all, he gets to have fun with his peers.

Throughout this past semester, the Perception and Critical Thinking elective program (PCT, hereafter) has run an Ethics Olympiad Task. This program has presented the Year 9s with many interesting cases surrounding current world events and issues, alongside inquisitive questions they would have to solve in the most ethical way possible, using a range of professional techniques. For example, PCT has seen students creating presentations addressing issues surrounding the unethical ‘Tiger King’ documentary - popular Netflix documentary series which displays the dangerous and abusive actions of Joe Exotic, a self-described gun-carrying redneck, towards animals and his demonizing behaviour towards Carol Baskin, an Animal Rights Activist (including his attempt to assassinate her). In this case, the students had to look at a wide range of ethical theories to attempt to solve a question surrounding the topic such as; consequentialism - determining whether something is ethical based on what determines the best implication. After months of preparation, two teams were selected to participate in the Ethics Olympiad Competition.

The Ethics Olympiad gave an opportunity to the students to share their ethical theories towards these cases with other students from Australia and South-East Asia. Throughout the course of the day, in teams of 5, the Year 9 students had to discuss and rebut 8 cases against students from Years 10 - 12. The students were then judged by professionals from universities around the world, such as Harvard, and the University of Texas. One of the teams placed 6th out of the 16 schools.

Overall it has been a very fun and insightful experience for the students, which has helped develop our public speaking skills dramatically and has introduced us to the topics of Philosophy and Ethics. Furthermore, the Ethics Olympiad has encouraged and exposed students to a new area, which they may take up as a profession in the future.

Life in boarding can’t be described in one word. It can be described as fun, exciting, happy, lively and so much more. At the start of Term 2, I couldn’t wait to get back into boarding life because I knew I would be safe and happy there.

On the weekdays there is certainly no absence of excitement. Some of the kids wake up pretty early and turn on the TV. When I wake up I start off by having a shower and then I go to the main area and sit down and wait until everyone goes off to breakfast. After breakfast, we sit down for a little longer and watch the TV. Once Brother Robert gets here we go and clean our rooms and then we get him to check our rooms. After Brother checks our rooms we are allowed to get our phones.

Before school, we can do whatever we want as long as it is around the boarding community. We then head to school. After school, if we have sport we do that but if we don’t then we can do whatever we want. Dinner may be anything from nachos to penne pasta. Then we get back and have a meeting.

Finally to finish the day off we do study then go to bed. On the weekends we have an even better time, we do recreational activities which may range from going to aqua park to going to a museum. All in all I think boarding is a good experience for anyone.

Video Game Design, Mouse Trap Racers, Conspiracy Theories, Bridge Building, Mock Trial and Content Creation are the units that are being explored in ASP during Term 2.

Under the guidance of Mr Luke Deakin our amazing expert volunteer Video Game gurus Leigh and Sean from Huntsman Games
come in once a week to assist a group of enthusiastic boys in designing their own video own game. Much to the boy's delight and possibly parents dismay video game design is a legitimate university course that Sean is currently Guest lecturing in!

In ASP Video Game Design we have been making a space shooter video game using software by the name of Unity. With the help of Sean and Leigh in class and through series of videos that they have made. We get laptops to use to make video games which is great. Although the unit is challenging if you get stuck you can ask Sean and Leigh and they will help you. I can’t wait for my video game to be complete!

• Matthew Champness

Critical and Creative Thinking or Mouse Trap Racers is proving to be a popular unit once again with the boys rising to the challenge to use just a mousetrap as the only source of power for their self-designed vehicle. We will see as the term progresses if they are able to make their cars move! So far there have been a lot of interesting design ideas and already a lot of resigns.

Asp CCT is great for learning different ways to do things and to also learn to trial and error. We get to build not only mouse trap cars but also build friendships with others. Even though I have only been at AC for a term and a half, ASP has really made me get excited about Wednesdays!

• Jack Sharman

Dr David Keatley from Murdoch University has found a great home among the students at Aquinas normally teaching Criminology – however, he has really found his place with Conspiracies. He started the unit posing a series of a Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale to the boys to see where they rated, he fully thought he expected he would need to convince our boys that there were conspiracies in the world…. Are not our boys are true believers and have watched a lot of old movies!

Throughout this past term the ASP has ran a ‘Conspiracy Theories’ program for students interested in the topic. Hosted by Dr David Keatley (a behavioural scientist/criminal profiler from Murdoch University, who has worked as a criminal profiler for many institutions including the FBI), this unit has presented the students with challenging tasks and inquisitive conspiracy theories, which they would analyse with a critical eye and try to solve. It has seen students creating theories of how they think that significant events occurred or didn’t occur, including The JFK Assassination, Area 51, and the moon landing. The students have really enjoy the course so far and are keen to learn more on the topic moving forward.

• Michael Elhaj

Bridge Building seems simple – that is until you are given finite resources right down to the amount of glue you have. The boys have been given the specific specification to work within and finite resources, now they need to work as a team to come up with a plan to find out the best solution for the problem as there are no spares going to be supplied. The first issue they encountered was the longest piece of wood they were given was shorter than the length of the bridge needed to be so they have spent the first few weeks experimenting with what would be the best type of join to make. The best part of this so far has been watching the boys communicate their ideas as of course, their idea is the best! It will be great to see how these bridges turn out and test them in Week 10 or 11.

Content Creation is under the amazing instruction of Ms Ramsay and has the exciting opportunity to travel to Curtin University to hear advertising pitches by students to not-for-profit organisations later this term. We can’t wait to hear want they learn and see what they themselves produce from this unit!

Earlier in the term a group of current and former ASP students attended a Water Think Tank to tackle the problem of water security. Matteo Conte writes about the program:

The Water Think Tank was a great opportunity to engage in a creative project with my friends outside of school. As a team, we were tasked with developing a solution to future water scarcity in Perth and WA. After presentations on the ‘ideation’ (idea-development) process and on the Aboriginal cultural and spiritual connection to water–which would serve as our inspiration for the project–we dived straight into the task.

A major feature of the day was that student voices needed to be heard in the struggle against climate change and we took this message to heart by trying to develop a practical and effective solution to the issue we were presented with. Initially, we decided to tackle water wastage in agriculture, but when we discovered the shocking fact that the vast majority of water wastage occurred in Perth households, our focus shifted.

Research showed us that ornamental gardens and lawns were draining an enormous amount of clean water in Perth, and so the Native Gardens project was born. We developed the idea to legislate and promote the replacement of public and private lawns and ornamental plants with native Australian varieties, which would reduce water usage by around 50%. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire process but especially making and presenting our slide show to explain our idea.

While we didn’t win this year, we returned to school in high spirits, having had a fantastic day filled with creativity. I encourage any boys who are invited to participate in this event to throw themselves into it enthusiastically. Their ideas could contribute to the future of water management in Western Australia.

• Matteo Conte

Mass

The mass in the morning began at 9:15am with grandparents arriving between 8:30 - 9:00 am. This was a special day for all Year 7 students and their grandparents. The Mass was a time to cleanse, relax and listen with your grandparents to the chaplain talking to us as well as the choir sing in the background to beautiful songs. It was a very peaceful morning not only for myself but also for the grandparents and something I will treasure for a long time.

Assembly

The assembly started right after the Mass. The assembly was for some of the Year 7 students to give a little idea to the grandparents about what life at Aquinas is like. The speeches ranged from a sport’s speech presented by me to a speech about the Boarding Life spoken by Ed Dodd and Caelyn Beard. It was very fun listening to some of the speeches given by our Aquinas Year 7 community.

Morning Tea

The morning tea was prepared by some of the student's parents and our amazing boarding staff in the dining hall. It was one of the most delicious morning teas I have ever seen. Unfortunately, none of the students were able to attend the spectacular event but
when we walked past it, it looked fantastic. My grandma was able to sneak one of the macaroons and let me tell you it was amazing, It was like something you would expect on MasterChef.

Conclusion

This was definitely a very fun day from the Mass in the morning to the morning tea in the end. Every single part of this amazing yet
tiring day was just one of the many days at Aquinas that I will certainly never forget. I can not finish this off without a huge mention
to all the staff who helped put this whole day together. I can’t wait till the next time so I can get another macaroon.

Hi, my name is Logan Nixon and I’m one of the new year seven boarders of Brothers House.

The first week at Aquinas was very unusual, unfortunately, a small COVID outbreak hit, and we had to go into lockdown. I found home-schooling very hard and frustrating as I couldn’t just ask the teacher what I need to do, I had to figure it all out myself.

Once that was all over, in week 2, I could finally start boarding. It wasn’t too nice at the start because we still had to wear masks. I also got a little homesick, but after the second week, I was fine. The school part was amazing as we got our own iPad, at my old school we had to go to the computer room and get a laptop.

The first weekend recreation was really amazing. We went to Adventure World, there were so many rides and slides. My favourite slide was the Kraken.

Week 3 was very chill, and I started to settle into the boarding and Aquinas life. Week 4 was camp, and it was really cool. My favourite part was the search and rescue as we got to explore in the bush and try not to be captured by the organisers. After camp was the boarder’s weekend or 'exeat', I got to come back to my home in Kalannie (three and a half hours northeast of Perth). I got to catch up with all my family and friends.

Once we came back it was week 5 - again a very chill and easy week, though the next week started getting a little harder as we started studying for our CATs. Once we had finished all our CATs in week 7, I felt very relieved.

Aquinas has been a big step for me, the sport, the facilities, the boarding, it's all amazing. I’m very excited to see what I can accomplish in the coming years.

Our Middle School leaders have embarked on a new initiative in 2021 with the Junior School Mentoring Program. 24 students in Year 9 attend Junior School classes from pre-primary to Year 6 every Monday and Tuesday during the Middle School tutor period. During this time they support the students in the following ways:

• Role Modelling Aquinas College values
• Supporting small group activities
• Reading to students
• Assisting the teacher with guiding student learning
• Work with individual students who require further support or enrichment

The program provides an opportunity for leaders to develop their emerging leadership skills through an authentic experience. I do not doubt that both sets of students have plenty to gain through the interactions. At the end of the program, the leaders are given formal feedback via the classroom teacher on their leadership skills. The program lasts for 6 weeks and a new set of leaders will work in the program in Term 2.

Quotes from Pre-primary

"I liked them over here." – Alfie

"I liked them helping us with writing." – William

"They were beautiful. I liked how they were here every Monday and Tuesday." – Marius

"They were kind and helpful." - Loke

Quotes from Year 9 leaders

"It’s been good helping out with the younger kids; helping them with their music and reading skills. I feel I’ve made a difference by steering them on the right track and helping them to get back to their work."

• Jay Mutter

"It’s been interesting learning about what they’ve been doing and comparing it to when I was in their year. It’s been fun helping them and giving them advice. I’ve learnt about the importance of modelling the standards I want the boys to demonstrate such as sitting quietly. I’ve learnt from Mr Leggett how to assist boys when they are stuck on something."

• Cooper Allen

Term 1 always seems to go past so fast – this one even more so with the first week in lockdown and being only 9 weeks long.

ASP was straight underway with our AMAZING criminology crew heading online so the boys did not miss out. A HUGE THANK YOU to Dr David Keatley and Jason Dohle at Murdoch University for enabling the Year 8s and 9s to use the Murdoch Blackboard System to access the Criminology Unit online – the engagement, as usual, was fantastic throughout the unit. Thanks also to the AMAZING Aquinas staff who make ASP possible; Mr Paul West and Mr David White have run units this Term. Also to Matthew Vinci in Year 10 who comes along twice a week and runs the Middle School Academic Extension Club on Monday and Wednesday Lunch - the boys and I greatly enjoy and appreciate this.

• Mrs Monks

Criminology

Dr Dave has been continually impressed by the AC ASP students with their enthusiasm and investigative skills. This term they did not disappoint filling the boards in the SB13 ‘dungeon’ with their theories, which they excitedly presented. Dr Dave and Jason were amazed at their findings and astounded at the amount of work the boys had put in. Both Dr Dave and Jason will be back next term with a new Conspiracy Theory Unit.

• Mrs Monks

Throughout this past term, the ASP has run a criminology program for students eager to learn about the topic, including how to solve a crime mystery, by looking at the behaviour of criminals and their social normalities and abnormalities. Hosted by Dr David Keatley (a behavioural scientist from Murdoch University, who has worked as a criminal profiler for many institutions including the FBI), alongside Jason Dohle, from Murdoch’s education department, this unit has presented the students with challenging tasks and cold cases, which they have attempted to solve. It has seen students creating theories of how they think that a crime has occurred (at a professional level), including the Zodiac Murders, and the CPF-21 Plane bombing. The students have really enjoyed the course and are keen to learn more on the topic moving forward.

• Michael Elhaj

Ancient Architecture

A new unit for ASP this term was invented by resident ASP expert Mr Paul West – Ancient Architecture. This unit has been a resounding success with the boys who have happily come to tell me about the research they have been doing. I am eager to see their presentations in week 9!

• Mrs Monks

This year many of us from the middle school who undertook the Ancient Architecture ASP, learnt about different ancient cultures such as the Mesopotamians or the Greeks, focusing mainly on their construction and meaning of their architecture. Our task, to learn about a chosen civilisation and to construct one of their well-known buildings, presenting both to the class during the final lesson. My group chose to study the Sumerians, known for creating the earliest form of written texts. Mr West helped us, using his extensive knowledge of many of these early cultures, which kept us in the right direction and aided us in the creation of our miniature models. Personally, I found the recreation the best part as we looked closer into these great feats of engineering and took in some of the less notable details, such as our group noticed that the Ziggurat of Ur, the structure we chose to build, was not dedicated to Sumerian Sun God, as would be assumed from a culture that is so focused on farming, but is instead of the moon God known as Nanna. After having done this course for a term now, I truly believe that it has helped increase my knowledge on the history and will definitely choose it again if made an option later.

• Riley Nel

CCT

A favourite of ASP is the CCT course – Creative and Critical Thinking this term has seen the boys work in pairs to research and build a mousetrap racer. This has been a real challenge with our super condensed term thanks to Year 7 Camp, NAPLAN and CATs! Hopefully, we can get a car moving, if not the boys will have an excellent holiday project!

Marble run

A small enthusiastic bunch of boys came together to take part in the Marble run ASP unit this term.

• Mrs Monks

Marble Run has been a fun and creative unit to take part in. In each lesson, all students participate together using teamwork to create a ‘marble run’ which involves trial and error. Every part of the marble run sees students tinkering their different parts to be able to make their run perfectly. Marble Run gives students the ability to use their creative craft skills to be able to compete with other groups in the course at the end of term one. Marble Run is definitely a course I would consider people to take part in if they are into crafting and problem-solving.

• Christian Pecotic

During Term 1 we also have several competitions the Synergy Solar Car, Have Sum Fun Maths, IM2C and Have Sum Fun Maths. The Solar Car Team reached the Semi-Finals which is a great achievement, thanks to all the efforts of Mr David White throughout the term and well done to all the boys who took part!

Have Sum Fun

The Have Sum Fun Maths Year 9 and 10 had 1 team place 3rd in their competition at All Saints on the 19th of March – WELL DONE BOYS!

• Mrs Monks

Have Sum Fun is one of those competitions where it always seems so chaotic right at the start. From the last minute prep to the high energy competition there’s never a moment of quiet but in that djinn of rounds there is a vibrance and electricity of energy in the air that is almost tangible. With multiple of Aquinas’s brightest minds squashed into one team, there was bound to be squabbles and debates but there was also great bonding. I have enjoyed my two years in this competition which has allowed me to learn and grow, I have learnt the value of perseverance, pushing the Aquinas team from outside the top 5 last year to 3rd this year. It has been a great honour to represent Aquinas in Have Sum Fun and I definitely hope there will be more opportunities in future

• Samuel Yeow