Recently, Year 9’s at Westbourne have been on many exciting excursions. On the 12 October the Year 9 cohort divided into to two and either visited ‘The Farmers Place’ near Torquay to learn about food security, sustainability and the importance of eating fresh food or Aireys Inlet for an ecosystems and paddle boarding experience. The group at the ‘Farmers Place’ sourced all ingredients from within 100km of the farm and gathered some more ingredients from the garden on site to make salads and pizza. We compared our pizzas to one from a major pizza chain, which had ingredients that travelled over 100,000 km and had spent months frozen or injected with stabilisers to last the long journey overseas. After our delicious homemade pizzas and salad, we wondered around to meet some of the animals on the farm. We fed the alpacas and sheep, met some chickens, turkeys, cows, and a patted a baby goat named ‘Gibby’.
The other half of the cohort traveled to Aireys Inlet to learn about the history of the Split Point Lighthouse, explore the coast in an estuary walk and to discover life for animals by the river in a fun, hands-on experience whilst Stand-Up Paddle boarding. Some students went fishing using special nets in only shin-deep waters and managed to catch two baby flounders.
On the 24 October the Year 9 cohort traveled to Williamstown Beach for a half day excursion run by the local Surf Life Saving Club. The life guards taught us how to safely rescue someone from the water, using unconventional objects we might have at the beach, including some cricket stumps, a soccer ball and an esky. This taught us how to use our critical thinking skills to even in high pressure situations. We then uncovered the dangers of the beach, like rips and jellyfish and how we can ensure the safety of ourselves and others around us at the beach. We learned how to use D.R.S.A.B.C.D. and how to perform CPR in an emergency. We eventually finished off a great day with rescues in the water with some Body Boards. We all left feeling reassured that we know how to stay safe at the beach and know what to do in an emergency.
Neve Joseland (9H) and Emily Joseland (9F)