BMG 2020 Grammarian Issue 4

5 PICASSO COW Earlier this year, the school received a Special Mention award for the outstanding learning journal produced by our Year 6 students in the Picasso Cow program. The school has been awarded a $500 prize for this achievement. This is an Australia-wide competition and a great credit to the work students completed over the remote period in Term 3. The theme of Farm to Plate and Sustainable Farming was central to the learning, and many of the ideas are being transferred into the artwork of our cow ‘Bessie Vale’, who is currently residing at Staughton Vale. Staff facilitated this program over Term 3 and kept the students engaged and focussed on the different weekly tasks. Thanks to Mr Delic, Mr Gill, Mrs Richards, Mr Durham and Ms McMahon as part of implementation of the program and its success and a special thanks to Ms Callow for her creative work in developing the artwork vision for Bessie Vale. UPSTART CHALLENGE The Upstart Challenge is an entrepreneurial program that asks students to consider possible solutions to community or world problems. By considering a range of issues, students from Ballarat and surrounding areas were provided with an opportunity to exercise and develop skills such as personal creativity, critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills ( just to name a few). These are all skills and traits of a ‘career agile’ person. This year we were proud to have Year 9 students, Zoe Daniel, Carmen Miguelez Gallardo and Joshua Di Mieri showcase their ability to adapt and respond to change as team ‘Hydrozoid’. As creative changemakers of the future, these students tackled their usual study demands and still found time to invest in developing concepts with mentors to address the social issue of non-renewal energy sources and reliable sources of electricity. As a result of their hard work and independent research, they were able to devise ‘Hydrozoid’ as a concept. Hydrozoid is a renewable, clean energy device that generates electricity through currents of water, and is aimed at providing rural communities in the developing world with easier access to power. With mentoring by business leaders, the team impressed the judges and the audience at the finals and were awarded the ‘People’s Choice Award’ and a cash prize of $300. To read more, please visit the school website .