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Westcourt

Campus Captain Reports

Westcourt is the benchmark where boys turn to young men. The opportunities, challenges and experiences foster this growth for students. 2020 proved a curveball for the entire Joey’s community and importantly Westcourt. The opportunities and experiences that are so integral to this journey were put on hold or cancelled. Victorian Young Leaders to China, ACC, immersions all gone with the blink of an eye. It was in the face of this adversity that instead of giving up on what we had left, we relished it and continued to push forward with our year. 2020 threw everything possible at our year level and instead of knocking us down it brought us closer together and made us a stronger year level than we ever would have been. 2020’s Westcourt may not have been the same as the years before us, but together as a year level the experience we have has undoubtedly made us ready for senior school at Mt Sion. Sure, Westcourt missed out on a lot this year, so it makes it easy to forget the new opportunities and facilities Westcourt has in 2020. Most notably the Westcourt Gymnasium was opened this year and has opened the doors for so many PE options that just wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. At lunchtimes, the gym is full of avid basketballers, shooting and playing ‘till the bell rings and in PE battle ball, badminton and netball can now all be taught and played on the court. Looking up from the court you will see an awesome weights room, filled with dumbbells, exercise balls and many other great features for the High Performance and Adventure Race classes. On top of this a new classroom sits on the top floor of the gym, allowing students to sit and work in a different space to the Edmund Rice or Ignatius Wings. Mr McDowall and Mr Schlank run a class utilizing the Kitchen Gardens that Westcourt has the opportunity to look after. Heading out they plant their produce, look after it, harvest it and cook it into a delicious meal able to be enjoyed by the whole class. 2020 has taken some things but has given us some great spaces to be enjoyed by the many cohorts of Westcourt to come.

Jaeger Fawcett – Westcourt Campus Captain

After a crazy start to the year with bushfires, 2020 just got even crazier with a worldwide pandemic. Shortly after everyone established that COVID-19 was dangerous people started to panic and not long after we were in lockdown. Globally, everything stopped. Workplaces were closed. School, sports and all regular things were stopped abruptly and we were forced to stay inside. The first wave hit us in around April but school had to proceed so we went into remote learning. Unlike many others I personally really enjoyed a different way of learning. I think it made me a more independent and that will stay with me forever. For an example in a situation where I would normally ask the teacher a question, I could google it and find my way. It also gave me lots of different options to organise my day and more free time to expand on other hobbies and focus on myself. I really enjoyed the freedom of choice. Depending on the subjects and the teachers we had real time learning and anytime learning. Both ways of learning were good in different ways. I personally liked anytime learning the best because I could do it early in the morning or later in the afternoon and during the day I still had time for sports and to do other errands. The great positive of real time learning on the other hand was that you would see your teachers who were always more than happy to help us with anything we needed and also to hear your friends which was really refreshing at times. Just as we were all becoming fed up with online schooling, restrictions finally eased at the perfect time. We were back at school and it was like a breath of fresh air seeing mates again and being able to socialize. Much to our displeasure though came the second wave and we were put back into lockdown and needed to find our rhythm again. Fast forward eight weeks and we are now on track to finish our journey at Wescourt. School had to make few changes to safely open again. We all have to wear face masks which I find annoying but we will have to get used to it because it looks like it will stay like that for a while. This year, that seems like a very long year, I have learned to be more adaptable, to adjust to all these restrictions, to be more organised and most of all I have learnt to never take things for granted.

Noa Skoko – Westcourt Campus Captain.

This year has been different for everyone, it affected everybody in its own way in good and bad ways, not only physically but mentally as well. There have been the highs and the extreme lows. It looked like a normal year to start off with until March hit and it’s been downhill ever since and still looking worse in October. Our Year 9 cohort has missed out on a lot of things this year which is very unlucky as I’m sure we were all looking forward to what Westcourt had to hold for us in the terms we missed due to COVID. Things we missed out on included the camps in Term 4 which all the boys were very excited about. ACC sport: footy, soccer, etc which is a big thing in Year 9 since there is no

Westcourt

ACC sport leading up to Year 9, personally I couldn’t wait to compete against the Melbourne based teams in footy. One thing I noticed about this year and while in lockdown is how much free time we had all to ourselves, some boys used this time to better themselves and some used it to chill and relax in their life, it didn’t really matter what you chose to do, if it was making you happy that is good. It also brought many opportunities to try new things and challenge yourself. If it was learning a new sport or reading a new book, I’m sure every boy surprised themselves in one way or another while in lockdown. Another aspect of lockdown was being able to be with more of your family especially if they had to work at home, some parents may have hated it as you would have been very annoying but deep inside they would’ve loved your company each day. It was also good to see a lot of people going out and finding things to do locally as we were not allowed to travel for no reason. We as a leadership team and behalf of our student peers agreed everyone has had their lives turned upside down one way or another this year. We have dealt with tragedy personally in the loss of a friend, Abe. It has been difficult to really grab this opportunity and make the most of what it entails but through our Wellbeing Days, BBQ’s and all other events we have shown just what a strong team can do in the face of adversity. On behalf of the leadership team and the greater Year 9 cohort we would like to thank Mr Deverall for his encouragement and support, Mr Parsons and Mr Harmon for always assisting and all other Westcourt staff members for being there to teach and talk to no matter what the circumstances.

Sol Bowtell – Westcourt Campus Captain Kitchen Garden

This year Kitchen Garden got off to a great start, the garden beds were looking very tired and drained from the summer heat so we were assigned to fertilize and plant new veggies for the winter months as well as practicing crop rotation. Each student then thought of a personal project that they could do out in the garden. Like making a fire pit and a herb garden. Then unfortunately COVID-19 forced us to take our garden to home, Mr McDowell gave us some seeds to sow at home in recycled containers. During COVID we learned about the benefits to compost and how to make it. Before we knew it, we were back in the garden at school attending to our plants. We also finally realized that our veggies were ready to harvest so we made some pizza and stir fry. We have just sown seeds which will now be all ready to hand over to the kitchen garden class 2021.

Blake McMahon

International Women’s Day At Westcourt

International Women’s Day, on 8 March was celebrated with two major events at Westcourt. Gold coin donations were made by students to buy flowers for the female staff, and a netball match between Clonard and St Joseph’s Year 9 students took place in the gym. The netball game was an absolute nail biter. Students from both schools packed into the gym to watch some of Westcourt’s best athletes try to topple the star netballers from Clonard. After a fast start from our Joey’s boys, Clonard began clawing their way back into the match, taking the lead in the second quarter. The game was neck and neck going into half time. The

Clonard girls dominated the start of the third quarter only for the boys to wrest the lead back. A three-goal lead to Joey’s with only minutes to go seemed to have ensured the win but when Clonard surged in the dying stages and brought the game to within a point, heading into attack, the gym held it’s breath. In the end, the siren saved the day, the result, victory to our boys by a solitary point. Many students brought gold coin donations to school. The money raised was also used buy flowers as a gift for our female teachers on the Westcourt staff to show our appreciation of Women on International Women’s day.

Patrick Reed – Westcourt Touchstone Leader

Adventure Race

Throughout semester 1, I completed Adventure Race and all the experiences it has to offer. My fellow classmates and I selected for Adventure Race completed a range of activities like surfing, swimming, ocean kayaking, mountain bike riding and trail running. We got to complete these activities at a wide range of locations, including swimming and kayaking at Eastern Beach, ocean kayaking and surfing at Torquay, mountain bike riding and trail running at the You Yang’s and surfing at Breamlea which was one of my personal favorites. Throughout the semester I was able to enhance my skills in a variety of areas I will use in the future. The class also gives you the opportunity to gain confidence in and around the water and in the great outdoors. The subject also offered a great outlet for my friends and I from the busy and organized schedule of normal school life and definitely gave my brain a break and a breath of fresh air. Adventure race is very accommodating to every confidence and skill level, from beginner to advanced at any area everyone has a chance to have fun, put themselves out their and take on new challenges.

Miller McKeegan

Music Report

A few boys had started to practice regularly in the Westcourt music room at lunchtimes. It was five weeks into Term 3 coming out of the first lockdown. The year had gone stale with a series of events either postponed or cancelled so Westcourt needed a bit of excitement. Mr O’Callaghan had been teaching our industry class the basics of a band so we started jamming with a few songs. Mr Parsons heard us playing and insisted on a small live performance at lunch which we happily accepted. The band ‘Trash 4 Cash’ consisted of Heath Barnes on vocals, Ben Starinskas on bass guitar, Jack Pile on drums, Edmund Rice as support vocals and myself on lead guitar. We played a few ‘Chats’ songs as well as Ben’s original ‘Shapes Mob’. Although we were a little rough around the edges it was great fun and a good experience. Both teachers and the students got into the music and the feedback was really positive from everyone. Playing to New Street on the steps was a nice little venue as the sun was shining.

Jesse Conroy

Mullets for Mental Health

Both James and myself grew our mullets for mental health in October. We were able to raise a few dollars but also raise importance in conversations about mental health. Not too mention plenty of conversations about our mullets.

Aussie Farrow and James Warfe

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday, the first day of Lent, is a day of confession and absolution. We are forgiven for our sins and finalize our Lenten sacrifice or promise. Westcourt captured this sentiment by organizing pancakes for the students, a food commonly associated with Shrove Tuesday. A long line snaking through the corridor meant everyone wanted some, showing their commitment to Lent and their Lenten sacrifice. Pancakes are important as they are made to use up the rich foods like eggs and milk that otherwise would go to waste. We have pancakes today to emulate the pre-fasting period that those thousands of years ago had to endure. But really the boys forgot all of this with eyes bigger than stomachs as they all got devoured in a minute.

Colby McCallum – Westcourt Touchstone Student Leader