Specialist Programs

Outdoor Education

Students at Benalla P-12 College can choose Outdoor Ed as an elective from Year 9. Students focus on environmental issues, trip planning and investigations of different types of outdoor environments and their uses.

Health and Physical Education

Physical Education Yrs 5-10

As part of the years 5 & 6 Physical Education program at Benalla P-12 College, all students complete an intensive swimming unit in Term 1 which is completed in our own 25 meter pool located at the Faithfull campus. During Term 2, there is a strong emphasis on developing and mastering each students fundamental motor skills like the strike, kick, throw & catch. Once these skills are mastered, students go on to complete units on gymnastics, athletics and sports specific skills in order to be successful in a wide range of different sports.

In years 7 through to 10, students undertake a comprehensive 4 week block on each of the 24 different sports undertaken at Benalla P-12 College. For each sport, we aim to develop and improve students social, tactical and physical skills needed to succeed in that sport. Some of these sports include gymnastics, netball, football, cricket, badminton, golf, hockey, basketball, soccer, rugby, tennis, baseball / softball, athletics & swimming.

 

 

Health

Our years 5 – 10 Health curriculum enables students to develop a strong sense of self, to build and maintain satisfying relationships, to learn how to be resilient and to help make lifelong informed healthy decisions. Some of the topics covered include fitness & lifestyle, diet & nutrition, relationships, sun smart, water safety, personal health, drug education, mental health, sexuality, first aid, bullying (cyber, verbal, physical), rites of passage & driver education.

Students at Benalla P-12 College also participate in the following programs :

Year 9 Respectful Relationships program

  • Which covers the topics of Consent (ran by the police), Diverse and Same Sex Attracted Relationships (ran by Uniting Care) and Family Violence (ran by the White Ribbon Day ambassador, Neil Stott)

Year 10 Help for U program

  • Which is ran by the school nurse and covers all the programs and organisations available around Benalla for students to access when dealing with all the different health & wellbeing issues which students may have to deal with.

Yr 11 P.A.R.T.Y ( Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth ) program

  • This program is optional for year 11 students to attend. Students go to either the Wangaratta or the Alfred hospital in Melbourne. Nurses & doctors from the Trauma section of that hospital inform students about what happens in that section of the hospital as a result of major incidents and accidents in the community.  The program aims to educate and expose students to an experience of life post trauma with the view to altering their perceptions of risk-related activities such as drink-driving.

Music

Music Program Secondary

 

Benalla P-12 College has a highly successful music program offering students a rich musical experience for beginners through to advanced instrumental education including VCE Music courses and VET Music.

Teaching and performing is accommodated at the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) at the Faithfull Campus of the College with some classes and lessons provided at the Barkly Street Campus for senior students.

Ensembles, classes and lessons are provided by a highly experienced and professional team of music educators including:

  • Barry Roberts – Performing Arts Co-ordinator – Classroom Music, Clarinet, Saxophone, Year 7 Band, Stage Band, Symphonic Band
  • Bryce McMurray – Classroom Music and Year 8 Band.
  • David Roe – Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Stage Band
  • Rolf Koren – Percussion, Small groups, VET Music Technical Production

Students participate in bands and ensembles and regularly perform at local events, festivals and are offered a range of music camps and tour opportunities throughout the year.


Years 5/6

 

Each lesson consists of a combination of activities. Students sing songs and use tuned and untuned percussion to create ensemble accompaniment. The lyrics are also discussed and sometimes altered. Students have also created rap performances after looking at rhythm and rhyme patterns. Singing in rounds has also been done.

Students have also used body percussion and dance to enhance musical performances and have improvised dances in small groups.

Recordings and sometimes video clips are listened to and discussed. In term 1, the recordings were all about using voices. This term they have all been original soundtracks and the music has been analysed to identify how composers create mood and colour. Non-Western music is also shared including recordings from South America, Indonesia, Africa and Japan.
Students have learned to tune, repair and play guitars. So far most are familiar with three basic chords, and these will be extended in the future.

A variety of instruments are played, discussed and analysed including non Western instruments such as didgeridoos and African thumb pianos.

Basic music theory is also taught through games and in ensembles, including notation of treble clef notes, rhythm and some musical terminology. Major and Minor chords are identified and explained. Pentatonic scales are used for improvisation.

 

 

 

 

Arts

Technology

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation (SAKGF) exists to develop happy and healthy life-long eating habits in a new generation of Australians by engaging them in growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing delicious and healthy food at primary school.

The Kitchen Garden Program has been developed by world renowned chef and writer, Stephanie Alexander and Benalla P-12 College is proud to be part of this wonderful program.

Students from Years 3 & 4 from the Waller St and Avon St Campuses spend 2 hours each week in a kitchen classroom preparing and sharing a wonderful variety of meals created from produce grown in our own vegie gardens. They also participate in a 45 minute weekly garden lesson held in the vegetable garden following organic gardening principles. Amanda Grimwade is our Kitchen and Garden Specialist, run these sessions.

In both the kitchen and the garden the children work together in small groups with the assistance of volunteers. In the kitchen the finished dishes are arranged with pride and care on tables set with flowers from the garden, and the shared meal is a time for students, helpers, teachers and specialists to enjoy each other’s company and conversation. Throughout the year, the students invite family and community members to experience the Kitchen Garden Programme through our Autumn and Spring Harvest Festivals. The students also have the opportunity to be involved in the wider community through visits from our more senior residents, the local garden clubs and participation in the Benalla Festival.

Through their involvement in the SAKGP students learn to work cooperatively, share resources, respect each other, see teachers in a different learning environment, gain enjoyment and have fun working in the garden and kitchen. Working in the garden is a physical activity. Students’ plant, compost, dig; collect the eggs from our chooks and develop an awareness of the environment and plant diversity. Students learn a new language to describe foods, plants, textures and flavours. They use maths to measure and weigh, they learn that new experiences can be rewarding, and their self-esteem, confidence and sense of achievement is enhanced. They learn to work as part of a team.

Experience in the kitchen not only introduces students to new foods and recipes, it also provides them with kitchen skills such as using a knife safely and effectively, managing hot stoves and saucepans, and using other kitchen equipment.

So good are these experiences that the students are motivated by the pleasures of good food, and develop an appreciation for rituals and tastes that will last a lifetime. There are two unique factors about the Kitchen Garden Program. The first is the intrinsic link between the garden, the kitchen and the table. The emphasis is on learning about food and about eating it. No part of the Program can exist without the other. The second factor is that the Program is embedded in the curriculum.

We would like to extend an invitation to our Benalla P-12 College community to come and visit our kitchen or garden and see our wonderful program in action Monday-Thursdays. We always welcome new volunteers so if you are interested or know someone who maybe contact the Waller St Campus. For more information regarding the program visit our school website or the SAKGF – http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/ 

DigiTech

LOTE

At Benalla P-12 College, we offer an Indonesian Bilingual Program from Grade 1-6 at Avon St and Clarke St Campuses. This program is recognized as unique, especially as it is located in country Victoria and has been established as a pivotal educational program for more than 15 years in Benalla. The Benalla P-12 College Leadership Team strongly supports this program and is committed to its development and continual improvement and growth.

In this program, children spend 50% of classroom time listening and working in an Indonesian language environment. The process used to teach Indonesian language in this program is called immersion.

This program entails mirroring the way you have learnt your ‘native language’, and acquired your skills in your first language – that is:

  • listening
  • comprehending
  • speaking
  • reading
  • writing

At Benalla P-12 College, children will journey through these stages to gain a commendable fluency and understanding of the Indonesian language. The immersion program is constant and consistent; it is continuous through activities in Literacy, Numeracy, Art and Music.

Hands On Learning

Hands On Learning is an innovative education program that caters to the different ways young people learn.

Two artisan-teachers work collaboratively with small groups of cross-age students on authentic building projects that provide a platform for students to engage, grow confidence and achieve success at school. Students develop strategies to shift attitudes and behaviours that have become barriers to success in the classroom, empowering them to make the most of school, and future training and employment.

Hands On Learning fosters strong, long term relationships that help young people develop the skills and abilities they need to succeed in work and life like collaboration, problem solving, communication, resilience and empathy. HoL teams focus on real and meaningful projects including; garden construction, small timber projects, vegetable gardening, environmental tree planting days, meal preparation and managing a small poultry enterprise.

How it Works

One Day, Every Week
  • Ten students, two artisan-teachers, one day out of the classroom every week.
  • Students from different year levels are referred by wellbeing and student inclusion staff, year level co-ordinators and school leadership teams.
Staff

The HOL Artisan-teachers are employed directly by schools while Hands On Learning Australia provides support through quality assurance and ongoing training and development. The Benalla P-12 College program is supported by the Tomorrow Today Foundation and partners in community projects with numerous local stakeholders.