Alice Miller in Term 3, 2024 HAPPENINGS AROUND THE PLACE

A Month of Micro Adventures

A month of micro adventures returned to Alice Miller and Candlebark in August.

Our small scale adventures began in the bush, beside a campfire. Students carefully arranged leaves, coins, rusty nails, screws, and gumnuts on pairs of woollen socks. These were neatly rolled into packages and tied with string, ready to be eco-dyed in pots on the fire. This simple process yielded fantastic results, and a great pair of socks to wear throughout August!

Local legend Kate MacMunn joined us for a morning meeting to share stories from her running adventures. Kate recently became the second female athlete to complete the demanding Down Under 135 trail running event along the Lerderderg River (covering 220+ km in 53 hours and 28 minutes). Click the button below to see a documentary film about the event.

The running theme continued into the night. The mile an hour micro adventure is always an inviting undertaking - run a mile an hour, for 24 consecutive hours, to achieve a marathon distance in a day. It may seem relatively simple. It’s not. Throughout the night, it demands extraordinary effort and commitment. Run. Rest. Repeat. Over and over again. During short breaks between runs, students worked through their own list of jobs - including writing a letter to grandparent, learning a language other than English, and mastering the moonwalk! A large and enthusiastic bunch of kids successfully completed this not-so-micro adventure.

In week two, the Candlebark basketball court became a large scale art project for a team of chalk artists. With spotlights and head torches, they worked into the night, creating a three dimensional pond filled with colourful fish, surrounded by rocky cliffs. A feature of this project was the teamwork involved, and the collaboration between students from a range of different year levels. The artwork was acknowledged and admired by students and staff the following morning, but by morning tea the court was being used for down ball again!

Alice Miller parent and cycling enthusiast Mark Hurst joined us to chat about riding the entire south island of New Zealand as part of a bike packing event. It took Mark and a friend eight days to complete the Tour Te Waipounamu - an outstanding achievement, often in difficult conditions. It was pouring rain when they reached the end shortly before midnight.

The War of the Buttons involved teams from both campuses walking over Mount Macedon to the other school to find 100 carefully hidden buttons. Both teams deserve a special mention. The Alice Miller team walked further and for longer, and arrived at Candlebark considerably later. The Candlebark team found 97 buttons before going to bed, and would almost certainly have found all 100 buttons if the final three had not been moved during the day!

Week three began with a 14km run to Alice Miller on Monday, followed by a ride from Woodend to Candlebark on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the first group of Cold Water Vikings enjoyed an early morning ocean swim with former Candlebark learning support teacher Cathy Snowdon. The conditions were close to perfect for these three micro adventures.

Later in the week, a group of Year 7 students from both campuses went surfing at Anglesea, while another group spent a night in the bush at Candlebark, ALONE.

We spent a big day out on bikes in week four, climbing up and into the clouds on Mount Macedon. What goes up must come down, and we roared down the northern side of the mountain and into Woodend for lunch at the park. A few clever kids made toasties on the BBQ - possibly inspired by morning teas at Candlebark. A rainbow greeted us on the return journey Alice Miller - surely a good omen for those on their bikes.

A small group of students ran every single street in Macedon, inspired by a short film about one man’s attempt to run every street of San Francisco. Click on the button below to see the original film.

This particular group of runners from Candlebark and Alice Miller must have been pretty strong too - they were finished by dinner and had plenty of time to watch Forrest Gump when they returned to school.

Meanwhile, at the school property at Nulla Vale, a bonfire was lit beside the dam. A chorus of frog calls floated across the glassy surface of the water, which was soon disturbed by a brave bunch of swimmers. There were no spectators - everyone swam! We then gathered around the cosy fire to enjoy a BBQ dinner, guitar playing, chatting, and singing. The following morning, the soundscape of this delightful scene was recreated at the Candlebark morning meeting.

In the final week of August, a bark lantern making workshop was held at Alice Miller. Another group attended the Gutsy Girls Film Tour. Among the highlights were two running films set in Western Australia - Brooke McIntosh’s 1600 km run along a treacherous trucking route, and Milly Young’s attempt to record a new FKT (fastest known time) on the Stirling Ridge Walk route. The week concluded with a further three micro adventures in three days - snow camping, more ocean swimming, and a fine dining feast.

Twenty micro adventures in five weeks was a fantastic way to farewell winter. Thirty more students were involved this year than last year, including many more girls, and almost half the Grade 6 kids from Candlebark. Some kids spent almost as much time adventuring as they spent at their own homes! Many staff generously offered their time to plan, support, and participate in these adventures. It has been awesome to watch this program come to life, and to be part of the festivities and fun. Thanks to everyone who has wholeheartedly embraced and supported these adventures throughout the month of August!

By Sam Ford, Outdoor Education Coordinator.

Fine Dining Feast

The Fine Dining Feast Micro-adventure was a hoot. Around 26 Alice Miller and Candlebark Year 7&8s worked together at various points throughout the day to prepare a beautiful meal for the group. They also decorated the house in a wonderful manner, harvesting flowers and leaves from the nearby bush to create wonderful wreaths and table decorations. Our menu was varied and tasty. We started with some spiced roasted nuts, sour dough and olive oil with balsamic. Our first proper course was a large raviolo stuffed with feta, ricotta and kitchen garden harvested silverbeet. This was dressed in a browned butter, sage and almond sauce. The main course was based around some eight-hour lamb shoulders cooked gently all day over charcoals. It fell apart and was devoured hungrily. Our vegetarian replacement for that was a capsicum stuffed with risotto. Sides included a charred pea and burrata salad, roast carrots, roast potatoes, labne cucumbers and hommus. For dessert we’d prepared a couple of Persian love cakes drizzled in a sticky lemon syrup. The students did a great job preparing, plating up, devouring and cleaning up! We’re already thinking about future menus!

By John Collins, Humanities.

Year 9/10 Motion Media

Alfie Brownlee, Year 10, has recreated the media classroom in Lego using a 3D Modelling platform called MecaBrick.

Year 9/10 Woodwork

This term, in Year 9/10 woodwork, each student worked on an individual project. Mace and Felix chose to make a Japanese inspired mid century garden chair.

Year 11 Art

Three of the Year 11 Art students undertook a large-scale mural to be painted outside the cafe. Sasha, Lilah and Phoenix incorporated all the aspects of Alice Miller life as well as impressions of local flora in this vibrant mural. The students planned the composition, created stencils for some parts and hand-painted others to bring it all to life.

Year 8 English - Cate Kennedy Incursion

Year 8 English welcomed Castlemaine local, Alice Miller parent and acclaimed author Cate Kennedy this term. Ahead of this incursion, we read her short story 'Seventy-Two Derwents' which comes from her short story collection Like A House On Fire. The story, written from the perspective of a 12-year old girl living in an unstable home environment, deals with some challenging themes. Written in the form of a journal as a task for her English class, the character reveals the extent of the danger she is in, with her mum struggling to make ends meet and initially prioritising her new boyfriend, on parole, over her kids. It is a masterclass in dramatic irony, with the reader experiencing deep fear for the narrator's safety as the story progresses.

In all my years of reading aloud to students, I've never witnessed such a reaction to a story. Our humble E2 classroom became a theatre in which we gasped, cheered, booed and were quietly moved by this story of redemption through the relationship with her teacher, her mother's strength, and the narrator's desire for artistic expression. I first read this story when the collection was part of the Year 12 curriculum and it has stayed with me ever since.

Cate shared her inspiration, process, and ethos about writing with students so generously. We all felt fired up to write our own stories - even if they are for assessment. Already, I can feel Cate's influence in the Year 8's writing. Suddenly we are creating characters with depth and flaws, revealing character through dialogue, and working to create a scene rather than summarising it.

Thank you, Cate, for sharing your expertise, passion and love with our young writers.

By Meredith Penman, English.

World of Maths Incursion

The Year 7s, 8s and 9s participated in the maths incursion. It started as a discussion between the host of the incursion and each year level. Jimmy, the host, asked some people what they wanted to do for work as an adult and what amount of maths they thought was involved in this particular field of work. After that, we all split into pairs and worked around the meeting room to participate in different problem-solving activities that were set up on tables in a large circle. A majority of these ‘games’ were interactive, such as trying to fit a variety of different sized boxes into one larger box or seeing which reflection was the odd one out. The activities were fun and interesting; some were quite tricky and took more time.

By Stella-Lu Zantop and Scarlet Anderson, Year 9.

Sports Report

While the sports program was seemingly plain this term, compared with the sardine-like alignment of events in Terms 1 and 2, a lack of quantity was made up for with a bottomless amount of quality—from individual competitors, tight-knit teams, and whichever deity or morning show host is responsible for the weather.

For those who missed the non-awaited, mildly-received commercial headache that was the prequel to this fine work (“Alice Miller’s Revenge”, as featured in Alice Miller in Term 2, 2024), let me catch you up. When last we spoke, we had three competitors reach the State Finals for cross-country, Eva, Essie, and Eli. Federally funded research into the athletic qualities of having a name beginning with E started shortly after their qualifying performances. Also, our 9/10 girls’ soccer team qualified for the Regional Finals, representing the Macedon Ranges and beyond at a Tri-Wizard Tournament de la Futbol.

As fate would have it, Eva was unable to make the cross-country finals—her manager noted a scheduling conflict, something about a trip to Paris in July—leaving Eli, Essie and I to trek to Yarra Valley Racetrack following the heaviest downpour of the year. The route was not for the faint of heart; one frightened onlooker claimed that their four-wheel drive got bogged on the final turn, and rumours were swirling about an infamous sinkhole. The three Es, now down to two, pushed on, clawing, scratching, and swimming through the soil on their way to the finish line. In an ingenious move of gamesmanship, Eli donned his footy boots for the five-kilometre slog. Did they help? Without a doubt. Was it a legal move? Next question.

When the clouds cleared, and the results board finally became visible through the blanket of fog, Essie finished 45th in the state and Eli 25th—a mammoth effort that they should all (including Eva!) be exceedingly proud of.

The next celebration came at the 9/10 girls’ soccer Regional Finals, starring a 14-person squad coached by James and Mark Hurst, who is essentially on the PE Department books at this stage. With their young gun striker, Poppy, sidelined with injury (Northern Territory vacation, 1-2 weeks), the team was up against it from the outset. While they didn’t take home the chocolates at the end of the day, James did bake them a cake—so who’s the real winner? Leo, our Divisional Championship-winning coach turned on-field leader, kicked a blinder from outside the box, while Ava and June were stoic in defence all day.

Following our State and Regional representation, we returned to the hallowed hardwood halls of Cobblebank Stadium in Melton. Some Year 7s got their first taste of interschool sport this year and put on an entertaining display of basketball that can only be likened to such fictional greats as Michael Jordan’s Tune Squad, Zac Efron’s East High Wildcats, and Michael J. Fox’s Beacontown Beavers. A special shoutout to the Candlebark kids, Mia, June, and Evie, who bolstered the Year 7 girls’ team, seamlessly fitting into the squad like a missing puzzle piece, and Coach Bailey, who taught the boys a thing or two about a thing or two.

The Year 9/10 basketball teams fought hard all tournament, led on the boys’ side by Matias, Sasha, and Arlo, the consensus Rookie of the Year, and Sienna, Elsie, and Isla for the girls, who, as the kids say, made it rain—whatever that means. Meanwhile, both Year 8 volleyball teams saw success, with some narrow wins and losses that left a fire burning in the souls of our competitors, particularly Elsie and Grace, who have since attempted to sign up for next term’s Year 7 volleyball team under false monikers.

Triumph came during mountain bike orienteering, with Seb winning the Year 5 competition, Rainer and Finn placing first and second, respectively, in the Year 6 division, Jethro coming second amongst Year 7 boys, Banjo and Louis tying for gold in their event, Djed winning her race, Charles taking home the silver, and Jonty putting on a masterclass for a commanding victory against some fierce contemporaries. When it was all said and done, we finished second amongst all schools—a per capita conquest if ever there was one.

Not to be outshone, our small army of track and field athletes (some forty-plus students, a potential result of what Marty is dubbing the “Olympic Effect”) took to the Melton Athletics Centre on one of the windiest days of the year, which significantly helped or hindered performance depending on which direction they were running, throwing, or jumping. Some shotputs even flew backward once they took to the air. It brings me great pride to give the following students their flowers for some incredible independent performances and team efforts.

Starting with our Year 12s, Aidan came second in the 3000m on one leg and can now be seen traversing the mountains of Alice Miller on crutches, while Anika came third in shotput and first in triple jump, long jump, and the 400m. She was also the clubhouse leader in good vibes, showing the younger relay teams the ropes and helping officiate various events throughout the day. Moving down the age groups, Lachie came third in the javelin, Eva came third in the 100m, second in the 800m, 200m, and 400m, and won the 3000m—totalling more kilometres in a day than most cab drivers. Essie took home a third in the 800m, two seconds in the 200m and 400m, and first place in the triple jump. Ethan said, “Hold my Gatorade”, finishing third in the 200m, second in the 800m, and first in the 1500m, competing in a record number of events.

Our Year 9 cohort put on a dazzling display, with Leo, Poppy, and Eli coming second in the javelin, 1500m, and 800m, respectively. Poppy also won her javelin event, while Eli came first in the 1500m, and Sarah flashed past the finish line for gold in the 100m. Ziggy and Maddie placed third in the javelin, Polly nabbed the silver in shotput, and Erica won the 400m in electric fashion. Tying a bow on an exemplary sports day, Charlie, Essie, Eva, and Sarah won the 16-year 4x4 100m relay, even though all competitors, bar Eva, were technically underage for the event.

Congratulations to all our teams and individual athletes throughout Term 3—it was one to remember. As always, thank you to Sally and Vee for keeping us fuelled for competition and the staff and parents who helped coach, drive buses, and inspire the young people we’re lucky enough to watch play and compete. The sports program would not be what it is without your help. Until next term!

By Conor Dimasi, Physical Education.

Photo Club - Texture

Every month, students and teachers are encouraged to submit a photo inspired by a prompt. This term we saw entries inspired by texture and showcased in the morning meeting.