Serge says:

In the bridge activity, all six teams with their separate tables set to compete against each other in a race against time to build a sturdy bridge capable of holding four boxes of golf balls using a bag of straws, a roll of masking tape and a pile of newspaper. I liked thinking of ideas that would help support the bridge, I didn’t like working in such a big group with all our ideas colliding. I learnt that we have more than enough resources for the task—we just need to find a way to use them efficiently.

If ever we want to become architects in the near future, we may use ideas we had at the time of the task into a project (or bridge) we might need to complete for said job.

Michael says:

My name is Michael Aziz and I think that Mordi Experience is fun.
This week we played tug of war which was really fun. In the tug of war there were two pools and round robin.
We won every match and got into the final against a bunch of girls.
Winning in the tug of war was fun. We had to take off three members from our team and we still won.
The game was fun and there was nothing bad about it.
Something that I learnt was that a teammate said that stronger people stand back.

Welcome Term 4!

A big welcome to the term four 'Mordialloc Experience' group. We are well into Orientation week, with six coloured tag teams competing for the first prizes of the week. So far the group has completed a number of exciting activities, ranging from tug of war, bridge building and bowling, to a survival scenario whereby students had to survive and plane crash and decide on a list of items to enable them survive. The students have developed their problem solving skills and become more accustomed to working in a group and supporting each other. We are all looking forward to tenpin bowling tomorrow and will keep you updated on how it went.

Bottle wise

All students questions about alcohol have been answered by the Bottlewise crew over the past few weeks. Students are now aware of all the effects of alcohol, how to responsibily drink when at the correct age, and discuss with other students the kind of decisions that they will make about their future with such a responsibilty.

Holmesglen TAFE

The Mordialloc Experience group were highly engaged in a tour of the TAFE. They learnt about the wide range of courses that are available to them, and the job opportunities that can arise from completing such courses. They were impressed to see that all the courses are very hands on, and rather than studying in a classroom, students would be out in the warehouse physically building model homes, tiling walls etc. A great deal of positive feedback was given.

Bowling day:

The Mordialloc Experience students were given the opportunity to build upon their team relationships by spending an afternoon AMF bowling. Each group competed for an individual win, and when it was all over, it was evident that a number of students were quite skilled in the area of bowling! A special mention to Brendon who surprised us all with his ability to 'strike' on a number of occassions!

Shamit says:

The students of Mordialloc College from Mordi experience went to the RSPCA on 24th of July 2009. We got to see a lot of animals, like dogs, cats which was ready for abduction. We got to feed the cow, goat. We had a chance to touch the horses and a rat.

There was so many animals there and they need a donation to run the programs and to help animals. There are many volunteer job opportunities for people including students also. By volunteering, you can improve your resume also.

Mateo says:

On the 24th of July the students of Mordialloc College went to the RSPCA.
We got to see a lot of animals like dogs, cats, horses, cows and goats.
We got to feed the animals we got to pat them and we got to look at the dogs and walk around. There’s so many jobs available working with animal’s for example a vet, animal carers, and RSPCA inspectors.

Welcome Term 3 boys

The term 3 boys have started the Mordialloc Experience with motivation and enthusiasm. To start the term off, the group has formed coloured tag teams, and are battling it out during orientation week, to earn the most points in their groups in order to score a prize at the end of the week. Students have performed a number of problem solving acitivities in their groups such as the 'bridge building' task and the 'scavanger hunt'. It is a close game! Good luck to everyone.

Down the street.

Yesterday a group of students from the Mordialloc Experience went down the street to collect data and research their chosen topics. A popular project choice was 'Eating Out', which involves critiquing restuarants in the Mordialloc area, and gathering data on the public opinions.

Members of the public were very obliging, and provided their valued feedback on the quality of their own dining experiences.

Thankyou!

A big thankyou to all those parents and students that attended the 'Mordialloc Experience' information night last Wednesday. All burning questions were answered by the year nine team, and experiences were shared.
A great night was had by all!

Kyle reflects on his placement:

For my placement I went to Bear Box kids, which was a toy wholesale business. During my time their I did stock take, packing, office work, invoicing and took telephone calls. I developed my communication and people skills. I learnt a lot about IT because I used computers to invoice and file packages.

I enjoyed the working in the office because I understood what I had to do and learnt a lot about customers and the business.

I enjoyed doing deliveries and packing the most. I can maybe see myself working in the future with people.

Rebecca reflects on her placement:

On Monday Tash and Sally, who we worked with everyday of the week, showed us what we would be doing all of the week we were there and what they showed Courtney and I stuff that we didn’t mind doing like, feeding the babies morning tea and lunch, giving them bottles, putting them to bed for a sleep, cleaning the room and the rest of the centre with Hollie and Sammy. For the first and a little of the second day I changed nappies which was a challenge. On Friday we cleaned the whole centre from top to bottom, we cleaned the kinder room, toddler room, baby room, kitchen and the walls.

While at Community Placement I learnt that some babies are hard to put to sleep and not all of them behave how they should! I also learnt that I won’t be working as a child care worker as it was to hard and I was always tried and grumpy. Even though this I did enjoy myself and I won’t forget the things I learnt and the experience I got.

Community Placement

Well done to the 'Mordialloc Experience' group who have just completed their community placement. We have had a great deal of positive feedback from supervisors and members of the public.

A wide range of community placements were offered this term, allowing students choice over which industry they believe would suit their skills and personal interests.

These ranged from childcare, to retail and even environmental work with the local council.

Students now have the opportunity to update their resumes with recent work experience and references.

Keep up the fabulous work!

Rockclimbing champions!

A wonderful day was had by all last Friday. The Mordialloc Experience team headed to Kananook where they would try indoor rockclimbing. For some, this was a first time experience. After our nerves passed, most of us made it to the top of at least one wall. In pairs, we were responsible for each others safety, a responsibility that was not taken lightly by anyone.

We sure do have some monkeys amongst the group, those who moved around the walls with such ease and so quickly!

Kavisha, Tegan and Imogen says:

Today we had our first day in the MEX and it was very different from normal school. We didn’t know what to expect because we hadn’t been told much about it but the teachers explained the processes and we just got to know them and have fun. We had to do a team building activity which required us to make a bridge out of newspaper, sticky tape and straws in groups with requirements. Once the bridge was made its stability was tested by placing golf balls on top of it. Unfortunately after all our hard work our bridge was only able to hold one container of golf balls. After we did the bridge activity we played a game of ‘Scattegories’ which was a fun group activity where everybody got involved. Once we cleaned up the big mess that we made doing the bridge we learnt about the Mordialloc blog.

Justin, Jesse and Henry say:

Today our group had a biography test on our Mordialloc experience teachers, we didn’t do very well we only got 22 out of 45. We learnt a lot about our teachers.

Period two we played carpet balls we got into the semi finals and lost by two points. In our team was Jesse, Patto, Bumpy, Adi, Henry and Justin, we all found it very fun.

In period three we had a scavenger hunt we had to find, a hair tie, a feather a brown leaf a worm a fifth teen letter word and a twig with two branches on it, it was harder then it looked.

Talia says:

Today we were introduced to the Mordialloc experience. We started off by saying our names and something that suits you and starts with the same letter that your first name starts with, after that we were handed a card each that had an animal typed on it and we had to gather with the people who had the same animal we decided on the rules and consequences of breaking them in the classroom and out of the classroom, we then drew our animal on a big piece of paper and wrote the rules inside of it.
Our next activity was the best (partly because my team won!), we got into groups and chose a colour, my group is pink with Sharon and Kim. We each got a packet of plastic straws, a newspaper and a role of tape, our job was to make a bridge 60cm long, 15cm high and 10cm wide that could hold as many containers of golf balls possible in only 60 minutes. Our group made strong legs, with a sort of soft top, it looked weak but it turned out holding three containers with us adding more on top! Two groups broke before they put containers on them and one group got three but fell before ours did. Mordialloc experience seems pretty fun so far.

Bernieka says:

Today the year 9 ‘Mordialloc experience’ students had a go at carpet lawn bowls. We were in groups of four and I was with Kyle, Bec and Morgan. We lost both of our games but it was fun anyway. Then in period three we did a scavenger hunt. We had to look around our school and try to find different things like a live worm or a full brown leaf. My group came first so we got ten points for our group. The whole point of these games was to develop team working skills and to learn more about the people in our grade.

Bec and Morgan say:

Today in Mordialloc Experience we met two of the other teachers. We will have at different times during this term in Mordialloc Experience.
First period with Ms Coombs and Mr E we did a quiz on all the teachers that we will have this term. We learnt about their hobbies, their footy teams and things like that. In our group lime we got 20 out of 45 not too bad as we only knew little bits about each teacher apart from to who told us about them selves yesterday
Period two we had Ms Coombs and Mr E again and we played carpet bowls which the red tags won and my team came last with yellow. Watching the other teams was funny and listening to Jony and James commentate what happening even when they were have their go.
Period three we had Mr Shanahan and Mr Palfrey for the first time and with them we got to go out of the classroom and do a scavenge hunt and find lots of different and weird thing like a finger nail and a word, snail or fly alive!! My favourite thing to find was a fifteen letter word and its meaning. Our word was dissatisfaction. We won as we sent a team the wrong way by accident.
Now in period four we are finishing our letters, writing our reflections and sending them off and when that is all done play games on the computer. My favourite part of today was doing the scavenge hunt as we got to work in our group and have fun running around trying to find things when beating the other groups as point were what we were going to win!
The team work we had to us today was listening to each other for the ideas and where to find things, not fights or causing them, splitting up to different parts of the school to find thing so that we got it all done before everyone else and going with other peoples ideas so that you’re not being self-centred and so that it all works like a team.

Tegan says

On Thursday we played celebrity heads to gain points for our Team. My table’s team was coming last but we won two of the celebrity head games so we gained 10 points. After that we played ‘Scattegories’ which was fun.

WELCOME MEX Term 2!

A warm welcome to year 9's that have started the term in 'Mordialloc Experience' today. Please keep us updated of all your new experiences, learning curves and new skills.

Ben says:

I worked at Yarrabah school. I helped out with classes and helped the kids with their work. I also packed up and prepared things for the next day. The kids were suprisingly nice, and the teachers I could call by their first names. I learnt that working is hard but fun at the same time. I like being back at school because I don't have to get up as early.

Leiya says:

I worked in the Salvos Store in Mordialloc. We tidied up the clothes and tagged things. We also priced items. We had to rearrange all the shelves and racks so they looked better and there was more room. I learnt that it is hard working. I enjoyed using the cash machine, it made me feel quite important! I met a lot of nice people, the customers I didn't speak to a great deal. I really enjoy and appreciate being back to school.

Jarrod says:

I worked for the Kingston council. There is a North area and a South area and we worked at these places, weeding, fixing up holes in fences, poisioning plants and fixing up the foreshore. If branches had falled down we would move them. If there were any fire hazards to trees we would chop them down. The people we worked with were very supportive, he educated us about everything we did. I learnt about different types of weeds and trees and what areas they go in. I really liked being out and about.

Nina says:

I went to Edithvale Preschool. I was a Kindergarton assistant which involved supervising children and helping out with activities. I learnt that it is important to be open minded, and be able to understand people and what they do. I also discovered that too much coffee in the morning makes me sick! The people I worked with were really nice. It feels ok to be back at school but I will miss the workplace.

Abigail says:

I went to Chelsea Early Learning Centre for my community placement. We got to do lots of things, we interacted with a number of children of all ages ranging from babies to kindergarten students. I learnt a lot about childcare and the difficulties that the people in the business face. I was very tired at the end of it. I really enjoyed it because it was a new experience and I have a reference for my resume.

Placement Pics!

Community placement.

The Mordialloc Experience group have already taken the plunge and are out and about working amongst the community for the week. All students applied for the positions they are in, some are outdoors working with the council, others with children at primary schools. A number of students are building upon their retail experience at the local opportunity shops.
The teachers have visited these students and heard all the exciting stories. Stay tuned, to hear more!

Swimming sports!

What a day! The sun was shining, most of the time, the outfits were outrageous and the competition was fierce! As soon as the first gun shot was fired, students and staff were soaring through the water at a fast pace.
Everyone new when the sausage sizzle had started because you could smell the aroma of sausages, burgers and onions. They tasted just as wonderful as they smelt!
All students made a fantastic contribution to the 'bring a tin when you swim' program.
An unforgettable day was had by all!

April says:

On the first day back at school we built bridges out of straws and newspaper, ours held 76 golf balls and then broke. On the second day we did games and quizes to get to know eachother and on the third day we had a bottle smart class where poeple came in and spoke about binge drinking.

Shanon says:

So far in mordialloc experience i have had fun, i have enjoyed the fun activities and the things the teachers planned for us.What i thought was the most fun so far is the bowls games on the carpet. Our group went pretty good, but then Harmony got us the win for the team, we then won the tournement thanks to Harmony. Our bridge making didn't go to plan and we failed The speakers from "task force" were great and we all learnt alot with the infomation they provided us today. It will be good when they come in each week. Im pretty excited about the rest of the term. The bowlin this friday should be fun.

Jarryd says:

In my first few days of mordialloc experience we built a bridge made out of straws with the help of Shannon H Harmony E Jarryd C Sean F Ryan W and we had a good run but our bridge broke.

Then the next few days we played carpet bowls and our team was Jarryd C Shannon H Harmony E. Me and Shannon had a good run but Harmony lead the way for our team earning 10 points.

On Friday we are all going to Mentone Bowling Centre to have a fun time and looking forward to what is in store for this year in Mordi Experience.

Callum says:

On the 4/2/09 we played carpet bowls. Carpet bowls is exactly like lawn bowls but on carpet.

We got broken up in to our tagteam groups. We played each other first and then the winner oup of the groups play. Then who ever won that went to the semi finals and then the prelimenary final then the grand finals. Harmony won the Carpet bowls.

The stratiges we used were knocking each others bowls out and using the heavy said to swing the bowls left to right. We worked in teams so we could get points, and communicate with each other.

So far in mordialloc experience I have enjoyed it and had a lot and had of fun.

So far my favourite thing would be the carpet bowls. I haven't ever done it before but still i found a way to dominate the game.

My Team was up first. There was a clear stand out of the group (Adam Hume) but we won't mention names.

Winning the game i was placed into the final but conceded a injury on my worst few bowls I couldnt go on.

I was crushed.


To take my place was Ben and everyone agreed it wasnt a fair trade but the game had to go on.


With Ben moving into the final no one expected he would even grab a point but he must or used some sort of spell cause he won the first won.


To everyones surprise he moved on to the semi final agaisnt harmony and it looked like ben was in the final but ......... we were wrong.

In the end Harmony won a thrilling final.

At the end of the day Ben lost to a girl.


Cheers A.hume

Ben says:

This is our first week of mordialloc experience and its been fun so far, we have had lots of fun activites but my favourite was the bridge building task.
What we had to do was to make a bridge to hold a bucket of golf balls out of straws,newspapper and tape so I got my group together witch had me humey(Adam Hume) and Matt c first we put 4 colums of 12 straws together and taped them up and hoped it would hold....................we were wrong it couldn't even stand up byitself we had only had 10 mins left so we stuffed as much newspapper together and hoped for the best.

Mr Ellul came around with the bucket he put the bucket on SUCCESS it diddnt fall over he put 1 golf ball in it still diddnt fall over we thought we were gonna win this...............we were wrong he put 1 more golf ball in and it fell apart we were devistated we went on to come second last and got no points.

Stephanie says:

The first day we went to see what class we were in and the first term l am in the mordialloc experience. The three days that we have been at school the frist day we made bridge out of strarws,news paper and stiky tap and played some games the secand day Mr Sanahan and Mr Polfery came to the classroom to see if we now are teachers we looked at some pictures and had to match to picture to the teacher we the yellow team came tried and at period 4 we did an an activity on the laptops. We played human bingo at period 2 & 3 we meet two people that talked about drinking alcohol. During period 4 we went on the laptops to see the mordialloc experience website. On friday we are going bowling to do a project and play some games of bowling.

Abigail says:

Mordialloc Experience: - Our first few days.

On Monday 2nd the first group of year 9’s for 09 set foot in the Mordi experience room. We were all excited about what we were going to do the first thing we go to know each other and learnt what to expect from the Mordialloc experience.
Then in groups we had to build bridges out of newspaper, straws and masking tape. The groups then competed to see whose could hold the most golf balls my group (Red tag team) won after holding 140 golf balls.

On Tuesday we had a quiz on how well we knew the Mordialloc experience teachers, there were 50 images with 10 relating to each teacher, Mr Ellul, Ms Coombs, Mrs Ip, Mr Palfrey and Mr Shanahan, we then had to guess with images related to which teachers. After that we went on a scavenger hunt throughout the school, we had to collect information like a word with 15 or more letters and its meaning to teachers signatures to bugs.

Today we did the bottle wise program where two representatives spoke about alcohol and the problems the drinking can cause. We also did activities that related to decision making and risk assessment these activities were a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Leiya says:

These three days we played team building games and had a quiz on our teachers. We made a straw bridge out of straws, newspaper, and sticky tape. Our straw bridge held about 69 golf balls. We came 3rd out of 6 groups. The second day, Mr Shanahan, Mr Palfery, and Mrs Ip came in and did activities with us. On the 3rd day the alchohol people came in to teach us about the troubles of alchohol. We played a ball game for them to remember our names. Stephanie got hit by a ball, which was REALLY funny. These three days were fun. Im still laughing about it now.

George says:

On the first Wednesday at the mordialloc experience we had two people come in from a program called 'Task Force' to teach us about alcohol and the different effects it has on your body.

We did a few different games like have you ever and a desicion game.

It was interesting to listen to because I learnt a lot of interesting facts.

Jamiee says:

THESE FIRST THREE DAYS HAVE BEEN A BLAST. We have DONE SO many ACTIVITIES AND ENJOYED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
WE ALSO HAD TWO ALCOHOL PEOPLE NAMED PATTI AND DANNY and LEARNED HEAPS OF THEM AND HAD LOTS OF FUN.

BY JAIMEE HILL.