Nagle's Cross Country Carnival promotes physical activity while encouraging House spirit and participation. Year 7 students participated first, and separately, as some classes were heading to their rescheduled Camp. It was wonderful to see our newest students rise to the challenge and put forth their best effort.

Years 8 and 9 were the second group to compete, followed by students in Years 10 to 12. The top students in each year level are eligible to participate in Regionals in June. Between 40 and 50 students will be heading down to Lardner Park in Warragul for Regionals in June.

Top 10 students per year level

House Results

	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	5th Place	6th Place	7th Place
House
Points	4,051.5	3,888	3,884.5	3,846	3,829	3,741	3,588

Each leadership position within the College creates and promotes positive and engaging experiences for the entire College community. Oratory Representatives play a vital role within our College community – they come together monthly to discuss issues that are important to our student body.

As part of the Student Oratory, Year 7 representatives express their ideas and opinions, and those of their peers, to develop initiatives and provide input into relevant policies, procedures, and plans.

“Our Year 7 leaders are wonderful ambassadors to the College, and we thank them for their gift of service to us. We look forward to our Year 7 leaders making a difference in our school community as they live out the College Motto ‘Let your light shine,’” said Mrs Sharon Buurman, Deputy Principal – Pastoral. “As a Catholic school with a Presentation heritage and Salesian charism, it is important that we develop the leadership potential of the young people entrusted to our care.”

Nagle College congratulates the following Year 7 students on their appointment: Zailey McLellan and Izaac Alleaume (Avila), Elizabeth Gray and Alex Ridder-Strickland (Bosco), Alek Hawtin and Liya Joseph (Chisholm), Makennah Brindley and Tayla Noske (MacKillop), Abigail Nolen and Marissa Warfe (Newman), Brydie Evans and Laura Jennion (Polding), Ashleah Mewett and Imogen Spanton (Xavier).

Nagle is blessed to be situated on 110 acres with direct access to the Mitchell River and a rainforest that has been regenerated. Year 9 student, Ella Groves, articulates the important role the Eco Warriors program plays in creating the next generation of environmental stewards.

“In the Eco Warriors program, we learn how to become stewards of our environment. Stewardship means to take care of something. When we are talking about stewardship of the environment, it means to have an incentive to go out and improve the place we and all other species live. In Eco Warriors we set out to improve and learn about our school environment and surrounding areas so that it becomes a better place to live.

At the Picnic Point Apple Farm we learnt about the importance of the Mitchell River – it gives habitat to the many native plant and animal species that live on the river and the surrounding areas. We tasted the delicious apples that are grown along the river thanks to the river water. The Mitchell River flows fresh water into the lakes. Native tree seedlings that we planted at school had been planted on the river and had now grown into trees. On our excursion we found leftover limestone that 16 million year old fossils. They had been left from the last ice-age. The Mitchell River is an important place for food and habitat and we must care for it. Plans like the Kalbar mine, would destroy the fresh water that runs through our river and many of the species that live in and around it.

Throughout my Eco Warriors experience we collected and planted many native and endangered plant species. This included the Forest Red Gum, Betka Beauty Bottlebrush, Kangaroo Apple and many more. We planted trees around the school but one of the most important places we planted the tree seedling was on the creek running into the Mitchell river. Plants collect the nutrients from the water and the water that they leave behind is fresh and clean for all the animals, such as the bream, to live in.

People often think the flying foxes that live along our river are smelly, loud and annoying. Most people do not realise that where they now live is not their ideal habitat. Deforestation and climbing temperatures have pushed the bats further and further away from their ideal habitat. The riverbanks in town is the only suitable place where they can all fit. They are in close proximity to a food source (The Banksia Peninsula) and for most of the year the temperature is fairly comfortable. People also do not realise they play a significant role in the environment. The flying foxes favourite food is the nectar from flowers. When they digest the nectar they release their droppings over the land and actually pollinate the trees that grow in the area. Without them, many of the beautiful native trees in our area would not exist.

The Eco-Warriors program is incredibly important. The state of the world we live in today is getting progressively worse. Climate change, pollution, deforestation, mining, overfishing- the list goes on. We are destroying our home. Unless we change how we live and treat the world today, nothing will get better. The Eco Warriors program educates people my age about ways we can help make our world a better place for us and for future generations. Eco-Warriors teaches us how to give back to our Earth rather than take from it. It gives us the opportunity to take notice of the beautiful place we live and learn why we must care for it. It inspired me to realise that I can help and that I can make a difference.”

The Year 9 Eco Warrior unit is designed to help students understand and mitigate the issues that face river and lakes health, specifically along the Mitchell River. Students participate in many workshops throughout the course, including sustainable fishing and water health.

Fishing rules and regulations, including how and when to returning fish to water, and managing invasive species were a few of the topics Mrs Allitt spoke to Eco Warrior students about.

“I learnt that it is illegal to return Carp to waterways,” said Charlotte.

Ella added, “I learnt that if Carp are returned to waterways, they may still have thousands of eggs that would then hatch and cause further river damage”.

Students also discussed the ways different species of fish are measured for length. Interactive demonstrations used life-size fish cut-outs and on occasion, taxidermied fish.

“I learnt about the slot size, meaning that there is a minimum and maximum keeping size for Dusky Flathead and Black Bream”, said Jase.

“I love how engaged our students were with this activity,” said teacher, Mrs Andrea Savage. “Students filled out an incursion resource booklet after learning all about the rules and regulations.”

Students will apply their learning when they participated in an East Gippsland facilitate fishing excursion along the Mitchell River at the end of May.

When asked how the transition to secondary school has been so far, the student responses were diverse. Some saw the ‘size’ of the College as an opportunity to get to know more people and make friends, while others were overwhelmed. But all students said this one thing made their transition easier: camp.

Under ‘normal’ circumstances, Year 7s attend Camp at Lake Tyers within the first few weeks of Term 1. While this was the case for four of our Year 7 classes, three classes were delayed until 21-23 April due to a snap State-wide COVID-19 lockdown at the end of February.

Year 7 camp provides students with an opportunity to bond with their Core class and teachers. Time spent together with friends was a common theme among students.

“The best thing about camp was that I got to spend time with friends,” said Eve.

Camp also allows students to experience new educational opportunities they may not have otherwise had.

“Something that was new for me was learning and about and making Koorie Art,” said Chloe.

“I had never cooked on a trangia before. It was cool,” said Ollie and Hayden.

Students participate in a range of activities such as adventure and orienteering, indigenous activities, fishing, raft building, canoeing and bush walking.

The push-up challenge was initiated by Mr Aiden Giove, a Core and Health & PE teacher at the College, and quickly grew to a team of 14 staff. Participants could select different daily push-up targets, ranging from 25% (38 pushups/day) to 100% (151 pushups/day).

Additionally, variations and alternatives to fit in with people’s abilities were welcomed and encouraged.

“Over 25 days, I will be aiming to complete as many of the 3,318 push-ups as possible. This number represents how many people lost their lives to suicide in 2019. This is a cause close to my heart. I’m pushing for Lifeline so no one has to face their darkest moment alone,” said Mr Giove.

Within the first week of the Challenge, Nagle’s team had completed just shy of 10,000 push-ups and achieved 75% of their fundraising goal. To track their progress or to make a donation please visit:

https://www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/team/6318-nagle-college-team

As a catholic school, Nagle instils in its staff and students the importance of caring for and service to others together with a genuine want to make our world a better place. Nagle staff are leading by example and supporting a wonderful mental health initiative while living out the College motto “Let Your Light Shine”.

“I’d like to thank everyone greatly for joining a great cause: Mrs Andrea Savage, Mrs Bethany Dunbar, Miss Celeste Campagna, Mrs Katy O’Rourke, Ms Lauren Hollingsworth, Miss Meg McCallum, Ms Megan Quirke, Mrs Pauline Settle, Ms Robyn Wayside, Mr Roland Adkins, Mrs Rosie Colvin, Mr Tom Sherring and Miss Tracey Lucas,” said Mr Giove.

The Mission to Mars program gave students the experience of working in Mission Control and as an astronaut.

Mission Control students were given computers and headsets, and were briefed on their responsibilities which included guiding astronauts through their tasks, collecting data and working collaboratively with each other and the Mission Director.

While the simulation was stressful at times, students were able to use their Math, Science, Technology and critical and creative thinking skills to solve problems.

Astronauts were given lockers, space suits, and were briefed on their individual roles which included checking on equipment, monitoring wind and radiation levels and collecting samples. They also had to follow Mission Control’s commands, which at times proved life-saving.

Following the mission students analysed and investigated their samples, which were real-life samples from Mars, in a lab.