Lowanna Secondary College
Encyclopedia
Lowanna Secondary College is located in Newborough, Victoria
. The college draws its enrolment from Moe
/Newborough
, and district towns of Yallourn North
, Erica
, Rawson
, Willow Grove
and the surrounding rural areas. In 2007 the school has a student population of 1124.
The initial funding gave us an opportunity to select and professionally develop a teaching team that would lead the Year 7 program in 2008, after trialling curriculum innovations in 2007 and developing a new student welfare and management approach for the college. The second stage of funding is helping us to set in place a second team of teachers, provide ICT facilities such as banks of laptop computers, and electronic SMART Boards, and commence the new building facility while upgrading our existing facilities.
The new “Year 7 Learning Centre” will be completed late 2007. This centre will be the home for our future year 7’s where they will have the opportunity to use the latest resources available to them all in the one area while still accessing the specialised facilities and programs of the college. The new centre will have audio and visual presentation areas, desktop and laptop computers, and facilities such as wet areas, kitchen facilities, conference areas etc. The Year 8’s will be accommodated in an adjacent building creating a new Junior School Complex.
The new Learning Centre provides for an open plan learning environment where students will work under the direction of the Teaching Team and other support staff. Students will be grouped within their home group classes but will have the opportunity of being able to work within the centre using the appropriate learning technologies or being regrouped in different ways (e.g.: extension and support groups) for particular learning situations.
Year 7 students will have their home group space, locker and the principal teaching team located within the facility.
and VCE
, including units in English
, Mathematics
, Science
, SOSE
, Technology
, Arts
, Health
and Physical Education
. . Additionally, programs including VET
, VCAL
, the Jobs Pathways Program and Students at Risk are conducted to ensure that all students are catered for. Lowanna College is also a participant in Monash University, Gippsland campus
's Cooperative Education program , the Monash Gippsland
VCE tutoring program , SAM (Schools Access Monash) program and offers the Hands On Learning program.
, lunch time activities program, student leadership programs, school camps and sporting competitions.
s.
Despite a commitment in 1998 by the former Kennett government contribute A$270,000 to build only a 250 seat auditorium, a 580 seat auditorium now supports the college's performing arts program. A double gym
nasium with sprung floor is used for the physical education and sports program. Both the auditorium and gym are also used by the wider community.
Technical College was established, and over the following years, grew substantially to serve a wide area, including Moe
By the 1950s the growth of Moe, required a new school to be built in the town, and Moe High School was officially opened in 1954. Shortly after, in 1957 Yallourn Technical College moved to its current Newborough site. There was still a need for further educational provision and Newborough High School was opened in 1964.
By the 1990s the number of students attending secondary school had dropped substantially and governments were looking for schools to amalgamate. In 1994 the three secondary colleges amalgamated to form Lowanna College.
With a vision for a new single campus, the College successfully lobbied the government and a total of over 13.5 million was used to build the current campus.
Newborough, Victoria
Newborough is a town in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia which shares a border to its west, mostly along the Narracan Creek, with the town of Moe. It can be divided into three areas, Old Newborough, East Newborough and North Newborough...
. The college draws its enrolment from Moe
Moe, Victoria
Moe is a city in the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is about east of Melbourne and at the 2006 census had a population of 15,582 . It is administered by the City of Latrobe council....
/Newborough
Newborough, Victoria
Newborough is a town in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia which shares a border to its west, mostly along the Narracan Creek, with the town of Moe. It can be divided into three areas, Old Newborough, East Newborough and North Newborough...
, and district towns of Yallourn North
Yallourn North, Victoria
Yallourn North is a small country town in the City of Latrobe, Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 8 kilometres north-east of Moe. The town contains many churches, including the only Serbian Orthodox Church and Mosque in the region...
, Erica
Erica, Victoria
Erica is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Rawson Road, in the Shire of Baw Baw.The area was generally known as Upper Moondarra in the early 1900s, the township of Erica beginning to grow after construction of the railway line from Moe to Walhalla, which passed through the area...
, Rawson
Rawson, Victoria
Rawson is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Tyers - Thomson Valley Road, in the Shire of Baw Baw. The town was established for workers involved in the construction of the Thomson Dam, which was completed in 1983, Rawson Post Office opening on 17 April 1979....
, Willow Grove
Willow Grove, Victoria
Willow Grove is a village and rural farming community north of Moe in Victoria, Australia. It has a primary school, football club, tennis courts, community hall, general store, CFA shed, and kindergarten. The next town to the west is Hill End and to the east Tanjil South. Willow Grove is situated...
and the surrounding rural areas. In 2007 the school has a student population of 1124.
Achievements
In 2006 Lowanna College was successful in receiving funding under the Department of Educations “Leading Schools Fund” Initiative to develop and implement a curriculum program for Year 7 students based on the concept of “Personalised Learning, using an Enquiry Learning approach”, and supported by a new information communications technology rich building facility. The aim was to change teaching practice and improve student outcomes throughout the College.The initial funding gave us an opportunity to select and professionally develop a teaching team that would lead the Year 7 program in 2008, after trialling curriculum innovations in 2007 and developing a new student welfare and management approach for the college. The second stage of funding is helping us to set in place a second team of teachers, provide ICT facilities such as banks of laptop computers, and electronic SMART Boards, and commence the new building facility while upgrading our existing facilities.
The new “Year 7 Learning Centre” will be completed late 2007. This centre will be the home for our future year 7’s where they will have the opportunity to use the latest resources available to them all in the one area while still accessing the specialised facilities and programs of the college. The new centre will have audio and visual presentation areas, desktop and laptop computers, and facilities such as wet areas, kitchen facilities, conference areas etc. The Year 8’s will be accommodated in an adjacent building creating a new Junior School Complex.
The new Learning Centre provides for an open plan learning environment where students will work under the direction of the Teaching Team and other support staff. Students will be grouped within their home group classes but will have the opportunity of being able to work within the centre using the appropriate learning technologies or being regrouped in different ways (e.g.: extension and support groups) for particular learning situations.
Year 7 students will have their home group space, locker and the principal teaching team located within the facility.
Curriculum
The college offers programs in VELSVELS
In the state of Victoria, Australia, the Victorian Essential Learning Standards ' is the curriculum framework for Preparatory to Year 10 school levels, which replaced the Curriculum and Standards Framework II in 2006...
and VCE
Victorian Certificate of Education
The Victorian Certificate of Education or VCE is the credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete high school level studies in the state of Victoria, Australia. Study for the VCE is usually completed over two years, but it can be spread over a longer period in some cases...
, including units in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, SOSE
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, Technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, Arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, Health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
and Physical Education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
. . Additionally, programs including VET
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
, VCAL
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning
The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning is a 'hands-on' option for students in Years 11 and 12 in Victoria, Australia.The VCAL gives students practical work-related experience, as well as literacy and numeracy skills and the opportunity to build personal skills that are important for life...
, the Jobs Pathways Program and Students at Risk are conducted to ensure that all students are catered for. Lowanna College is also a participant in Monash University, Gippsland campus
Monash University, Gippsland campus
The Gippsland campus of Monash University is located in the town of Churchill 142 km east of Melbourne. There are around 2,000 students studying on-campus and 5,000 students who study off-campus. The campus faculties include Business and Economics; Arts; IT; Medicine, Nursing & Health...
's Cooperative Education program , the Monash Gippsland
Monash University, Gippsland campus
The Gippsland campus of Monash University is located in the town of Churchill 142 km east of Melbourne. There are around 2,000 students studying on-campus and 5,000 students who study off-campus. The campus faculties include Business and Economics; Arts; IT; Medicine, Nursing & Health...
VCE tutoring program , SAM (Schools Access Monash) program and offers the Hands On Learning program.
Extra-curricular
Students are also offered the opportunity to participate in debating competitions, public speaking competitions, art performance and musical productions, international exchanges, community work, debutante balls, instrumental learning programs, sister school visits, Tournament of MindsTournament of Minds
The Tournament of Minds is a school competition program available throughout Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. Teams of students work to solve problems in a number of disciplines, including: applied technology, language and literature, mathematics and engineering, and social sciences...
, lunch time activities program, student leadership programs, school camps and sporting competitions.
Facilities
The modern campus operates as three individual mini schools: Junior, Middle, and Senior. The campus features a school farm, special programs centre, and arts and technology wing, including a photography lab and auto workshop. The school also utilises a computer network and multimedia skills centre. Additionally, the school uses Interactive WhiteboardInteractive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
s.
Despite a commitment in 1998 by the former Kennett government contribute A$270,000 to build only a 250 seat auditorium, a 580 seat auditorium now supports the college's performing arts program. A double gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium with sprung floor is used for the physical education and sports program. Both the auditorium and gym are also used by the wider community.
College history
Lowanna College has a history which can be traced back to the 1920s. In 1928 the YallournYallourn, Victoria
Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of the adjacent open-cut brown coal mine led to the closure...
Technical College was established, and over the following years, grew substantially to serve a wide area, including Moe
Moe, Victoria
Moe is a city in the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is about east of Melbourne and at the 2006 census had a population of 15,582 . It is administered by the City of Latrobe council....
By the 1950s the growth of Moe, required a new school to be built in the town, and Moe High School was officially opened in 1954. Shortly after, in 1957 Yallourn Technical College moved to its current Newborough site. There was still a need for further educational provision and Newborough High School was opened in 1964.
By the 1990s the number of students attending secondary school had dropped substantially and governments were looking for schools to amalgamate. In 1994 the three secondary colleges amalgamated to form Lowanna College.
With a vision for a new single campus, the College successfully lobbied the government and a total of over 13.5 million was used to build the current campus.