Unit 2 Geography students spent two days doing fieldwork on Phillip Island last week as part of their unit on Touism: opportunities. issues and challenges. Year 11 Students Zac, Adin and Raph report:

At the Penguin Parade on Philip Island, Marine and Coastal Research Officer Josh explained how tourism has affected the fairy penguins over the decades and showed us the management strategies used to protect them. We toured the former Summerland housing site, now transformed into a wildlife haven, before enjoying pizza while watching the penguins waddle ashore, a moment that highlighted the importance of sustainable tourism.

At the Koala Conservation Reserve, we met Daniel, a Wildlife Ranger, who described how rangers support the island’s ecosystems. We also learnt that koalas were first introduced in the 1920s, and with the island now fox free, conservationists have reintroduced endangered species like the Bush Stone Curlew and Eastern Barred Bandicoot. Dr. Sutherland, a Doctor of Environmental Systems, explained the breeding programs and challenges of protecting these species, deepening our appreciation of the reserve’s role. In Cowes

Please enjoy these beautiful Shana Tova cards made by some of our Year 7 students. 

The design approach for the Middle School Production of SpongeBob the Musical was guided by a commitment to sustainability and creative reuse. 

Working closely with Director Eli Erez , we saw an opportunity to weave an important message into the heart of Bikini Bottom — one that reflects the real-world environmental challenges facing our oceans, particularly pollution and discarded waste.

Our process began months before rehearsals and quickly became a true community effort. Almost every set piece and prop you saw on stage was built from repurposed materials: donations from school families, roadside treasures, op-shop finds, and salvaged odds and ends. Ordinary objects were transformed into extraordinary underwater scenery — the Krusty Krab sign, for example, was fashioned from a classic Bunnings shell-shaped kiddie pool (the one everyone knows and loves), while Sandy’s Treedome emerged from the frame of a coat stand.

We even began to use and reuse the waste we were making along the way — for example, the offcuts from our simple sponges were transformed into the textured surface of SpongeBob’s iconic pineapple home.

The set design was also built around the idea of transformation. The towers of “junk” shift and reconfigure throughout the show, revealing that many of Bikini Bottom’s iconic locations — the Chum Bucket, Krusty Krab, Bikini Bottom band shell, and Sandy’s Treedome — are actually nestled within these piles of discarded objects. This choice shows how these characters who live under the sea have adapted and repurposed the remnants of the human world, making this waste their homes.

As the story builds to its climax, these same piles of junk come together to form Mount Humongous, a towering volcano of trash. This transformation