Bendigo/Ballarat Experience
All Year 9 students will be completing an integrated work unit known as the Bendigo/Ballarat Project. This is an integrated project that will be completed in April. The students will visit Bendigo on the first day before travelling to Ballarat and our overnight accommodation. Highlights of the experience include: tour of Central Deborah Mine, Talking Tram tour, Sovereign Hill visit, Chinese Golden Dragon Museum, and the Federation Exhibition.

The project will culminate with a group presentation to be held at school upon the students return. The Handbook for this project will be distributed in Term 1.

All Year 9 classes spend three two-week blocks on Year 9 special programs. These programs are: 10 day Outdoor Experience; 2 weeks at P2C and 2 weeks divided between Pathways Week and Exhibition Week.


Peninsula to the City (P2C)
Year 9 students are also given a real life education with the P2C program. For two weeks they have to prepare themselves daily as if they were going to a job in the city. Traveling by train, they attend the P2C office situated in the CBD dressed in school uniform, clean shoes, ties straight, jackets brushed. Project and assignment work in the surrounding area helps to acquaint students with the layout of Melbourne’s streets, prominent buildings and general city living.

An interesting array of guest speakers, including street dwellers, ex-convicts and reformed gamblers share their life stories with our students. This experience leads to a richer understanding and greater appreciation of the city in which they live and the many people who contribute to it.

Confidence, motivation and independence flourish during the P2C program. A better learning experience is hard to imagine!


Pathways Week
As well as their time at P2C, students will have two weeks devoted to a new initiative called Pathways week. Pathways week will focus on connecting with the community through students exploring career pathways.

The aim of Pathways week is to enable students to make a more informed choice on possible career outcomes.

During this week, students will be encouraged to observe a wide range of occupations. Towards the end of Year 9, all students take a series of simple tests that aim to assess interest, abilities and preferred school subjects. They then try to match these responses to possible career outcomes. This links to Work Experience and VCE Course Selection in Year 10.

The other part of Pathways week will focus on community service. Students will research and run a Community Service Project that aims to be of benefit to the school or community.


Exhibition Week
In the same two-week block as Pathways Week, students will undertake Exhibition Week. An Exhibition is a large-scale independent learning project, in which students are required to demonstrate mastery of a chosen subject area. Students will prepare for this project in the term beforehand, under the guidance of their tutor and a chosen adult mentor – who may be a school staff member or an outside expert. Exhibition Week will culminate in a class display and presentation of student Exhibitions to parents.


Urban Camp – City after Dark
The city of Melbourne is a focus of explorations for Year Nine students and they have ample opportunity to experience the magnificence of the city during the day. The urban camp is a way to allow Peninsula School students to explore the city after dark. Students participate in an afternoon tutor group activity within the CBD, such as; indoor rock climbing, bike riding along the Yarra River, going on a river cruise, run the ‘Tan’ track. They then meet back at the Discovery Hotel in Franklin Street, where they sleep in dormitory style accommodation. Students and their tutors walk to Lygon Street for dinner and then travel by tram to MSAC.

Here the students participate in the Wipe-out program which is a swimming related activity. Students return to the Discovery Hotel by tram. The next day students in small groups then navigate the CBD to gather information, report to check points, manned by Staff members, at various locations around the city. The winner is the group which earns the highest points and a prize is awarded at the final assembly.