Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award

At our recent Assembly we acknowledged the incredible work Macy (12CFIL) has done to complete a Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. Very few students achieve this award while still at school. Since beginning the Award in Year 9, Macy has achieved her Bronze and Silver Awards, and, with incredible motivation, self-discipline, and focus, has completed the Gold level halfway through Year 12.

Macy said, “I started the Duke of Ed award under the influence of my Pop who was born in England and knew all about the award. I felt like it was a wholesome way to extend my learning and connect with him.”

The Gold Award has a section called the residential project. When she was in Year 11, Macy won a scholarship to complete a two-week Film Studies course at Oxford University in England. During this time, she lived with and learned from students all over the world. She made connections with students from Lebanon, Botswana, Nigeria, Cyprus, Brazil, Canada and Indonesia - to name a few. Macy studied topics like: An Introduction to the Screenplay and Screenwriting, Practical Filmmaking and Editing. She was mentored by experts from Oxford and shared the products of her creative journey with students and staff at the end of her residential project. Macy describes her experience as life-changing.

In addition to the Gold Residential Project, the Gold Award, like the Bronze and Silver, had four main categories: Skills, Physical Recreation, Voluntary Service and Adventurous Journey. For the adventurous journey component of the award, Macy travelled overseas with a group of peers and lived with a host family for a German exchange. Macy needed to use initiative and resilience to navigate a completely new setting, in a different language. She immersed herself in the experience and made the most of all opportunities offered to her.

In September, Macy will be invited to a special reception at Adelaide Town Hall with the Governor of South Australia who will personally congratulate her on this incredible effort. Congratulations, Macy.

CARE@CC (Community of advocates for respect and empathy.)

CARE@CC is a lunchtime group for students in Years 10-12 interested in health careers. 

We recently welcomed Dr Andrew Killcross, who shared snapshots of his career, illustrating the diverse and rewarding pathways available in the medical field. He described the challenges of working in large hospitals in Manchester as a fresh graduate, followed by his experience serving rural and remote communities in Australia, where he worked both as a GP and with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Port Augusta. 

Dr Killcross now works in Aboriginal Health and continues to serve as a General Practitioner, with a special interest in mental health and youth health. We are very grateful to him for spending a lunchtime with us. 

Please contact Emma Rieger if you would be able to share some of your own experiences in a health-related profession with our students.

Emma Rieger
Enrichment and Extended Learning