Making and Breaking the Law

Last month saw an opportunity for our two Year 10 Making and Breaking the Law classes to visit the Old Melbourne Gaol and to watch a re-enactment of a criminal case in the old Melbourne Magistrate’s Court. These opportunities for our students are perhaps springboards to a career in law, or law enforcement or even as social workers. The students felt that the case topic was something of relevance to young people today and hopefully will be discussing its implications with their friends.

Student Reflection

On Friday 21 October, the Year 10 students who are a part of the elective Making and Breaking the Law, had the privilege of taking a trip to the Old Melbourne Gaol, which is now a museum located in the city. In this elective we have been learning about how laws are made and broken, court hierarchy, the jury system, types of laws, difference between civil and criminal laws and sentencing. 

The last stop on this trip was to do a mock trial at the old Melbourne Magistrates Court. The court case we re-enacted was based on a true story called ‘I killed my best mate’. It’s a case about younger drivers who were doing a race late at night. One person was ‘egged on’ by his best friend in the car and the other driver, who was also his friend. Tragedy struck when the car crashed and his friend passed away as a result. Hearing both sides of the case was quite interesting and seeing how it can impact others around not just the victim. At the end of the court case, the class, with their prior knowledge of the factors of sentencing, decided on a good punishment, choosing the defendant’s side of a sentence of three years in the youth justice center to help with mental and psychological problems.

The day began with the students going to the Gaol for a tour learning about the stories that took place within the walls of the Gaol. The Gaol was used to house short-term prisoners, lunatics and some of the colony’s most notorious and hardened criminals. From the ghosts that still lurk between cells to the gruesome and cruel punishments that were forced upon prisoners, we learnt a lot. We were able to see faces of the prisoners made of plaster hanging on the walls of cells and the stories of their Gaol experience and why they were sent to this Gaol. We were told many facts and tales of prisoners being hung or the actual prisoners who had to hang their inmates. At the end of the tour, we were given the opportunity to explore the prison by ourselves and go on all the levels of cells and to the hanging platform.

The whole day was a great way to summarise the knowledge that we had learnt over the semester. The trial and the Gaol helped us build on our understanding of what happens in modern day jails compared to what used to happen. It was a great day to experience with our peers and we believe other classes to that learn about the law,  would also greatly benefit from this experience in the future.

Helena Parker and Brooke Corcoran
Year 10

Remembrance Day

Today, our Year 7 Student Leaders attended the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Mentone R.S.L. All Year 7 students have been learning about the origins of this day of commemoration in their History classes. This is a day of commemoration and remembrance and a reminder of the fragility of peace and the cost of conflict, as well as a testament to the fortitude, courage, and generosity of those who serve all of us. Every year at 11.00am on 11 November (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month), we pause to remember those men and women who have served and those who have died in all wars and peacekeeping operations.

Carolyn Callaghan
Learning Leader: Humanities