FHS Excursions and Incursions

Cath Moore Visit

On Wednesday the 14th of May, the year 9 cohort welcomed Cath Moore, the author of the text, Metal Fish, Falling Snow, half memoir, half fictional depiction of life growing up African and White in Australia in the 80s. Students have been reading and analysing this text for term 2, and their assessment is to develop a creative response from the perspective of a minor character. The text covers many interesting thematic ideas around what it means to develop your identity when you don’t understand your cultural heritage and are yearning for answers, to which Cath spoke with honesty and vulnerability about this personal journey. The cohort fielded interesting questions about the writing and publishing process, figurative language featured in the text, and the inspiration of certain characters and events. Overall, an engaging experience for our year 9s.

Crime and Punishment Extend at Pentridge

On March 25 the 2024 semester 1 crime and punishment class took a field trip to the Pentridge shopping centre and heritage site, the former prison sat on around 6.8 hectares of land and was established in the year 1851 in order to help house some of the many inmates that were overcrowding the Melbourne gaol in the city.

The prison was home to the infamous H block, the wing of the prison that was reserved as a punishment ward to the worst of the worst prisoners, conditions and treatment were terrible, prisoners were kept in small rooms most hours of the day, isolated from each other and instructed not to speak lest the were beaten, other then the cells prisoners were forced to work for pennies breaking bluestone to fingernail sized pieces in order to pave roads that led to places they would likely never see.

Other than horrendous conditions, the treatment from the guards were similarly horrible the famous “reception biff” that was said to occur at the prison involved the at some times near fatal beating of new transfers to the unit.

All in all a very interesting experience and one i would certainly recommend to people.

Lily

On 25/3/24 me and my crime class went to HM Pentridge. It was a fun and very interesting experience. I learned very interesting things about Pentridge, people who were prisoners there, escapes and more about prison life. One thing I found interesting was in one of the escapes a prisoner escaped with a helicopter. The helicopter landed in the middle of Pentridge and he escaped with his girlfriend. But later on got recaptured. The most interesting thing about Pentridge was that prisoners hated boredom. The prisoners would have to stay in their cells for long hours. When I was at Pentridge I actually started to get a bit scared that something was behind me or in front of me. I don’t believe in ghosts but many people died in Pentridge so that made it a bit scarier. Overall It was a great, interesting and at times a scary experience.

Jacinta

The perilous escape of Dennis Mark Quinn.

It was the only 17 days after he was transferred from the now-closed Jika Jika prison, a maximum security facility; To the Notorious Pentridge Prison, known for its bluestone walls and the infamous H division, or Hell division. Police described Dennis as “Dangerous.” as he was convicted on accounts of armed robbery.

He had been in his cell during routine check up at 10:20 pm, yet at 12:20 am he was discovered to be missing from his confinement. For hours the prison guards and the police searched the prison, they looked under any unturned stone, every nook and cranny. Finally after 10 hours, they finally confirmed he had escaped. Police officers where puzzled on how Dennis carried out his grand escape. The escape was meticulously planned by Dennis, his intentions were that he wanted to embarrass the government by escaping from Pentridge as many of the prisoners where falsely convicted and even children where sent to Pentridge on bad behaviour.

On the night of November 16th 1987 sometime between 10:20 and 12:20, Dennis Mark Quinn vanished from his cell. During that timeframe, Dennis cut the window bars with a hacksaw, climbed the barbed wire fence using a chair, sheets and a blanket. Than scaled the unmanned bluestone wall, Running of into the night, after which he stole a car, using it to finish his grand escape down church street. After a staggering 19 days, he was recaptured in New Zealand.

Harrison

Pentridge Prison was a fascinating experience. First of all, it held perfectly preserved history that I never expected I would have such immediate access to – from the still rusty buckets and hammers in the yard, to the graffiti on the notice boards, to the wear and tear on the floors and stairs, that I can only begin to imagine the past of. The eerie, oppressive atmosphere that still hung in the building all these years later was a perfect reminder of the “hell” that it once was. A feeling I thought, in fact, could only be achieved from the mystical strange ancient ruins and castles of other countries. So, it was to my delighted surprise to see the incredible condition the place had remained in, and to not only see and hear it’s history, but to feel it as well. Going from cell to cell, seeing glimpses into the lives of the unfortune souls once there was most certainly a chilling experience, but one I was truly drawn in by as well.

Jhonan

Monday this week, our crime and punishment extend class class was lucky enough to go on an excursion out to Coburg, and visit Pentridge Prison. We were explicitly focused on the infamous H Division of the prison, described as ‘a prison within a prison’. We learned about the history of Pentridge, and its infamous prisoners. We got to experience Pentridge from the inside out, learning the ways in which prisoners were treated throughout the prisons history, including some recorded first-hand stories. Overall, it was an extremely interesting, and insightful visit to the prison’s history!

Ella

At the end of term one, the extend Crime and Punishment class visited Pentridge Prison in Coburg to learn about the history of the jail, notorious prisoners and the controversies surrounding the infamous H division. We first toured the outside of the prison and learnt about the difficulties the jail faced in preventing prisoner escapes. We then visited the H division, an area that was designed to punish the most disruptive criminals, and completed a self-guided tour while listening to stories via a headset about the division from former prisoners and prison guards.

Harriet

A visit to Melbourne’s most notorious prison is a chilling experience as we saw a glimpse into Australia’s dark history containing stories of abuse of power, assault from the prison guards and psychological torment. Pentridge Prison was known as the “Breeding Ground of Crime” as criminals who committed petty crime would be put with criminals who killed people or were accused of, dealed illegal drugs. And those criminals who were accused of petty crimes learned from other criminals who committed mass murder or some horrible crime and the inmates often learned from each other, not to mention the recidivism rates of Pentridge was a solid 48% that means almost half of the people who went into Pentridge came back in after committing more crimes! The cells were completely isolated from society and only got to see other humans when they were fed or put out into the yard for an at least an hour if not less.

Toby

Going to Pentridge Prison was an experience like no other. I had never been to ANY prison before (just to clear the air) and seeing these prison walls and empty cells was really interesting. Walking around with a guide, looking at the places prisoners use to aimlessly walk around, seeing where people spent their final days – it was sort of like going into a cemetery at some points. We also got to hear recordings and videos of former prisoners, recounting some of the worst moments behind those walls, being in the same rooms where they were. It was just a chilling experience that I’m so happy I went to.

Leo

On Monday, the crime and punishment class went to Coburg to visit Pentridge Prison. During the visit we learned about escape attempts, the history and the infamous H division. We spent around 40 minutes learning about the history of Pentridge including stories about previous inmates like John Killic. We then moved on to H division and spent around 30 minutes in there on a self guided tour. In H division we learnt about the violence and psychological torture that was carried out there and we heard from former prisoners and former prison guards.

Poppy

It’s a sad day when twenty innocent children are sent to the most infamous punishment division of Pentridge Prison. The flaws in our justice system were laid bare as we heard the prisoner’s screams while sitting inside the cramped cells.

The worst bit was how long the bus took.

Our Crime and Punishment class was given a tour of H Division yesterday, and honestly, it wasn’t very nice. (The prison, of course; the actual tour was quite interesting.) H Division, or ‘the Slot’, was where the worst of the worst were sent to be broken.

Beatings were common, the prisoners were forced to salute everything that moved (including the cat), and the officers were petty enough to tear out pages of the prisoner’s books so they wouldn’t know how they ended.

H Division was where all the escapists went- so, if you’re trying to leave Pentridge without permission, you’d better hope you have a good plan.

Leila

Victoria Police Visit Crime and Punishment Extend

Ron Merkel KC visits VCE Legal Studies

VCE Legal Studies Parliament of Victoria

Last Thursday (14/3/24), we went to the Victorian Parliament. We had a tour of the building, including the library, which was exceptionally nice, with a wide range of books and media sources, and the Legislative Council, which is the upper house of the Victorian Parliament. We also re-enacted the Parliamentary debate for “Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medically Supervised Injecting Centre) Bill, which concerns the establishment of safe injecting rooms, and the trial room in Richmond. I immensely enjoyed the debate and found the architecture of the building incredibly beautiful.

Owen C

Rob Hulls AM visits VCE Legal Studies

Today Rob hulls visited year 11 legal studies. I am very grateful for the amazing, impressive and motivating talk he gave. He is a very inspiring man, and the talk and stories he shared have motivated me to do the best I can in not only legal studies but life as a whole.

His words also taught me that even if you do not succeed the first time at something it doesn’t mean there is no hope.

Ayla

Rob Hulls presented really well and gave some motivating and inspiring words to us all. He was very put together and wasn’t boring to listen to, with many different stories.

Chloe

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge Rob for coming out to Wurun and telling us his wonderful stories. Rob definitely embodies the qualities of a true leader and role model.

Del

Rob was cool 👍

Goldie

Rob’s visit was very insightful, he shared his stories and achievements throughout his career. He told us stories of his time as attorney general and his roles/responsibilities during this time. Rob provided us all with a great understanding of the legal system in his view and was overall very beneficial to our studies.

Julian

Rob Hulls has provided us with a great sense of what passion in his workforce looks like. He has done an incredible job of showing us the cracks in the legal system at the time he joined, and the reasons he wished to make changes. Though he is rightfully proud of his accomplishments, he understands how improvements can still be made to the legal system, specifically in human rights. He is an inspiring, inclusive man who displays how no matter what people tell you, if you are strong, passionate and perseverant, you can do whatever you put your mind to. Great job Rob 👍

Skyler

Rob was an eloquent, and passionate speaker about his life’s work, and social issues that he has made an effort to change for the better throughout his career. He was open to any questions presented, or opposing points made, and answered each with efficiency.

Sophie