From Holloway Road

Food for thought

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to a gathering of our international students over what proved to be a really delicious lunch. Doanvy and the international team do an amazing job with these courageous young people and I was very grateful to see the return of so many new international faces and accents, as well as the tasty sushi.   Food is such a great equalizer.  We all need it, we all like some dishes and dislike others. We all have a favored cuisine; mine is Thai food, and we all know just how much spice we can handle before it gets embarrassing.   

I call these young travelers courageous for good reason.  Not only do they face the spectre of vegemite on toast and the reality that a Bunning sausage is now $3.50, but at the age of around 16, they have left their families, their friends, their homes and have ventured out into the world.  My father wouldn't let me ride my bike past the boundaries of North & South Road when I was sixteen and that was fine by me. My life sat between those borders and it was a safe place for a relatively smart, but socially awkward teenager. To see our international students arrive in a new culture, a new school and a new home(stay) and do it with such grace and confidence is amazing.  

Like food, courage comes in many forms: the courage to talk to a counselor/teacher/parent/friend when things are not going well; the courage to own your errors as you go through the journey; the courage to stand up and call out other's poor behaviour; and the courage to face the oncoming examinations with determination and high expectations.    

My hat goes off to those courageous students here at Sandringham College.  If you need any more proof of the courage and determination of our amazing students then take a good look at the SPORT REPORT inside this edition of the newsletter.  So many incredible success stories, all of them built from courage and determination. Well done, Johanna, Indi, Keely, Archie and Ameya.

Monash Scholars Program

Congratulations to Rhys Roelvink for being accepted into the Monash Scholars Program 2022 - 2024.  The Monash Scholars program is a prestigious program for high achieving secondary students. Over the next two and a half years, Rhys will participate in a range of bespoke activities to enhance his learning; explore his career ambitions and further define his personal aspirations.  Well done, Rhys!

Study Smart

If you are going to study - study smart!   Holloway Road is currently hosting a weekly study skills presentation aimed at those students completing a Unit 3 & 4 subject in 2022 but open to everyone.  The sessions are advertised through Compass and they are many and varied in their content and approach.  Session one looked at the specific study of science; how to prepare for a science based paper and how to best tackle the examination when it arrives.   Session two covered study types in general, with Kim Russell presenting on passive vs active revision.   This week Laura Washington presented some effective study and revision tips using spacing and retrieval theories.    The sessions will continue each week this term as we head toward the examination period.  Some specific study protocols for Humanities and Mathematics are in the sessions booked for the weeks to come.