What's On @ MFG
Sayembara Lisan
Every year, the Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers’ Association (VILTA) runs a Sayembara Lisan (Speaking Competition), which gives primary and secondary school learners of Indonesian the opportunity to test their skills against students from other schools. This year, it was held at Saint Ignatius College. On Thursday 18 May, the Year 10 Indonesian class and a group of brave year 7s headed down the Bellarine Peninsula to compete alongside 200 students from seven regional schools. Students were evaluated by volunteer assessors, engaging in general conversation, presenting a prepared speech, and answering unrehearsed questions on that speech.
Everyone involved should be congratulated on the excellent effort they put in - the standard was very high and competition was fierce. Matthew Flinders Girls gave everyone a run for their money, in a race that saw Gaby Oldham tied for first place with a Saint Ignatius student, and Gendhis Saputro coming in second, just one point behind. The year 7s dominated their field, with Jasmin Thomas taking out first place and Chloe Visser and Layla Tyrrell in a tie for second place.
These students are now eligible to represent the Geelong region at the State Finals of the Sayembara Lisan at the University of Melbourne in June. Congratulations to all our competitors and winners and we wish them all the best in the next phase of the competition!
I revised a lot, I mean a lot a lot and it has really helped me with my comprehension – Ariana Conroy
I enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and participating in something I’m not really used to. It’s helped my confidence in speaking Indonesian! – Rachel Kaiser
I enjoyed answering the questions in Indonesian and at least having a crack and having a go. I think it will help me with talking more fluently and making me understand what I am actually trying to say. – Sam Watkins
It was interesting being asked about your families in a different place, feeling and not knowing who's your assessor. It definitely helped build my confidence in public speaking and improved my speaking capabilities in speaking Indonesian. -Gendhis Saputro
Lombok sister school visit
Every year we host students from our sister school in Lombok, Indonesia. The school’s full name is ‘Sekolah Menegah Atas Negeri 1’, but we all affectionately call it SMANSA. Macy Nobel (7L), Lani Kasperovic (9L), and Kate and Chloe Durran (9L&11E) were kind enough to host Merlyn, Can, and Ajeng this year. Hosting is a great experience – it’s fun, you get to meet new people, learn about a different culture and maybe even make some new friends for when you visit Lombok. We are visiting SMANSA in September this year and trip participants took every advantage to make new friends.
Our guests got to participate in a great range of classes and activities, and had some great new experiences. Meeting a baby kangaroo and discovering the joy of eating Nutella were highlights… Vegemite was less well-received.
There were some big differences to get used to - in Australia, students are used to taking the bus, train or being dropped off at school, whereas in Indonesia students ride their own motorcycle or car. Can you imagine riding a motorbike to the first day of Year 7?
There are differences in classes between Australia and Indonesia, too. The teaching style in Australia involves more discussion between teachers and students, and was something that our visitors enjoyed.
It wasn’t all about going to classes, though. As well as great host-family activities, we had some fun with group activities. Along with the students being hosted at Surf Coast Secondary, our SMANSA visitors explored Geelong, Melbourne and everywhere in between. In Geelong, we reconnoitred the waterfront (thanks go to Lani for her awesome Geelong shots). It was a bit cold, but it didn’t rain on us, so we had a lot of fun. In Melbourne, the truly hardy braved the Eureka Skydeck, before going behind the scenes during an MCG tour.
Merlyn, Can, and Ajeng really enjoyed their time in Australia and hope they can come back here again! Thank you to everyone who supports the sister school program – the schools, the staff who welcomed visitors into their classes, wonderful hosts and their families that opened their homes to our guests, and everyone who made new friends.
Sampai jumpa lagi, terima kasih banyak dari Merlyn, Can and Ajeng.
Caroline Hall, Languages Learning Area Manager
French Speaking Competition: Le Concours Nicolas Baudin 2017
Every year the Alliance Française de Geelong organises a prestigious French speaking competition for all schools in the Geelong area, the Concours Nicolas Baudin. This year, Brynnie Rafe of Year 11 and Jasmine Steen, Annabelle Stephens, Imogen Fry and Sarah Garlick of Year 9 gave up countless lunchtimes working with the French teachers, preparing their answers and perfecting their pronunciation!
Well done to all the girls but particular congratulations go to Brynnie and Jasmine who won FIRST PRIZE at their respective year levels. Felicitations!! C’est magnifique!!
Captain's Speech
On the 11th of May the house captains attended a Captain's Speech hosted by the Geelong Cats and The Gordon. We first arrived at Simonds stadium and were seated at tables in front of the stage. There were many schools and their leadership teams that attended this event. We were then given a guess the celebrity sheet which we had to fill out and pizza bites. Upon finishing the sheets, we listened to an empowering speech by one of the speakers. Afterwards we had the privilege of listening to two Geelong Cats players, Aaron Black and Darcy Lang talk about their journeys before becoming a football player and also what their aspiration after football would be. We listened to one of The Gordon’s promoters talk about all the opportunities that The Gordon can provide after school. We walked away from this event feeling inspired to for fill our dreams and to keep our options open.
By Chloe and Tahlia, Freeman House Captains
MFGSC Cross Country 2017.
Our annual cross-country event held at Fyansford Common on Friday 19th May, saw our staff and students racing to beat the rain that was forecast hit later that afternoon. Still it was lovely run, jog or walk for everyone involved along the beautiful Barwon river.
This years winner was Lipson/Red House with a huge score of 290 points, smashing the other houses with Beachley/Gold on 178, Gilmore/Blue on 175 and Freeman/Green with 126.
The quickest time of the day over the 4km course was from our senior age group competitor in Vanessa Marsh with a time of 18.17.
Our age group champions were as follows;
13yr - Charlotte Orr
14yr - Trinity Knight
15yr- Annabelle Stephens
16yr - Talisha O’connor
Senior- Vanessa Marsh
Well done to all those who competed and good luck to the top 8 of each age group who qualified for the next round in Geelong, on Monday the 29th of May.
Mr Lehmann
Leader of Sport.
House Netball Competition
A new initiative to run a House Netball Competition was started by the House Leaders in Term 2. The competition was played on Mondays at lunchtime with each game made up of two 7-minute halves. The first competition to be run was for Year 7’s.
Round One saw all 4 Houses well represented with many girls eager for a game. Freeman and Lipson were successful as they defeated Beachley and Gilmore.
In Round Two, Freeman won its second match, this time defeating Gilmore while Beachley defeated Lipson. In Round Three, Freeman again showed it was the team to beat. Freeman defeated Lipson while Beachley defeated Gilmore.
The top two teams to play-off in the Grand final were Freeman and Beachley. Beachley did well in the first half to be only down by 3 goals but the might of Freeman shone through in the second half with the Freeman girls winning the match 9 goals to 0.
Congratulation to all the Year 7’s who represented their Houses. Thank you to the House Captains for the great job they did organizing the teams and to the students who assisted with umpiring and scoring. The next round of competition will see the Year 8’s from each House competing against each other.
Music News
Every Tuesday lunchtime till the end of term students will be putting on a concert in the Multi Purpose room or in the courtyard on HFC as part of the ongoing program at the school. Small ensembles will be playing and showing their hard work.
Please remind your daughter to come along and see all of our amazing music students.
Year 7 Visual Art
Year 7 Visual Art student, Emilie Nelson, using a cardboard viewfinder to identify the horizon line and perspective angles for the Landscape Painting Unit. This practical activity assisted students’ in understanding how to apply linear perspective for gaining depth within a drawing.
Science and Engineering Challenge
On Thursday 18th May, 22 students from year 10 attended the Science and Engineering Challenge at Deakin University. The girls competed in teams against eight other schools in challenges such as building bridges, catapults, flat pack furniture and a Mars Rover. Other teams completed challenges where they had to use problem-solving skills to decode communications and construct a bionic hand. The girls showed excellent teamwork skills, persistence and did a wonderful job representing Matthew Flinders. Overall, the girls said it was a positive experience and has opened their eyes to further career opportunities in Science and Engineering.
Jacqui Watson
Big Science Competition
Congratulations to the following students for participating in the Big Science Competition. These students undertook a 50 minute online competition testing critical thinking and problem solving skills. Questions were set in real-life, contemporary contexts, making them relatable and interesting. It is great to see these students taking on such challenges.
Isabelle Pearse 7E
Caitlyn Anthony- WIlliamson 7A
Scarlett Brailsford 7A
Emily Cook 7A
Neisha Beckley 7A
Hallie Grayden 7A
Kasey Heppel 7A
Rianna MacKay 8B
Karla Beaumont 9B
Joanne Toone
Year 7 Camp
The Year 7 camp was amazing! We bonded with the our classmates, and really settled into the school. We had so many great opportunities to get involved. We learnt so much and made a lot of great connections. We went rafting, camping, rock climbing, hiking, walking along the beach, kayaking and went to the lighthouse.
I enjoyed the camping because it was a very important life experience, we also got to have some good laughs whilst we were in the tent. The most challenging part of the camp for me was how cold the water was in the river, and how to cope with the cold weather.
We stayed at the lighthouse at Cape Otway for the first night. It was so beautiful. We fell asleep under the stars, and when we woke up, we saw the beautiful lighthouse. The second night we stayed at a caravan park and were relieved when we got to use a decent toilet. Overall we had a great time and we really settled into MFG.
By Ava Sugden & Chloe Wells 7C
History - The Story of Humanity
Students in Year 9, 10 and 11 have the opportunity to learn about World War 1 and Australia’s involvement in it through their study of History.
The Years 2014 – 2018 will mark some very important 100-year anniversaries for this significant part of our human story. Such anniversaries create an opportunity for us all to remember the sacrifices of others, acknowledge their bravery and to think about how to avoid such tragedies in the future.
The Simpson Prize 2018 encourages students in Years 9 and 10 to explore the events of the Great War and to reflect and write about them. This year the focus is on 1917.
I encourage our students to consider participating in this competition, the details of which follow. I am happy to assist students with any questions or enquiries they might have.
Robyn Myers
Humanities Area Learning Leader