Cultural Diversity Week: Origami Session

On March 14th, some students gathered in C15 (the Japanese room) to celebrate Cultural Diversity Week. We made origami which is the Japanese art of folding paper. While doing so, there was some Japanese pop music motivating us to make as much origami as we could. There was a variety of origami that were made by the students such as cranes, frogs, flowers, butterflies and more. Everyone had an amazing time making origami and chatting with each other. The origami that the students have made will soon be used to be displayed around the school. Thank you to Miss Tynan and the student volunteers for organising this event!

Kinako Toniolo

Year 9 Student

3月14日にC15で行われた「昼休みの折り紙とjpop」は色々の学年からの生徒が集まりました。凄く綺麗な折り紙の鶴や蛙、パッチンカメラなどを作った人もいました。Jpopも含めて、沢山盛り上がり、良い昼休みになったと思います。

Mia Cunningham and Miu Morita

Year 9 Student

Luna Park Physics Excursion

On Friday the 10th of March, I was honoured to be a part of the Unit 3-4 physics class’s excursion to Luna Park.

The day was designed to give us a chance to firsthand experience the world of physics while enjoying ourselves. Each ride provided us with a different aspect of physics for us to analyse and experience. Pharaoh’s Curse provided us with vertical circular motion, Supernova gave us banked circular motion, and Dodgem cars gave us momentum and impulse. It was great to feel the effects of physics in our world and I loved every second of it.

Luke Marlow

Year 12 Student

College Captains Report

Term 1 for the School Captains has been filled with different activities, school events, and projects. We started our term humbly by speaking to the whole school community at our first-day assembly, and we got to meet our new Year 7s on the first day.

On Thursday the 9th of March, we, as school captains and some other student leaders, had a video call with our Indonesian Sister School located in West Sumatra. We discussed various things regarding our interests and the school’s curriculum, but most significantly, we talked about our shared project: Increasing both schools’ sustainability levels. We debated ways to reduce single-use plastics in schools and noted some of the differences in our school environments and how students approach sustainability. Needless to say, we look forward to continuing our communications with this sister school and look forward to working on our respective projects.

One of our main goals as College captains was to increase the amount of interaction between student leaders. That’s why late in Term 1, we held a leadership meeting involving all of our student leaders to discuss new ideas and events we would like to contribute to in the school year. All student leaders showed lots of engagement and enthusiasm to pursue their ideas, with many students providing excellent concepts that we will do our best to implement.

On Sunday the 19th of March, we attended the Greek Independence Day March and represented our school as we’ve done in years prior with South Oakleigh students. We felt honoured as school captains to march with our college to celebrate Greece's emancipation and liberation. We saw many other students from Greek schools in Melbourne marching along Albert Park Lake and acknowledging the honourable special guests of the Greek community. Many of our students played the drums and held high the Greek flags. It was an enjoyable experience for all the students and staff attending.

Finally, South Oakleigh College held its annual Cultural Diversity Week and Harmony Week celebrating the diversity and cultures of students in our school.

The week was filled with many events such as bubble tea, origami and more organised by our Global Prefects, Mollie and Sally. We also participated in various Greek dances with many students from all classes and backgrounds. After the dancing ended, our VCE music class performed a concert for us. We loved seeing students in their special cultural dresses and celebrating all different ethnic backgrounds at the college.

Regarding Year 12, we have continued to put our best efforts into our studies and achieve our high expectations. But aside from academics, we are also looking forward to upcoming Year 12 events, such as the Year 12 Formal on Wednesday the 19th of April. The formal committee has done a wonderful job preparing an event that the Year 12s will find an enjoyable end to their schooling career, and we’re very excited to participate in it!

Thank you very much for reading. We hope everyone has a safe and restful break, ready to return to another term ahead!

Sylvia Krozian and Jason Pouliezos

Your College Captains

SRC Presidents’ Report

As our Student Representative Council continues to develop, our portfolios aim to improve the student experience, wellbeing, and the effectiveness of their time spent in class.

Our portfolios continually find ways to bring students and staff closer together this semester. This was most evident in Harmony Week, where we hosted a cultural bake sale, lunchtime concert and our MasterChef competition. All proceeds from the week go towards the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/).

Our Breakfast Club program has also blossomed this term. Every week, we have seen a positive response from students as we distributed free breakfast, including our popular ham and cheese toasties. During Week 9, we held a Celebratory Breakfast Club, with an amazing turnout, including members from the Rotary Club of Oakleigh, Clayton and Huntindale Board visiting to enjoy the waffles, milkshakes, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, amongst other things.

During Week 8, we had the Year 7 Leader Elections, where four students from the new cohort were selected by their peers and will join a portfolio each. We want to congratulate Inara Linehan, River La, Tessy Makse-Hill, and Harshul Moon on their place in the S.R.C.!

Throughout the term, student leaders have been able to go on various excursions. Early in the term, students got the experience of attending a Youth Leadership Academy conference. It was a great experience to learn from adults with similar experiences how they took their skills and turned them into their success. At the end of the term, we also represented the College by attending the ANZAC Shrine of Remembrance Commemoration Service.

To close the term, Open Night was a great way to share with the community what we have achieved and our plans for the future. Thank you to all student leaders who helped out with setting up our area, as well as hosting on the night.

We are very excited to bring more initiatives and events for next term, and we thank everyone for their support so far this year.

Genna Windsor

Your Student Representative Council President

Shyli Barak

Your Student Representative Council Vice-President

Peer Support Prefects Report

We loved seeing the Year 7s and Peer Support Leaders build up their communication skills and teamwork throughout this term. All our Peer Support Leaders have dedicated their lunch times to coming up with different activities to help the Year 7s understand the school values. Seeing the year 7s having fun while getting educated about our values really made us smile, which reminded us of when we were in Year 7 completing these activities. Some of our Year 10s were also fortunate enough to go to Year 7 Camp, help with different activities, participate in events, and care for the students. I hope the Peer Support groups strengthen their connection with their Year 7s whilst demonstrating their leadership skills.

Christian Saito

Your Peer Support Prefect

One of our fundamental school values, High Expectations, was recently a major topic of the session with the Year 7 students by our Peer Support Leaders. Our leaders had devoted valuable time to planning events for the Year 7 students. Our Year 7 students gained a greater understanding of what and how the value is portrayed after participating in these activities. These lessons gave the Year 7 students a learning opportunity and inspired them to live by these values, like having High Expectations, every day. The leaders are currently organising a new lesson on Respect, another crucial school value.

Jia Kaur

Your Peer Support Prefect

Global Prefects Report

During the Victorian Cultural Diversity Week, we, as Global Prefects organised a multitude of different events that highlighted the complexity and beauty of different cultures. We first initiated an origami workshop hosted by the Japanese class, where students learned how to fold traditional Japanese paper crafts like cranes, samurai hats, and animals!

The workshop was led by the Japanese language teacher (Ms Tynan), who shared her expertise and enthusiasm for the art of origami - whilst appreciating J-pop - as part of the light-hearted activity. Whilst hosting the origami session, we also collaborated with VM students and the coordinator to collect data from across the school to understand how to respectfully celebrate different cultures, as well as having an event where students can create posters that represents their ethnicity, nationality, or simply a country they are fond of.

Meanwhile, there’ll be an ongoing project to update the school Cultural Background Map which consists of many flags from different countries and regions our students represent. Finally, we ended the week-long celebration with a hectic but exciting free boba tea event that was a huge hit among the students.

The VM students made the boba tea with a professional speed that accommodated students in merely a lunchtime. The boba tea was excellent, and despite the long-winded, frenzy line of students initially, we ended on a wonderful note in the last event.

Overall, cultural diversity week was a positive experience that brought students together to learn, create, and celebrate diversity. The origami workshop and world map board update to the boba tea event were all engaging and fun while promoting cross-cultural understanding and appreciation. We sincerely believe such events can heighten students' appreciation of different cultures. We shall continue to host and organise different cultural celebrations with acknowledgement of how to conduct them respectfully.

Mollie Pham and Sally Wu

Your Global Prefects

Acacia House Captains Report

Hey everyone, this is Peter and A.J., your Acacia House Captains. This term started pretty well because Acacia won the House Swimming Carnival, but also because so far, there have been a lot of cool events that have taken place, such as the Harmony Week, MasterChef competition, Cultural Bake Sale and the Year 7 BBQ.

Recently, we have been talking about how our House feels about the current house chant. Additionally, during a meeting with our Senior Student Leaders, this school has been graced with, we are exploring other ways to continue building House Spirit.

Peter Tselikis and A.J. Mariona

Your Acacia House Captains

Harmony Week

Over three days, South Oakleigh College celebrated its annual Harmony Week!

The week consisted of four components:

Cultural/Orange themed out of uniform
a Cultural Bake Sale,
MasterChef Competition and a
Lunch Time Concert.

On Tuesday the 21st of March, students and staff were invited to come to school in orange/cultural clothes and buy delicious food from the Bake Sale during recess and lunch. Thank you to all the students and teachers who supplied food for the sale; nothing went to waste! All funds raised went towards the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/).

Wednesday the 22nd of March, was when we held our second annual MasterChef Competition. Students were given 2 hours to bake or cook their dish that follows the theme ‘cultural or passed down for generations’. Congratulations to the team of students who won; everyone did an amazing job! These two events wrap up our first term of 2023, and we can’t wait to show everyone what we can bring to the table later in the year.

Mackenzie Dickson

Your Leading Campaigns Representative

Student Representative Council

Harmony Week – MasterChef (Contestant Perspective)

Last Wednesday, Yohan, River, and I participated in the amazing SOC Harmony Week MasterChef Competition. We cooked traditional Spanish dishes in a three-course meal. We made

pan contomate, a Spanish toast dish with tomatoes and chorizo pate,
paella, and
Valencianas, Spanish orange cupcakes with a syrup.

We had tough competition with various food ranging from nasi goreng to pupusas. Despite this, we managed to win. The event was heaps of fun, and we can’t wait to defend our title next year!

Jack Wright

2023 MasterChef Competition Winner

Easter Egg Hunt

At recess and lunch on Thursday the 30th of April, the S.R.C. organized an Easter egg hunt in the library. The event was a great success, with many students visiting the library and finding the chocolate eggs hidden by the src. Thank you to everyone who helped with the event and the students who came to search for the eggs! All funds raised will be donated to the Good Friday Appeal (https://www.goodfridayappeal.com.au/).

Sophie Volpert

Your Campaigns Representative

Student Representative Council

Breakfast Club Update:

On the 30th of March, our school's Student Leadership Team hosted our end-of-term Celebratory Breakfast Club, which turned out to be a fantastic event for everyone involved. The Breakfast Club is a tradition that we have been carrying on for many years now, and it is always a highly anticipated event among our student body. We wanted to ensure that we had a large spread of foods that would satisfy the tastes of all our students. The menu included a wide range of delicious items, including our regular breakfast offerings such as cereals, toast, juice, and fruit, as well as bacon, eggs, pancakes, and milkshakes.

We were amazed to see over 100 students and staff attend the Breakfast Club. We were also delighted to have one of our program sponsors, the Rotary Club of Oakleigh, Clayton, and Huntingdale, join us for breakfast. Alongside the Bendigo Bank – Murrumbeena Branch, Buxton Oakleigh and Foodbank Victoria, we are proud to partner with these organisations to support this initiative. It was rewarding to see our efforts in planning and organising the event pay off and positively impact our school community.

Overall, the Celebratory Breakfast Club was a huge success, and we are grateful to everyone who contributed to making it such a memorable event. We hope to continue this tradition for many years to come, and we look forward to seeing more students join us for our next Breakfast Club, starting Term 2 Week 1 on Thursday the 27th of April at 8:00 am in the Canteen. If any students would like to help with the program, please get in touch with Genna Windsor (gmwin1@schools.vic.edu.au) – S.R.C. President or Soham Dhital (SDHI15@schools.vic.edu.au) – S.R.C. Breakfast Club Liaison.

Soham Dhital

Your Breakfast Club Liaison and Campaigns Representative

Student Representative Council

Year 7 Leader Elections

On Thursday the 23rd of March, the Year 7 Leader Elections took place. As a proud member of the S.R.C. I was invited to assist in the setting up and process of the election. The selections first commenced in the Theatre, where the eight candidates gave speeches to their peers and teachers.

After all the presentations were complete, students were led upstairs, where they would get their names formally checked off, given a ballot and proceeded inside the classroom to vote. My job was to help set up/pack down the voting centre and mark off students' names as they entered. Seeing the Year 7s supportive towards all candidates and passionate about who they would like to vote for was great. All nominees did amazing, and congratulations to our four new Year 7 S.R.C. Leaders!

Emily Lay

Your Campaigns Secretary

Student Representative Council

Year 7 Leader Introductions

Hello, I’m Harshul, and I’m in Year 7 and quite enjoying how life is going so far in high school. I enjoy hanging out with my friends and playing table tennis and chess in my spare time. Some subjects I like are PE, Drama and English. In S.R.C., I’m looking forward to meeting new people at higher year levels, helping out with Breakfast Club and going on Student Leadership excursions to learn more about improving my leadership skills. It will be really fun, and I'm glad to join the team.

Harshul Moon

Your Year 7 Leader

Student Representative Council

Hi, I’m Tessy, one of your new Year 7 S.R.C. Leaders. I am really honoured to have this position and will now tell you a little about myself! I really like maths because I like working my brain and having fun with my friends and my very helpful teacher. Some things that I’m looking forward to in S.R.C. are the great opportunities to help raise money for charity and help with anything with my peers and the school community!

Tessy Maske-Hill

Your Year 7 Leader

Student Representative Council

Hello, my name is River, and I’m in Year 7. Everything is going well so far in the year, and I’ve participated in many fun activities. My favourite subjects include Design and Materials, Sports, and Maths. I also enjoy playing badminton and ping pong with friends and family.

I look forward to helping organise events and meeting other students involved in this program. I think this is a great and fun opportunity.

River La

Your Year 7 Leader

Student Representative Council

Hi! My name is Inara, and I am so excited to be in the S.R.C. on behalf of the Year 7s this year! At the moment, my favourite subject at school is textiles and studio art. And I do things like sewing (textiles) as a hobby at home. I can’t wait for all the opportunities that will come my way this year. I am ready to take on anything!

Inara Linehan

Your Year 7 Leader

Student Representative Council

Legacy’s 91st ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony for Students

On Wednesday the 5th of April, our student leadership team was invited to attend the Melbourne Legacy’s 91st ANZAC Commemoration Service for Students at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance. Melbourne Legacy supports the partners and children of those who gave their lives or health in service to our country. In the trenches of the Western Front during WWI, an Australian soldier promised his dying mate that he would ‘look after the missus and kids’. These very wholehearted words became known as ‘The Promise’.

‘The Promise’ offers compassion, care and support for veterans’ families in need - Melbourne Legacy. Legacy Melbourne has been operating since 1923. It was founded by Major General Sir John Gellibrand, who served in the First World War, was Chief Commissioner of the Victoria Police from 1920 to 1922, and was a member of the Australian House of Representatives.

We were given an Australian flag with a strand of rosemary attached on arrival to the Shrine. Rosemary is a symbol of remembrance. In Ancient Greece, scholars entwined rosemary in their hair to stimulate their memory. An ANZAC soldier injured in Gallipoli and hospitalised in the area for some months cut a twig of rosemary and tended the cutting until it began to grow. Upon returning to Australia, he planted the bush in his garden in the Camberwell district of Melbourne.

The service began with a welcome to country by Bunurong Land Council Elders followed by the Guard of Honour marches on the arrival of the Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau AC, Royal Salute, Melbourne Legacy President Kerry Jenke and the choir from Mac. Robertson Girls’ High School and Melbourne High School. The choir performed a very well-known song, ‘I am Australian’ from Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton, ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and our national anthem. There were readings of ‘In Flanders Fields’ and ‘We shall keep the Faith’ read by two students from both high schools. There was a one-minute silence to remember those men and women who served our country. In honour and respect for the brave men and women who served our country, a wreath was laid by our College Captains Sylvia and Jason. Throughout the service, we watched Defence Force Cadets march around the Shrine. Around the conclusion of the service, we observed the Touch Escort Parade. When the ceremony ended, we had the opportunity to explore inside the Shrine. A highlight for me was going upstairs to the balcony area, where you could see the spectacular view of the Shrine and the city around. This was an uplifting and honouring service to be a part of. Lest We Forget.

Greg Acciarito

Your Banksia House Captain

Important Dates

Dates to Remember