Dear Parents and Guardians,

With Term 3 drawing to a close, we pause to give thanks to all that our students have learned and achieved this term. It has been a term full of highs and lows, with many lessons taught and assessments completed. It also is a significant milestone for our Year 12 cohort, whose academic journey is quickly drawing to a close. With one term of the school year to go, there is still much to do both in and outside of our classrooms, and all College staff are looking forward to the holiday break to return to school in Term 4 ready to commence another exciting couple of months of learning with your children.

This term we acknowledge the hard work of teachers and support staff to have assisted with the Year 8, 9 and 10 camps, our annual Wellbeing Day in the Secondary school and the Footy Colours Day to celebrate the upcoming AFL Grand final. There have also been a number of excursions that have taken place in the last few weeks. We thank all the teachers who organised and supervised these activities.

It is with great pleasure that we were able to present a substantial number of Term awards to the students today. It was great to see so many students displaying some or all of the following qualities in Term 3.

We would like to extend a special thank you to our Year 12 teaching team, who will be giving up some of their holidays in week 2 to supervise the trial exams the College will be hosting for our Year 12 students. We hope they will find the experience helpful and rewarding as they commence their final preparations for their final VCE exams later in October and November.

There is more information on all the camps, excursions and events from the last few weeks on the following pages.

Please note our key dates for Term 4 below:

Key dates for Term 4

Monday 7th October - Staff Day
Tuesday 8th October - Students begin Term 4
Wednesday 9th October - Year 7 & 8 German Day
Thursday 10th October - Secondary Regional Athletics
Friday 18th October - Year 12 Graduation
Monday 21st - Friday 25th October - 7 to 10 PAT Reading and Maths
Monday 28th October - Secondary State Athletics/Year 11 Biology Excursion
Tuesday 29th October - Year 12 Exams begin
Monday 4th November - Student Free Day
Tuesday 5th November - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
Wednesday 6th November - Checkpoint reports Due
Friday 8th November - Checkpoint reports released to parents
Monday 11th November - Remembrance Day
Friday 15th November - Arts Festival
Monday 18th November - Senior Exam Week Begins
Thursday 21st November - Orientation Day
Thursday 21st November - Valedictory Dinner
Monday 25th November - Headstart Week
Thursday 28th November - Thanksgiving Service
Friday 29th November - PTFA Colour Run/Last Day for Senior Students
Monday 2nd December - Year 7-9 Gumbuya World Excursion/Semester 2 Reports Due
Friday 6th December - Last Day P-9/Semester 2 Reports released to parents

We wish you all a safe and enjoyable holiday break and look forward to seeing you in Term 4.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Joanne Rothwell Mrs Amanda Trewin

Head of Middle School Head of Senior School

Year 8 Camp

From Monday 2 September, Year 8 students and their intrepid teachers battled hail, lightning, heavy rain and power outages as just part of the challenges they faced on their week-long adventure designed to encourage them to step out of their comfort zone, to test their endurance and to develop their teamwork.

The Summit’s program developed in consultation with some of the country's leading psychologists, life coaches, Outdoor Education Experts, motivational speakers and Sports and Recreation specialists is all about providing positive experiences designed to change lives. With the support of their coaches and team leaders, every day the students grew as individuals and teammates as they stretched themselves to new heights – quite literally, and conquered their fears. It was wonderful to see students who were once overwhelmed and terrified 'morph' into young people who knew they had conquered challenges that had previously overwhelmed them; providing them with the life skill knowledge that with courage, they can beat any challenge that comes their way.

Witnessing them encouraging each other, and several stepping up to support and lead was incredibly gratifying. The activities included:

The high wire
A snake experience
The deep darkness of a cave challenge
A battle for supremacy in the laser skirmish
The bush challenge
The flying fox
The leap of faith
Abseiling
Conquering the Summit Window
The giant swing
The sky bridge
Tash’s LadderThe Rock wall
The Snowy River challenge
The inflatable obstacle course and human fooseball
And of course, the mud run!

The week was action packed, and students and staff left on Friday exhausted but exhilarated. New friendships were formed, old friendships were strengthened and not enough sleep was had! We look forward to continuing to build on the skills learned during the camp, and thank all those involved behind the scenes, including our parents for supporting our Year 8 students.

Ms Maree Worker

Year 8 Homeroom Teacher

Senior School Year 11 and 12 Wellbeing Day

On Friday 30th August Our Senior students celebrated our annual wellbeing day with a trip to Gravity Zone. The day was spent encouraging our students to participate in physical activities that promote their physical and mental wellbeing, both individually and in groups.

The students were able to participate in activities in the jump zone, challenge themselves to play interactive dodgeball and work in teams in laser tag, where our Year 12’s emerged victorious against the Year 11 team.

Staff and students alike enjoyed taking the opportunity to recharge their emotional batteries and have a day of learning and personal growth outside of the classroom.

It was a fantastic day enjoyed by all.

Mrs Amanda Trewin

Head of Senior School

Thoughts on Year 9 Camp! 2024

City Camp this year was a great experience for students and staff alike! I enjoyed rock climbing, laser tag and the theatre the most. Seeing the students put themselves out of their comfort zone and climb higher than they initially thought, was a major highlight for me. Being able to enjoy new activities, such as laser tag and the theatre together was very enjoyable. - Ms Tayla Entwistle

The highlight of the camp was seeing so many students stepping outside their comfort zones and trying new things - especially Alex on the rock climbing wall. - Mr Michael Bonsall

Year 9 camp was an action-packed adventure with a mix of experiences from testing physical skills (ice skating, rock climbing), group strategy (laser tag), entertainment (ArtVo, movie) and the special experience of watching Beauty and the Beast the musical. The camp was an amazing growth experience where students overcame fear, forged new friendships and brought the cohort together as a year level. - Mrs Rowena Kohinga

The camp was fun and full of excitement. With a wide range and variety of activities planned for all students to enjoy and participate in the city. The camp gave them a great outlook on what the city has to offer. - Ms Michelle Robinson

Ice skating was the best part of camp. - Bhavia

I personally really enjoyed rock climbing, it was great. Definitely the best camp we’ve done. - Marley

I loved the camp as I enjoyed hanging out with friends and teachers. I enjoyed all the activities, especially Artvo, King Pin and the aquarium. Thank you for giving us the chance to experience these activities!! -Ying-Ting

Good camp. Would go again, I liked a lot of the activities and it is one of my favourite school camps. My favourite activities were ice skating and the movie Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. - Liam and Caedyn - “The juice is loose” -Beetlejuice

I really enjoyed camp. It was the best and my favourite camp ever. I really liked all the activities and that we got to have our phones. -Stella

It was good - charlotte

Good camp, would do again with some tweaks. One of my favourite school camps. I really enjoyed bowling , laser tag and beetlejuice beetlejuice. - Saihaj

It was amazing and very fun. All of the activities were great. - Alex

Camp was pretty cool; just wish it was a little longer. - Yanshi

Camp was really nice. The school put great effort into making it as enjoyable as possible for the teachers and the students. My favourite activity was ice skating. - James

Moonlit Sanctuary

Monday of week 10, the Year 7s made a trip to Moonlit Sanctuary to conclude their science studies on Ecosystems. Despite the cold, and being rained on at different times during the day, the students kept their spirits up and we were lucky to have some sunshine later in the afternoon. We had a wonderful time getting up close with koalas, crocodiles, Tassie devils, wedge-tailed eagles, dingoes, emus, lizards and snakes.

The highlight of the day was feeding and petting free-roaming wallabies and kangaroos. Nelson the Kangaroo was the star of the day, with almost all students getting to have a pat with him. He was the most relaxed Kangaroo (and the greediest) we met and he gladly stood with all the students and ate from their hands whilst they petted his back and sides. Some of the students were also able to coax the shy wallabies out for a feed and pat as well. We were also able to observe many cute little joeys peeking out from pademelon pouches.

Thank you to all the year 7 students and the teachers for coming along to the excursion.

We are also grateful to the staff and Moonlit Sanctuary for hosting us for the day and showing us their fabulous array of Australian Wildlife.

Mrs Sophie Fernandez

Year 7 Science Teacher

National Gallery of Victoria

On the 5th of September, the Year seven students went to the National Gallery of Victoria, to see the Ancient Egypt Exhibition “Pharaoh,” concluding their study topic about ancient Egypt in Humanities.

An introductory presentation was attended that overviewed the exhibition and explained what they were going to see and what the normal objects we use every day looked like in ancient Egypt. They were excited to see the many artefacts and especially keen to see if there were any mummies. (Unfortunately, no)

Throughout the exhibition, travelling through numerous grand halls, they saw various statues, jewellery, cookware, pharaohs, hieroglyphic writing and even a coffin - known as sarcophagus - adorned with elaborate decorations and well-preserved funeral shrouds.

Overall, students enjoyed a fantastic day at the Gallery and were fortunate to have seen so many rare and precious relics relating to ancient Egypt.

Mrs Deborah Coffey

Year 7 Humanities Teacher

Shrine of Remembrance

Year 9 students had the incredible opportunity to visit the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne!

They explored the Shrine's stunning architecture and took part in a guided tour led by the knowledgeable staff. Throughout the visit, students learned about the historical significance of the Shrine and the key events of World War I.

This excursion was a meaningful extension of their Humanities studies, offering them a chance to honour the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for our country.

It was a powerful experience that enriched their historical understanding and instilled values of empathy, respect and gratitude.

OSHC