Student Achievements
Youth Art for Reconciliation Exhibition – Monash Community Art Society
Congratulations to our Year 4 student whose artwork was exhibited at The Track Gallery, Mount Waverley as part of the Youth Art for Reconciliation exhibition, organised by the Monash Community Art Society. Your work looked fantastic on display and reflected your thoughtful engagement with contemporary Indigenous artist Kait James.
Thank you to the families who visited the exhibition over the two-week period. It was wonderful to see such strong support for our young artists and their creative achievements.
Gillian Nix
Junior School Teacher
Rostrum State Champion
Congratulations to Varun S. (Year 11) on becoming the 2026 State Champion in the Rostrum Voice of Youth!
He was the winning senior speaker in the Victorian State Final, hosted at Docklands last Sunday, with a thought-provoking and impassioned prepared speech on the need to take a different approaches to addressing youth crime, and a confident impromptu speech on the needs for and challenges of change.
The top six speakers from across the state competed in each of the Junior and Senior State Finals. Congratulations also go out to Amelia W. (Year 9) who competed in the Junior State Final after winning her regional heats and semi final.
We wish Varun the best of success as he now goes on to represent Victoria at the Voice of Youth National Final in Sydney early next term.
Matthew McDonald
Director of Student Communication & Engagement
Student reflection:
On Sunday the 14th of June, Varun and I had the privilege of competing in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition’s State Final. The event consisted of the top 6 speakers from each the Junior and Senior Divisions, who had each won their regional semi-finals on May 24th.
The competition took place at the ‘Library on the Dock’ in at Docklands, and began with a prepared persuasive speech presentations. This aspect of the competition was very interesting as we had the chance to watch many other high-level speakers and see a variety of young peoples perspectives. Additionally, it was a great opportunity to get to express our own views and perform in front of an audience of peers as well as adults and adjudicators.
The prepared speeches were followed by short notice speeches with 15 minutes preparation. This speech was definitely a challenge, but it was an excellent learning opportunity in teaching us to think on our feet. I particularly liked getting to see everyone's interpretation of the same topics.
As the day concluded, we were met with the results. Varun won the Senior State Final, and will now get to participate in the National Final in Sydney later this year. A huge congratulations to him! Overall, the day was an excellent experience to see other speakers, improve our own skills and gain experience, and I am very proud of our school’s performance.
- Amelia W. (Year 9)
Youth Public Speaking Championships: State Champion
Congratulations to Anay G (Year 10), who was the 2026 Winner of the Rotary Youth Public Speaking State Championships.
Following his win in the Ainger Peck Award, Anay was invited to join the top placegetters from all the Rotary Public Speaking competitions – BaySpeak, WynSpeak, the Balwyn Youth Public Speaking Showcase and the Ainger Peck Award – a final competition between all the different events from across Melbourne.
With an outstandingly presented speech, Anay was the 2026 Senior Winner of the Youth Public Speaking Championships.
Matthew McDonald
Director of Student Communication & Engagement
Student reflection:
This year, I was lucky enough to take part in the Rotary Ainger Peck Award, organised by the Rotary Club of Richmond. This competition differed greatly from other public speaking competitions in that the entire judging criteria was based on the delivery and presentation of the speech. This did not mean that content did not matter; rather, I found that it was equally important to have strong content that showcased a variety of delivery skills.
In this competition, participants were allowed to choose any issue that interested them. The organisers were not looking for a conventional persuasive speech, such as one advocating for lowering the voting age to 16 or introducing a four-day work week. Instead, they encouraged speakers to choose an issue they were genuinely passionate about. For me, this was the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Australia and the challenges of racism faced by immigrants such as myself. What I loved about this competition was that it encouraged me to connect emotionally with the audience, something I enjoy doing through storytelling.
After progressing through the heats, Lara and I spoke in the Grand Final of the competition, where I won the award. From there, I was invited to compete in the Rotary District 9800 Youth Public Speaking Championship. This competition brought together winners from various Rotary public speaking competitions from across Melbourne for a celebration of everyone’s speaking and to select one final winner. It was another great opportunity to hear from lots of other students, who presented some excellent speeches on topics from mental health to adoption to mapping human intelligence to the importance of understanding entomology. There, I placed first.
This competition was a perfect opportunity to hone my delivery skills, a valuable tool for getting my ideas heard, because, as the Roman orator Cicero put it, “an argument of great merit is often lost to an argument of lesser merit that is better presented.”
- Anay G. (Year 10)
Outstanding Results in the Berthe Mouchette Poetry Competition
The French Department is delighted to celebrate the success of our Year 10 students in the 2026 Berthe Mouchette Poetry Competition, conducted by the Alliance Française.
Preparation for the competition extended well beyond the recitation itself. Students engaged closely with the prescribed poems, examining both their literary significance and cultural context before selecting the piece that most appealed to them. Through a process of recorded submissions, individual feedback and in-person recitations, students refined not only their pronunciation and intonation but also the subtle expressive qualities required for an effective performance in French.
The standard of the cohort was particularly noteworthy. Following the online presentations, the Alliance Française assessor remarked upon the exceptional quality of the group's performances and was sufficiently impressed by two students to enquire whether they had received significant prior exposure to French. Subsequent enquiries by the organisers confirmed the same question. After consultation with the students, it was shared that neither met the criteria for Hors Catégorie status, making their achievement all the more commendable.
We are therefore especially pleased to announce that three students have been selected to compete in the Finals on Sunday 2 August:
Timothy L. (Year 10)
Siena M. (Year 10)
Ira R. (Year 10)
They will present their poems live before a panel of assessors in the final round of the competition. The exact times will be announced in June.
These results are a testament to the students' diligence, resilience and willingness to embrace the challenges of authentic language performance. They also reflect the care and commitment invested throughout the preparation process.
Congratulations to all students who participated and represented the school with distinction. Félicitations to our finalists, and best wishes for the upcoming final round.
All students will receive e-certificates will be sent at the beginning of Term 4.
The Department would also like to acknowledge and thank Monsieur Marriott for his dedication in preparing students for the competition. His expertise, meticulous feedback and encouragement played an important role in supporting students to achieve their best.
Madame Goodwin
Head of French
Victoria wins the Calanthe Collective Prize for Unpublished Poetry 2026
Now in its fifth year, the Calanthe Collective Prize for Unpublished Poetry is a competition that attracts aspiring and current poets from across Australia and around the globe. The calibre of poems submitted was incredibly high.
We are thrilled to announce that Victoria M. (Year 12) has won the Calanthe Collective Prize for Unpublished Poetry 2026, Under 18 Category for her poem, Elegy to High Street Road.
If you would like to read Victoria's poem, please click on the link below.