College News, Sports & Events

Tech Careers Expo

On 12 August the Banksia Year 9 Computer class travelled with Mr Prendergast and Ms Dalton to Accenture Financial Services in the city for the Tech Careers Expo.  This was a program run by ABCN at Accenture where we got to meet mentors who talked about their lives and how digital tech impacted their lives. There were multiple group activity games, which taught us career related lessons, with a key takeaway being to broaden your career choices and use the opportunities that you get. They also taught us about Figma, a program for helping professionals to help make apps that could be used to benefit students’ lives (such as one we got to work with and work together to develop improvements for). 

We learnt from mentors that:

• There is plenty of time and plenty of opportunities to try out new things.
• Jobs change and you don’t have to wait too long if you don’t like it.
• Take opportunities to expand your horizons, such as exchange programs.

The venue was really pretty and unique. It was eco friendly and clear they used lots of different technology. The lunch was delicious too! 

Beatrice, Harshita and Hirthvica

Free Eye Test

Keysborough Secondary College is pleased to announce that the Student Eyecare Program will be running at Acacia Campus in Term 4, 2026.  An optometrist will be onsite during school hours to provide students with a free comprehensive eye examination that is covered through Medicare Australia. 1 in 6 students have eye conditions that go undetected.

This is due to the high level of visual demand on their eyes from books, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Every student will receive a full report about their eye health and a prescription will be provided if glasses are required. The prescription can be taken to any optical store to get the glasses made. Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity. 

To sign up, register online at: https://forms.gle/2JmoNnaeBSqzbPHt7 or ask at the front desk for a paper consent form.

Year 11 Sociology Excursion

Our Year 11 Sociology students from Acacia and Banksia recently stepped back in time with an immersive excursion to the historic Old Melbourne Gaol, directly connecting their classroom learning to our current unit on Deviance and Crime. 

Students brought legal theory to life by stepping into the dock for a gripping courtroom drama role-play, followed by a guided tour of the gaol's haunting bluestone corridors. They listened intently to grim historical stories of nineteenth-century prisoners and executioners, gaining a profound understanding of how societal views on deviance and punishment have evolved over time. 

The unforgettable highlight of the day was a sensory experience inside the pitch-black holding cells, giving our budding sociologists a taste of colonial incarceration and the harsh realities of early Australian criminal justice.

Ms Kean, Ms Chieu & Ms Govender

Year 12 VCE-VM Melbourne Zoo Excursion

The Year 12 VCE-VM students enjoyed a visit to Melbourne Zoo as part of their Unit 4 Community projects. Here, they had time to listen to different keeper talks about the animals, explore the zoo and have an educational talk about the impact of litter on the animals and their habitats. The students were able to see how the zoo’s project were run around removing rubbish from rescue animals. It was a fun and enjoyable day had by all (teachers included).

Prime Minister's Spelling Bee

The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee was conducted at Keysborough College during Week 6. 50 students from Banksia and 30 students from Acacia participated in the online competition where they received 30 complex words to spell through their headphones. 

With incredible results, we have had 3 Acacia students and 7 Banksia students make it to the State Finals. 

The 3 Acacia students are:

• Dylan Abeykoon
• Logan Donnelly 
• Marian Idris

The 7 Banksia students are:

• Sophie Hong
• Louis Ly
• Huy Le 
• LD Ta 
• Xyanelle Doroja
• Xian Doroja
• Rohann Willis

ELC at Werribee Zoo

The ELC students participated in a Geography Field Trip that is part of the year 10 Humanities Curriculum.

Student Reflections

I really liked learning about the animals and actually getting to see them in person. I also enjoyed riding the bus around the Savannah enclosure and seeing and learning about the giraffe's habitat in the zoo. Although they had no alpacas though, it was still quite lovely. Thank you for taking us to the zoo, and thank you for making my first field trip and second day at ELC amazing for me. - Neath

I went to the Werribee Open Range Zoo with my friends, and I had (a) really fun experience with all my friends. I saw the real kangaroo and koala by my eyes, not by a screen and they look so funny. after this experiment, I can tell with my friends that I had seen the kangaroo and koala and how they look like. - Khoa

I feel so excited when I went to zoo and feel like I am adventure in forest, I really enjoy with this class and I like the air at their it makes me feel good. - Gech

Thank you for taking me to Werribee zoo . I have fun with friend and visit a new place the I have never been to before. I saw so many animals like baby kangaroos' koalas and more and I think my favorite animal is cheetah. I really enjoyed it, thank you for taking me there. -Cheata

That day, I was fun and and I enjoyed that time. I went with my classmates to visit the different parts of each animal. I saw the gorilla, they look quite funny and then I saw the remaining animals like: kangaroo, koala, giraffe, etc,....when I go around the zoo. Lunch time, we had the mission is answer the question in the paper by write some information we have after exploring the zoo and we aslo have lunch together. We did the mission and eat and talked to each others, that's a very fun time,...Then, We were gathered in one area to prepare for departure back to school. It was a wonderful experience for me. - Phuoc

My name is Ruby. On the 11th of August, I've went to Werribee Zoo and it was fun. I love the time we were on the bus, and it goes around to show us zoo animals. Also I enjoy having lunch with my friends and exploring about Australia animals. However, we didn't have enough time to see all the animals and walk around the zoo. - Ruby

My trip to the Werribee Zoo was super fun and exciting! I loved going on the safari tour and seeing animals like giraffes and zebras walking around in the big open space. It felt like being in the wild, and it was a really cool day out with great memories. - Cherry

Wellbeing

Riteman 

RiteMan recently took a group of students on an exciting surfing excursion to YCW Beach, Phillip Island. The day provided students with a fantastic opportunity to get outdoors, try something new and build confidence while enjoying the beautiful surroundings of Phillip Island. 

Students embraced the experience and enjoyed spending the day in the sunshine, participating in surfing activities and supporting one another throughout the day. It was a great opportunity for students to step outside their usual school environment, develop new skills and create positive memories with their peers.

To finish off the day, students enjoyed a delicious kebab for lunch before heading back to school. A fantastic day was had by all!

Written by Tara

State Schools’ Relief Support

State Schools’ Relief (SSR) vouchers are available to support students who require assistance with school uniforms. For further information, families are encouraged to contact their Year Level Coordinators or speak with Carly (Banksia) or Casey (Acacia), who will be happy to assist.

Each eligible student can access up to three $85 uniform vouchers per calendar year. In addition, students may also be eligible for a glasses voucher through OPSM.

As we approach Term 4 and the warmer months, we encourage families to make contact before the end of the year to access this support.

Bullying No Way Week

Bullying No Way Week was a week of action across the school, with Wellbeing encouraging students to think about how small acts can make a big impact. Each day, a new Compass post was shared with information, challenges and activities focused on bullying prevention, kindness, inclusion and creating a safer school community.

Students were also invited to get involved in lunchtime activities, including Anti-Bullying Bingo, giving everyone the chance to have fun while learning more about standing up against bullying, supporting others and creating a kinder school.

Murder on the 518

On the 27th and 28th of August, senior school students from both Acacia and Banksia came together to perform our Senior School Play - Murder on the 518! The performance followed the story of train passengers aboard West Coast Railways as they made their way towards Los Angeles. Along the way, two of the guests fall victim to sudden foully, and it is up to the rest of the passengers to determine the culprit!

Students had been working to create this performance since the beginning of this year, rehearsing once a week as well as one all day rehearsal during the school holidays. For the first time at Keysborough Secondary College, this project was designed to be entirely student led; from the direction to the set design, lighting design, costume and make up, props and everything else in between! All in all, the performances were a great success, with nearly 300 people through door across both nights! On behalf of all students involved, we would like to thank everyone who came to support us across both nights, along with all our amazing teacher helpers and bus drivers. The play was a huge success thanks to the support from everyone at the college. We will be looking at running our senior play again in 2028, following on from next year's whole college musical!

Literacy Enhancement

In Week 8, our Year 8 and 9 Literacy Enhancement students from across the College put their literacy skills to the test with an exciting visit to EscapeXperience in Oakleigh.

Students worked together to solve an escape room, using clues, puzzles and problem-solving challenges to work towards their escape. The experience provided a fun and engaging opportunity for students to apply the skills they have been developing in Literacy Enhancement in a real-world context.

It was fantastic to see students engaged, working as a team and putting their literacy skills into action while having plenty of fun along the way!

Year 8 KEEP Maths Incursion

Recently, the Year 8 KEEP Maths students from both the Acacia and Banksia campuses took a trip to Eureka Tower as part of an assignment involving calculating heights, distances and angles using trigonometry, as well as producing linear graphs and calculating areas using geometry.

Students took the train to the city and stopped near the base of the tower. Using technology and their own estimations, they collected data and used the trigonometric ratio tan to estimate the height of the tower.

Following this, what many students considered to be the highlight of the excursion was the amazing view from Eureka Tower. The group was lucky to have clear weather that day, which allowed them to enjoy views across the city, Port Phillip Bay, the Dandenong Ranges and the Botanical Gardens.

Students then had to estimate the angle of depression and use the heights of Eureka Tower and Rialto Towers, along with tan, to calculate the distance between the two buildings.

Afterwards, students headed to Melbourne Central for lunch. Many students also claimed that visiting Melbourne Central was the main highlight of the excursion! On their way to Melbourne Central, they timed how long they stopped and how long they were walking in order to construct a distance and time graph.

After lunch, students headed to the State Library, where they used the dimensions that they had measured to complete their calculations and undertook their final activity: calculating the surface area of the reading room.

After a long day in the city, students headed home. In the following days, they prepared and presented their findings to the class.

VOLLEYBALL VICTORIA SCHOOLS CUP

Keysborough College this year has continued to enter teams into the Volleyball Victoria Schools Cup, a three-day competition that is a higher standard compared to our usual School Sport Victoria competitions. These competitions are stronger than our Interschool sport competitions as they involve government and private schools, most of which run volleyball academies. Just as a comparison, Eltham SC has a Volleyball program with a budget of $90k and the Volleyball academy students at Rowville and Maribyrnong spend 33% of their curriculum time on Volleyball training and development.

In a first, we entered our Year 8 Girls team into the highest division (‘Honours’), which is generally full of the academy and private school teams. Incredibly, they won the Gold Medal, winning all their matches across the three days, beating schools such as Eltham, Rowville and Maribyrnong twice, including in the final. The team was amazing - their serving, defence and attacking play was consistent, tenacious and threatening. They won all of the matches bar one 3-0. Charli Nguyen won the award for player of the tournament, with her spiking skills being unstoppable. 

Our Year 11 Boys and Year 12 teams all played in Division One. Both Boys teams won their pool but unfortunately lost their semi-final, meaning they had a play-off game for the bronze medal. Both teams were shattered to not make the Gold Medal match. To move forward and be ready to play for the Bronze medal, and then come-back to win the deciding set after winning the first set but losing the second set, was really impressive. 

The Year 12 Girls won all of their pool games and their semi-final before having a scare in their gold medal match against Balwyn, a team they had already beaten in convincing fashion. Unexpectedly, the girls lost the first set. To lose the first set, for some teams, would've been so disappointing. Teams of past years may have rolled over and given up, but the girls rallied and fought on to win the second set. The third set was first to 15 but at 12-12, the girls slammed that door shut to win 15-12. Well done, Girls!

BADMINTON REGIONAL FINALS

This year, the Banksia Campus had all eight of our Badminton teams make it through to the Southern Metro region finals. From there, only two teams made it through to the actual final. Our Year 12 Girls lost to Mac.Robertson Girls’ High (for approximately the 20th year in a row!) but our Year 8 Girls team won their final against Westall 4-2. By the time you read this, they will have played in the State Final…fingers crossed they go one better than their second place last year.

DISTRICT TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Keysborough College Banksia sent 86 students to the Dandenong and District Track and Field Championships last week in a quest to win for the fifth time in a row. In a tight competition, it was Lyndale who came out in front for 2026 with Banksia finishing in third place. We can be proud of our junior, intermediate and senior girls who won the overall Girls Competition, and our Intermediate Boys for winning their section. From there, 28 students will move onwards to the Southern Regional Track and Field Championships at the start of next term. 

Notable achievements on the day were:

Under 12/13 Girls Overall Silver Medal – Rebekah Mebratu

Under 15 Girls Overall Silver Medal – Ella Zheng

Under 15 Boys Overall Bronze Medal – Aaron Tran and Archer Bender

Under 16 Boys Overall Bronze Medal – Danny Truong

Under 16 Girls Overall Bronze Medal – Savannah Misa

Under 17 Girls Overall Silver Medal – Alyssa Dale

Interact Club Term 3 Update: 

Our biggest success of the year!

Written by Member: Marily Ung 

Edited by Member: Guch Heang Ing

Photos by: Menara Haupe Gamage

Keysborough Secondary College’s Interact Club at Acacia started Term 3 off with a Non-Perishable Food Drive Donation, in which the community donated roughly 70 items to the Dingley Village Salvation Army! The items ranged from everyday food like minced vegetables to herbal tea. Every item donated is much appreciated by the families in need within our local area.

After a good start of the term, the Interact Club continued the streak with a successful Bake Sale on Tuesday September 1st in Week 8. The Bake Sale sold out within the first 25 minutes of the lunch break. With the support of the Keysborough community, every item on the menu, brownies, hot chocolate, fairy bread and add-on ice-cream scoops, were completely sold out! As a result, the club was able to donate well over $200 to the World Food Programme, assisting in combating world hunger. Though it may seem small, every cent matters!

To make this all happen, our Interact Club members worked tirelessly to promote, plan and prepare for the event. Posters were strategically designed, then placed around the campus, tasks were all allocated to members for efficiency, and products were carefully prepared and labelled in accordance to dietary requirements.

Left to right: Guch Heang Ing, Marily Ung, Amy Howell, Madison Oates, Angela Lam, Lincy Dua, Teacher Angela Joseph, Mani Touch, Maika Tran, Rose Chea, Nisa Toklu

The Interact Club would like to thank all students and staff who donated food to the Dingley Village Salvation Army, and who supported the fundraising bake sale. Together we have made our community a better place!

To join our journey of aiding those in need, contact Interact Club staff: Teacher Joseph or Mr Wood, or Interact members around the campus. Any help would be much appreciated!

Left to right: Nisa Toklu, Zoha Khedri, Lincy Dua, Mani Touch, Madison Oates, Maika Tran, Marily Ung, Amy Howell, Guch Heang Ing, Angela Lam.

See you next term, 

Marily Ung 

Interact Club Member