Out and About

National Titration Competition

On Saturday, 17 August, six Year 12 students participated in the National Titration Competition held at the UniSA Chemistry labs in the city.

Only 18% of schools who entered the competition were asked to compete at a national level, of which one was Endeavour College! What an amazing testament to the abilities and skills of our Year 12 Chemistry students

The competition involved two teams of three being given three hours to titrate several solutions and present their calculations of the unknown concentrations. 

Individual winners were determined based on how close their calculations were to the exact concentration value.

Jaden won the GOLD award with an error margin of only 0.15%. This is the highest possible individual achievement.

Dakota won the SILVER award with an error margin of only 1.55%.

Our students placed 11th overall as a team, a fantastic result for a national competition. 

This competition was an excellent opportunity for our students to practice their Chemistry laboratory skills and place their learnt theoretical skills to the test.

Congratulations to all involved!

Innika Ackerley 

Science Learning Leader

Yvonne Hearn

Senior Chemistry Teacher

State Volleyball SA Schools Cup Tournament Summary

After participating for the first time last year with two teams, this year Endeavour entered four teams in the SA Volleyball Schools Cup. This 3-day tournament allows our students to compete against the best Volleyball schools in the state.

Our Year 7-8 boys team won three of their five matches convincingly with 3 sets to 0. 

However, one loss (1 set to 2), and one very even game (1 set each, but a loss on total points), meant that the team finished just outside the semi-finals. They finished the tournament placing fifth out of ten teams, but could’ve easily been in the top two teams.

Our Year 9 boys team won their first four matches 3 sets to 0. This progressed them to the semi-final, where they unfortunately lost 1 set to 2. This put them into the bronze medal game where they easily won 3 sets to 0. 

A bronze medal for this team; but again, was not far off from making the grand final.

Our Year 10-11 boys' team had two wins and a loss going into the Sunday finals day. 

They won their semi-final, which placed them through to the grand final. Unfortunately, some injuries and unavailability left them with only six players available to play the grand final. 

They still played with great courage, but ultimately lost, and still took out our best result of the tournament with a silver medal.

For the first time, we entered a girls' team. 

The mixture of Year 8-9-10 students all playing in a Year 10 division meant they played against taller and stronger opponents. Our girls' team played extremely well together and won a set in every match they played. 

On two occasions they only lost their match by a matter of two points. They won their playoff game on Sunday and finished in seventh out ten teams.

All of these teams should be congratulated for their strong commitment to training over many months, and their keenness to practice their volleyball skills at every opportunity. 

We look forward to Endeavour’s Spike it! Volleyball Tournament in Term 4, along with more opportunities next year for our high-level Volleyball students to shine. 

Thanks to the Health and Physical Education staff for supporting these students with their coaching.

Tim Kupke

Health and Physical Education Learning Leader

Badminton Gold and Silverware Galore!

Our Year 9 and10 Boys secured GOLD at the SACSA Badminton Tournament this week!

Congratulations to Carson, Chirayu and Quintin for their outstanding efforts and sportsmanship, progressing through the day undefeated!

Our top teams of other divisions all finished the tournament with a silver medal.

Well done to our Year 7/8 boys, Year 7/8 girls, and Year 9/10 girls.

Making the grand final in all four divisions ensured Endeavour was the most successful SACSA Badminton school this year. What a fantastic effort by all!

^ Year 9/10 boys gold medal recipients

^ Year 9/10 girls silver medal recipients

^ Year 7/8 girls silver medal recipients

^ Year 7/8 boys silver medal recipients

^ Action and whole squad photographs

Tim Kupke

Health and Physical Education Learning Leader

Lachlan Williams

Sport and Carnivals Officer

Book Week

Connected Schools Visit

Week 5 was Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week. This is an event for celebrating the amazing work of Australian literature. Over its 79 years, Book Week has become a highly respected national event particularly in kindergartens, primary schools and public libraries. 

Not to miss out on an excuse to celebrate Australian authors and illustrators, Mrs Barnes and Mrs Baldwin each accompanied a small group of Year 9 students to the Salisbury Lutheran Kindergarten within our Connected Schools community.

Our Endeavour students were excited, some added a little Book Week ‘dress-up’ accessory to their uniform, and many brought a favourite book to share. The visit was a two-way experience. Endeavour students were enthusiastic about reading stories to their new little friends and had fun afterwards together outside in the sand pit, playing chasey games and building Lego. 

Feedback from Leanne, a teacher at Salisbury Lutheran Kindergarten was that 

'Endeavour students were excellent ambassadors for the College, being exemplary role models for our children, and interacting in such a positive way. The story reading was very successful, providing meaningful small group encounters for our children, and benefits for the Endeavour students in building their confidence at reading stories to an audience (an interactive audience too!).’

We hope to be able to continue to connect with the kindergarten and provide more opportunities to share our love of reading and learning.

Julia Baldwin

Teacher Librarian

Debating Results

Round 4, 5 and the Quarter Finals of the 2024 Debating Season have taken place over Term 3 and there is some exciting news to share over the last 6 weeks!

In Round 4, Year 9s debated that 'a cashless society is a bad idea', while Year 10s debated that 'nuclear power plants in Australia are a good idea.'

The results by the end of Round 4 were:

• 9 Purple - WIN
• 9 Yellow - LOSS
• 10 Red – LOSS

• 10 Green - LOSS
• 10 Blue - WIN (by 0.33 of a point)

If Round 4 taught us anything, it was that our teams cannot rest on their laurels and that the competition was getting tougher as the season was progressing. 

Round 5, which shaped up to be a significant round for all teams, showed that our debaters were able to bounce back from a tough round and deliver outstanding debates.

In Round 5, Year 9s debated the 'the portrait of Gina Rhinehart should be removed by the gallery', while Year 10s debated two slightly different topics across two weeks for their short preparation debate, the topics being: 'the prosecution of Julian Assange sets a dangerous precedent for the criminalization of information sharing in a digital age', and that 'Julian Assange is a modern-day hero'. 

For the short preparation debate, Year 10 teams only received the topic 90 minutes before the debate and had to prepare 3 comprehensive speeches in that time! 

Despite the complex Year 9 topic and the stress of the Year 10 short preparation round, Endeavour’s 5 teams demonstrated courage and growth from the previous round:

• 9 Yellow - WIN
• 9 Purple - WIN (Thinara Hatangala - BEST SPEAKER)
• 10 Red - WIN (Paige Emery - BEST SPEAKER)
• 10 Green - WIN (Olivia Vasilev - BEST SPEAKER)
• 10 Blue - WIN

By the end of the preliminary rounds, the Year 9s came 14th and 15th respectively, out of 43 teams. 

While the Year 9 teams did not make it into the finals, their effort over the year is to be commended, with exceptional growth in their debating skills. Skills that are easily transferable to many other areas of their lives and, hopefully, into the 2025 season.

I would like to thank the following students and coaches from the Year 9 teams:

9 Purple - Rigby

Ranbir Gill

Thinara Hatangala

Marvy Awad

Hayson Cheng (Year 8)

Aaravi Shah (Year 8)

9 Yellow - Tregenza/Fr

Armaan Jawshani

Tavish Puri

Gjevika Poongavanam

Elizabeth Brown

Gurmehar Kaur

As for the Year 10s, all three teams placed in the top eight teams (1st, 3rd and 7th) and  progressed through to the quarter finals. 

This meant that Endeavour College represented three out of eight teams in the 

Year 10 quarter finals!

Year 10s debated that 'big business should remain neutral on social issues'. Despite the difficult topic, we achieved unbelievable success:

• 10 Red - WIN
• 10 Green - WIN (Olivia Vasilev - BEST SPEAKER)
• 10 Blue - WIN (Samantha Perryman - BEST SPEAKER)

With all teams winning in the quarter finals, this means that Endeavour will represent three out of four teams in the semi finals, and guarantee at least one Endeavour team in the grand final! This round will take place at Nazareth Catholic College in Flinders Park at 6:30pm, Wednesday September 4, with the following draw:

The 2024 Debating SA Grand Final will take place at The House of Assembly Chamber in Parliament House at 1:45pm, Saturday 21 September.

Debating is a very exciting space to be in right now here at the College, and I am very keen to share the next fantastic news with the community as we progress through the finals.

Anthony Bonini

Debating Coordinator