On Wednesday 15th June the Acacia girls netball team competed at Gloria Pyke Netball Centre in the District competitions. The girls played 5 games and won three of them against Mt Hira, Lyndale A and Lyndale B.

The two lost games were against Dandenong 3 to 2 and Banksia campus 10 to 1.

The girls improved significantly over the days matches. All of the girls have been attending lunchtime training and also the after school netball program on Tuesdays which is funded through the Active Schools program. The after school coach is Martha Langham who is is the DDNA representative team coach. We would like to see many more girls across all year levels attending the after school Netball. It’s so important for girls to be Active!

Mrs Pavlou

In the last week of term, my year 11 students explored iconic Australian recipe books, and decide to create an iconic Australian childhood experience. The Australian Womens Weekly Childrens cake book turns 72 this year and the year 11 students made a simple butter cake and then decorated it using the designs from the cookbook for the ultimate childhood experience.

Here are their amazing designs

Acacia Year 12 Psychology visit Sleep Lab

In the classroom we had learnt about sleep disorders, brain wave patterns and how to measure changes that happen to us when we are asleep! Now it was time to look at scientists at work in the Monash sleep clinic, using their technology to examine sleep. One very sleep deprived Keysborough student volunteered to get hooked up to an EEG and try to fall asleep in the sleep lab aka bedroom, while the rest of us watched the monitor in anticipation of a change in brain wave patterns. Unfortunately it was too much pressure and not enough time for Caroline to show us any deep sleep delta waves, but we did manage to see her drift off into alpha wave light sleep. We also got to try out some glasses which contained a special light to help us reset our circadian rhythms and reduce sleepiness. After a long time without class excursions it was awesome to get out and it brought our classroom learning in Psychology to life!

The Year 11 & 12 VCAL students are currently undertaking a community project in Personal Development Skills to support a range of different social issues around our school and local communities. A group of us – Jared, Tommy, Jayden, Jono & Simon are passionate about the social issue of homelessness and are dedicated to help improve the lives of vulnerable people.

We together as a group are asking our Keysborough community for canned foods, old clothes or blankets as part of our project to support this issue which will be donated to a charity such as the Salvation Army. If you would like to support our project and are able to donate, please drop off any donations in the allocated bins at the front office of Keysborough College - Acacia Campus. We thank you in advance for your support.

Our hard working Year 12 students continue to study hard in the senior library during their study break periods- even though they are very excited about the upcoming formal!!!

Earlier this month, the Banksia Senior Boys Volleyball Team competed in the Volleyball Victoria Four Day Schools Cup (VVFDSC). The VVFDSC is one of the most prominent events that Volleyball Victoria offers to high schools for students in Years 7-12 and this year they had a total of 211 team entries from various high schools all across Victoria. Safe to say, it is a gruelling tournament which began on Friday 29 July and concluded on Monday 1 August.

Our students were scheduled into Year 12 Division 1 (Pool A) and faced off against the following schools: Marcellin College, John Monash Science School, Upwey High School and Suzanne Cory High School.

Although the boys lost their first game (all the teams in our division had one or more losses), they finished top of their pool due to their set wins and points scored. They then played their semi-final against Nossal High School (from Pool B) and won in straights, to set up a fiery clash between Waverley Christian College (from Pool B). They lost the first set (14-25) but didn’t let their first set loss deter them from striving for the elusive gold medal. Instead, they remained focused and persevered to claim the second set (25-20). Having gained the momentum and belief that this was the year they would take gold, not only for the Volleyball Victoria One Day Schools Cup but also for this tournament, they utilised tunnel vision and went full steam ahead to take the third set (15-8) and claimed victory!

It was a tremendous achievement indeed claiming gold for not only one but two of these highly-coveted events. Furthermore, not only did they win these events, they also performed their duty group roles to perfection when they weren’t playing games. The duty group roles required students from each group to take the roles of 1st referee, 2nd referee, marking the score sheet, using the scoreboard and also having linesmen to make calls on faults, balls in etc. Please congratulate the following boys: Chetra Hab, Lawrence La, Anthony Prum, Dionte Russell, Kevin Sok, Jordan Svay and Louis Truong.

Yr11 Accounting and Business Management excursion

On Wednesday 3 August, 64 Banksia Year 11 Accounting and Business Management students arrived promptly at school to catch the bus to Glen Waverley Shopping Centre for the first part of their Unit 2 enrichment excursion. In Unit 2 Accounting the students are studying the accounting process as it relates to a trading business this term, whilst the Business Management students are currently studying Marketing in business.

The purpose of the excursion was to bring a real life perspective to the students understanding of business operations. Students had some time to wander around the centre and gather information about the different types of businesses, their marketing practices and to reflect on competitors and how each business demonstrated their ‘point of difference’ to attract their customers. Once this analysis was complete, the students strolled over to BB8 Billiards which represented the opportunity to see a business that offered both a service and trading aspect to analyse. The students were treated to a brief exhibition by Mr Foldvari (who just happens to be a triple world billiards champion) and were then able to learn a new skill, playing billiards. At the venue, the students were required to observe the businesses marketing practices and note relevant assets, expenses and revenues of the business, as well as prepare a Budgeted Income statement. The students were exceptionally well behaved and all had a wonderful day out. Thanks to BB8 Billiards, Mr Foldvari and Ms Stokes for organising, and Ms Chamley and John Gardiner (the bus drivers)!

“What I really liked about the excursion was when we got to play pool. I really enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun since it’s the first time I played pool. During the excursion we had to fill out a sheet on Accounting and Business Management. My understanding of Accounting has also improved as it helped me to memorise the past equation that we studied of the formula for accounting, how to work it out and identify the accounting elements. As for business Management, we got to see many types of businesses, we even went into the shops one by one to speak to the staff because we were uncertain about whether the business was a sole trader, partnership or company. There were also a lot of competitors for each business including some stores that were right next to each other, such as H&M and Cotton On. Overall, I really enjoyed the excursion”

Student reflection

YEAR 9 CITY EXPERIENCE

In Week 3 of Term 3 the year 9 students of Acacia campus travelled to Melbourne for City Experience. The program provides the opportunity for students try a range of different activities which included the Royal Botanical Gardens Connecting to Country walk, meeting vendors at The Big Issue, traveling to the 88th floor of Eureka Tower and Ice Skating! It helps students to build their resilience and confidence while they navigate their way through the city. But as Nikita Cao describes, it’s not always smooth sailing. Making mistakes and working out how to recover from them is a big part of the experience! That, and looking out for one another – Kathleen Spaull

What was the best activity you did on city experience and why?

The best activity was definitely Ice Skating! It was very frightening at first but that’s really the thrill of it, watching people fall over and topple down like dominos was rather entertaining to watch. Also, we were playing tag while ice skating so that made it really fun!

What was good about meeting your teachers in the city?

Something good about catching the train on your own and travelling on your own is that we are free to do whatever we really want. We can talk about whatever we want and feel some sort of comfort knowing we’re all surrounded by a bunch of our friends. Truly feels like a day out in the city with friends!

What the favourite thing you did while you were on project time or lunch time in the city?

During lunch time we had to make our way to Obrein’s icehouse without our teacher and thankfully we found another group. We decided to follow them, but they didn’t know where they were going either! We just decided to hop on the bus and hope for the best. The bus driver kept telling us to go on the other side of the road and we were confused because why are you stopping with the door open and not letting us in?? Anyway, when we got there and we had some time to kill so we decided to go to Docklands and we saw a lion statue. We were hanging out next to it and somehow we managed to find a ping pong ball in it?? We started playing with the ball and honestly it was a great laugh.

What was one thing you learnt on City experience?

An important life lesson; don’t get on the wrong tram!!! We also learnt some indigenous words when we visited the Royal Botanical gardens that we hadn’t heard before.

What advice would you give to next years’ year 9s about City experience?

Have someone use google maps and another use the PTV app. Go early so you can get a snack nearby before the activities start. Make sure you come 10 minutes early. Also, try to enjoy each activity even if you’re not fond of it!

Was there something that scared you and how did you face it?

Being late, definitely being late. We just came 10 minutes early to each activity, but it didn’t always work. Besides that, during Eureka skydeck in the cube, one of my friends said: “to make this experience better, let’s all jump” and the fact they all look willing to jump almost scared me… But lucky Mr Alvarado got them to stop before we all fell off the 88th level of the building, haha.

Did you and your peers look out for each other, can you describe that for me?

No matter if we were running late, we still waited for each other. I also remember this specific time I was standing on the train, and the train was very unstable. I almost fell but I could see my friend bring out their hand to catch me. Shoutout to them - not going to lie I felt butterflies! Also, at the end of the day when we were leaving without teachers there was an announcement that the train from Platform 6 wasn’t going to run. We didn’t hear because we were all really loud but someone told all of us and got us all out. During ice skating, a lot of people were holding each other’s hand and offering help, making sure they can grab them if they fall.

Thanks Nikita for taking the time to tell everyone about City Experience!

Alumni