From the Principal

Science Week

This week was National Science week with the theme of Window to the World - Glass, more than meets the eye.  The focus was on the importance of glass in computers, modern medicine, communication, fibre optics and use in the internet, mobile phones, and glass leading to a sustainable future as it is 100 percent recyclable.  It was a fun filled week, with many science and technology activities on every day for our students and staff.  Students could take part in daily tutor group science quizzes, comedic science sketches, analysing James Webb Space telescope images, the Science Week debate and the annual cake competition.  They also had the opportunity to hear from a range of scientists including a biomedical scientist explaining SARS – Cov-2 research, an astrophysicist, and about women in engineering.  The judging of the cake competition is always a highlight in Science Week at our school and I was amazed at the creativity shown to incorporate glass as the theme in the cake displays.  It was a fabulous week, and I would like to thank all staff who helped out during the week, especially our Science Team.  A big thank you to Shalindi Jayasuriya, our STEM Coordinator, for leading this initiative at our school.

Welcome to our International Students

This term we welcomed 14 international students to our school, and we hope they have settled in well.  Over the past two years with the pandemic, it has been difficult for secondary international students to come to Australia.  Some students enrolled with our school but had to work remotely from their home country to take part in real time lessons with the senior classes.  They have made an extraordinary effort to do this as the time zone difference meant they were up at 5am to sit in a class.  We were thrilled to finally welcome our international students on site so they could meet their peers, teachers and be at school.  Our International Student Coordinator has run special peer support and orientation events that have helped with the transition to a new school in a new country.  Another highlight to support the transition was having students Linh D, Sophie N, Angelika L and Yula Y attend the recent 2022 International Student Forum.  They presented on the programs they have developed for the integration of international students into our school community, including a musical event named Music:  Building Culture Bridges and the orientation of new international students, named Feeling at Home at Auburn.

Thank you to Ms Ros Mills who has been highly supportive of our incoming international students with her intensive English classes to bring them up to speed.  Thank you as well to Jean Zhang – International Student Coordinator, for her tireless support to all our international students and exceptional leadership.  I am always proud of our student cohort who welcome new students to our school, regardless of where they come from.  This shows we have a culture of inclusivity and accepting diversity at our school which we are very proud of and broadens perspectives.

Strengths and Passions Program

The Strengths and Passions program is in full swing with select students across Years 7-9 exploring alternative narratives of self and creating new ways of celebrating and seeing ourselves and others.  Each week the groups have been exploring a new idea or strategy around positive friendships, assertive communication, self-confidence, problem solving, and resilience.  Students have the opportunity to practise assertive strategies through games and role playing and also identify strategies for resilience and self-esteem.  Participants are working on various passion projects that are going be implemented in Week 8, exploring ways to foster community engagement and school pride.  By working in teams, students have the opportunity to develop and implement practical strategies in communication, decision making and conflict resolution and it has been wonderful to see students thrive over the last four weeks.  A very big thank you to Leah Rintoule – Student Wellbeing Coordinator, and the Wellbeing Team for all their work in leading this initiative at our school.

Senior League Baseball World Series - Congratulations

Congratulations to Angus H, Year 10, who was part of the Victorian Eastern Athletics baseball team that recently won both the Victorian State and National baseball titles.  As a result, the team travelled to Easley, South Carolina, where they represented Australia and competed against teams from Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Canada and the USA for the title of Senior League Baseball World Champions.  The team played extremely well and ended up placing fifth overall after being eliminated in the quarter finals.  This is such an outstanding achievement, and we wish Angus all the best in his burgeoning career in baseball.