VCE ORIENTATION

Congratulations to Mr Noble, the Senior School Management Team and VCE teachers on running a very successful Orientation Program for our Senior School for 2016.

Students were given course outlines and a very good understanding of the course requirements for next year. They all worked very well and I hope they cope with all the set homework. All work is available on the VCE orientation google site. More importantly I hope they enjoy the learning next year and thrive both academically and socially.

SCHOOLIES WEEK

"Schoolies Week" is now thankfully over and all our recent graduates have returned home safely. However, many of our students choose a different way to mark the end of school by taking on new challenges and raising money for charity. Among them are Alicja Gibert, Elizabeth Riaikkenen and Seii Chen who rode from Melbourne to Sydney to raise more than $3000 for the Lighthouse Foundation. We are very proud of the girls for this adventurous and community minded venture. You can check out their epic journey and support this cause at:

https://www.facebook.com/melbournetosydneybikeride/

https://give.everydayhero.com/au/melbourne-to-sydney-bike-ride

RELAY FOR LIFE

Jemma Owen and Sharyn Olsen contacted me to thank the entire McKinnon School community for the generous donation of $5000 from a casual dress day. They were overwhelmed with the response and are greatly appreciative of our help. The Relay for Life has been close to Jemma and Sharyn’s hearts having lost Kevin, Jemma's dad to cancer in 2013.

Jemma was very passionate about wanting to raise $10,000 this year, and together Jemma and Sharyn managed to raise $13,773.25.

YEAR 9 DRAMA

Congratulations on two excellent performances this week from our Year 9 Drama classes. Parents, friends and teachers were impressed with the talent displayed. I thank Ms Doctor, Ms Glanville and Mr Lynch for their work with these classes. Obviously there was great learning and much enjoyment.

PEER SUPPORT

Our 2016 Peer Support Leaders have been selected from a large number of possible candidates. Year 10 students immersed themselves wholeheartedly into the Peer Support training program. I congratulate those selected and wish them well with the very important role they play in assisting our new students’ transition into our school.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Mr van Langenberg for coordinating this critically important program. The following are our Peer Support Leaders for 2016:

Eboni Adams, Nick Angelopoulos, Vicknan Arjuna, Rhiannon Armstrong, Lily Beven, Elisha Boland, Patrick Brett, Thomas Broadbent, Lochie Carey, Ben Chapman, Ella Clough, Nadav Cohen, Arielle Cohen, Litsa Collios, Max Collison, Liam De La Harpe, Courtney Donald, Anika Duggan, Arran Dunbar, Phoebe Dunn, Yishai Elaluf, Indigo Erez, Bethany Evans, Tara Fellini, Luke Fletcher, Isabella Fletcher, Matt George, Ben Gonsalvez, Hugh Henry, Sophie Highnam, Sebastien Hilton-Delhaye, Tess Hodgson, Ryan Humphry, Amber Irving, David Jung, Skyler Kah, Lana Kogan, Luke La Greca, Ido Landau, Lee Laskaridis, Brooke Levy, Yilin Lou, Lily Mackey, Grace Mackay, Shelly Makhlin, Chantelle Malton, Brinda Manogaran, Grace Mather, Lachlan McCambley, Mia Moadim-Lesimha, Brendan Moncrieff, Cara Morgan, Katiba Nainhabo, Tim Oaten, Will Ockenden, Alex Olascoaga, Matt Parkinson, Claire Pardo, Dean Prapas, Devrath Raghav, Ajay Rajkumar, Drew Rebbechi, Christopher Roach, James Robertshaw, Hannah Rosenberg, Bridget Schwerdt, Jason Schwarz, Emma Schmidtke, Maggie Rose Scott-Hill, Bailey Scrivener, Michael Shaw, Alexa Shepherd, Coby Shnider, Ava Sillon, Matthew Simos, Alex Skalova, James Stewart, Tonn Steele, Lily Tamir-Regev, Irene Tartiris, Francesco Torcasio, Britney Tran, Sarah Tritt, Savanna Wegman, Nicola West, Nick Whitehead, Josh Wilkins, Elise Williams, Amanda Woods, Henry Xiong, Andrew Xu, Jasmine Yan and Jessica Zivin.

JUNIOR SCHOOL MUSIC CONCERT

Congratulations to all the staff and students involved in the music concert which was held last Thursday 3 December in the School Hall. The standard of music was exceptional.

The growth and development that has occurred in our student’s musical learning over a very short period of time is outstanding. I would like to particularly acknowledge the efforts of our very talented Music staff – their passion, commitment and dedication allows all students to thrive.

Thank you to all parents, grandparents and friends who attended to offer support and encouragement.

I hope all the children continue to enjoy their music and pursue their talents.

DOUBLE STOREY PORTABLE

A new double storey portable is being constructed as we speak. We are very pleased to have been supported in this way by the Department.

Our local member Nick Staikos and Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier Judith Graley came to visit McKinnon last week to see the progress of this much needed addition.

I thank Nick Staikos for his support of these additional facilities for McKinnon.

GREAT VICTORIAN BIKE RIDE

The GVBR has been run for another year and I would like to thank so many people for their contribution to this marvellous event. I have received so many positive comments from parents celebrating their child’s participation in this opportunity.

I would like to acknowledge and thank the following for their efforts: Mr James McLaughlan, Ms Carole Hooper, Mr James Van Pelt, Mr Daniel Farthing, Mr Mark Drummond, Mr Liam Adlington, Ms Kath Cozens, Mr Kirby McConnon, Mr David Strehlau, Ms Lauren Mellios, Ms Naomi O’Brien and Ms Charlotte Douglas. I would to thank the parents that provided extra support for the students - their assistance on the ride and their help on the training rides was invaluable. I would like to make special mention of Mr McLaughlan who organised the McKinnon team. The logistics of this event is enormous so a very big thank you to James for his tremendous efforts.

Congratulations to you all on this wonderful achievement.

ANTIPODEANS

I have received emails from Mr Quinn, who has coordinated the trip to Peru this year. The students are very well organised and enjoying all that this adventure has to offer.

I would like to acknowledge the following teachers for their efforts, Ms Pip Andrieux, Mr David Machin, Mr Joshua Cukierman, Ms Lauren Mauger and Mr Peter Quinn and we wish the staff and the students all the very best for the remainder of their journey.

BOOKSTALL

Another major undertaking at the end of each year is the Bookstall. I would like to acknowledge Jo Robinson who has coordinated and organised this very difficult task extremely well. I would also like to acknowledge Yvette Rener for being a fantastic assistant and Jaris Rener for all his help in doing the program and helping everyday. To the many other volunteers who assisted in the Bookstall over the last few weeks - thank you for your efforts: Mee Noi Teo, Patricia Loh, Judy Saunders, Marlene Bronstein, Ben Frost, Ashley Kahan, Rosemaree Morina, Ada Wan, Dale Gilkes, Kamala Kanapathipillai, Tania Burnell, Jun Li, Bella Xie, Annemarie Williams, Robyn Kanowitz, Deborah Stanton, Sentha Goun-Vel, Faye Robjant, Katrin Schneider, Lynette Kohlhagen, Kathryn Leech, Debbie Warner, Santina Jiang, May Ling, David Zivin, Sally Chen-Zhou, Debbie Rosenberg, Hilary Mann, Nitzan Schell, Jayne Sullivan, Julie Michaelson, Sally Strudwick, Fiona Johnson, Pandora Fernandez and Maree Tomaras.

Thank you also for the assistance from the staff in the Bursar’s office and the canteen staff.

This initiative provides significant assistance to our families.

THISTLE MAGAZINE

We have had published a most impressive Year Book that truly captures the 2015 year. It is a celebration of a tremendous year of activity and I thank all the staff and students who made it all possible.

The Thistle was produced by Mr Andrew Krause, Mrs Grace Turner and Mr Adrian D’Ambra. I thank them for putting together such a wonderful ‘keepsake’ with many memories captured for students, staff and parents.

CHANGES TO PASSPORTS FOR 16 and 17 YEAR OLDS

From January 1 2016, applicants aged 16 or 17 years will be issued with a ten-year passport instead of the five-year passport currently issued to children under the age of 18 years.

Parental consent will still be required and applicants will need to accompany their parent, or a person with parental responsibility, when lodging the passport application. The application fee for 16 and 17 year olds will be the same as for adults, reflecting the longer validity of the passport to be issued.

For further Information, please contact the Australian Passport Information Service (APIS) on 131 232 or at passports.gov.au.

END OF YEAR

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all families the very best for the festive season.

Thank you for your kindness and support throughout the year.

I’d like to also thank the staff for their great work and the difference they have made and I look forward to the safe return of our entire school community in 2016!

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