Faculty news

Counselling

As you may be aware I am leaving Oakleigh Grammar at the end of this term having accepted the role of Student Counsellor at Star of the Sea College.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such an incredible staff and have been honoured to meet so many wonderful parents and your amazing children during my years here as Student Counsellor. To say that I will miss you all is putting it mildly!

I would like to thank you for your support, your attendance at my parenting talks and for trusting me with the counselling care of your children whilst at school.

I do not doubt that you will support the new Student Counsellor in the same way and that she will bring incredible skills to the role.

I wish you and your children all the best for the future.

Fiona Baudinette

Student Counsellor

Careers

Year 10 Conquer Your Career Conference

To conclude our busy Term 3 in Careers, Year 10 students as part of their career development journey, attended and participated in our annual Year 10 Conquer Your Career Conference.

The 4-day conference included a fantastic lineup of amazing incursions and excursions. These included a Virtual Reality Career Flight hosted by Mindflight7, completion of the Work Smart resume and interview workshops program delivered by Short Courses Australia, followed by a real-life mock interview with reputable employers that students attended dressed for interview success! 

Students also attended an ICT Literacy workshop to update their ICT skills which are highly required in the world of work. They also attended the Greek Immigration exhibition at Delphi Bank in Oakleigh, and excursions to RMIT University and Holmesglen TAFE with an end-of-conference lunch at Cilantro Restaurant at Holmesglen which was a great way to cap off another successful conference! Many thanks to Short Coursed Australia, Mindflight7, Lerita and Ana from nikpol, Erin, Derrick, and Anish from McDonald’s, Holmesglen, RMIT, Coles Oakleigh Central, the OG ICT Team of Chris and Nathaniel, and Senior school staff especially Sharron Frame and Manoj Patel for their assistance and support of this annual event.

Term 3 School holiday careers events

Get Set to Study at RMIT University

RMIT University will be hosting a Day at RMIT in the upcoming school holidays. This will be an opportunity for students to begin to get prepared for life after high school. 

Date:                  Thursday 22 September 2022

Time:                 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Location:          RMIT University - Building 80, 435-457 Swanston Street in Melbourne

Register to attend this free event at A Day at RMIT.

Angliss School Holiday Events

Angliss Talk & Tour

Students who are interested in or looking at studying Foods, Tourism, Hospitality or Events, are invited to participate in an Angliss Talk & Tour. 

Date:                Monday 19 September 2022

Time:                Various times available

Location:        555 LaTrobe Street in Melbourne

Register at Talk & Tour.

Travel, Tourism & Aviation Experience Day

Year 9 to Year 12 students with an interest in Travel, Tourism & Aviation might like to explore the Melbourne campus and experience fun and interactive activities at Experience Day.

Date:                 Wednesday 28 September 2022

Time:                 10.30am – 2.00pm

Location:           555 La Trobe Street in Melbourne

Cost:                  $10/pp (includes a light lunch)

Register here as places are limited: Travel, Tourism & Aviation Experience Day.

Michelle Mascaro

Careers Advisor

LOTE 

We are very lucky to have had many passionate and dedicated pre-service teachers join us in the language learning journey. They provided extra support and perspectives for students. Many of them prepared rich and effective learning resources and activities to engage learners. Our students love having extra teachers in the class.

Meanwhile, the placement provides a valuable opportunity for pre-service teachers to apply their knowledge to real classrooms. We would like to share a reflection from Ms Zheng, who is currently completing a Master’s degree at the University of Melbourne.

I love the staff at Oakleigh Grammar! It feels like a community, and everyone is so kind and friendly. I am also amazed by the students’ passion and achievement in learning a foreign language. 

I think my happiest moment is when I give stamps and stickers to award students’ work. I can see their great interest in learning Chinese and how they try very hard to improve themselves. 

I am so lucky to have Lydia as my mentor. She is a fantastic teacher who is always energetic and passionate in class, and she incorporates various activities to engage students. I hope to keep learning different teaching strategies from her. 

I am so grateful for this experience, and I hope the students at Oakleigh Grammar will always be enthusiastic about learning a second language and strive to be open-minded, caring, and knowledgeable global citizens.

Lydia Liu

Middle School Academic Learning Leader (LOTE)

Students who study Greek at Oakleigh Grammar finished Term 3 by participating in different excursions related to their Greek studies.

On Tuesday, 6 September, Unit 4 LOTE - Modern Greek students visited the Immigration Museum. Students had the opportunity to take a journey through the Immigration Museum and uncover stories of Greek migration to Australia. This excursion was very beneficial to students because it allowed them to extend their knowledge on the topic “The migrant experience / Early and postwar migration”, which is part of the upcoming Greek Oral Examination.

Another exciting excursion was organised for Year 10 LOTE - Modern Greek students. The students had the opportunity to visit the Australian-Hellenic Memorial at Birdwood Ave in Melbourne on Thursday 8 September. During their visit, students learnt the history of this special memorial which is dedicated to Australian and New Zealander men and women that fell on Hellenic soil during World Wars I and II. After the visit to the memorial, the students had a beautiful lunch at the Greek restaurant “Stalactites”.

On Friday, 9 September, all Year 8 LOTE - Modern Greek students had a Greek-style lunch at Mythos Restaurant in Oakleigh. The students had the opportunity to use vocabulary and phrases they have learnt during Term 3 in a real-life situation. Students and staff members enjoyed the delicious Greek foods.

On the last week of Term 3, selected year levels visited the exhibition “Finding Home; an exploration of the Greek-Australian migration story”. This very special exhibition was located at Delphi Bank and was presented by the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora of La Trobe University, in partnership with Delphi Bank and The Society for Hellenic Studies. Students had the opportunity to enrich their knowledge of Greek migration.

Natasha Spanos 

VCE Academic Leader LOTE 

SRC

On Tuesday 6 September, student leaders had their last meeting for Term 3. Since the start of the year, Vice School Captains, SRC Members from Year 6 - Year 11, Middle School Leaders, Life and Culture Leaders and the Social Justice Leader had the opportunity to meet once every fortnight and discuss main issues and concerns in relation to school life. During these meetings, students were able to share ideas to make the school a better place, give the leadership team feedback, organise different fundraisers to support our community and present ideas to help and support other students.  Congratulation to all students who worked so hard throughout the term to benefit our school community!

The Ronald McDonald House Donation Appeal and Off Your Back Appeal were successfully completed for 2022! The Oakleigh Grammar community has shown its generosity by donating to those people who are in need of non-perishable foods, brand new items for children and secondhand coats.  Thanks to those who supported our two appeals. We all need to remember, that even the smallest gift to charity can make a huge impact.

Natasha Spanos

SRC Coordinator

Debating 

The 2022 Oakleigh Grammar debating season came to a conclusion this week, and our participants were absolute heroes. In a modern world where teenagers must navigate the emotions and misinformation of social media, they were inspirational models of maturity. Each of them demonstrated bravery, open-mindedness, knowledge, preparation, teamwork and reflection throughout the year. They reminded us that young people are willing and able to wrestle with big ideas in a logical, confident and respectful manner.

This year was tremendously positive for debating at Oakleigh Grammar. Our interschool team was the biggest it has ever been, promoting a culture of leadership and admiration. Students stayed after school on Thursday nights and travelled to Wesley College to compete against other strong schools. Our results were also the best in Oakleigh Grammar history, including our Year 11 and Year 10 teams, who only lost one debate each for the season. Seven of our debaters received at least one Best Speaker Award, including Manni Talias (Year 9) and Sotiris Bakalis (Year 10) who received two each, and Noah Peoples (Year 11) who received an amazing FOUR Best Speaker Awards!

To grow our young crop of public speakers, debating was introduced into the Year 8 Pastoral program. Every Year 8 student had the opportunity to develop and practice debating skills and structure in a welcoming environment.

Based on these fantastic experiences, Mr Gridley and Mr Dickinson launched our first-ever Interhouse Debating Carnival! With a Junior and Senior division, the three houses competed against each other at lunchtime. The audiences were brilliant, and the debates were even better. Both divisions culminated in a Grand Final in front of the whole Middle and Senior School, and the inaugural trophy was won by Rose House.

Thank you to all the coaches and leaders who supported the debating program and helped it grow so successfully, especially Year 12 coach Aimar Peoples, alumni Alexander Logan, and of course, congratulations to all of our brilliant competitors.

Leigh Gridley

Debating Coordinator 

Language and Literacy 

The Importance of Literacy

Literacy plays an important role in ensuring young people experience success in school and in their personal lives, including in the workplace, community, relationships and further study. Thankfully, there is a lot of research about the benefits of reading for as little as 20 minutes per day including developing a rich vocabulary, imagination, empathy, critical thinking and establishing a reading bond with your child (Kidskonnect, 2020; Learning Links, 2022). It is not necessary to complete the 20 minutes in one session, rather you can complete two ten-minute sessions as part of your child’s daily routine. 

Managing struggling readers is very important, as research has found that the gap widens between struggling and capable students as students move through school (Merga, 2019). Struggling readers are unable to advance their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills which play an important role in success in life which is another reason why reading should be built into your family routine. 

The International Baccalaureate (IB) believes language is central to learning and that multilingual learners who are still developing threshold literacy skills in the language of instruction in the middle years are likely to need resources in their mother tongue. The IB acknowledges that the development of the mother tongue language is crucial for cognitive development and maintaining cultural identity. Finally, children who have a strong foundation in their home language are more successful at school and enjoy a great feeling of self-worth and identity. (Principles into Practice, 2014, UNESCO, 2018)

Sometimes finding the right book can be difficult, to help overcome this obstacle, Mr Watt has created a recommended reading list so you can keep your son/daughter reading over the holidays and during the school term. I have included several for you, otherwise please email me for further information at mfitzgerald@oakleighgrammar.vic.edu.au

Happy reading!

Ms Fitz, Mr Watt and Ms Smit