Frankston Council Youth Environmental Forum

Eco Team students at Frankston High School recently participated in the Frankston Council Environmental Youth Forum. They shared their knowledge about microplastics in our environment, using Frankston beach as a field study in terms of the amount of nurdles and microplastics found in, on and around it.

Additionally, Eco Team students took part in a beach debris audit which was run by the St. Kilda Eco Centre, enabling them to gain an understanding of the negative impact humans are having on beach environments, whilst also giving more positive options for what can be done to improve our beaches.

Students were also guided through a planning process to give them the ability to take further environmental action within their school. The Eco Team is planning to inspire our school canteen to make more environmentally aware choices in terms of the food it sells and the packaging it uses.

Students developed their understanding of the environmental field and look forward to helping Frankston High School become more environmentally friendly.

Eco Team students are:

Michaela Goggin, (President)

Georgie Dowel, (Vice President)

Matilda Scroggie, (Secretary)

Mayatili Thompson-Fidge, (Treasurer)

Hayley Musgrave

Ellie Turner &

Freya Vaughan

Thank you to Debbie Coffey, Nickie Fidge and Karen Jones for their support on the day.

Mr Brendan McKinnon

Sustainability Coordinator

National Constitutional Convention 2018

Congratulations to Year 12 students, Molly Ash and Fern Nicholls, who recently represented both Frankston High School and Victoria at the National Constitutional Convention held in Canberra.

The girls debated with like-minded students from around Australia “Is Section 44 of the Constitution relevant in Modern Australia?” and concluded the wording needed to be changed to reflect modern society.

As part of the trip they had the pleasure of meeting and enjoying afternoon tea with His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia at Government House. They viewed the Senate in action and met many of our politicians including the Honourable Penny Wong. The final night was a dinner in the foyer at the High Court of Australia.

Well done girls, your input was highly valued and we hope this has inspired you to one day enter a career in politics.

Ms Cindy Twyford

Legal Studies Teacher

International Women's

Day Breakfast

It was my second year attending the Annual International Women’s Day Breakfast and, once again, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment, going away feeling motivated and proud to be a woman. Being in a room with such like-minded passionate individuals creates such a positive and inspirational environment. Hearing both Sally Hines and Kristen Hilton share their experiences and life lessons engaged the whole room of aspiring women and men.

Sally spoke about her involvement in the social enterprise, The Big Issue. She explained the life-changing projects that this not-for-profit organisation is currently working on. Homes for Homes is a new project, The Big Issue is working on, where they raise money towards an ongoing supply of affordable housing for homeless people.

Kristen spoke about the misconceptions about feminism and women, and how it is important that all equal rights are supported in any country or corporation.

Hearing the flipside or different perspective on any situation is so thought-provoking as it makes you question your own perspective. Being able to understand another point of view, to me, is a necessity in order to progress in how you perceive things. The whole morning was a learning experience but Sally’s final words left me with wonder and an awakening. She said that these poor and homeless people don’t want to stand out, their goal in life is to be part of the crowd, and just simply, fit in.

Mia Davis (Year 10)

SLC Captain

During the bright early morning before International Women's Day, I was privileged enough to go to the International Women's Day breakfast. Throughout the breakfast we heard from two amazing guest speakers.

From their speeches, I found it very encouraging knowing as a high school student that I could step up and express what the right thing to do is, no matter how big or small the situation is. It was also wonderful the there were not only females at the breakfast, but also men who came to support and help empower women.

Roo Gambiza (Year 11)

SLC Member

On Wednesday 7 March a few other students and I attended the International Women's Day breakfast held at the Mornington Racecourse, presented by the Rotary and sponsored by White Lady Funerals.

International Women's day is a day to celebrate the progress women have made over the years and to focus on issues that still face us today. Most importantly, it's a day to identify that women have made and continue to make a difference; a day to celebrate women's input to making Australia and the world a better place for everyone.

There were two guest speakers that came to the breakfast, Sally Hines and Kristen Hilton. Sally Hines is the Chief Operator of the Big Issue and Homes for Homes. The Big Issue is a non-for-profit organisation that supports and creates work opportunities for the homeless and disadvantaged people. Kristen Hilton worked in corporate law as an industrial relations lawyer before pursuing her career in social justice and human rights. Both of these women are very inspiring and they both shared stories about their own experiences.

This event was so eye-opening and inspiring; if you have the chance to attended an IWD breakfast definitely go because overall it has been one of the highlights of my SLC career so far.

I would like to thank Mrs Sarah Bahramis and Ms Suzanne Caldwell for this amazing opportunity and for driving us from the event.

Madeleine Juleff (Year 10)

SLC Member

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the International Women's Day breakfast and I couldn't recommend it more! The morning opened our eyes to encouraging women to follow their passions in order to create change within their local communities.

Personally, being surrounded by like-minded individuals was so inspiring, especially hearing people's stories about their road to change. Overall, the morning was a success. I would just like to thank Ms Suzanne Caldwelland Mrs Sarah Bahramis for helping organise us attending the event, and the wonderful speakers from the breakfast.

Eilis Peters (Year 12)

2018 School Vice Captain

LEAD Year 7 Camp

Tuesday 20 February was the day that the third group of LEAD students went out to run activities with the Year 7s at their camp. We started the day by serving them all some morning tea. We then sat them down, introduced ourselves, and told them what we were doing there. We split them up into two groups and we played a variety of activities with them throughout the day.

Some of the games we ran with the Year 7s were: ship shark shore, poison ball, volleyball and a few others. After that, we swapped over and played those games with the second group. After we had finished the games, we sat down and enjoyed a nice lunch with them all, before we had to go back to school. We each chose a table to sit at and talked to the Year 7s. Overall, the experience was very enjoyable and one we all highly recommend, our leadership skills have definitely improved and we now know how hard the teachers have to work to keep us all in check.

Alex Fox, Ami Talbot and Kirsten Smith

Year 9 LEAD

On Tuesday 20 February, our group went to the Year 7 camp to run activities with the students. Throughout this process, we have got to know the Year 7s better, interacting with them and learning some of their names.

The activities we ran included games like ship shark shore, number volleyball, poison ball and jockey up jockey down. We were able to learn a lot from both the Year 7s and each other, improving our teamwork and leadership skills. Prior to the day, our group had spent a few weeks planning activities and how to run them, which helped as everything went smoothly on the day. We were also able to sit with the students during lunchtime, where we got to know all of them better, their thoughts on school and answering questions about any concerns that they had.

Neha Alex, Tilly Scroggie and Alicia Zhang

Year 9 LEAD

In the Spotlight