ITALIAN

We congratulate Stefania Inserra on entering the Italian Education Awards and winning 2nd Prize in her category.

She wrote an essay on the theme:

"In your opinion, is the Italian community well integrated into the wider Australian community? Do you think it has managed to keep its identity at the same time? What are its main merits and what are its faults? In which sectors is the 'Italian touch' particularly evident and recognizable?

Stefania will be awarded with $300. Brava!

Ms Natalie Dickson, Languages Learning Leader

ENGLISH

As a part of our study of Macbeth, a troupe of actors from The Complete Works Shakespeare Company visited our Year 10s and performed for them the Scottish play. The performance was an engaging and authentic way to support students’ study of Shakespeare and helped them clarify and further their understanding - a play, after all, must be performed. But don’t take my word for it, here’s what our budding young Shakespearean scholars had to say:

The actors portrayed the story's numerous characters with great passion and interest, truly embodying all of the dark characteristics these characters possess. It was enthralling to watch as the story was performed, and it was beneficial to have the comparison between the written play and having that brought to life for us all to provide ample knowledge for our study. The actors deeply committed to their characters, intensified and brought to life particularly Macbeth's vaulting ambition, Lady Macbeth's strength and ruthlessness, and King Duncan's innocence and profound trust in others.

Leondra Michienzi 10 Purple

I've come to understand aspects about the characters that I never would have before, and my thoughts on some of them have changed. It was fascinating to observe how different people read certain words from the play and gave different scenes whole different meanings.

Olivia Portelli 10 Purple

The play was so amazing and it was informative to see it performed rather than reading it. The actors performed very dramatically, which helped us understand how the various characters were truly feeling and discover different themes in the play. The actors paused every few scenes or acts to delve deeper into characters’ thoughts and feelings by explaining the meaning behind key quotes. Overall, I really enjoyed it and it was a really valuable learning experience.

Niamh Cullen 10 Silver

Hearing the words spoken aloud made Shapespeare’s lyricism apparent, with the lines spoken with alliteration and rhyme emphasized. It was really interesting to learn from the actors that the use of iambic pentameter (5 pairs alternating soft and loud beats) actually has a deeper meaning in some lines, with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth being so in sync, that they shared the rhythm in some verses, completing each other's sentences. This highlighted their connection as a couple, further emphasising later in the play when Macbeth neglected and isolated Lady Macbeth, causing her to go mad. In her sleepwalking soliloquy, she speaks following no rhythm with half-finished sentences, mirroring her erratic state of mind. Hearing the words in person made the scene even more powerful than it was in text, and helped me gain a better understanding of the play as a whole!

Alice Portz 10 Green

Seeing Macbeth in real life, rather than in a book or on video has given me more understanding of what Shakephere hoped to achieve in writing the play, especially given the actors would pause the play after each act and explain what has happened in these scenes and the hidden meanings within their lines.

Neve Webb 10 Green

DVA DEBATING

On Monday 27 March, our Academy Debating teams participated in round two of the debating season at St Bernard’s College in Essendon.

Our A team explored the benefits of artificial intelligence in their debate against Lowther Hall. Our students were successful in convincing the adjudicator and audience of the merits of artificial intelligence.

The B team argued that we should not ban political donations in their debate against Penleigh and Essendon Grammar. It was a very close debate with our students losing by just one point!

Both of our C teams were successful against St Columba’s College and Bacchus Marsh Grammar. Cara Egry was selected as best speaker for her debate.

Our D teams were provided a challenging topic for their second round of debating. They argued that we should not ban uranium mining. The Year 9s impressed their audiences with detailed and well-researched arguments. One team won against Overnewton College and the other team lost their debate to Lowther Hall by a point. A fantastic effort from all students involved! A special congratulations to Eloise Robinson for being selected as the best speaker.

Well done to all our teams for their hard work and courage!

Ms Sherine Baydoun Public Speaking Coordinator

HUMANITIES

On Thursday 23rd of March, the Year 8s had Medieval Day. There were 4 activities to do throughout the day, Music, Games, Sword/Armory and Clothes. We all got split up into our class groups and worked together as a group.

First, we went with Rob and learnt about music in Medieval times. He showed us many instruments like the herdie-gertie, which was like a bagpipe mixed with an accordion, and gems horns, which were like flutes or recorders. Then he taught us a medieval dance we did in a line and you would hold hands and run under people’s arms, which medieval women used to do after a hard day’s work. He also sang to us, talked to us about the songs they used to sing and what they meant, taught us about how the monks in the church used to sing songs no one understood because they were in Latin and none of the peasants could speak Latin and so much more. All of this with Rob was a great start to the day.

The next thing we did was Medieval Games with Joe. He first taught us a game called Kubb, our first thought was it looked like Skittles but it was similar but we had to think much more deeply on what would be the best next move. In our class we got split up into 4 groups so we could play 2 games at a time. It was really fun and easy to pick up. We then finished off with playing a game that had a resemblance to Tag, everyone would stand in a circle and there would be a designated tagger. It was really fun because you could outsmart the tagger in a fun but cheeky way. 8 Red really enjoyed this activity.

After that, we went into the hall and Andreas showed us what Middle Ages knights would wear going into war. We got to feel how heavy the armor would have been. It was interesting to learn and see all their battle strategies back then, for example, what types of helmets they would wear and how they would layer on all the armor. We then learnt some basic fighting skills which then led to having a fun sword fight with a friend. It was really entertaining and fun!

Our last activity of the day was clothing in the Middle ages with Rose, we walked into the lecture theater and there was a table filled with all sorts of cool clothes. Rose talked about the Feudal system and all the roles. We then got chosen to dress up as different roles such as peasant man and women and the king and the queen. We learnt what they did in their day to day life. It was really interesting to see what you would wear if you were rich or if you were poor. The richer you were the more fabric you would wear, the king and queen’s sleeves would pretty much touch the ground to show how rich they were. It was a great way to finish Medieval Day.

We were all given a Chuppa Chup to end the day and are extremely grateful to Mr. Tomassini, Mr.Molony, Mr. Andritsos and Mr. Natoli for organizing this Medieval day. The Year 8s had so much fun!

Eloise Pola & Chloe Hope 8 Red

MRC

On Friday 24th March the MRC promoted and supported Earth Hour which is the world's biggest movement to protect our planet.

We are also supporting 9 Bryce and the Year 7 Easter Raffle in their fundraising campaigns for Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion. The guessing the number of Easter eggs in the jar has caused much excitement and, more importantly, funds for this very worthy cause.

Throughout the term we have been entering student names into a fun free raffle if they have participated in any of the MRC’s activities. We are pleased to announce the lucky winner is Eva Trubiano (7 Blue). Congratulations Eva and we hope you enjoy your winner’s pack of goodies.

Happy Reading

Ms Anne Chowne & Ms Cathy Bennett

MRC Co-Learning Leaders

iNFORMATION

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tuning into Teens Parent Program City of Yarra