Achievements & Results

Year 11 and 12 French                                                               Berthe Mouchette  Competition

The Berthe Mouchette Competition plays a key role in the promotion of Francophone language and culture. In July and August this year, the Year 11 and 12 French students competed in the ‘Berthe Mouchette Competition 2021’, organised by the Alliance Française. This involved the students engaged in an oral conversation, in preparation for VCE French and discussing it with the Examiner in French via Zoom. Congratulations to all the students who participated in this year's Berthe Mouchette Competition! Felicitations! Natty , Vhinayark and Karan who have been selected as finalists in the competition. 

Well done, Bravo!

Madame Shylajah Ravindran

French Teacher

Debating Interschool and Interhouse

Despite the lockdown, debating has kept many students busy online with both the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) school competition and the inter house contest.

This year we had 4 teams (1 C Grade, 1 B Grade and 2 A Grade) reach the playoffs in the DAV school competition for the first time which speaks to the depth of talent in public speaking at Suzanne Cory. 

One A Grade team will now debate in the State quarter final next term on Oct 7. Given the DAV contest is the largest debating competition in the world, it is a testament to the strengths of the debaters that they have reached this level. Good luck to that team who will be Nailah Zaman, Lakindu de Silva and Lucky Noyel Nerio.

Also, for inter house debating congratulations to Cottrell who were the ultimate winners of the Senior inter-house debating competition this year. The ranking is as follows. 

1. Cottrell 2. Rothwell 3. Blackwood 4. Kororoit

I would finally like to thank our wonderful Debating School Captains this year: Nailah Zaman and Lakindu De Silva for their amazing support. Despite the lockdown challenges we faced they continued to ensure that the large debating machine ran smoothly.

I would also like to congratulate the new Debating Captains for 2022, Ananyaa Duggal and Goutham Peddireddy. Welcome aboard!

We will be running the Middle Years House Debating Competition in term 4 so watch Compass for more details. 

Image: Cottrell vs Rothwell Book Week Senior House Debate.

Mr. Paul Byrne - Library Manager/Debating-Public Speaking Coordinator.

House cup

The house cup is once again very close this year, currently there are only 32 points separating first and last place with only a few events left. All year students have participated in a myriad of events both face to face and online which showcased the house spirit the whole way through. 

House Chess

In week 9, 40 students competed in the annual house chess tournament online. Each student played 3 matches across 10 pools, it was a close competition but Kororoit ended up winning this competition. It was up to the students to reach out to one another and schedule their matches and record their results in a live spreadsheet. 

Rubiks cube race

After the success of the 2020 rubiks cube race it was back on the calendar in 2021. The rubkis cube race was conducted online and each team had 4 members participating in a relay format. It was great to see 50 students logged onto the zoom to watch the super fast cubing skills. Once again Cottrell took out the win with a crazy fast 1:43 secs. The chat and encouragement from everyone during the online event was awesome and made me proud to be a part of Suzanne Cory. 

House art

With the cancellation of Chorals we still went ahead and showcased the house art work that would have accompanied the mass songs. We took the house art to the school community and got the people’s choice as well as judging the art with a staff school panel against the rubric. The 2021 house art winner is: Blackwood!

The panel of staff used the rubric and determined these placings

1st Blackwood

2nd Rothwell

3rd Kororoit

4th Cottrell

The people's choice decided

1st Blackwood

2nd Rothwell

3rd Cottrell

4th Kororoit

Below are the house blurbs and outstanding artwork

Cottrell 2021: Cindy Chen, Cindy Truong, Teagan Shan-Tate, Jerin Kazi, Simrah Ansari, Serena Peterson  statement:

‘Coming Home’ by Shepphard is the effervescent and uplifting single that has inspired Cottrell’s chorals art piece. Steeped in both warm and cool tones, this acrylic on canvas attempts to capture the song's message of the excitement and joy that can be felt when one gets to travel home. With this painting, we have interpreted the concept of coming home as returning to a state of mind in which a person transcends reality to experience feelings of comfort and nostalgia. The piece depicts the desperation of a main character who attempts to escape the reality of a mundane adulthood through memories of a spirited youth. Reflecting the opening line: “I’ve been stuck in motion, moving too fast”, we established this juxtaposition through the contrast of the cool, bleak city background filled with “long days and dark nights” against the warmer toned, vibrant forest in the foreground. The contrast between the sharp-edged geometric buildings and the organic strokes of the trees was also influenced by this line. Symbolising the fervent dream of an adult reminiscing about his childhood years, the painting incorporates the motif of clock faces to emulate the way in which “time has a way of diluting emotions”, the time on the clock faces goes from midnight, to 3, to 6 in the morning reflecting the lyrics, ‘into the morning’ and also symbolising time turning back from adulthood into early childhood. Advancing against the cool background, the forest playground makes reference to the triumphant chorus lines: “I’m coming home tonight / meet me in the valley where the kids collide...my town is coming alive”. Our use of energizing, dynamic yellows, oranges and reds in the foreground attempts to express the pummelling drums of the anthem’s chorus of “coming alive”. This, combined with the playground imagery, and trees which imaginatively become buildings. It encapsulates the essence of childlike wonder and joy. At the heart of this piece, we wanted to capture a moment in time that showed what happens when a person leaves reality and lets their imagination take over, hence expressing our interpretation of the song’s declaration of “coming home”. 

Kororoit House Art

Team Members: Yizi, Rayna, Isabelle, Thisagi, Shakya, Eliza

Kororoit’s House Art composition in 2021 is based on the chosen song, ‘Back Home’ by Andy Grammer, focusing on the central theme of belonging and unity. Taking inspiration from the Studio Ghibli film ‘My Neighbour Totoro’, the idea of the artwork is a Suzanne Cory student and a Kororoit dragon waiting at the bus stop in an Australian landscape, on their way back home. The artwork is to convey how “no matter where we go, we always find our way back home”, referring to Kororoit, Suzanne Cory High School and Australia.

The student (wearing the Suzanne Cory High School uniform), signifies each student’s belonging to the school. Her drinking the Red Bull also reflects the lyric, “raise your glass” in ‘Back Home’. Accompanying her is the symbol of Kororoit, the red dragon, indicating they are “friends that last”. It wears a pair of “cheap sunglasses” and holds a can and carton of “Red Bull” in both forelimbs to symbolise both an intimidating front and a softer underside (much like Kororoit). The bus stop refers to not only how the cohort is composed of students from various parts of Victoria, including “the city”, but also how students could be waiting to go to school, a place that “we always find our way back”; reflecting our school’s values on diversity and respect for each other. The clear sky, mountains, and greenery of the Australian landscape linked to the lyric, “hop the plane out for greener grass”. Altogether, the dragon, student, bus stop and Australian landscape unify to contribute to the Suzanne Cory High School student’s identity and sense of belonging.

Techniques used in this artwork include initial sketching on the primed canvas, underpainting with burnt sienna, blocking of colours, detail with thin and precise strokes and impasto with a palette knife. With the art element of colour, a vibrant colour scheme has been used for the Australian landscape and the student, creating a welcoming aesthetic that relates to the school and Australia. Furthermore, the darker red colour palette for the dragon symbolises maturity, leadership, courage and willpower, reflecting the mighty red house, Kororoit, which Kororoitians belong to. Using thin and precise brushstrokes, different textures of leaves and painting styles of the bushes and greenery have been displayed that showcase the lively and diverse nature of Australia’s wildlife. Another aspect of this is the echidna present crawling out of the bushes, under the bus bench, belonging to the native Australian flora and fauna. Though the general tone of the painting seems to convey an earthy, dim and natural feeling; this is balanced through the use of the colours in the sky and shades present in the fields.The impasto that creates streaks of colour in the sky, is in reference to the holi festival in the music video of ‘Back Home’; which is further displayed in the wildflower fields. Balance has also been achieved through the positioning of the dragon, student, tree and bushes which each bring their own element to the painting. With these subject matters placed in the foreground, they differ dramatically in size, resulting in an enduring sense of depth in the composition.

BLACKWOOD 2021: Shuobing Kuang, Victoria Bal, Emily Spirt, Wen Shue, Supriya Polamraju, Mahnoor Binte Mashihoor

Chosen Mass Song: ‘History’ - One Direction

History- something that encompasses developments and growth, but also functions as a reminder of the irreversible and inescapable passage of time and the impact it leaves behind. For many of our students, our memories are deeply ingrained with the spirit and culture of our houses, and concurrently, the houses’ future generations will remember us; the flame that was lit by those gone before. Transient and ephemeral, our experiences as a part of the history of Blackwood are represented in our artwork. This notion is conveyed through the smudging of oil pastels at the edges of the overworked photographs, converging into one direction at the apex of the canvas, to create movement that suggests the ongoing trajectory of time. The varied art styles and techniques that overlay these images, from simple black-and-white illustration linework, to impressionistic blocks of colour and more realistic rendering, augments the celebration of history’s diversity directly in terms of art. The fragmented images of past triumphs, imbued with Blackwood spirit, represent the efforts of our Blackwood predecessors that build up the character of our house. Our work is strongly self-referential; forgoing the aesthetic of inherently gaudy appearances in favour of a simple exterior, unveils profound milestones and minutiae within Blackwood’s past. We aimed to express the enigmatic prospect of ‘history’, by encompassing a tenacious bond between the house and its people through subject matter; the Blackwood symbol not foreign but one and the same. This idea is shown as the memories scatter and lead into the forms of our present Blackwood Captains at the base of the kaleidoscope of memories. We embraced a pensive yet passionate theme of past successes, once elusive but evermore in reach, whilst also celebrating symbiotic leadership and arduous efforts of the students that recognises the need to both look back at the past and into the future – conveyed through the subject matter’s pose. Our use of the dark blues in the background, as well as the faint water ripple patterns, aims to create a sense of tranquility and empathetic ambience, as well as representing our house’s strength in swimming sports. It also represents the fluidity of history, and the fluidity of our path. Water energy is forever-shifting and reminds us to expect change and movement on our journey – to go with the flow and enjoy the journey. Our employment of a balanced composition by the arrangement of shape and diversity of their sizes creates a sense of unity; two large figures at the bottom and smaller shapes interspersed to form an apex at the top of the canvas, work in tandem with the negative space on the top corners of the canvas to form a pyramidal composition. Together, Blackwood is ‘the greatest team that the world has ever seen,’ and by enforcing the power of our present, we can influence the future; thus our legacy can ‘live forever.’ 

Rothwell House Art Team: 

Jemma Poole, Claire Wilkinson, Yuvani Thanawala, Ibiene Ogaji, Zaeena Dimog and Ruby Dong

The painting completed by the Rothwell House Art Team depicts a portrait of a woman reaching for a star above her. Rothwell’s song “Someone to you,” discusses pursuing a point in life where a person could become a source of comfort and support for another person. Through this idea, the painting establishes an individual who is reaching out towards a point in her life in which she has created a meaningful connection with another person. This entails the idea of wanting to “be somebody to someone” in the desire to obtain a role that, while miniscule in the scale of the world, holds a great importance to one specific person. This is supported by the line, “I don't even need to change the world” suggesting that the connection with another person does not need to be revolutionary but rather of a greater significance to the two people. 

The woman’s face is angled towards the front which establishes a connection between the subject and viewer, whilst also being within a closed composition to create an emphasis on the main figure and what she is reaching towards. The subject’s arm is painted in the centre of the canvas, providing a sense of movement in drawing the audience’s attention from the figure and towards the focal point of the star.

The vibrant colours and romanticised depiction of a landscape develops the painting’s  cartoon-like, surrealistic style. The lack of thrashing and violent waves makes this a more romanticised illustration of struggle as a result it creates a fairytale-esque aesthetic. This aesthetic is enhanced by the bold and audacious colours which are limited in the natural world.  The abstract and whimsical aspects of the painting are seen in the chaotic, gestural and uncontained strokes of colour in the water. There is an urgency and excitement in the waves which acts as a visual representation of the person’s internal yearning and turmoil.

The star represents the goal of becoming “Someone to you” which mirrors the end point the narrator within the song wants to reach. The lyrics “Dive and disappear without a trace” inspired the surrounding ocean of the painting, symbolising the turmoil and darker point in life from which the subject is rising from. Similarly, the subject emerging from the dark, gloomy waves that crash against her represents how she is breaking away from this darker point, pursuing a brighter future shown by the light reflecting off the star. The crashing of the waves and its restlessness surrounding the subject reinforces the chaotic nature of one’s inner turmoil and the obstacles she faces. 

The colours utilised in the painting were deliberately chosen to create a dynamic effect. The darkness of the water contrasts the warm orange and yellow colours of the sky. The energetic and chaotic nature of the ocean was captured by the abrasive use of purple, cyan, and teal in haphazard strokes around the waves. The darker colours of blue and black in the waves are representative of the sadness prevalent in the subject’s darker point of life she’s emerging from. This is contrasted with the light and warm colours of the setting sky and star. The warmer colours  are reminiscent of strong feelings associated with being seen, loved and valued. The application of the complementary colours of orange and blue creates a cool and warm contrast that represents the separation of what was once a dark gloomy past and the potential of a more hopeful and cordial future. 

Well done to all the students who contributed to the House Art. They will also be published in the School Year Book.  

Walk a thon

On the Curriculum day on September 10th students were challenged to walk as many kilometers as they could for their house. There were 128 students who participated in this challenge and the total kilometers for each house was crazy. Students all uploaded evidence of their efforts into a google form and the collated totals are below. Well done to Rothwell who walked 354km in one day. But also a shout out to Nadine who walked 21km individually on Friday, huge effort for Blackwood. 

1st Rothwell total 354.21km

2nd Blackwood total 272km

3rd Cottrell total 221.85km

4th Kororoit total 169.87km

SCHS Online Dance Competition

During lockdown, SCHS launched an Online Dance Competition! The competition helped to alleviate the stress and pressure students are facing during this hard time, providing respite from academics and increasing virtual engagement!

We received an overwhelming amount of submissions, which made it very hard to select the winners. There were submissions of all dance styles, from Hip-Hop to Traditional/Ethnic, and there were many group (virtual and COVID-safe 😄) performances too! I would like to say a huge thankyou to Miss Leong, Miss Hall and Miss Green, who judged the competition!! I would also like to congratulate the following winners:

Contemporary

1st: Ruby D, Year 11, Rothwell

2nd: Sophie P, Year 10, Blackwood

Bollywood Contemporary

Equal 1st: Siya S, Year 12, Blackwood & Riya B, Year 12, Blackwood

2nd: Tanisha A, Year 12, Cottrell

Hip Hop

1st: Luke D, Year 12, Blackwood

2nd: Katrina H, Year 12, Cottrell

Kpop

1st: Adeleine Z, Year 12, Rothwell

2nd: Katrina H, Year 12, Cottrell

Tap

1st: Hope K, Year 12, Rothwell

2nd: Sophie P, Year 10, Blackwood

Honourable mention: Lara C, Year 12, Rothwell

Traditional/Ethnic

1st: Devika S, Year 10, Rothwell

2nd: Shriya G and Bhargavi P, Year 9, Blackwood

Another honourable mention!

Tutting: Andy L, Year 12, Cottrell

I would also like to make a special shoutout to Blackwood, who as a house submitted the highest number of entries! Congratulations to all our winners and well done to all the participants 😄 

Aakriti M, R8