Middle School

Term 1 has proved to be a busy one as always, beginning a new school year, establishing routines and welcoming our new staff and students. Overall, it has been a successful term with students becoming settled, organised and aiming high already.

This term also provided opportunities for special events, including the recent Year 9 and 6 camps.

Year 9 students headed to a new location in Wonga Park, where they learnt skills of pitching a tent, cooking on Trangia stoves and hiking. Many students pushed themselves by choosing to opt for the ‘challenge’ group, hiking and camping out, whilst others spread themselves amongst other groups, offering various levels of a camping and hiking experience. Students came back energised (after some rest!) and demonstrated their ability to go beyond their regular comfort zones. Congratulations to all students who attended and thank you to our staff, Mr Alfawwal, Ms Smit, Mr Smith, Mr Wengier, Mr Fitzpatrick and Mr Gridley, who gave up their time to support our students.

Year 6 camp provided to be another exciting event in the calendar, with many students already expressing it as a highlight of the year. Students headed to Camp Toolangi, where activities such as canoeing, high ropes and abseiling were on offer. Again, our students challenged themselves, overcame the fear of heights and gave many of the activities a go. Smiles and laughter were aplenty, and the food was given a top rating too! Well done to our students who represented the school and themselves whole heartedly. Thank you to Mrs Bocquet, Mr Kormas, Ms Levin, Mr Wells and Mr Dickinson for your time and efforts to ensure a successful camp.

Year 7 and 8 camps will be running in Term 2 and we look forward to these.

A reminder as we head into Term 2, Winter uniform is required and encourage families to use the holiday break to ensure your child/ren has all the appropriate items. After a term’s grace, please ensure shoes adhere to the school policies.

I wish our students, staff and families a restful break and look forward to seeing you back for Term 2.

Ashlee Scott

Middle School Pastoral Coordinator

Year Level Leader (Years 6 & 7)

Middle School Maths Competitions Update

Over the past two weeks our Middle School mathematicians have represented Oakleigh Grammar in two major challenges: the ACER Advanced Awards (AAA) Competition and the The International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IM²C).

ACER Advanced Awards (AAA) Competition

Held during Period 1 across Week 9, the AAA Competition brings together top Year 7–9 students to tackle rigorous problem‑solving tasks. Congratulations to all the participants for challenging themselves.

Year 7:

Michael Tsatalios (7A)
Georgios Kallergis (7A)
Nehmat Randhawa (7B)
Kyana Minien (7B)
Wang Junyu (7B)
Dhyey Shah (7B)
Adam Wang (7B)

Year 8:

Elliot Shiffman (8A)
Eva Bakalis (8B)
Aaliya Vij (8B)

Year 9:

Ayden George Gigu (9A)
Johnny Kakaras (9B)
Simeon Draganic (9B)
Shabad Vohra (9B)

The International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IM²C).

Seven Oakleigh teams entered the IMMC problem‑solving competition, which tasked students with designing a fair, equitable scheduling system for an international league. Five teams successfully submitted full solutions:

The Flames• Dhyey Shah (7B)• Kyana Minien (7B)• Georgios Kallergis (7A)• Nehmat Randhawa (7B)
Zero Error Unit• Azmat Sufi (7C)• Armaandeep Randhawa (7B)• Nirvaan Nair (7B)
Mind Blowing Math Magician• Daulat Abu Talha (7A)• Zachary Rajah (7A)
Those Two• Anish Khemka (8A)• Elliot Shiffman (8A)
Mathletes• Athena Dimopoulos (8A)• Eva Bakalis (8B)• Tiffany Balasis (8B)• Aaliya Vij (8B)

Congratulations to all seven Oakleigh Grammar teams for their enthusiasm and hard work in the IMMC challenge — especially the five teams that submitted complete solutions — for demonstrating outstanding teamwork, creativity, and mathematical problem‑solving skills!

Guang Wu

IB MYP Coordinator

Learning Leader Mathematics