Around the College

Debating Success!

Last week, representatives from our Year 9-12 Debating and Public Speaking program participated in the ACC Open Debating and Open Public Speaking Competitions at St. Mary’s College in St. Kilda.

Competing in Division 1, our students won their first two debates—one prepared and one impromptu. This achievement led them to the finals’ ‘power pairings’, where they finished as runners-up in the championship. Our public speakers also performed exceptionally well in both the prepared and impromptu speech rounds, securing the overall championship win for 2024.

Additionally, we have been achieving remarkable results in the ongoing Debating Association of Victoria’s Schools Competition. On the evening of Thursday, 9 May, our five teams competed in Round 3 of the competition, hosted at Wesley College, Glen Waverley. All of our teams were victorious in their Round 3 debates, marking a third consecutive win for our A Grade, C Grade, and D Grade teams. We wish our teams the very best as they continue to represent the College in the DAV Competition!

Thank you, Mum!

Follow Bradley and Aditya’s journey across campus as they engaged with fellow students, exploring the depths of gratitude we hold for our mothers. Witness the embodiment of our Character Strength of Love in every heartfelt story shared.

ACC Art & Technology Exhibition

NGV Languages Excursion

For the first time, the College’s VCE Language classes in Chinese, Japanese, and Italian embarked on a joint excursion to the city. They were granted exclusive access to the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) ‘Then and Now’ programs: ‘Viva Italia’, ‘Konnichiwa Japan’, and ‘Art in China’. Guided by three knowledgeable art experts, the students explored a diverse array of artefacts within the collections.This unique opportunity allowed them to weave together elements of art, history, language, and culture in an imaginative manner. Set against the backdrop of Melbourne’s vibrant art scene, this outing not only celebrated the students’ dedication to language studies but also highlighted the dynamic intersection of art and cultural education.

Year 12 Reflection Day

Our Year 12 students had the privilege this week to be joined by Fr. Rob Galea and his inspiring band for their third Reflection Day of the year.@frrobgalea is an ordained Catholic Priest, currently serving in the Sandhurst Diocese in Victoria after moving to Australia from Malta, his home country. He is the founder and executive director of ICON Ministry, a charity organisation that ministers to over 1,000,000 people each year across the world.We extend our heartfelt thanks to Fr. Rob and his team for captivating our students with a profound blend of thought-provoking words and uplifting music.

“The Year 12 Reflection Day was definitely one of the highlights of the year. The day started off with us being introduced to Fr. Rob Galea, a priest, musician and fellow gym-goer. His witty analogies and stories regarding his past made an impression on me and many of my peers within the room. His personality as a kind-hearted and introverted individual resonated with us and as he spoke about how he went from a young teenager who was involved in gangs to finding amity with God, it allowed for many of us to come to the realization that everyone makes mistakes, but no matter what ultimately we can always be forgiven by the people who love and care about us, whilst growing closer to God through his infinite love. His message of finding ‘peace’ in our lives, whilst not infringing upon someone else's rights or acting on impulse was something that had a profound impact on me.”

– Alan Abraham, Zachary Zimmer

 

“Our Reflection Day was great! I really enjoyed Father Rob’s performances, his singing was great and really touched the heart. Apart from the beautiful music, the messages he delivered was a real eye opener for me personally, where he continued to deliver the message of self peace over anything. This was a great way of looking at life, especially during these difficult and enduring times throughout Year 12. Personally, his messages really touched me, and is something I believe was extremely helpful and beneficial, also helping me strengthen my relationship with God. Father Rob brought valuable experience and delivered great messages with significant value which each and every one of us could take out and implement into our lives as we face the hurdles of Year 12 and beyond… An Amazing band and amazing singing, basically a concert at school!”

– Nigel Munasinghe

 

“Walking us through his own personal story, Fr Rob Galea not only shared his journey in his faith and connection with God, but also the immense struggles and pressures he experienced when he was younger – such as the stress of school, drug abuse and the want to be accepted by his peers – provided us years’ worth of his life experiences and lessons, making the Reflection Day a valuable one. As many people may have said, which I do agree with, that the messages of the faith that he brought to our Year 12 cohort were profound and strong. During the Reflection, Father Rob along with his band – Daniel, Alyssa and Zeb – performed a variety of faith music, from You Say by Lauren Daigle to Dynamite by Taio Cruz along with his own original music amping up the Catholic acoustic rave on Reflection Day. Fr Rob, used his workout routine as an effective analogy to communicate his most important message: to find your centre in life. Explaining that his centre was his connection and relationship with God and it was this centre and focus in life that led him to persevere through those dark times in his life and which carried him to succeed in what he enjoyed and loved.”

– Evan Nguyen

 

“Through the Reflection Day, I learned about how easy it is to connect with God and build a relationship with Jesus. Especially seeing how Fr Rob taught us that reacting to someone else's hostile actions is not worth sacrificing your own peace, I most enjoyed learning about Fr Rob's experiences growing up, how they shaped him into the man he is today, and how he became a singer. Additionally, I loved listening to the various songs that Fr Rob and his band played.”

– Bradley Lopez

 

“The 13th of May commemorated our third Reflection Day for the cohort of 2024 in which we were given the unique opportunity to have Fr. Rob Galea to share his story through song and discussion. At the forefront of the Reflection Day, a fundamental message was instilled within all members of the Year 12 cohort - that although life may come with lows and highs, at the end of the day, you are only one conversation with God away from a totally different life. One with greater perspective and understanding with the relationship that you share with Christ. In doing so, Fr. Rob was able to answer existential and moral questions which the year 12s had, offering insight and a great discussion in which all members including staff were invited to contribute. Fr. Rob was able to act like a mentor for the day, guiding the cohort on how to manage the challenges that life after school may present. Similar to all other reflection days we concluded with the opportunity to take a moment of prayer listening to the meditative music which Fr. Rob and his band led us in.”

– Ryan Peiris

Yukino Inoue

This year’s Meiji University intern, Ms. Yukino Inoue, has been actively engaging with students in Japanese classes, providing them with authentic Japanese speaking experiences. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the families of the three College staff who generously opened their homes to Yukino during her stay.In July, our sister school in Japan will visit with approximately 20 students, offering valuable hosting opportunities to families. These chances to foster international friendships are rare and should be embraced!

Year 7/8 Science Club

Who knew crash-testing eggs could be so much fun!

Year 11 Geography - Marysville Excursion