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Free eSafety Webinars for parents and carers

eSafety has free webinars to provide parents and carers with the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe, positive online experiences.Topic include

• eSafety 101: How eSafety can help
• Understanding how to support your child with online gaming
• Understanding parental controls to safeguard your child
• Online safety and social media: TikTok, YouTube and Instagram
•  

Register at  https:/ /www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

ORDERING FROM THE CANTEEN

YEARS 7 & 10 IMMUNISATION PROGRAM

The Secondary School Immunisation Program offers free National Immunisation Program schedule vaccines to all eligible Year 7 and Year 10 students. This program is delivered by the local council. 

Year 7 students    

• Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)

 Year 10 students  

• Meningococcal ACWY 

Your information will be provided to City of Greater Dandenong in March. If you do not wish for your details to be provided, please advise the school in writing before Thursday 29th February 2024.

The attached letter provides further information about this program and answers to Frequently Asked Questions. 

ACACIA BIKE SHELTER

We are excited to announce that the Acacia Bike Shelter has officially been built and opened. The brand new $44 000 bike shelter is located at the front of the school next to the 700 building.

Thank you to ACHPER and the Victorian Education Department for supporting Grants in 2023.

This bike shelter currently contains 36 bike racks and will shortly include a bike repair station where you can complete quick maintenance jobs on your bicycle, scooter or skateboard. Such as, pumping flat tyres or tightening lose screws and bolts on your bicycles. 

We encourage all students who have access to a bicycle to ride to school as the weather continues to improve and safely secure your bicycles by utilising this bike shelter in a respectful manner.

As we know, being an active and healthy learner promotes growth, learning and wellbeing.

Please consider the following if you are planning to ride to school and utilise the new bike shelter:

• Have you completed a pre-ride safety check of your bicycle (brakes, gears, lights & reflectors)
• Always wear a high quality helmet 
• Plan out your journey to school and let your guardians aware that you are riding and when you arrive safely to school
• Bring your own bicycle lock to lock your bicycle to the bike rack
• Respect other people’s properties and careful rack and un-rack your bicycle
• Report any damaged or stolen property

We can't wait to see you riding your bicycles to school safely and enjoying the great community we are a part of!

YEAR 11 ACACIA & BANKSIA STUDENTS VCE-VOCATIONAL MAJOR PATHWAY PRESENTATION 2024

On February 5 the 2024 Year 11 VCE-Vocational Major Pathways students from Acacia and Banksia attended a presentation outlining the 2 year course commencing 2024. There were a number of staff and key personnel who presented to the student’s important information relevant to their chosen pathway. This included a presentation by Mrs Georgia Staikos which provided an overview of the  2 year pathway and how many units the students needed to complete to pass both Year 11 and Year 12.

Key staff who work directly with the students spoke about each of the Unit 1 & 2 content for Year 11 including Work Related Skills (WRS), Numeracy, Literacy and Personal Development Skills (PDS).

The school Pathways and Careers staff including Ms Marie Tranquille, Ms Kendra Scaife and Ms Kelly Darlington then spoke about the VET and TAFE expectations and Headstart Program. This was followed by a student panel Q and A led by Student Voice/Alumni Coordinator Ms Haluwadana to help the students get a further insight into what to expect in 2024. Of particular importance and highlighted by the students was school attendance and the need to organise and prioritise their work/school life balance.

The session was very informative and well received by the students. Sincere thanks to the staff who took part in the presentation.

Mrs Riley

BACKFLIPS AGAINST BULLYING PROGRAM

On Monday February 5th, all Year 7 and 8 students attended the annual Backflips Against Bullying incursion, hosted by Action Education. The Backflips Against Bullying Program is an educational show that engages students through parkour and acrobatic shows aligned with an anti-bullying campaign. Students explored the impact of anti-social and negative behaviours that can make others feel isolated at school. Students then took their learning back to their Making Connections classes where the Year 8 students created their own anti-bullying videos. 

MUSIC TEAM

During the first 2 weeks at school the Year 7 students all had the pleasure of trying out the instruments that they would like to learn this year. They tried the woodwind and brass family of instruments, as well as Percussion and Bass Guitar.

They produced some fantastic results and have chosen which instruments they would like to learn. The music team are looking forward to teaching all of the Year 7 students in their band class and instrumental lessons this year. 

Stay tuned for information regarding their upcoming Semester 1 concert. 

Happy playing Year 7’s!

Your music team 😊😊🎶🎹🎼🎼

CAMPS, SPORTS, EXCURSIONS FUND

If you are a family with a Health Care Card you may be entitled to $250 CSEF per child to be used towards payment of camps, sports and excursion charges.  

You will need to complete a CSEF form which is available at the General Office at each campus. A copy of your Health Care Card needs to be provided. This needs to be done as soon as possible.

Please note that if you have already completed a form for 2024 you don't need to re-submit.

HOME FOOD PACKS

Home Food Packs are available to families in need. To organise a collection please contact your relevant campus Foodbank coordinator as below:  

Banksia = geer.carolyn@keysboroughsc.vic.edu.au

Acacia = Foulsham.madalyn@keysboroughsc.vic.edu.au

VALENTINE'S DAY

Acacia students celebrated Valentines Day with enthusiasm this year. The student leaders spent weeks planning the day and created a great vibe with lots of fun activities for Acacia students to take part in.  Students had the options of participating in a three-legged race with their Valentine, a sweet raffle, Valentine’s Day bingo, photo frame pic and if you were super lucky you received a hand delivered single red rose or a delicious, decorated cupcake.

Special thanks to our Student Voice leader Lataya for coordinating the student leaders and all the year 12 students who put in so much effort to decorate and run activities in preparation for a memorable event.  Tuesday night after school where school leaders were preparing the roses, was definitely challenging with the lights going on and off due to wind, torrential rain and hail.  All money raised was donated to Heart Kids.

VALENTINE'S DAY BANKSIA EVENT 2024 

By Emily Tran

Valentine’s Day—a day to celebrate love and affection between lovers, friends and family through the exchange of gifts, gestures and expressions of devotion. The affectionate spirit has spread to Keysborough College Banksia Campus, as the student leadership team organised and held an event to celebrate, comprising of musical chairs, a three-legged race, anonymous love letter reading, selling cupcakes and polaroids, and finally, a raffle.

Prior the day of the event, SRC students stayed back after school to bake cupcakes to sell, and to decorate the Senior Building. Unfortunately, the storm and gloomy weather had prevented us from decorating the whole campus, thus the event was relocated to rooms 701-703. 

On the 14th of February, the student leadership team spent the first three periods

 preparing decorations, allocating and sending out roses and teddy bears, and organising the activities. Other students also got involved and came to help in assembling the lunchtime event. Fortunately, the Valentine’s Day event went smoothly. From intense musical chair segments to romantic love letters, a majority of the students were upbeat and immersed in the activities.

On behalf of the student leadership team, we’d like to thank Ms. Chieu and Ms. Lee for bringing the leadership team together and we hope to see all students come together again for our upcoming Harmony Day event!

ACACIA CAMPUS CAPTAINS' WELCOME ADDRESS

As your Acacia Campus Captains of 2024, we would like to welcome you to the new school year which we hope will be filled with long lasting memories, defining moments and a plethora of fun. 

We welcome our new Year 7 students to Keysborough College and we hope your years here are just as enjoyable as ours have been. For the rest of the school, moving into new year levels can often be overwhelming and scary but we assure you this year allows us to learn new skills, make connections and discover more about ourselves and the world around us. As you get settled in, we encourage you to speak to us and your other Senior School leaders as we would like to listen and collaborate with you to create positive change in our school. 

To our peers in Year 12, we wish you all the best for the forthcoming year. We understand the pressure that comes with this being our last year, however, we trust that you will all make the most of your time and try your best to keep up with the demands of such a busy end to your high school careers. We urge you to build routines, use the resources around you and ask for help in order to achieve success in your chosen paths.

Many of us are not sure of what the future may hold for us but we assure you that it is okay to be unsure and we wish you the best on the journey to find who you are and what makes you happy. Although school can often be all consuming, it is important to continue to take time for yourself and remember to remain persistent, resilient and optimistic. 

Let us all continue to follow our school values of Respect, Excellence and Diversity as well as our 5Ps in order to become role models and leaders in our own way. We are excited to represent you and the wider Keysborough College community and we hope that this year is remarkable for us all!

INTRODUCTIONS TO ACACIA CAMPUS 2024

YEAR 12 STUDENT EXECUTIVE & HOUSE LEADERSHIP TEAM

ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITIONS

Throughout the year of 2023, the students at both Banksia and Acacia worked incredibly hard to have their works exhibited in the end of year Arts and Technology Exhibitions, at their respective campus. 

What the students provided at the end of year show was nothing but unique. Although small, the textile projects and the ceramic projects were filled with so many intricate details, but when walking though the artworks done by the students, it’s as if you were transported into the paintings; Each painting with a world of its own spoke out a story describing loss and sorrows to tranquillity and piece. Entering the Visual Communications section of the Exhibition, each work was perfected to the T. From homes on distant worlds to paper models of packaging designs, it was clear that each work had the heart and soul of an aspiring designer behind it. The projects made by the students of Product Design: Wood, were simply a technical marvel as each design utilised a cooperation of rare and innovative techniques to produce works to be adored.

With the canteen providing delicious sandwich quarters, with cold drinks to compliment. The Exhibition buzzed as students came by the masses bringing with them proud parents and excited siblings. With the Art & Technologies teachers staying to the very end, it provided amazing opportunities to parents and all to discuss the amazing things students can achieve by selecting an The Arts as their electives. From me and Ms Fleming, thank you to all of the parents who attended the event and the helpers who assisted with the preparation with of the exhibition and of course the talented student exhibitors. 

Johnny Huynh

Acacia Arts Captain

LIBRARY NEWS

The Keysborough College libraries welcome all our new students for 2024! We’re so pleased you’re here. Come and have a chat to our friendly library staff! We’re happy to recommend books – we believe there’s a book for everyone. 

The libraries are a place to study, enjoy a game, chat with your buddies (or the friendly library staff!), or just relax. Please enjoy these photos of some of our brand new Year 7s enjoying the library vibes – solving puzzles, chatting and colouring, and, of course, enjoying the wide selection of reading material the libraries have to offer. 

At the other end of their high school journey, our Year 12 school leaders took a break from their studies and had great fun organizing Valentines Day celebrations, and making decorations. The spirit of romance was alive and well in the senior school!

Have a wonderful 2024, everyone! 

PUFFING BILLY EXCURSION EXPERIENCE

As a Year 12 student, I'm really thankful for the chance our school gave us International students to go on an exhilarating and memorable trip at Puffing Billy, an iconic old steam train which is operated by the local volunteers! These volunteers are mostly retired with extremely friendly personalities who are always eager to spread positive energy toward all the visitors. They provided us with safety instructions and interesting insight into the history of Puffing Billy.

It was a valuable opportunity for us to forge connections with each other across levels and the two campuses. This site is famous for taking people on a journey through beautiful landscapes and allowing the tourist to imagine times in the distant past. However, it's not just a train ride; it's similar to being in a living museum where all the rolling hills, the towering trees and rustic bridges seem like they are out of movie scenes. During the trip, we got a break from study workload and had a great time making memories with our teachers and friends. It was a day filled with laughter and joy since it was the first trip to kick off the 2024 school year with an abundance of photos taken which stored our youth in a frame, especially because for many of us it is our last year in the school. It was a thoroughly unforgettable and remarkable experience.

Annie Hoang 

Banksia International Student Captain