Student Voice
End Of Term 3:
College Captains
Hello South Oakleigh College community,
On behalf of the College Captains, we’d like to reflect on what has been an incredible Term 3. It’s been a jam-packed few months filled with events, achievements, and moments that truly highlight the energy, talent, and spirit of our school community.
Beauty and the Beast Jnr :
A massive congratulations to everyone involved in this year’s school production, Beauty and the Beast Jnr. After months of rehearsals, the final performances were a huge success, drawing big crowds with no seats left on the final night, and plenty of applause. From the cast on stage to the crew working tirelessly behind the scenes, every detail came together to create a magical show. The dedication of staff and students alike made it one of the standout highlights of the term, and it was a truly incredible experience for both of us and everyone else who were involved.
Year 12 SAC Season:
We also want to congratulate our Year 12s on powering through their final waves of SACs. It hasn’t been easy, with heavy workloads and the pressure of the last term, especially in the last few weeks of this term, but you’ve shown resilience and commitment. As the finish line approaches and exams come into view, it’s inspiring to see Year 12 students putting in every bit of energy they have left. Keep going, success and the end of this chapter is just around the corner.
Division Athletics:
On the 5th of September, a group of students competed in the Division Athletics carnival. Students showed outstanding effort, determination, and school pride across all events. From track to field, it was great to see so many participants giving their best and supporting each other throughout the day. Additionally, congratulations to all students who were successful in their placing in their events, and are moving forward to the EMR division, happening early next term.
Wellfest week:
Wellfest week was another major highlight of the term, connecting students across many year levels through various activities such as the SOC trivia, sporting events and many other activities. We would like to thank the large number of student leaders from all year levels that banded together and helped to create and organise the activities for this week. It is amazing to see the wide variety of students in our school that are passionate about growing and making our school a more inclusive and connected environment for all.
Teachers vs Students Netball:
Our students in year 12 had the opportunity to once again participate in their students vs teachers sporting event, which occurs every term, being netball this term. Our year 12’s put up a good fight, with many talents shown on the court and amazing strength and chemistry from both the teachers and students, with our students unfortunately falling short to a victory this time around.
SOC’s got talent and Spring concert:
We also celebrated the talent of our singers and musicians in our annual spring concert. This concert was a huge success, with a large audience followed by many different groups of acts such as our choir, solo acts and bands branching across our school. Furthermore, we had our SOC’s got talent event hosted on the final day of term 3. This event had students display their talents in front of the school, expanding from anything such as singing, acting, playing instruments, or even special skills our students have.
As Term 3 comes to a close, we couldn’t be prouder of the way South Oakleigh College has come together to make it such a memorable and successful time. With Term 4 just ahead, we look forward to finishing the year strong, especially with our Year 12s preparing for their final exams and farewells.
Your College Captains
Kristina Andreev
Stefan Krozian
2025 College Captains
College Vice Captains
River Zielinski
Emily Lay
2025 College Vice Captains
S.R.C. Newsletter Article
Term 3 was a very eventful for the student representive council. The council planned meticulously and tirelessly to achieve a successful wellfest week. Fortunately, our efforts did not go to waste and the week was a huge success. The first event that was run was the tag a friend activity where all students and staff had the opportunity to write positive notes to another student or staff to brighten their day. There was also a Krispy Kreme donut fundraiser held as well as an out of uniform day. It was amazing to see everyone in their cozy themed outfits supporting a great cause. There was also a celebratory breakfast club held where students and staff could enjoy a wide range of breakfast options for free including pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, milkshakes, and more.
Thank you to the SOC community for participating in events that were run this term. Your support drives us to bring the best possible ideas come to life. Planning for term 4 has kicked off and we cannot wait for you to see what’s coming up.
Stay tuned for term 4!
Jack Wright
Yohan Soju
Abigail Avienna
SRC Presidents
A Message From Our Year Level Leaders
Year 7:
Term 3 has been another busy time of year for us in year 7. House athletics feels like such a long time ago, but it was our first experience with it for high school, and it was such a fun time for us all, even if the weather wasn’t perfect. From more interschool sports activities like basketball, to the school production and trips to Monash tech school, everyone has been kept busy in some way the entire term. With the last term of the year approaching, I know we’re all excited for the year to come to a close and we can finally move up to year 8 soon.
Year 8:
And just like that, this term is coming to an end. It has been an action-packed term full of athletics day, division athletics, interschool sport events, wellfest week, the spring concert, and the schools production, Beauty and the Beast junior, which made people's jaws drop and left them speechless.
“It was amazing, and it was a great show,
I would like to see it again,” - Chisa Kawasaki, talking about the production.
The year 8s have done their best to get involved in all these activities, with many of them making it to division athletics, interschool sport teams trying their hardest showing their HRRRT values, being a part of the production whether they were on stage or helping backstage, participating in wellfest week events, or being in the spring concert which was quite frankly a hit.
“It was very loud and fun, my ears were like dying” - Noa Koizumi, talking about the spring concert, which she participated in.
“Division athletics was very fun and exciting, and it was a beautiful day for competition.” - Jade Burton, talking about division athletics day.
During this term the SRC has spent time planning numerous events for wellfest week, them being; Tag a friend where you write a nice message to a friend, chalk art, Krispy cream donut sale, free dress day with the theme ‘Cozy’ and fitness friday where each year level spent an hour doing either, dodgeball, going for a walk outside or table tennis.
“I loved how on Tuesday we got to wear free dress” - Jacob Do, talking about Wellfest week.
“Everyone is super nice and easy to talk to” - Alica Cho, talking about her peers.
There has been a lot of positive feedback from the Year 8 students this term, with one student saying they liked the “School events like athletics because you don't have to compete and you can have fun and cheer your friends on”.
We hope that everyone had an amazing Term 3 here at South Oakleigh College. We wish you all a safe and magical holiday. The year 8’s have been working hard this term, from trying our best at sporting events like house athletics and interschool sport to taking part in Beauty and the beast. With Wellfest week being a nice break for us, we could definitely use the upcoming break to relax before coming back again for term 4.
Year 9:
What a term it’s been. From freezing out in the cold for house athletics, to cheering wildly for Beauty and the beast. I can’t imagine this term going any differently. We’ve been kept busy with things like interschool sport and our many classes and CAT’s, but I know we have more to go before the end of the year. With exams next term, I know we won’t be having time to relax then, so we’re looking forward to a nice holiday before next term.
Year 10:
With the end of term 3, we’re one step closet to the end of the year. From the athletics carnival to wellfest week, this term has been a hectic one for all of us. This term has also been the chance for some of us to experience unit 2 of our VCE subjects, which has been a challenging experience, especially for Biology. But we’re grateful for the opportunity to accelerate our learning with it, and we look forward to finishing next term to start on our journey with ¾ subjects. With that to look forward to, I know next term will be even busier than this one, but I personally can’t wait!
Year 11:
1 step closer to the end. From interschool sport, to wellfest week and the school production, this term has been a busy one for everyone. This term has also marked the end of our SAC’s for those of us taking unit ¾ subjects this year. Now we only have our exams next term, and then we’re down 1 VCE subject. For the rest of us, next term will mark the start of us taking all of our ¾ subjects. This will be a big undertaking, and I’m sure we can use all the practice we could get, but I know from the help of our friends and teachers that we’ll be able to pull through.
International Student Lunch
Last week our international students got together and prepared a feast for the International Student Lunch. From mango pancakes to hand-folded dumplings, there was something for everybody to enjoy.
International students had the opportunity to bring along a “local buddy” for lunch to share the joy of global foods. This gave students a chance to share their favourite foods, and beyond that, it provided a medium for cross-cultural communication through food.
The global prefects were incredibly fortunate to have such a talented team of chefs, shown through the excellent quality of the dishes prepared.
Thank you very much to Ms Crespo, Ms Truong and Ms Penny for helping organise the lunch for all the students, as it was highly successful and enjoyable for all involved.
We hope for another exciting term and look forward to hosting the next International Student Lunch.
Thank you to the following students for their contributions:
· Samadhi, Adnin, Aku and Paniz – Hong Kong-style mango crepes
· Susan and Winnie – Strawberry sago
· Darrien, Hiro, Minh – Chicken banh mi and pork banh mi
· Ikko, Chloe, Li, Diana, Kevin, Olivia, Jess and Xichen – Chicken and corn dumplings
· Wajan and Medisa – Mi goreng
· Isabella and Samhitha – Decorations and mi goreng
Aku Chapagain
Hiro Hajinikitas
This semester, we, the Year 10 Peer Support Leaders, have had the privilege of mentoring our Year 7 peers. After a full semester of guiding them through important topics, including the significance of mental health and the skill of setting SMART goals, we are ready to end the year on an even higher note. Our lessons have been laced with games, but the centre of our work has been helping Year 7s investigate how to build lasting friendships, safely manage the struggles of social media, and effectively uphold our school's HRRRT values. We have been grateful for this opportunity which allows us to develop our leadership skills and become trusted role models for our peers. As the Year 7s continue to settle in, we will be there to guide them, hosting fun games and rotating various lesson plans. Our objective for the rest of the year is to create and host new lesson plans every fortnight throughout Term 4. We hope that both our Year 10 and Year 7 students enjoy the rest of the Peer Support program.
Atsuya Kawasaki
Year 10
Intermediate Boys/Girls Basketball
On Tuesday, 9th September, we went to Monash University to compete in a basketball tournament against Wellington, Wheelers Hill, John Monash and Brentwood. Our school was represented by a Year 10 girls A team, a Year 9 girls’ B team and two boys teams combining Year 9 and Year 10 players.
Across the day every team secured at least one win with all players showing a strong effort, determination and teamwork on the court.
When we weren’t playing, we supported the boy’s games by scoring, filling out score sheets, updating the scoreboard and keeping up with fouls and goals. The boys last game got intense in the last minutes as the boys ended up in a tie, they worked hard but couldn’t get those final points, however they still showed sportsmanship and cheered the other teams win.
This day gave us a greater appreciation and understanding for the game and kept everyone engaged between matches. Overall, the day was a great success, leaving us proud of our efforts and happy with the experience.
Mia Kallas
Kiki Todorova
Anita Basile