LATEST SCHOOL NEWS 

ROCKFEST 2018

On Tuesday the 19th of June, two RIA bands performed at the annual Rockfest competition held at Templestowe College. ‘Somewhat Reckless’ were our first band on stage – Bridie Winder (vocals), Jasmine Farr (vocals), Bianca Jutrisa (guitar), Amity Kunst (bass), Mao Liu (keys), Liam Rignanese (drums) – and they performed a great set that was full of energy, beautiful harmonies, and explosive rapping.

Our second band was ‘Synaesthesia’ – Chelsea Mosbey (vocals), Jazmin Micallef (vocals/guitar), Sonali Wijetunga (bass), Isabella Basso (keys), Liam Rignanese (drums) – who also performed brilliantly, with a tight rhythm section pulling out some serious grooves, and a spot on keyboard solo wowing the audience.

To top off a great day, two of our performers were award recipients – Liam Rignanese was awarded best drummer, and Sonali Wijetunga was awarded best bass player, which was an outstanding result and testament to the effort that both of these students put in to developing their instrumental skills and their hard work in rehearsals. Congratulations to all of our Rockfest performers!

Written By Damien Mizzi, Director of Music.

CENTRAL AUSTRALIA TRIP

On Saturday the 23rd of June,  93 year 10 students, 2 buses, 4 drivers, 3 cooks and 10 teachers headed off on our 2018 Central Australia Trip.  The trip is over 10 days and the students and teachers visit Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Standly Chasm, Kings Canyon, Ulura and more.  Watch our Facebook page and Five Exciting Things for more updates and photos from this AMAZING trip! Here are some photos from day 1 to day 4.

ANNOUNCING MS. HELOISE MARTIN - NEW ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

We are very pleased to announce Ms Heloise Martin as our Assistant Principal and RIA Director. 

"Heloise cares deeply for the success of individual students. She has already made great contributions to the College as a very talented Maths and English teacher, head of College Operations, Director of Teaching and Learning, Head of Maths and an Instructional Coach.  She is also very brave and has a fantastic growth mindset. I know she will work hard and she will continue to be very honourable. Please join with me in congratulating Ms Martin and welcoming her into her new role."

Julie Kennedy, College Principal.  

"I am humbled to be taking on this role at the College so that I can continue to work with the fantastic students, parents and staff in this school community. I look forward to continuing to develop the RIA program and to finding new and interesting opportunities for our students in their artistic endeavours, as RIA Director. The RIA program continues to grow and we will be focusing on enhancing the program as it does." 

Heloise Martin, Assistant Principal & RIA Director.

INTRODUCING OUR NEWLY ELECTED SCHOOL COUNCIL STUDENT REPS

This year as a new initiative by the Department of Education our student body nominated and elected student representatives to sit on our school council as official members. The student representatives are: 

• Alison Hughes (Eastern Campus)
• Brianna Collins (Western Campus).

Both students were asked: "how do you feel being elected as a student representative on school council and is there anything you are hoping to change or are excited about?"

This is what they said: 

"After being elected to be the student rep for the Eastern campus on school council I was ecstatic and grateful for the opportunity that I’m faced with. By being on the school council I aim to voice student issues and help craft solutions to make students feel connected and a part of the Rowville Secondary community. I particularly look forward to voicing student concerns on getting a uniform that is warm and water proof for RIA." 

Alison Hughes.

"In year 8 (2016), I became involved with the school student leadership and found that my interests lied strongly with insuring students felt as if they had the chance to be heard and had a place at Rowville Secondary College. It is a great honour to be given the opportunity to continue to represent students as a student representative on the School Council, and I look forward to working with everyone, especially other students."  Brianna Collins. 

At RSC we've always had our college leaders (School Captains & Vice Captains) attend and be part of our school council meetings.  The 2018 leaders will still participate alongside our elected students Alison and Brianna. 

MSA NEWS.....

Dissecting Skeletons

Recently, the 7MSA cohort undertook a Marine Organism Dissection to analyse and compare the different types of skeletal structures of a variety of organisms. The three organisms specifically were fish, prawn and a squid. The dissection was a Common Assessment Task that required the students to undertake the physical elements of the dissections and then document their observations accordingly using a practical report format. They were able to accurately identify the difference between an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton, what a vertebrate is and how skeletal structure defines physical characteristics of an organism. It was excellently conducted by all students and was a lot of fun!

“I learned about exoskeletons and endoskeletons, and how they are different. It was also really interesting looking at what I normally eat from a different angle.” 

Penny, year 7 student.

“We had to take the spine from the prawn and take his brains out and with the fish we had to try and find the spine and take all the flesh off the fish. Mr. Sherlock showed us how to dissect a squid and find his body parts and showed us how it protects itself and works.”  

Sanji, year 7 student.

Reptile Encounters Incursion

The 7MSA group had Kara and some of her ‘friends’ from Reptile Encounters  visit us here in our dedicated MSA Lab in Room 32. Kara’s exhibit included ‘John & Julia’, two Spiny Leaf Stick Insects, Kermit the Green Tree Frog, ‘Tiny’ – a 3.2 metre Olive Python, ‘Boof’ the Frill-Necked Lizard, Leonardo the Eastern Long-Necked Turtle, and our highlight was Charlie – the Saltwater Crocodile!

The session focused on the concept of classification and the Linnaeus System of Taxonomy. All in all, it was a fantastic way to understand how and why animals are classified and get up close and personal with some of Australia’s native wildlife. Great work again from everyone in 7M!

“Of all of the animals she presented to the class my personal favourite was Lily the squirrel glider, because I have never had the chance to encounter one before.”

Jarrod, year 7 student.

“I enjoyed the whole incursion because not only did I have fun, I also learned a lot.”

Cheryl, year 7 student.

“We were shown Kermit, the green tree frog - an interesting fact I learnt about Kermit was that Australian tree frogs’ pupils were horizontal rather than vertical, I also got to have Kermit on my shoulder!” 

 Zara, year 7 student.

Toolangi State Forest Excursion

Last week, 7MSA took off to investigate the concepts of Biodiversity and Ecosystems – all the way to Toolangi! The students explored the Mountain Ash Forest by investigating the germination process of various native flora following bushfires and discussed habitat issues for native fauna. We trekked through sections of the forest before then making our way into the WirraWilla Trail through the temperate Rainforest nearby. This trail showed the contrasting nature of each environment, with distinct differences in temperature and both biotic and abiotic factors influenced by this. The students were extremely well behaved and had a fantastic time learning about some of Australia’s glorious environments.

“Jan the tour guide told us about all the different types of animals that lived in the forest, and she also told us about how the logging in the area works - that they leave the trees to grow for 60-80 years then come and cut them down.” 

Dylan, year 7 student.

“It was interesting to learn about the ecosystem and to have a first-hand experience, seeing things in front of me and in real life instead of through a screen or in a book. I enjoyed this excursion as it is something I have never done before and it was fun exploring and climbing through trees and vines.”  

Yasmina, year 7 student.

“What a few weeks we’ve had 7M, you have all been amazing! Well done!”

Mr. Sherlock, Teacher.  

Articles written by Mr Dan Sherlock.

Year 9 MSA Earth Tectonic 3D Models

Following on from our Five Exciting Things story last Friday (22 June) - as promised here are some more photos to check out below.

RISE HEALTH GROUP BLOGS

Do you need health and fitness tips and advice? Visit our Rise Health Group Blogs page on our website.  The blogs provide detailed  information on hydration, stretching, sleep, knee pain and more. All blogs are written by the professional team at Rise Health Group.  Click here to read blogs >>

HOUSES COMPETE ON FREE DRESS DAY TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY

And the winner is……… RED HOUSE! On Tuesday 19th of June we held our whole school free dress day and raised over $1,300 for charity with 20% of this going to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (which will be hand delivered by our Year 10 students on their Central Australia Trip this week). Our house charities will be decided by our students in term 3.  Well done to our students and teacher for supporting this. Red House took out first place raising the most funds, followed by green house, blue house and yellow house.

LIKE & FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

As part of the school community it's important to stay up-to-date with all the latest school news, events and stories. Make sure you like AND follow us on our official Facebook page and you won't miss a thing!  Like our page >>

COLES SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS UPDATE

A huge thank you to all the school community who supported us and donated vouchers for the Sports for School initiative. We had over 270,000 vouchers and were able  to order over $1200 worth of sports equipment for the school which will be delivered in term 3.

STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES

Matthew Burns - Vic Swimming State Team 

Year 12, General Excellence student Matthew Burns has been selected in the School Sport Victoria (SSV) 'Team Vic Swimming State Team'. The Vic team will represent Victoria at the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships to be held in Hobart, Tasmania from 25 July to 1 August 2018. We interviewed Matthew on this outstanding achievement.  Click here to read the full interview >>

Yuki Akiyama - News Reporter

Our past college student Yuki Akiyama (from Japan) had her first news report aired this week on NHK WORLD-JAPAN Newsline. It was her first piece on 'Volunteers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics' which she wrote, interviewed, and reported herself! Well done Yuki! 

RSA Golfers

Twelve RSA Golfers headed north to compete in the Victorian Par 3 Championship in mid June and we had some outstanding results. 

• Tyana Phan scored a 'Hole in One!' which then vaulted her into first place in the Junior Nett Championship.
• Piper Stubbs putted amazingly for the tournament, 24 1 putts from the 36 holes played, which caused her to easily record victory to take the double, both Junior and Open Victorian Par 3 Champion.
• Tyana and Piper were also joined by another solid performance from Ella Nagayo for their combined scores winning the Teams Championship.

Following on from the amazing results generated by the girls, the boys also enjoyed competitive performances in a strong field. 2018 RSA Graduate Jake Fullerton was eventual runner up, with 4 other RSA golfers inside the top 10. Caleb Johnson was the most improved for the event winning the B Grade Nett award. Congratulations to all!

Past student Goy Luk talks about his new role for AFL

Read this great article  from former RSA student-athlete (AFL) Goy Lok who talks about his role as Multicultural game Development Officer for AFL Victoria and his opportunity with Casey VFL and the Melbourne Football Club. 

Jackson Cardona - a star in the making! 

Year 11 RSA student Jackson "Jacko" Cardona recently represented Australia in Thailand playing Volleyball against different countries in the region. Unfortunately Jackson had a foot injury prior to Thailand. Read about his recovery in the June edition of the Rowville Lysterfield Community News (on page 9) click here >> . 

LUCA'S FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP JOURNEY

On Thursday 7th June to Friday 15th June our Year 7 student Luca Durso participated in the F4F  International Children's Program in Moscow. One of 2 students selected to represent Australia as a football player, here are the highlights: 

• Durso, was the captain and stand-out player for his team. He kicked 4 goals for the African Wild Dogs (4 out of the 5 scored goals in total). Luca received lots of attention from other countries for his good play, leadership and excellent sportsmanship.
• Luca carried the Australian flag in the Football For Friendships Opening Ceremony
• He participate in the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony waving the Australia flag and had prime seating at the match Russia vs Saudi Arabia.

“On behalf of everyone at Rowville Secondary College, we are extremely proud of Luca and his wonderful achievement representing Australia at the F4F program in Moscow leading up to the FIFA World Cup. Luca is a talented football player and a well-grounded and humble student who did an amazing job as an ambassador for Australia, for our school and his family. Well done Luca!  Rowville Secondary College is excited to be a part of helping you reach your future football dreams.” Craig Jamieson, Assistant Principal.

To find out more about Luca's adventures in Moscow and watch the daily video's please visit our website >>.

DOWNLOAD SCHOOL PROSPECTUS

We recently launched our new school prospectus for anyone interested in finding out more about our One Great School. If you know of any families who may be interested in RSC - please share this with them.  Download here >>  

MUNA AT PARLIMENT HOUSE

"In May Kayla and I went into the city to attend Model United Nations Assembly at parliament house. Year 10's and 11's from all of Victoria came to make a difference. We all had our located countries given to us. Rowville was given Ukraine, and we had to dress in the traditional clothing from the country.

On the first day it was scary as we didn’t know anyone there and had no idea what it was going to be like. We had to wake up at 5.00am in the morning to get there on time. The second day was much more enjoyable as we knew everyone and had an understanding of what was happening and what was our role. We had been given a list of resolutions that we would talk about and try resolving, we had to research Ukraine’s side of view on these topics. It was a great experience and I would recommend it to everyone."

Written by Kreeti Jaswal - Year 10 student, MSA.

MEET OUR SCHOOL STAFF

Visit our website to meet some of our wonderful and talented staff at the college. We regularly add new people to this page.

YEAR 8 CAMP

On Wednesday 20th June to Friday 22 June our Year 8's participated in the Summit Camp at Trafalgar participating in a range of indoor and outdoor activities.  "The Summit Camp has been an amazing experience for all staff and students involved. There will be many stories to tell for years to come. Chilly but awesome" said Andrew Martin, Teacher.

Watch our Facebook page and Five Exciting Things  for our student testimonials and more photos from this jam-packed camp! Below are photos from day 1 at camp.

RIA SHOWCASE - SEMESTER ONE

On Thursday, 7th June, all 350 RIA students participated in the biggest event of the RIA calendar – Semester 1 Showcase! We had some amazing performances from our music, drama and dance students, and our visual arts and media students put on 2 fabulous exhibitions. A full-capacity audience of 500 friends and family enjoyed a wide variety of performances with music, dances and even movie monologues spanning 50 decades. It was especially great to see our Year 7 students fully embracing the community and excitement of Showcase with some standout performances. 

Leading up to showcase we held our dress rehearsal in front of 350 local primary school students and here's what the grade 3 class at Karoo Primary School had to say about the show:

"I thought it was the best, best show ever. You are the best performers in the whole world."

Jay - Year 3 at Karoo PS.

"I think it was amazing and I really loved the show. The dances were great and when they did the exact same things at the exact same time. The acting was so cool and really fun to watch."

Riya - Year 3 at Karoo PS.

"It was unbelievable and the lights were fantastic. I also like the dramatic drama movies especially Anonymous."

Pranav -  Year 3 at Karoo PS.

"The show was spectacular because they were very funny, especially Daniel. And I loved the end performance it was beautiful." 

Taylor, Year 3 at Karoo PS.

REACHING OUT BECAUSE WE CAN

Students from our Blue House at the West are collecting donations to help make up 'You are Special'  food bags for the homeless. If you'd like to donate to this great cause please drop off your donations at the West Reception Attention to Jane Zaal. 

About Reaching Out Because We Can

This  organisation has been helping the homeless community of Melbourne for over 2 years. They make up over 100 - 200 ‘You are Special’ food bags each week to be handed out, filled with non perishable food items. 

How you can help? Visit there Facebook page for more information OR please drop off any donations to our Western Campus Reception Attention Jane Zaal.