Parent & Student Matters  

What's happening in the College? 

Duke of Edinburgh 

Year 9 English Monologues

Year 11 Geography Excursion

• Public Speaking & Debating Information
• Chess (Senior):  Registration Details
• Science:  National Youth Science Forum 202
• Travel Concession Cards for Students 16 years and over
• Holiday Workshops & Activities

Duke of Edinburgh

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Report

On Wednesday 20 March Mrs Kara Manga, SPX Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Coordinator and Mr de Silva, SPX Outdoor Education Coordinator, had the great honour of attending the presentations of DoE Gold Award Certificates for 2018 old boys, Nikita Papastamatis and James Spencer.

It was a wonderful opportunity to see two SPX students, who have worked diligently over the course of several school years, obtain such a prestigious and highly sought Award. In the words of His Majesty Prince Phillip, “Gold Awards are not easily gained.” They are the result of timeless hours of coordinated activity, with goals set and sweat shed in their achievement.

Nikita and James were presented their Awards by His Excellency General The Honarable David Hurley ACDSC (Retd) Governor of NSW at St Stephen’s Uniting Church. Both boys and their families expressed great gratitude to the staff and teachers at the College who have supported them on their journey to achieve the Award.

Mrs Manga and Mr de Silva were also officially thanked by His Excellency for their role in administering, advising and assisting students to achieve all levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme.

Please see the photos below of Nikita and James taken at the ceremony and at Government House reception following the official ceremonies.

Ms Kara Manga

Year 9 English Monologues

To assess Year 9’s understanding of the Transformation of Evil unit studied, students were challenged to justify a villain’s transformation to evil. The most outstanding monologues were selected to be filmed in front of the Year 9 cohort because of their highly insightful, dynamic and entertaining performances which thoroughly justified their characters’ transformation to evil.

In his portrayal, Alexandre Birchall took older audiences (ie Staff) back to when the Joker was depicted as a gangster-turned-lunatic. His maniacal grin and unnerving stare helped Alex convey the character’s desire to ensure all his victims would die laughing as he sought out Batman, whom he believes is the cause for his own disfigurement.

Lucifer’s fall from Heaven was wonderfully revealed by Elliot Cook’s astute and well- researched monologue.  His props, vocabulary and questioning of the audience ensured that we were all engaged and almost convinced that Satan was justified in his actions.

With his colourfully dramatic enactment of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, Benjamin Cullen commanded the attention of the audience as he conveyed the conflict between the two personalities with ‘blood’ smeared across his face as he cleverly jumped between their opposing demeanors.

A strong accent and well-developed reflection, ensured Alexander Hawkins embodied the fictional World War II biochemist, Arnim Zola.  The insight into Zola’s patriotism and quest to purge the world of all things American effectively justified the character’s transformation to evil.

Insightful quotes and a powerful delivery, teamed with a regal surcoat, transformed Andrew Mckinnon into Shakespeare’s Macbeth as he qualified his evil deeds. This monologue was a good way to whet the students’ appetite for their next unit of study, An Introduction to Shakespeare.

Everyone’s most feared cannibalistic psychiatrist was alive and well in William Ramsbottom’s well-executed performance reflecting on the trauma of Hannibal Lecter’s childhood and loathing of those possessing bad manners. With strong word choice and reference to his “little starling”, the audience once again found themselves charmed by the Silence of the Lambs’ villain’s infamous wit.

Ethan Rosetto portrayed The Dark Knight’s very memorable psychopathic mass murderer well. With his raspy voice and chilling laugh, the Joker’s sadistic sense of humour and disdain for Batman was very evident as he justified his evil doings.

Peter Yasterboff’s dramatic portrayal of Dorian Gray offered a well-reflected insight into this character’s steady decline from innocence to heinous immorality, reminding students that their actions and choices all have consequences.

The Year 9 students, as a whole, delivered excellent performances for this task. We are excited to see what this group will present next year in their study of Romeo and Juliet.

Mrs Jacqui Loughman - Faculty of English

Year 11 Geography Excursion

On Tuesday 19 March Mr Pawlak’s and Ms Dempsey’s geography classes headed out to Kurnell in order to carry out a field study on the area. We studied the significance of human interactions and how they affect the biophysical environment. The most notable impact was the erosion caused by the introduction of the airport’s runway and surrounding revetment walls. The day was enjoyed by all and will remain a pleasant memory of Year 11.

Ethan Field - Year 11 Geography Student

Public Speaking & Debating

Information from Mrs Waterson can be found below.

Mrs Michele Waterson - Public Speaking & Debating Convenor

Senior Chess

Please register via the following link:  https://www.trybooking.com/485676

Ms J Dempsey - Convenor

Science: National Youth Science Forum 2020

Attention Year 11 Science Students:  National Youth Science Forum 2020

Do you love science, or technology, or have a drive to find solutions to problems and fix things? Are you constantly asking Why? How? Why not? Do you see yourself working in a science-related field and would like to know more about science initiated study and career paths?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then you should think about applying to attend the NYSF Year 12 Program.

Eligibility:  To apply for the NYSF Year 12 program, you must:

• be in year 11 in the year you apply, to attend the following January,
• be an Australian citizen or resident, and/or studying full-time in an Australian high school, and
• be considering pursuing a university degree at an Australian university to study science, engineering, technology, or a related discipline.

For more information about the application process please follow this link.

https://www.nysf.edu.au/what-we-do/how-to-apply/

Please see Mrs Schuster if you are considering this.

Mrs Joanne Schuster - Science Coordinator

Travel Concession Cards for Students 16 years & over

All students who are 16 years and over will be issued with a Senior Secondary Student Concession Card by their Year Coordinator this week.  Students need to sign the card in the space provided.

Please note that existing cards expire on 31 March 2019 and if you are a secondary student aged 16 years and over, you must have your Senior Secondary Student Concession Card with you as proof of entitlement, otherwise you will need to pay for and travel with an Adult fare.  Please note that if found travelling on a student fare without a Concession Card you may be fined for travelling on an invalid ticket.

Year 10 boys will need to ask Mr Pawlak for their Concession Card once they have turned 16.

Please see the information sheet below for further details.

Holiday Workshops & Activities

CODE CAMP:  At Code Camp children up to Year 7 are taught how to code and create their own computer games and websites. Information about upcoming Easter camps can be found below.