What's On @ MFG

South Geelong Primary School Visit

The sound of “little people” approaching caused a ripple of excitement through the VCE Unit 2 Physical Education class. Our girls were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Grade 1-2 C from South Geelong Primary School and couldn’t wait to meet their “little buddies” on May 5th.

Our VCE PE class is studying Learning Styles, Stages of Learning and Effective Coaching to enhance motor skill learning. Working with a Grade 1-2 buddy gave our students a hands-on opportunity to be a coach working one-to-one with a learner to progress their skill learning. This meant they assessed the Stage of Learning for any given motor skill and then coached their buddy appropriately to further their skill level. It was a high energy and happy learning environment that would have seen many grade 1-2 buddies sleeping soundly that night. I know our girls have a fresh appreciation of the energy it takes to teach and coach.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the grade 1-2 teacher, Mr Jack Cole, who happily organised his class to visit us and had confidence in our program as a worthwhile experience. Building relationships between MFG and our feeder primary schools such as South Geelong Primary School is a high priority and enriches programs in both schools.

Joy Carr

Athletics 2016

The School Sport Geelong (Bellarine Division) Athletics Competition was held on Friday April 29, 2016.

It was a very successful day for students at MFG recently, with 19 competitors making it through to the next level of competition in one or more events.

MFG managed to win the overall girls aggregate for the day narrowly beating Geelong High School in a close second. The WMR competition will be held in Melbourne on Thursday September 15, 2016 and we wish all our competitors the best of luck as winners go straight to the SSV State championships.

MFG Cross Country 2016

Our annual cross-country event held at Fyansford Common on Friday 13th May, saw our staff and students enjoying some of the finer weather the week had to offer. This provided the setting for a beautiful run, jog or walk for everyone involved along the beautiful Barwon river.

For the second year in a row we saw Gilmore (Blue) House win the event on 269 points, smashing the other houses with Beachley (Gold) on 138, Freeman (Green) on 98 and Lipson (Red) with 95.

The quickest time of the day over the 4km course was from our youngest age group competitor - Brianna Coyle from the 13 year age group with a time of 18.47.

Our age group champions were as follows:

13 years - Brianna Coyle

14 years - Kira Winnell

15 years - Jade Kelly

16 years - Vanessa Marsh

Senior - Genevieve Visser-Hook

Well done to all those who competed and good luck to the top 8 in each age group who qualified for the next round in Geelong on the 23rd of May.

Mr Lehmann

Sport Coordinator

Breast Cancer Awareness Bake Sale

What a fantastic job the senior VCAL girls have done raising awareness for breast cancer and raising money for this great cause. The senior VCAL girls raised $357.00 for breast cancer from the bake sale that we held on the 10th of May. We held the bake sale on this day because it was so close to Mother’s Day.

The bake sale was an outcome for senior VCAL Literacy and was a fun one. This task required us to bake a sweet treat then sell it and the funds would be donated to a charity of our choice.

The colourful decorations, pink tablecloths and variety of sweet treats caught everyone’s eyes. Honestly we didn’t think our bake sale would be as successful as it was. We raised a lot more than we expected.

From cake pops, to slices, to delicious teacake, to cookies, it was so intriguing to see what everybody made. It was all so different and creative. The golden, glistening treats sitting on the table looked appetising, exquisite and rich.

Given the class completed our safe food-handling course earlier in the year we used the Foods room to bake and prepare the sweet treats for sale. This was much easier than trying to do all this at home.

Chocolate brownies- Just one of the delicious treats we sold

250g butter

430 (2 cups) caster sugar

4 eggs

225g (1 ½ cups) plain flour

80 g (3/4 cups) cocoa powder

1-teaspoon vanilla essence

Icing sugar to dust at the end.

Step 1- preheat the oven to 180 line a 20 x 30 slab pan with non stick paper.

Step 2- melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in the sugar, add the eggs one at a time and stir until the mixture is thick and glossy.

Step 3- sift the flour and cocoa powder over the egg mixture and stir until well combined. Stir the vanilla over the base of the prepared pan.

Step 4- bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan to cool completely. Once cool cut into pieces and dust with icing sugar.

Jade Watsone

Senior VCAL

Excursion to Geelong Regional Library

A selected group of students went down to the Geelong Library and Historical Centre (The Dome) on May 26, 2016.

We met Andrew who showed us around the New Library and the Historical Centre. We learned about Geelong and the people who lived in Geelong in the past. We then went to the Youth and Children’s Floor and played Xbox One.

Juliet Roberts

Barwon Water Sewage Reclamation Plant

On Friday the 27th of May, 26 students from 9I and 9L went on the Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant excursion.

We undertook a guided tour of the plant and learned that this treatment plant uses environmentally friendly and cost-effective techniques and produces Grade A recycled water that is cleaner than the tap water we drink. Barwon Water’s aim is to educate young people like ourselves to change the perception in our community that this water is unfit for drinking.

It was a great experience, but we were happy when we got back to school (the smell was a little overwhelming at times!)

Kacey Dridan 9L

The Studio Arts Classroom

Recently Mr Apps, father of Choo In of Year 12, demonstrated and explained to students some techniques for creating decorative arrangements with moths and butterflies collections. It was wonderful to have a parent give up his time and be involved in the classroom. The Studio Arts students found the talk and display both interesting and inspiring. Thank you Mr Apps, from the VCE Studio Arts class.

Connecting Flinders

MFGSC Arts students participated in a “Lets Talk Recognition” Art Workshop at the College on May 10th with Gavan Couzens, local indigenous artist, Gail Frost, Education Officer from Geelong Art Gallery, and Art teachers Ms van Galen and Mr Sherriff. The artwork that was created is currently on display at the Geelong Art Gallery and will be returned to the College for permanent display outside the General Office, in the near future. Below is the title text that explains the artwork’s connection to land and community.

Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College was established in 1856 and is the oldest school site in central Geelong. The College was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders who was the first European to climb to the top of the highest point of the You Yangs, Flinders Peak. From the College grounds and buildings we are able to view the iconic landmark. This year marks the 160th anniversary of the school. The artwork we designed and created in collaboration with Gavan Couzens aims to create links with the land formation of the You Yangs, the indigenous custodians of the land the Yaawangi and Waduruwung people, Matthew Flinders the explorer and, the College and our Student House system.

The artwork was designed with three main sections in mind. The central section of black lines spreading horizonatally, depicts the You Yangs and the grey background represents granite rock. The central four-sided shape is a connection to the College House colours of red, green, gold and blue. The lower central band in grey with black lines is the identifiable symbolic, pattern markings of the Waduruwung people and, the top red band is the sunset and sunrise over the You Yangs. After hearing wonderful stories and learning about cultural aspects of the local indigenous people from Gavan, students were inspired to create their own “clan” markings and symbols. These are depicted in the lower and upper bands and are quite varied as students made their own interpretations using colours, patterns, symbols and line to connect the College with the land and its people.

By Jana van Galen

VCAL NEWS

A Girl Who Never Said Can’t

Can’t is a word usually used when you are unable to do something. No is also a word usually used while being refused to do something. The negative impacts of these words may harm some people in ways where they will always think that their decisions are destructive to their life. No one should feel like what they decide to do in high school is limited to only one pathway. Donna Broadbent, a previous student at Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College in 2015, refused to accept the words ‘no’ and ‘can’t’, as she had dreams that no one could take away.

Donna was a VCAL student. If you don’t know what VCAL is, it means Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning. It is an alternative program to VCE for students who learn better ‘hands on’ rather than using pen, paper and exams. You also typically have the pathways of either working or studying further at TAFE. Studying VCAL does not give you the opportunity to obtain an ATAR score, which is what you need for university if you wish to go after secondary school. Although choosing to study VCAL, Donna wanted to become a teacher, which meant going to university.

After nagging Mrs Wright for a long time, and being told there was nothing she could do, Donna and Mrs Wright discovered a course called an Associate Degree. An Associate Degree is a course over a 2 year period, which allows school leavers and non-school leavers to transition easily into university study.

Donna’s application and interview were accepted and she is now a proud student at Deakin University, studying an Associate Degree in Education, which will lead into a Primary Teaching Degree. Donna’s determination for her dream is inspiring and shows no matter what decisions you make, you can always find a way to achieve your dreams and aspirations in life.

By Abigail Couchman (current senior VCAL student)

INDO NEWS

Masakan Indonesia

On Thursday 26 May, 2016 we were lucky enough to get a visit from Bu Ririn and Pak Herlambang, who ran two amazing cooking workshops for our Year 9 Indonesian students.

We kicked off with deep fried tempe. Tempe is a unique Indonesian staple food made from fermented soybeans, which is pretty delicious – but was even more delicious when Bu Rin and Pak Harry battered and deep fried it! You could eat it all day, except it’s a great source of protein and fills you up quickly.

Next we had a classic – nasi goreng with krupuk. The students who helped cook the fried rice found the smell of the terasi (shrimp paste) a bit challenging, but the end product tasted delicious. The krupuk or tapioca crackers (like prawn crackers without the prawn) were fantastic on the side.

Dessert was es buah, or a drink that was like a cross between a milkshake and fruit salad. One student described it as tasting like unicorns and rainbows and happiness - she’s not wrong!

A huge thank you to Bu Ririn and Pak Herlambang for giving up their time to give our students such an amazing experience - terima kasih banyak!

The Indonesian food was AMAZING! Especially the Nasi goreng and krupuk, thank you so much to Rin and Harry for coming in and cooking all the delicious food for us to try! I can't wait to try and make my own. - Kelly Barrett
BRING ME MOREEEEEEE - Ariana Conroy
The Nasi goreng was the best fried rice I have ever had. There was this super cool green jelly that set in 30 minutes. IT WAS AWESOME. My taste buds died in heaven - Rachel Kaiser
Indonesians are winning in life - Brianna Conn
INDONESIAN FOOD IS AMAZING!!!!!! - Allanah Cammaroto
It was really good being able to see someone else cook the Indonesian food and adds context to the current unit of learning. The session was really enjoyable, and educational not to mention the food was delicious. - Catherine Glover
This activity was amazing and I loved tasting all the foods. Indo food is priceless! Some foods tasted better than others but it was yummmmy!! I need to move to Indo to live there!!! - Jade Kelly
It was amazing to experience some of the traditional food they eat in Indonesia, I loved every second of the experience - Jenaya Nixon
Indonesian food is the best and the people are amazing! They are so chill about measurements and somehow it all works out and makes really good food! - Jessica Aherne
Being involved in this Indonesian cooking experience has opened my eyes to other options out there and the cuisines. Indonesians have different ways of doing things and rarely measure the ingredients so that is more my style. I really like the food that they made and how they made it. - Lily Brown
Terasi or shrimp paste smelt like fish diarrhoea :-( But the taste was worth it :-) :-) - Millie Ward
I even smell better than that smell (shrimp paste) - Sapna Hussain
The Indonesian food tasted really good, it had a lot of flavour, and all different ingredients, I would recommend you trying the food. - Tamika Connelly
Indonesian is a good subject!!!!!!! - Emily Johnstone
I wish we could buy es buah from the shops, it tasted like unicorns and rainbows and happiness - Chelsea Cole
My love for Indonesian Food has grown so much!! INDONESIAN IS THE LANGUAGE TO CHOOSE! - Bailee Adamson

Sayembara Lisan (Speaking Competition)

Every year, the Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers’ Association (VILTA) runs a Sayembara Lisan (Speaking Competition), giving primary and secondary school learners of Indonesian the opportunity to test their skills against students from other schools.

This year, 29 students from Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 represented Matthew Flinders at Christian College, competing against students from ten other regional schools. Their challenge - to engage in a general conversation with assessors, present a prepared speech, and answer unrehearsed questions on that speech.

Everyone involved should be congratulated for the excellent effort they put in - the standard was very high and competition was fierce. The following students qualified highest in their level, making them eligible to represent the Geelong region at the State Finals of the Sayembara Lisan at the University of Melbourne on Saturday 11 June: Kim Huynh (8L), Gabi Oldham (9F), Sona Mohammadi (10A) and Niera Hazad (11C).

Congratulations to all our competitors and winners and we wish them all the best in the next phase of the competition!

Here’s what some participants had to say about the day…

It was scary but preparation is key. – Kirrilly S
It was something different and a great experience. Everyone was really nice - Kate S
Overall the experience was really good, now I have an insight into what Year 11 will be like and I think it might help with nerves for next year as I know what to expect. – Paige D
It is definitely worth giving it a go - and it is not as bad as you think it will be!! – Lily D
That it was a roller coaster of emotions and stress in preparation for this task, but once you've completed it all stress goes away - Mackenzie W
I was really nervous leading up to it but the actual experience itself was fine and completely stress free. - Rachael B
It was a challenge but I enjoyed it and felt comfortable doing it – Loren T
The positive impact it had on me, and the improvements it brings in your speaking skills. - Sona M
The competition was good for those who wish to do Indonesian in the future especially. – Dyota A
I think it was a good practice for next year even if it was nerve wracking. - Bella H
That it was really fun and all the people that I met there were really nice - Shanara R
It was a chance to use our Indonesian in the real world and was gratifying and terrifying - Jacqueline R