Achievements & Results

2022 Lalor Heroes Award and Julia Gillard Award recipients 

On the 14th of November, we had the pleasure of welcoming Ms Joanne Ryan MP, a federal member of parliament, to present two prestigious awards to these extremely deserving students. 

Year 11 student Aanchal Sharma was awarded the ‘2022 Lalor Heroes Award’ in recognition of her service to community and volunteering work. She is always actively seeking opportunities to make the community a better place, initiating several lunchtime clubs at SCHS and seeks to encourage others to be the best versions of themselves. Aanchal also advocates for young people in the Wyndham area through a variety of different forums and events.

Sophie Parnham, also in year 11 was presented with the ‘Julia Gillard Award’ for demonstrating leadership both at Suzanne Cory High School and in the wider community. This is evident in her leadership across all house events, school musicals and soirees and within her role with the school council. Sophie is a globally minded leader which has seen her reach the upcoming national final in the Evatt Model Nations Youth Competition.

Congratulations to Sophie Parnham and Aanchal Sharma for their outstanding contributions to Suzanne Cory High School and the wider community!

Intermediate Girls Table Tennis

On the 16th of October, the intermediate girl's table tennis team represented Suzanne Cory High School in the state finals. The area inside MSAC was nerve-racking, our hopes started decreasing after scouting the other teams. However, our team’s motto is ‘mindset’ (changing your mindset), in order to focus on the game we reminded each other of this because our positivity is only going to bring us up. 

Our first game against Grace Christian College helped us gradually get into the zone, especially as it was our first win. In the second round, we played against Brentwood, who surprised us with their aggressive table tennis attacks, unfortunately costing us that round. In the third round, we were extremely motivated and knew that if we won, we would still progress to the semi-finals. So all of the girls got their heads together, and we beat Marist College Bendigo! Within the semi-finals, we competed against our enemy from the East... Nossal! During these matches, we faced challenges in terms of energy level and motivation, however, all the girls pulled through. We encouraged and uplifted each other whilst putting our best effort out there. Ultimately, we won with a one-game difference, guaranteeing Suzanne Cory a spot in the table tennis girls' grand finals. 

Our last competitor was Glen Waverley Secondary College, notorious throughout the day for their extremely talented rank one and two. We were super nervous, so to calm ourselves down, we all united together and sang the Suzanne Cory school song. We put ourselves in the right mindset and truly put out our greatest effort against the other school. Unfortunately, we lost by a two game margin.

Getting to this point was hard work, we were all proud of coming second place in the state and being able to take home a banner and medals. Thank you to Mr. Tran for all the practice and coaching he provided throughout all of the competitions, as well as to all the girls - Supriya, Bea, Sherine, Hillary, Dinda, and Aleena - for the incredible effort and respect we displayed in receiving our second place award! 

Bea Payla K1 and Dinda Widya Murti K7

Intermediate Boys Table Tennis

 Congratulations to the Boys Intermediate Table Tennis Team who finished runners up in the State Table Tennis competition at MSAC last Friday. By the smiles on their faces it looks like they are happy with their result.

Noor Abyan, Siddharth Annand R3, Rohan Bapna, Liam Doan, Bilal Khan, Jayden Ku

Thank you to Mr Tran for coaching these amazing boys.

Western Metropolitan Region Intermediate Boys Hockey

Without our captain we would have been lost in the jungle and tigers would have eaten us alive but luckily Rama was there to guide us. Once we got to the pitch we disembarked from the bus and viciously fought for our jersey numbers where some people got what they wanted and others were left with the left-over numbers. Eventually we decided our final positions and played and got some practice which led straight into our first game. 

Ms Fenby told us to not get angry or argue with the refs which was indeed what we avoided, however I wished we had scrapped with the refs as they made some very ignorant and annoying calls. Just before moving into the starting positions Ms Fenby said some memorable and empowering words, which will remain among the hockey team. As we got into our positions the year 10s established mini strategies amongst themselves on where to pass and who to pass to, which mainly consisted of passing to Rama who would distribute the ball to the side to transfer the defence and hopefully get a free run into the goal. Once the game started we were surprised to find that we weren't getting smashed and demolished as we had expected and that we were holding up our own against the first team.

At least that's what we were thinking before they scored a goal five minutes to halftime. That's when I realised we need to pull our weight and run as hard as possible. I asked for the ball when I was open but no one passed as I was on the right. Eventually I got the ball and dribbled around the defenders like Lionel Messi (Encara Messi, Encara Messi, Encara Messi, Encara Messi) before passing to one of the open players who took it 15 metres before getting tackled and losing the ball.

 As the halftime bell went we came back with our heads low and our mouthguards in our hands. We looked to Ms Fenby for inspiration and she said, “You're doing better than our previous years’ boys!” which gave us a little bit of hope. The second half went much better as we were passing more and looking up for help instead of taking them on by ourselves but we still managed to get stopped every time we tried to make a run. We had played very well for the first half but we knew it was over and there was nothing we could do. The final bell went and we were trying our best to be optimistic but we knew our next game was going to be worse and that we had no chance of winning a game. 

After our quick five minute break we had to get into our next game straight away. After playing a game we realised how we can play so as to not get too humiliated which worked fairly well until it didn’t. The opposition had this one player in a cast who went around everyone and passed it straight into the D (one must be in the D and shoot from the D to score a valid goal) to his teammates where our defenders were taking a nap because they easily scored a goal. They did this three times leading to three goals and three times we were emotional.

After this game we were upset and tired but went to lunch, after which the year 9s played in the nearby playground. There was still time left and like the cricket lovers we are, we played cricket in the rain and the mud with hockey equipment before being picked up by the champions from table tennis. 

Mahin P, B6

And from the coach:

The intermediate boys hockey team turned up to training with better attendance than any team I have ever coached. They diligently trained twice a week from May through October and the growth in their skills and knowledge of the game was immeasurable. On the field they understood where to run, who to mark and how to play their positions. They looked very professional and held their own against strong, experienced teams full of club players. In the first few years of SCHS, the hockey teams regularly lost 10-0 to teams of the calibre of Strathmore and Maby – these boys gave them a serious run for their money! 

There were also none of the weaker teams playing at the tournament that we have been able to take out in the past, so it was a huge challenge for a team without interschool experience. They were amazing. Well done to our inspirational captain and centre half Rama, our sensational goalkeeper Ramika, top striker Srikar, the superstar inners Mahin, Abhijit and Sam, crafty centre forward Martin, outstanding full backs Nubaid, Methesh and Preethu and flexible and speedy wing-halves Vinh, Nivrut, Om, Adi, Ryan and BC. We also loved BC’s Bollywood singing on the bus home!

Ms Raquel Fenby  

Model UN Youth Debating National Finalists:

On Wednesday November 30th, we are extremely lucky to have the honour of being flown out to Adelaide to represent Suzanne Cory High School in the National finals of Model UN youth debating! We are one of the five teams selected out of over 400, to represent Victoria against the top 30 teams across Australia. The competition will run for 1 week and we will compete in a variety of prepared and impromptu debates, representing the state of China (which has Veto power!)

While the competition can be very stressful at times, it is also one of the most eye-opening experiences of our lives. We have to deeply consider our country’s economic, political and social values before even saying “for” or “against” a resolution, at the very beginning of each debate. But despite the challenges, we could never regret taking part even a single bit, because opportunities like the Model UN Youth don’t come along everyday. Just because the idea of adults taking notes on everything you’re saying, or the idea of trying to assert a room full of “foreign delegates” sounds daunting, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put yourself up to the challenge! Because you never know what might happen! This is our very first year competing in the Model UN. When we decided to compete in the preliminary round, held at our school, we had absolutely no idea what the competition entailed. We were still learning basic rules that we didn’t know existed at semi-finals and state finals! And despite this, we are flying to Adelaide to take part in Nationals, on a full bursary, for an adventure like no other! 

Our point is: take chances! Put yourself out there, even if something seems like it’s not your cup of tea, because it just might be! You get to know so many talented young people, with a variety of different perspectives and worldviews. We have developed so many skills along the way, and really improved our ability to think on our feet!

We would just like to conclude with a massive thank you to Mr Byrne for supporting us throughout this year at each step on the way to Nationals. We would not have been able to do this without your support Sir! And of course, thank you to Suzanne Cory High School, for providing us with this amazing opportunity and supporting us to continually learn and grow! We can’t wait to compete!

Aakriti Malhotra & Sophie Parnham 

Victorian State Schools Spectacular

Our very own Dinda Widya Murti will be appearing the in Victorian State Schools Spectacular. The theme of this year’s show is Time to Shine. The production brings together about 3,000 students from more than 200 government schools.

Dinda is one of 3 members of the drumline who will appear as part of the Spectacular which will be broadcast on Saturday 17th December at 7:00pm on 7Plus.

You can check out the program below.