Kilbreda College News

Year 11 

It has been a busy term for our Year 11s so far. A number of supportive and pro-active Year 11s have been involved in the Peer Support Program which involves mentoring our newest community members, the Year 7s.

Thank you to the following Year 11 students who have given up their time for this important role:

  • Annabel Gorman
  • Lisa Chy-Long
  • Chloe Miller
  • Enrica Lepatan
  • Jayde Abdilla
  • Keely Ortland
  • Teagan Stewart

On  26 March, eight Year 11s accompanied Ms Stephanie Smyth and me to Parliament House for breakfast to celebrate International Women’s Day. It was a great opportunity to listen to inspirational women and to meet with leaders from other girls' schools. Oh, and the food was delicious as well!

 

Group members who enjoyed the outing were:

  • Natalie Meyer
  • Ruby Ady
  • Hunter Reynolds
  • Stephanie Henderson
  • Polly McCartney
  • Kate Lowe
  • Mia Lee
  • Mia Clohesy

There will be many students looking forward to the break having now completed the first term of a full consignment of VCE subjects. Many have taken up the challenges of extra-curricular activities, combined with the demands of subjects and then the added responsibility of part-time jobs, which all makes for a hectic schedule.

 

At the beginning of the year Eliza Dalton (2018 School Co-Captain) gave some tips for surviving VCE that may be good to revisit:

  1. Make the most of opportunities
  2. Support each other
  3. Do things that make you happy
  4. Don’t be too hard on yourself
  5. Look after your health

These are all good tips leading into the holidays!

 

I hope the girls take the opportunity to have a restful break. It will also be a good time to update and organise subject resources and holiday homework.

 

Happy Easter, everyone.

 

Trish Moloney

Level Leader: Year 11

Rotary Club Public Speaking Competition 

On Thursday 28 March, I was given the opportunity to represent Kilbreda in a Public Speaking Competition hosted by the Rotary Club.

 

The nature of the competition was to bring  students from different schools to present a speech on the topic that they we were given. The topic of the speech was, “Is ANZAC the glorification of war or is it a symbol of our country’s sacrifice?” Naturally, I chose the idea that ANZAC was a symbol of our country’s sacrifice.

 

For a month I prepared my speech with the help of Ms Dempster and my good friend Elise who helped to edit it. I thank my own homeroom (Room 33) for allowing me the time to practise. Here is the speech I gave on the day:

 

ANZAC. What is the significance of this acronym? The Australian New Zealand Army Corp is a symbol of the Australian and New Zealander people’s core values of strength, perseverance, courage, loyalty and mateship. Where the two peoples of the two lands came together to protect our nations and its citizens, to help liberate those who were oppressed around the world. The ANZAC tradition is more than just the glorification of war and a symbol of our country’s sacrifice, it demonstrates the bond that exists in our two countries, most notably seen in the unified support of the recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand.

 

World War One was the chance to showcase our values of perseverance, courage and mate ship to the world stage. Through their heroic acts of bravery, the aftermath of the war made us memorable, in turn we are respected, it idolized our people and it glorified us.

 

Some would say that World War One glorified the Australian people and that the notion of the ANZACS supports it, especially in the case of the Gallipoli campaign where, in the face of danger, death and destruction, our people rallied and continued to fight, to follow orders, even if the situation looked futile. But by glorifying something makes the thing seem good. It takes away the sacrifices, pain and death and creates something positive about it. A quote from Winston Churchill, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” By glorifying war, it puts war in a good light, that everything that happened in that war was disillusioned by glory and those who only see glory and forget to commemorate the past are doomed to fall and make those mistakes again.

 

The biggest battle Australia has ever taken part of, that portrays Australia’s strength, mate ship and perseverance in the face of death and sacrifice is something to be remembered. In my opinion, ANZAC isn’t the glorification of war. It is in fact a symbol of our country’s sacrifice.

 

There is no glory in war, especially when a considerable loss has occurred. The Battle of Gallipoli of the Dardanelles campaign, the most well-known place where Australians and New Zealanders fought together side by side was a failure. It was a disaster on all counts. Countless of lives were lost so very quickly on the first day of that campaign and hundreds more after.

 

We, the youth of Australia are oblivious of what it was like to live during a time of war and we are grateful for it. The sacrifices families have made and to the soldiers and medics, working on the front lines sacrificing their lives for the future of our children. Where families, in the doorways of their houses, watch as their young men and women leave the home with a strong chance that they would never come back. The feeling of immense pain and sadness when a wife, husband, sister, brother, parent hears the news of their loved one’s passing. And having to tell the young children who are so innocent that their dad, mum, sister or brother would never come back home. It is a shame to forget such a past and it is important to commemorate the fallen by acknowledging all they have done for us. All they have given us, to walk the earth in freedom and happiness today.

 

Those values that were showcased in the war are instilled in every Australian and New Zealander. We didn’t need a war to idolise us as it is in our nature, we are all born with it, whether you were born in Australia or New Zealand or started a new life in our great country from another nation. We all have these values; it wasn’t just something that came out from a battle where many lives were lost.

 

I do not believe that ANZAC is the glorification of war, but a symbol of our Country’s strength and sacrifice. War is not pretty, and yes it can be glorified through many filters, but glory cannot be obtained from the countless of deaths, the pain and suffering and the scars inflicted on our people. ANZAC marks the occasion where Australians and New Zealanders fought and bonded together through World War One to create a strong relationship that is demonstrated here today though the support Australia has shown to New Zealand after the horrific shooting. So that is why ANZAC is our country’s symbol of sacrifice, perseverance and mate ship, the defining features of what makes us Australians. As a New Zealand national and an Australian, I can say that I am proud of the ANZAC sacrifice and I think all of us are. Thank you.

 

On the night of the competition I met many wonderful people from four different schools; Haileybury, Mentone Grammar, Mentone Girl’s Grammar and St Bede's. Everyone spoke wonderfully and it was an enjoyable evening.

 

I ultimately won second place and my friend from Haileybury was able to win first place due to her performance. I thoroughly enjoy public speaking competitions and wish to do it again and I would recommend everyone in taking part in these extracurricular activities.

 

Chanmona Lisa Chy-Long

Debating and Public Speaking Captain