Sydenham Campus
Principal Message
Sydenham Campus September 15, 2025
Term 3 is quickly coming to an end and we are so proud of the work that students and staff have done over the past few months.
Despite the very cold weather, there have been many activities and celebrations. Our final newsletter for the term is packed with positive interactions between students, staff and our College community. Thank you to all who have contributed their time, expertise and support.
This term, year 9s from the K team began their Challenge Day experiences. Every second Friday, we would meet at the station by 8.45am, ready to go off to the city. We would then board the train and travel into Melbourne's CBD. Our first excursion was based around getting to know the CBD and our surroundings. We participated in a Laneway and Arcades tour where we saw some of Melbourne's famous laneways such as Hosier Lane, also known as the graffiti lane, the royal arcade and many others. Following this, we were challenged with navigating the city areas independently within our groups and to locate surroundings such as the Flinders Street Station clocks, Melbourne central and the state library.
The days we didn't go into the city were centred around our Challenge Day Research report which was the main C.A.T for the term. We were required to choose a pressing contemporary issue of our group's choice and gather qualitative and quantitative data in order to draw conclusions and create recommendations about the chosen issue. A few of the topics include Homelessness, Domestic violence and Youth Crime within our city.
For the report we needed to gather 120 surveys and some vox pops responses from the everyday public to challenge our public speaking skills, once we completed the data we realised it wasn’t as hard as we initially imagined.
We were then required to gather existing resources, such as news articles, credible and reliable websites and reports and we also added images and photographs to further analyse and evaluate our chosen issue.
Once all the data was successfully collected, we ventured to the State Library where we quietly pieced together all our information and data into our google slides presentation as a group. Every member of the group hadan explicit role to playas part of an agreed jobs list that ensured accountability and sharing of workload.
Every City Visit, if you had completed all the work, we were allowed at least 45 minutes of lunch time and further explored the city within the agreed boundaries.
Having Challenge Day allowed us to strengthen our navigational skills and ability to be independent and build confidence. These skills will significantly aid us in the near future when we venture out of school.
We would finally like to thank all our teachers for helping us organise Challenge Day as an amazing and engaging subject that it is. We are all truly appreciative and thankful of all the hard work that goes into it.
Mr Paul Singh Challenge Day program leader-Sydenham Campus
Sports Report
Term 3 has been an action-packed season for our students, with plenty of opportunities to showcase their skills and sportsmanship across a range of competitions.
The term kicked off on 28th of July with the Intermediate Boys Futsal team, followed by the Intermediate Girls Futsal team on 1st of August. Soon after, on 12th of August, our Year 8 Girls Volleyball and Year 7 Girls Volleyball teams took to the courts. A huge congratulations to our Year 8 Girls Volleyball team, who became the first sports team this year to progress through to the Western Metro Division Finals – an incredible achievement!
On 14th of August, our Year 8 Boys and Year 7 Boys Volleyball teams competed strongly, followed by the Year 8 Girls Futsal team on 22nd of August.
The action continued on 27th of August with a big day of competition, including Intermediate and Year 8 Boys Table Tennis, as well as Intermediate, Year 8, and Year 7 Boys Basketball. A special mention goes to our Intermediate Boys Basketball Academy team, who also made it through to the next round – well done, team!
To finish off the term, the Year 8 Boys Futsal team competed on 28th of August, before we wrapped up with Intermediate Girls Table Tennis, Intermediate Girls Basketball, and the Year 7 and 8 Girls Basketball teams on the 2nd of September.
Congratulations to all students who represented our school this term. Your hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship have been outstanding, and we look forward to even more success in the upcoming season!
Mr Sam Mollaj-Campus Sport Co Ordinator
Celebrating Inclusiveness and Diversity
Throughout the term we have had a number of events that have acknowledged, celebrated and included all members of our College community.
On September 10th we had Cultural Day where we acknowledged and celebrated the vast range of cultural backgrounds here at the College that make up the core of our College identity.
We had a very successful Wear It Purple Day with activities and cookies. Students and staff supported the day with a wonderful array of shades of purple.
On September 11th we asked the important R U OK? question throughout the day and supported that message with hot chocolate and stickers.
Thank you to Mr Alex Moyer and Ms Rhiannon Hatton and all the staff and students who have provided their leadership and support of these important events.
Year 8 Snow Day
On Monday July 28th, our Year 8 students attended Lake Mountain Alpine Resort. This year, there were lots of snow and the students were amazed how white Lake Mountain was when they arrived. Our students had lots of fun and were able to make snowmen and use the toboggans down the slope. Overall, the students were able to bond with their peers and make great memories on the day.
Primary School Visits
We are very proud of our College and we use every opportunity we get to let our community know what a great school we have in Copperfield College. Throughout the term we have hosted events for many of our neighbouring primary schools.
Throughout the term, students and staff from the Sydenham campus have assisted in the running of various activities with Grade 5 students from Sydenham Hillside Primary School - Sydenham campus, Sydenham Hillside Primary School - Hillside campuses and Parkwood Green Primary School. These activities have included visits to the Sydenham campus where students participated in robotics, science and PE sessions along with a football clinic. Students have also had the opportunity to visit some of these primary schools where they have been able to run basketball clinics for grade 5 students which were completely run by the students demonstrating high levels of leadership. In the next few weeks, we will continue to build our relationships with the local primary schools through the running of activities with Taylors Hill Primary School and Springside Primary School.
Thank you to all of the students and staff who have given their time and expertise during these sessions. A very big thank you to Mr Buttigieg who has spent countless hours, communicating and organising with primary school colleagues. We look forward to seeing these future Copperfield students over the next few years.
Student Led Presentations (SLPs)
Last Thursday we celebrated SLP Day, a day that we look forward to with great pride every year. Students from Years 7-10 had been preparing to showcase their learning to their Connect teacher and their families, over several months. It was a real joy to see so many students articulate their strengths, areas of improvement and goals not just for this year but their aspirations for future career pathways.
Thank you to Ms Nahide Dolu and Ms Libby Derks for their leadership and support in assisting staff and students in the lead up to SLPs, and to our amazing Connect teachers for encouraging and guiding their students to present such high quality SLPs.
Campus Assembly
Last week we held our Term 3 campus assembly. We heard presentations on the Performing Arts and Challenge Day, SRC and student leadership updates and Sport.
Congratulations to all of the students who received RRR Awards showing their commitment to Respecting others, taking Responsibility for their actions and valuing Relationships.
E Team -Ms Ferrira
H Team- Mr Azzopardi
K Team- Mr Singh
B Team- Ms Cakovska
Thank you to Ms Niazi and Mr Hasip for their organisation of the assembly and to Ms Van Orsouw and Mr Concepcion for preparing the dance and musical items.
As we approach the end of another busy term we wish all students and staff a restful and relaxing term break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for the beginning of Term 4 on Monday October 6th.
Mr. Andrew Atherton and Ms. Mary Chiodo
Campus Principals- Sydenham