Senior School Stories

Write A Book In A Day

On Monday 17 August, over 120 students participated in the national Write a Book in a Day competition, the ultimate test of teamwork and creativity! A total of 12 teams from Year 7 through to Year 12 were given their prompts at 8am and then kept writing, illustrating and creating books up until the submission deadline at 8pm. 

All teams successfully submitted their books, and in the process have raised almost $4,000 for the Kids Cancer Project. Each book submitted is also made available for free to kids in hospitals around Australia, potentially changing a child’s day in hospital.

We thank Mr Matthew McDonald and our Library staff (Leonie, Madie and Alison) for organising this incredibly popular event. Alongside Mr McDonald and the Library team were staff members Mr Cheung and Jasmine Poke, and student Lin Wu (event photographer) who also forfeited their mid-term break to supervise and support our students. 

Girls Chess Team Makes a Strong Return

Huntingtower’s Girls’ Chess Team recently competed in its first zonal tournament in four years, hosted by Korowa Anglican Girls’ School. The team placed fourth among seven schools, narrowly missing a place at the State Finals. However, there is still a chance to make finals with a wildcard opportunity. 

Our top performers were Georgia Liu (Year 8), who scored 4.5 out of 7 points, and Angela Huang (Year 8) and Swara Pendse (Year 7), who each scored 4 out of 7. Congratulations also to team members Nadia Cendana (Year 7), Eva Fu and Mabel Liang on representing Huntingtower with skill and determination.

Bruce Fundraiser Raises $1,701.60 for Kids in Sport

The sun was shining as staff and students came together for a wonderful day of activities in support of the Bruce House fundraiser.

From selling baked goods and running activities to organising, playing and refereeing the soccer match, many members of our community contributed to the day’s success. Together, we raised an incredible $1,701.60 for Kids in Sport, helping young people experiencing disadvantage access the benefits of community sport.

A heartfelt thank you goes to our Year Level Coordinators, Bruce House families for their generous donations, Bruce staff and Year 11 helpers for giving their time, and the Bruce student leaders for supporting their Fundraising Captains.

Congratulations to the Bruce Fundraising Team, whose planning, organisation and enthusiasm delivered such an enjoyable and successful day. It was wonderful to see our staff and students rally together to support others in the wider community.

Creativity Takes Shape

The Art and Design rooms have been full of creativity and activity this term, with students across all year levels exploring new techniques, technologies and ways to communicate their ideas.

Year 7 Art

Students have been developing their drawing skills through colour, line, shape and pattern. Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s Squares with Concentric Circles (1913), students experimented with the bold qualities of oil pastels before exploring sgraffito techniques influenced by Yayoi Kusama. The vibrant works pictured showcase the creativity and individuality emerging from this unit.

Art Club

Beyond the classroom, Year 9 students have been making great use of the Art rooms during lunchtimes and Period 6 to create props for their Tournament of Minds presentations. Art Club also continues to thrive, with students working on a range of creative projects or using the additional studio time to further develop and refine their classroom artwork.

VCD

In Visual Communication Design, Year 8 students are beginning their journey as graphic designers, creating logos and visual identities for a business of their choice. They have begun learning Adobe Illustrator and will use these new digital skills to develop a design that responds to their chosen client and audience.

Year 9 VCD students are exploring packaging design by developing a new juice range. They are learning how a two-dimensional package net can be transformed into an engaging three-dimensional package, while considering how their product might attract attention alongside competitors in a supermarket environment.

Our Year 11 Visual Communication Design students have begun working on their Japanese-inspired Bento Box designs as part of their unit exploring Designs Influence and Influences on Design. Students are investigating how cultural traditions, aesthetics and food presentation can influence contemporary product design. Through research and ideation, they are developing creative packaging concepts that combine functionality with strong visual appeal. The image shows students experimenting with how their box will fit together and creating a card mock-up of the roof structure before developing their final design in Adobe Illustrator, ready to be cut using the laser cutter.

Year 7 English – Australian Poetry Performance

On Thursday 30 July, Complete Works Theatre Company visited our school to perform a range of Australian poems to our Year 7 cohort. The students thoroughly enjoyed the chance to appreciate poetry as it was brought to life for them to enjoy!

Here are a few reflections from our Year 7 students on how the performance enriched their understanding of poetry.

Caitlyn Platt

Head of English

I really enjoyed this poetry incursion. It was really entertaining to watch and I’m sure everyone loved it. My favourite poem that they performed was ‘Drought’ because it felt surreal to see the poem we learnt and studied in class come to life. The performance gave me lots of tips for both writing and performing. Overall, this was an amazing performance!

- Chloe X, 7.1

I found the show funny and enjoyable. The poets used body language and descriptive expressions to bring the poems to life. It created an immersive experience. My favourite poem being Luka Lesson's ‘Antidote’; it was connecting with real life. Using many literary devices, from this experience I learnt about techniques of poetry and how to tell meaningful stories.

 

I would recommend this experience for anyone who is really shy and wants to know more about poetry.

- Sidarth H, 7.1

From the performances, I learnt how expression, movement, and silence are important for conveying the morals of a poem. My favourite poem was 'Antidote' as it explores how the antidote can be found in the poison, deeply signifying that there can still be hope in the darkest of times. Something I will take away into my own poetry is the wordplay and humour across the poems and how poetry isn't just reading, it is performance art.

- Nial S, 7.2

I think the poetry performance was really fun and enlightening. We learnt about some strategies to prompt ideas and polish poems as they performed Australian poetry in a bold and engaging way. My favourite poems were 'Antidote' and 'Australian Air'. 'Antidote' explored how words can be both healing and hurting and 'Australian Air' was very interesting and faced paced, urging the audience to take action and then grounding them back to reality.

- Cleo H, 7.2

I think the performance was a good way for us to grasp the idea of poetry and to look at poetry in a different way. Not only was it interesting and very entertaining, for the Year 7s and also for the teachers, it was interactive and never failed to make us laugh. We were so lucky to have this opportunity with Complete Works poetry.

- Hallie D, 7.3

I enjoyed the performance of 'Mulga Bill's Bicycle' very much because it's clever use of multimedia using sound, sight and tone to make a captivating performance. The use of voice was particularly impressive, utilising many speaking techniques to convey the mood accurately and effectively. This taught me how important being really 'in' to the poem is and how it can affect people.

- Kingston C, 7.3

The workshop helped me understand what makes a good poem and how to perform poems in a way that effectively delivers the message and conveys the emotions in the way the author intended. My favourite poem from the workshop was ‘Antidote,’ as I enjoyed learning about how the descriptive language and changes in mood and tone can really help the readers and listeners bring the poem to life. Overall, this program helped me understand how to use poetic devices and sensory imagery within poems and how to perform them whilst conveying the intended emotion and message.

- Maddy W, 7.4

I enjoyed the eccentric way the performers were able to transform into characters they were playing using body language and facial expressions. My favourite poem was ‘Egg,’ a journey about a misfit egg finding true love through cooking. It was interesting how the poet was able to convey imagery through a combination of language, poetic devices and imagination on everyday items, and how the performers emphasised this with extraordinary literary techniques.

- Thomas D, 7.4