Student Voice
Beginning Of Term 3:
Hello South Oakleigh College Community
On behalf of the College Captains, we’d like to acknowledge the fantastic start we’ve had to Term 3. It’s already been filled with big events, school spirit, and plenty of reasons to be proud of our community.
Athletics Carnival
Our Athletics Carnival kicked off the term with a strong display of participation and house pride. Although the weather wasn’t on our side, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm, where students still brought their energy to every race, and field event. From competitive sprints to cheering in the stands, it was a great day overall, and a reminder of how well our school rallies together no matter the conditions.
Bake Sale Valedictory
The Valedictory Committee’s bake sale held on Tuesday week 3 was a sweet success, raising lots of funds towards the Year 12 graduation. The stalls were filled with treats like tiramisu slices, frogs in a pond, honey joys, Subway cookies, pudding, and brownies. Many students and staff couldn’t resist stopping by to try the baked goods made by our year 12’s and the fundraiser proved once again that a shared love of food is a perfect way to bring people together while supporting a great cause.
Wellfest Week in Two Weeks
Looking ahead, Wellfest Week is just around the corner! In two weeks’ time, the school will be buzzing with activities including sporting competitions and a MasterChef cooking challenge. It’s a chance for everyone to connect, have fun, and focus on wellbeing. Whether you’re showing off your cooking skills or getting active, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Beauty and the Beast Jnr — Same Week as Welfest
That same week will also bring our long-awaited school production, Beauty and the Beast Jnr. Tickets are already on sale, and trust us, you won’t want to miss this one! You’ll see yours truly on stage, with Stefan starring as the Beast and Kristina performing as one of the narrators. After months of rehearsals, we can’t wait to share this fun, entertaining performance and experience with you all.
Upcoming CATs, Assignments & SAC Season
As we move further into the term, CATs, assignments, and SAC season will be in full swing, especially for our VCE students. The last few weeks are set to be a hectic stretch, with multiple SACs often landing around the same time. It’s important to plan ahead, stay organised, and give each task your best effort. But just as importantly, remember to make space for rest and downtime, a clear mind will help you perform at your best.
We’re looking forward to keeping the momentum going for the rest of the term and can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together.
Year 12’s Final Stretch
With our year 12 students reaching their final stretch of schooling and having under 40 days left at South Oakleigh, they are beginning to reach their climax with regards to studies and exams, with an intense final few weeks of the term, finishing off all their SAC’s, followed by their final exam preparation for those who are doing scored VCE. To our year 12 students, these last few weeks and months of schooling will be arguably the most intense and may be highly daunting, but with the help of our schools VCE coordinators and wellbeing centre, a structured daily routine and giving each task our best efforts, we can all reach our goals and achieve success in these final few pages of our schooling careers. Remember to give your all and make the most of the time we have left at our school where we have all grown together for the past six years.
Your College Captains
Kristina Andreev
Stefan Krozian
2025 College Captains
College Vice Captains
We, the college vice-captains, are excited write to you once more about the amazing start to term 3 we have seen.
To kick things off on 22 July, the school adjourned to the Duncan Mackinnon athletics facilities for our beloved House Athletics Carnival. And what a start it was! Throughout the day we saw students across all year levels participate in the 100m, 200m and 400m dashes and the longer runs, long jump, triple jump and shotput. Sadly, our day was cut short due to some wet weather, so high jump and discus were postponed. This didn’t kill our house spirit, though, because as soon as the rain stopped, students got back out onto the track and field to run, jump and throw their hearts out. It was wonderful to see so many students participate, regardless of their skill level, as any effort gets house points!
On 5 August, we saw the SOC Career Expo. Representatives from Monash, Swinburne, Holmesglen TAFE and more tertiary institutions set up stalls in the upstairs foyer for year 11 and 12 students. This is an invaluable event for students who may not be certain of their journey after high school, or who don’t know at all! Students were offered flyers by each institution filled with course and enrolment information to hopefully assist in better understanding the tertiary path and the many options that are available. We thank the universities and the TAFE who were present at this year’s Career Expo.
On 7 Aug, our school held a Jersey Day, where students were permitted to wear their favourite team’s jersey over their school uniform and bring a gold coin donation for the Monash Children's Hospital School. Additionally, the VCE VM students hosted a sausage sizzle and sports-themed events on the oval over the lunch break. It was great to see all the different teams students barracked (or played) for and their joy for sport.
In preparation for the Year 11 Formal, the Year 11 Formal Committee have been working hard to plan and prepare for the excitingly awaited function! Leading up to 18 September, the team have orchestrated fundraisers and organised event arrangements to make the night the best it can be. This coming Friday, 22 Aug, the committee will be holding another bake sale selling cookies, brownies, cupcakes and more! With past fundraisers being a major success, we look forward to seeing many of our students lining up for some delicious sweet treats. We thank the Formal Committee members for their efforts and time, and are eager to enjoy such an eventful night for the year level!
Thank you to the entire South Oakleigh College community for such a wonderful start to term 3. That’s all from us now, but we hope to write to and update you again soon!
This has been you college vice-captains.
River Zielinski
Emily Lay
2025 College Vice Captains
S.R.C. Newsletter Article
Semester 1 has got the S.R.C. showing unrelentless effort to provide for the school community, and we had ended last term and the whole semester with another successful Celebratory Breakfast Club. We’d like to thank everyone for the support you’ve shown us throughout the semester!
And with ending last term with joy, we are excited to get back into work to bring another successful and exciting term ahead.
We started the term by running the athletics canteen selling sausage sizzles, cup noodles, lollies, drinks, and much more. Big thanks to everyone who helped run the event and supported the canteen that we ran. Although we got stuck in a few stock problems on the day, it was overall and exciting day to be involved in.
Soon after, the S.R.C. immediately got to work to start preparing our biggest event of the whole year – Wellfest Week! Each one of us are very thrilled to run and plan this eventful week, aimed to promote the overall importance of all the dimensions and aspects of health to the whole school community. Whether it’s physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, or social health, we hope this special week that we’re running will boost up the morales and health of the school, whilst spreading awareness of health. We have planned fun events for this week, but more information about these events will be posted on Compass – here’s a hint; these activities will strengthen connections between peers, year levels, and even teachers. Stay tuned for this very fun and special week!
We hope we can bring you another fun and eventful term.
Jack Wright
Yohanb Soju
Abigail Avienna
SRC Presidents
Year 8 Soccer Team
On August 1st, the Year 8 boys soccer team competed in the Southern Metropolitan Regional tournament, finishing 3rd in their pool.
They showed determination across three tough matches, losing 0–2 to East Doncaster, winning their second game 1-0 thanks to a brilliant strike from Filip Babalj, and narrowly falling 0–1 to Balwyn. Students demonstrated great resilience in the lead up to gameday, experiencing an interrupted training schedule.
Thank you to all those present on the day, including our year 10 student coaches, Allegra and Alex.
Eli Ongarezos and Kristian Pantelidis
South Oakleigh Students Attend Gangwon International Youth Forum
On Friday, 1st of August, myself, Alex Robertson, Chaeyoon Kim and Mai Pandjaputra — had the incredible opportunity to represent our school in the Gangwon International Youth Forum, held via Zoom. This international event brought together students from across the world, including countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, to engage in thoughtful and collaborative discussions around global issues.
The main theme of the forum was “Peace and Human Rights, International Cooperation”, encouraging participants to reflect on the role of young people in shaping a more peaceful and connected world. Within this theme, we explored two topics: “Do war video games or movies increase violence or promote peace?” and “Should schools punish students for what they post on social media?”
The forum provided a platform for cultural exchange, critical thinking, and respectful debate. It was inspiring to hear a range of perspectives and to realise how much we have in common with young people around the world. Representing South Oakleigh College on an international stage was a rewarding and fun experience, and we are grateful for the chance to engage in these meaningful conversations about the future we all share.
Soham Dhital