Parent & Student Matters
- Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey
- Microfiction
- Market Day 2025 - Cashless - prepurchase vouchers
- Maths Drop-In
- From the Senior Resource Centre
Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey - Bronze Hike
On Saturday and Sunday 30 and 31 August, 44 students and staff hiked the 23km from Mt Kuring-Gai to Cowan via Berowra and Brooklyn. The students camped at Brooklyn Dam and practiced their bushcraft and navigation skills as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. Congratulations to our Year 9 and 10 students who completed this hike.
A special thank you to Mr Naidoo and Mr Munday as well as Old Boy Jack Schyvens for their time and assistance with this hike. A big thank you also goes to our Year 11 helpers: Michael Cheah, Dan Carroll, Evan Littler and James Mooney.
Mr Paul de Silva - Outdoor Education Coordinator
Microfiction 2025 Anthology
This week saw the publication of the Microfiction Anthology for 2025 to coincide with the college’s celebration of Literacy Week. This book is a collection of the outstanding short stories and artworks from this year’s Microfiction Competition, featuring student work from Year 5 to Year 12.
In particular, congratulations go to the recipients of the inaugural Microfiction Art Prizes. These students were recognised at this week’s assembly with a certificate and a $50 gift voucher for Eckersley’s Art Supplies, funded generously by the P&F. Well done to Connor Staude of Year 11, Jake Kiem of Year 10, and Henry Burke of Year 8 for winning these awards.
This marks the final flourish of the Microfiction Competition for 2025, and offers a chance to thank all those that help make it happen. A huge thank you goes to the English and Visual Arts faculties, as well as the 200+ authors and artists, and the P&F, for their participation and support. See you all back better than ever in 2026 for the 5th Anniversary of the Microfiction Competition!
Mr Daniel Quilty - English Teacher
Market Day 2025 - Cashless - prepurchase vouchers
Market Day is back for 2025 and is on Friday 12 September. A reminder that the event is cashless, so food and other items need to be purchased using a voucher system. All vouchers are valued at $2 and combinations of these can be used to purchase items on the day.
There will be very limited ability to purchase vouchers using card on the day. Vouchers can be purchased using the following trybooking link:
https://www.trybooking.com/DFAUN and will be distributed to students prior to Market Day.
Prepurchase of vouchers closes, Monday 8 September at 2:00pm.
There will be no Canteen facilities available on Friday 12 September.
Mr Simon Yue - Leader of Learning, EGBC
Maths Drop-In
With the assessment period underway, it’s great to see so many enthusiastic students from Year 7 to Year 12 attending Maths Drop-In.
As Year 12 students prepare for their HSC examinations and the Year 11 Preliminary exams begin on Monday 15 September, Maths Drop-In continues to be the perfect place to revise, build confidence, and receive support.
Students in Years 7–10 are also preparing for their upcoming assessment tasks. Please see the scheduled dates below:
Year 7 – Monday 15 September
Year 8 – Tuesday 16 September
Year 9 – Thursday 18 September
Year 10 – Thursday 11 September
Whether you're revising for exams or brushing up on key concepts, come along and be part of it!
Currently, an extra session of Maths Drop-In is being held on Thursday mornings to assist with assessment preparation:
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday in C1 from 7:40 am
Mrs Amanda Fileman - Maths Teacher
From the Senior Resource Centre
Writers at work for a great cause
Early before school on Tuesday 2 September a crowd of eager writers gathered outside the entrance to the Senior Resource Centre (Senior Library). In the weeks leading up to the event, 56 students from Years 7-10 had formed 7 teams and now they were ready to write.
The Write a Book in A Day 2025 teams worked together as writers, illustrators, editors and publishers to produce illustrated books of 3,500-5,000 words in 8 hours.
It was a great day and wonderful to see their creative and collaborative talents coming together to raise money for Children’s Cancer Research.
The published works are currently on display in the Senior Library.
Mr Nicholas Westhoff - Senior Resource Centre / Teacher
The Times They Are A-Changin’: AI-Powered Britannica Is Here!
I remember my first year at the College in 2012, when the big news was that the prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica would no longer be available in print, it was moving online. At the time, it felt like a shift. Now, in 2025, the news is, the Online Encyclopedia Britannica is equipped with an AI-powered chat bot, Ask Britannica.
This is an exciting innovation for students and teachers alike. Ask Britannica responds to your specific questions by drawing on Britannica’s vast knowledge-base to deliver highly credible, fact-checked information instantly. This is a real time-saver as there’s no need to cross-check sources or worry about misinformation or AI “hallucinations”. Further, Ask Britannica doesn’t just answer your questions, it suggests follow-up questions to help you consider topics from multiple angles.
You can access Britannica Online via the library’s Canvas page or website. Please note, at this stage, Ask Britannica is available only in the High School edition.
As your Teacher Librarian, I’m genuinely excited to see how Ask Britannica will support research. I encourage everyone to give it a try and if you’d like help getting started, come and see me in the library.
Mrs Karen Keighery - Library and Information Services Coordinator