Faculty News

Tickets on sale!

The Wind in the Willows

Year 5 performing arts students are preparing to perform The Wind in the Willows in June. 

Tickets are still available for purchase here 

Debating 

On Thursday night, Round 3 of the Interschool Debating Competition saw our strong Oakleigh Grammar teams get even stronger, demonstrating their skills at Wesley College. Our Year 9 students contended “that Australia should adopt a 4 day school week”, focusing on academic outcomes, mental well-being and resilience, and benefits to the economy and environment. 

Ellie, Irene and Connie were excellent, confidently presenting their logic and methodically dismantling their opposition with thematic rebuttal. They won comfortably against Sacred Heart College.Rylee (in her very first debate), Mary and Issam also debated well and received excellent feedback from the adjudicator but were beaten by Glen Waverley by three points.Meanwhile the Year 10 teams faced the challenge of their first Secret Topic. They were told at 6pm that they would be debating “that we prefer international entertainment events (eg. Olympics, Eurovision) over local events (eg. AFL, Moomba)”. They were given one hour to prepare in a group of 5, with no technology allowed. 

Caulfield Grammar forfeited against one of our teams, handing Oakleigh Grammar the easy win (although they were disappointed not to get the chance to present). For the other team, it proved to be a tricky topic with many subjective elements in play, so it came down to presentation manner, with Archna, Lazarus and Elena from Oakleigh Grammar beating Huntingtower by one point.But wait: there’s more!Model United NationsThe very next morning, nine of our brightest Oakleigh Grammar students (some straight from debating the night before) headed to McKinnon Secondary College to participate in the Model United Nations Program 2024. 

This was a first time initiative for Oakleigh Grammar, and our delegates represented our school proudly… or perhaps that should be “represented their countries proudly” as they were allocated the roles of Cuba and Austria. Each team was expected to speak and vote in the interest of their nominated nation, first with a formal position statement. Jordan Kerimidas (for Austria) and Sotiris Bakalis (for Cuba) were simply brilliant in their professional, informed and sophisticated presentations, proposing and justifying changes to Clauses in the Draft Proposal. Next, the teams needed to negotiate with other delegates in Caucus format (Elena and Nathanael were particularly influential in this stage), and finally discuss Amendments and vote to establish a Resolution.This was an invaluable learning experience for our students, as an opportunity to challenge their public speaking skills in a collaborative rather than competitive format. 

The theme for 2024 was Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability in Human Rights, a complex and fascinating topic. The entire process was conducted with a “learning by doing” focus, and it certainly was an impressive display of student-centred and internationally-minded education.Congratulations to our debaters and Model UN delegates, and thank you for representing your school with such hard work, talent and pride. We will no doubt follow your careers as politicians and ambassadors in years to come!Happy weekend all.

Leigh Gridley

LOTE Greek

Every year, the Educational Institute "Hellenism of Anatolia - from the Aegean Sea to Pontos", under the auspices of the Australian Federation of Pontian Associations, organises a student competition honouring the Hellenism of Anatolia.  This competition is for all students who study the Greek language.

The theme of the competition for 2023 was "Stories of Asia Minor – From Omiros to ANZACs".  Students have the opportunity either to write an essay or a poem, to draw a picture or to create a poster/project based on the topic.

The main aim of the competition was for the students to learn about the history of the Hellenism in the wider region of Asia Minor, the Pontus, Eastern Thrace and Gallipoli. 

Students from different year levels in Middle School had the opportunity to participate in this competition last year and create some outstanding projects as well as to write some very emotional poems. 

We would like to congratulate all student who took part in the competition, and especially to the following students for winning:

Athena Dimopoulos (Year 7)

Sotiris Sotiriou (Year 7)

Connie Lekkas (Year 9)

Mason Jansz (Year 10)

Sophia McLaughlin (Year 10)

Sara Vanovac (Year 10)

Sophie Koutsovasilis (Year 10)

The Educational Institution “Hellenism of Anatolia –– from the Aegean Sea to Pontos”, of the Australian Federation of Pontian Associations hosted a 10-day exhibition on Hellenism of Asia Minor and Cyprus titled “In the Footsteps of Digenes Akritas” –– an exhibition on the common historical and cultural elements that unite Hellenism of Cyprus and Pontos, Crete, Cappadocia and Asia Minor in general.

Students in Middle and Senior School had the opportunity to visit the exhibition as part of their LOTE Greek Classes.  Students were very impressed with the displays and but also with the history of the Hellenism in so many different places.

Natasha Spanos

VCE Academic Leader LOTE