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Dandenong High School
Zainab Z: PESA Semi-Finalist!
On the 19th June Zainab Z from H12 represented Dandenong High School in the semi-finals of this year’s Plain English Speaking Competition, hosted by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Competitors delivered a six-minute speech on a topic of their choice, as well as an impromptu speech where speakers have only four minutes to plan their speech before presenting to adjudicators. Zainab’s speech, titled "Modern Slavery” focused on the deeply harmful impacts of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and what we can do in our own lives to hold unethical mining companies to account. Her impromptu speech in response to the topic “Rules are Made to be Broken” was impassioned, personal and left many people in the audience feeling deeply moved. Zainab’s progression to the semi-finals is Dandenong High School’s best result in the PESA competition – congratulations Zainab!
Mrs Leemann
English Teacher
Economics Excursion
On June 20, Year 11 Economics students visited Chadstone Shopping Centre for a one-day excursion. They conducted market research, focusing on economic activities. The hands-on experience provided valuable insights into real-world economic principles and market dynamics.
Ms Dong
Economics Teacher
Writing the World
In Term 3, as a part of the sequence “Reading the World”, the Year 8 English as an Additional Language class studied a range of texts from different social and cultural contexts. They studied books set in contexts such as persecution of Jews in World War II, the Taliban in Afghanistan and first contact with the First People of Australia. For the assessment, students had to write a creative piece which was inspired by one of the original texts, but which transformed it in some way.
In a time when the media is full of representations of young males as selfish and misogynist, two male students in the class chose to write in response to “The Magic Pencil”, a picture book about the achievements of Malala Yousufzai. Malala is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a famous advocate for the rights of girls to education in Afghanistan, Pakistan and worldwide. One boy wrote a letter to the Afghan government calling for girls in Afghanistan to be educated. The other wrote as if he was the magic pencil Malala wished for in the original text, commending her on her wonderful achievements on behalf of girls. I hope you enjoy reading their wonderful work…
Ms Di Mascolo
EAL Teacher