Welcome Assembly

On Thursday 1 February, the first day the entire student body returned for 2024, the traditional Welcome Assembly was held.

The 2024 Year 7 students made a grand entry to applause and cheers. There was a speech by the 2023 Dux, Elloise Prior, who was accompanied by her sister Candice, 2023 College Captain and our 2024 College Captains gave their welcome address. 

2024 College Captains

Hello everyone, and a special hello to our new Year 7s. 

I’m Lucy and I’m Liv and we are your 2024 College Captains. 

We welcome all of you to our school, to a culture of kindness, empowerment and thanks to our speeches many many taylor swift references (which will never go out of style). To those who are experiencing their first assembly, here at Mentone Girls’,  we have a little tradition wherein in the College Captains' first speech of the new year, they give advice to each year level. 

Liv and I both have enjoyed this tradition for the last five years, but also felt that advice should not necessarily be given based on someone’s age, but something that is probably playing a far larger role in how each and every student is today; how you all feel. So, we have come up with advice based on this, for students and staff alike. 

To those who are feeling a little bit nervous or scared to be in a new place. Our advice is to first of all, take a deep breath. Us Year 12s just had our last first day back at school but there was a time when it was our first first day at school. Remember that you have had a lot of times in your life where it has been your first time trying something, being somewhere or meeting someone, and every single time you have made it through, and probably now look back on those things with fond memories. It’s likely that this will be no different for you. You are going to not only be okay, but do incredible things here.

To those who are feeling anxious about the long journey ahead (many of whom i assume are in year twelve like us)  our advice is to remember your own strength and capabilities. Yes, like anything this year may be a challenge, but you are a force to be reckoned with! Yes you are only human, but you can do hard things!  

To those who are feeling sad that it is no longer summer holidays, we recommend getting excited and looking forward to the fun things that are coming up like our school swimming carnival, cross country, the footy season, the Eras tour and for the Year 12s next week … formal!

To those who are feeling lower motivation for this school year, I know how you feel, and i know it feels as though the choice not to try is the easiest one. But from experience, I feel as though I can say that the choice not to try is undoubtedly in the long term going to be harder. It means the stress of being asked to hand in work you know you never did, it means feeling bored and wondering what could be possible with more effort. So, my advice to you would be to remember that your future is yours to take. And the dreams you have, the job or university or goal you have always had in your mind are not up in the clouds but here on this earth, and you have the power to reach them. It’s unfair to yourself to assume they are too far away to even bother. 

To those who are sitting in this room absolutely ecstatic for the year ahead, who are excited to achieve everything they have been dreaming of, don’t let anyone convince you that what you are feeling right now is embarrassing, braggy or anything negative. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the negative things so having positive self talk and being able to empower yourself is the greatest thing you can do, and it is a gift.

Empowerment is one of our four school values here at MGSC, and moving into 2024, we feel that this action and feeling is of extreme importance. With 280 wonderful new students, multiple new staff members and everyone else also adjusting to changes, lifting each other up and taking time to be kind to one another is what we should all be striving for. This may be helping a new student or staff member to find a classroom, reminding your friends of their abilities and their worth and of course always encouraging those around you to achieve the things they want to achieve.

 Helping others to feel confident in themselves and also remembering your own power and potential as this is what empowerment is all about, and by practising this we all reinforce the fact that mgsc students support mgsc students! 

We hope you have found our advice helpful, or at the very least felt seen for how you feel today, and we especially hope that we see the students of this school not only empower themselves to show excellence in their school work this year, but also that 2024 is a year where this amazing community thrives, because diamonds gotta shine. 

Thank you for listening.

Olivia Ayyuce & Lucy Webster

College Captains 

2023 Dux - Elloise Prior

Hi everyone,

Some of you might remember me; I'm Ellie and I graduated as the Dux of MGSC last year.

Due to my irrevocable and undeniable love

 for maths, I will be continuing my nerd-identity by studying a double degree of Engineering and Commerce at Monash for the next five years. 

In Year 12 I studied English, French, Methods, Specialist Maths and Chemistry; not because of scaling (although that was a nice benefit), but because I genuinely enjoyed all of those subjects a lot. 

To be honest, I can’t believe that this chapter of my life is now over. I still remember the 2018 school captain making a speech on my first day of Year 7 saying “your time at highschool will be over before you know it”. I sat there hoping she was right, wanting to speed through these next 6 years so I could finally be out in the world and do what I wanted. But as I quickly learnt, there’s no point wishing your school life away. You’re here anyway so you may as well enjoy the ride. 

We’re really lucky at this school that there’s so many opportunities to participate in sports, music and celebrations throughout the year. School can be a really good experience if that’s what you make of it. Especially for the younger year levels, I think it’s important to think about highschool with an open mind and positive attitude. Empower not only your peers to enjoy school and do their best, but also yourself to make the most out of these opportunities.

A big part of this is trying new things and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. For example, I thought I was living my best life in Year 8; hanging out with my friends, making gymnastics videos for my failed Instagram account and studying when I felt like it. But all of a sudden, my Mum had signed me up for the school debating team, an activity I had to participate in inside and outside of school hours. I was not impressed. But I went along anyway, because do it for the plot. And while I was terrified and completely out of my comfort zone, it’s strangely one of the things I will remember most from my time here. The skills I learnt to put together a solid argument, the random friends I made from here and other schools and the free biscuits provided by Mentone Girls’ Grammar, made the whole experience worth it. So what I’m trying to say is don’t play it safe! Get involved in the school community even if that’s uncomfortable at first, you won’t regret it.

Now for the older students. How was last night? Did you finish cramming in the rest of your holiday homework or was that extra Netflix episode just too tempting? Don’t worry, I’ve been there before too. 

It’s so important to enjoy the time off but this is also your year to discover the best way that you study if you haven’t already. Especially Year 10s and 11s. 

For me, I took Year 11 as the opportunity to try out different methods to study and balance my time so I could be all set for the daunting year after. I discovered that doing notes before Ms McLeod’s Methods classes was a very good idea if I ever wanted to survive. Hint hint.  But I also discovered that expecting myself to write an essay each day before exams, would just end up in tears. So use this year to get to know how you study best. You’ll thank yourself later, trust me.

To  the class of 2024. The Year 12s. How does it feel to be top of the food chain? I know the start of this year is pretty overwhelming. Thinking about SACs and how to go about the heavy workload while also finalising appointments for formal and making sure you don’t clash dresses with anyone. Don’t worry, it’s not that deep.

Year 12 is always going to be tough. I’m not going to sugar coat it, you will have to make sacrifices and decide what your true priorities are. That might include cutting back some shifts at work, not going out with your friends as much and preventing yourself from starting another 13 season series. 

That being said, balance in your life is so important. I promise you that burnout is inevitable if you don’t keep doing your favourite things. Shoutout to Ms Elloy who reminded me of this last year. All through Year 12 until a month before exams, I continued netball, working and socialising with friends most weekends. Living my best life while studying smart, rather than for hours on end. When October came around, I thought I could trick myself into enjoying writing essays as much as I loved going out to 18ths on a Saturday night. To be honest, sometimes that has to be done and you need to somehow romanticise a little study date with yourself. But I also quickly learnt that ignoring all forms of contact from the outside world and pretending I could live as a little hermit crab for two months straight, was unrealistic. I can attest that through those SAC-dense weeks and exam season, self-care is now your new best friend.

But what are some ways you can make the most out of studying without falling victim to hours of inefficient note taking and eventually burnout? Here are some tips on how to succeed, not just for VCE students, but for every student at this school.

Firstly, pay attention in class. You can save yourself so much valuable time just by really concentrating and focusing on the work during a one hour lesson. There’s no point leaving it until you get home when you have the time and the resources like teachers there to help you at school! And asking them questions is crucial when you don’t completely understand. Previously, I wouldn’t want to bother my teachers or I would think that I didn’t need their help; I could figure it out by myself. Once I learnt that it’s so much easier and quicker to just ask them a question, my studying became so much more efficient.

I didn’t write perfect English essays or speak impeccable French but what helped me succeed was getting feedback from all of my teachers, constantly. Whether it was visiting Mr Reeves almost every single day before the English exam, spending an hour after school with Miss Loiacono doing Methods or talking with Ms Dickson in French before class every week, it all helped me to boost my confidence and abilities. Another tip that, for me, was the one that helped the most; teaching other people. For example in Maths Methods even when I understood the content, by teaching others and giving them a hand, I was solidifying all of that information in my own brain by thinking about it a different way. This technique might sound silly but honestly it’s one of the best methods out there to become better at what you’re learning.

A last piece of advice for everyone working towards a goal this year, whether it be personal, study related or a specific ATAR for our Year 12s:  write down a reward that will push you to keep working towards that goal. When I began to not care anymore about analysing the author’s choice of language in English or how to find the angle between vector planes in maths, I would think about the little trip I booked with my family for the day after my final exam. It was so motivating to have something to look forward to and suddenly studying became not that bad. It can be anything; going out to a nice restaurant with your friends or buying concert tickets that your bank account tells you you probably shouldn't. Anything that will motivate you to actually achieve the aim you’ve set yourself. 

I could talk about study tips and making the most out of school for hours but don’t worry, I won’t! But if you guys ever need advice, motivation or just someone to chat to about getting through the year, feel free to send me a message. 

Thank you so much for inviting me back to speak to you all, I have missed MGSC so much even though I’ve only been gone for three months. And trust me, you’ll miss it too when you leave so go and study smart and live your best life while you’re here!

Elloise Prior

2023 Dux 

Congratulations to Elloise who has been awarded a Monash University Women in Engineering scholarship.