Senior School News
Congratulations Class of 2023
2023 has been a very successful year. We are proud of all the students who have stepped up, both in and out of class, and have taken every opportunity that has come their way. The Senior Team would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a safe and relaxing holiday!
For our class of 2023, a massive congratulations on finishing year 12 and achieving such wonderful results. We wish you all the very best for the future and remember our door is always open to visits!! Congratulations to Ella McCulloch for being the Dux of the year level!!
Monash Scholars Program
Congratulations to Jacob Daly, Ella Nowacki and Olivia Henning for being successful in being accepted into this program. The Monash Scholars program is a prestigious program for high achieving secondary school students to give them a unique head start into university life. Over the next two years they will participate in a range of bespoke activities to enhance their learning; explore their career ambitions; define their person aspirations; and build networks with other high-achieving students.
Access Monash Program
The number of students taking on this opportunity is growing every year. Congratulations to Gabrielle Buissink, Clancy Mills, Olivia Henning, Billy Jennings, Nathan Bates and Nina Flake for stepping forward. Students will be mentored by a Monash student and will be able to explore their study and career options, gain insight into university life, receive individual mentoring support, attend Monash events, and more!
Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholarship
Congratulations, to Olivia Henning for being awarded
this prestigious scholarship from the University of
Melbourne. She will become part of a supportive university
community and peer network through a tailored program of
events and activities.
Strengthening Engagement and Achievement in Mathematics and Science (SEAMS)
Several of our students will be taking part in an academic program run in collaboration with Monash University and the University of Melbourne. They will be attending a three-day camp over the January holidays focusing on preparing for VCE Mathematical Methods and either Physics or Chemistry. What an exciting opportunity! We look forward to hearing from Jasmine Thompson, Nathan Bates, Jacob Daly, Ella Nowacki and Olivia Henning next year.
2024 Captains
Congratulations to Ruby Marks and Oliver Mahoney for being elected as School Captains for 2024, and to Gabrielle Buissink and Clancy Mills for being elected as Vice Captains. The senior school team look forward to working with these outstanding young people.
German Exchange Program
The German exchange program is back again!! Over the December/January holidays two of our students will be visiting our sister school, Alfred-Amann-Gymnasium in Bönnigheim, Germany. Nine Flake and Gabrielle Buissink will be fine tuning their German. We wish them a wonderful time!
England Football Trip – Noah Jackson
This article is written by Noah, who has had an amazing opportunity playing soccer in England. We look forward to hearing all about his adventures on his return.
Approximately 5 months ago I went down to Melbourne for four nights to do a trial for the Global Football Network to see if I was good enough to attend and play football in England. Then in May I got an email asking if I would like to go to England for two weeks to play in the Global Football Network U15/U16’s team. I accepted the offer immediately.
I caught my flight to England to play 7 games in 2 weeks. During this time, I was asked to play about 12 games in 2 weeks for two teams. While I was over in England, I performed so well that I got asked to stay for another week and play with a different touring team (Sydney’s Team). During that week I played very well or at least well enough for the coach to have the conversation about me staying for a longer period. Once I heard this I was stoked and once again took the offer straight away.
Now I am currently in the Global Football Networks hotel training 2-3 times a day, both for football and gym training including running. A regular day for us would be wake up at 7:30am and get ready for pick up at 8:45am so we can begin training at 9am. During training we start by running a 4-mile run (6.5km), we had to do it in under 25 minutes. My time was 21:40 (3rd place), then we went straight into a fund rondo game for 20 minutes or so, and then we would do a passing drill for tactics during game for 30 minutes, then we do a cross the river for 45 minutes, and then we go into a high intensity game for 1 hour and if we don’t perform well then, we have to run either doggie 3 times or bow times 3 times. Now it’s about 11:30am so we get dropped back home and have some lunch. After that we get picked up at 12:45pm and either go training for 2 and a half hours or go gym for that time. Then we come home and get some dinner in and go straight to sleep.
How will this make me a better player?
To start off I am the youngest person to every be in the GFN house and play for them, so me playing with boys/men that are aged between 17-21 is excelling me as a player exponentially. In games we are versing people that live and breathe this game, unlike Australia were people don’t care about soccer, here they breathe this game. So, me playing against players that are at my level or above will just make me a better Player. Also the training is like an overload where I become stronger and better over time. Yes, personally I find this trip very hard and challenging but wherever there is bad, there is always good to one, also on top of me being 2-4 year younger than others it just motivates me to be a better player and play with higher standards.
Why am I doing this and what opportunities can open up?
The reason I am here is to see the level of play over here in England and get my level of play to the highest ability. Everything is an opportunity, like the possibility to play here in England, but in order to do that because I don’t have a English passport I would need to do a schooling program or something over here. Other things that can happen from this trip is the possibility to get trials at different clubs back home in Australia.