Secondary School News

Halfway through Term 4, it's an excellent time to reflect on the achievements of our students and staff throughout 2023.

It was wonderful to welcome back our Year 12 students to the Collingwood College main campus on their celebration day to bid farewell to their original home school base. Many thanks to our preps for their support with the Rose Ceremony, which symbolizes the final chapter of their secondary education.

Our Year 12 students have been busy completing their exams. We are fortunate to have three of our staff members serving as VCAA examiners this year. Congratulations to them for their commitment to their teaching practice and professional development in their respective subject areas. As our Year 12 students finish their exams, the work of marking them begins.

I am pleased to announce that Asiya and Yona have been awarded Skyline scholarships. The Skyline Program is a unique, ongoing two-year, student-centered program designed to support academically talented young people with a growth mindset and leadership potential, aged between 16-18, at government schools in Victoria. The program seeks to encourage these students to reach their full potential by supporting them to remain in school, complete their VCE, and transition to tertiary education or their career of choice. This year, the standards were exceptionally high, and they could only offer a place to 80 students who applied. Well done to Asiya and Yona, who were two of the 80 students awarded scholarships based on the recommendations of their teachers, ACER test results, and their interviews. Many thanks to Lori Michael for her hard work in supporting students to complete the components of the selection process.

RASIE mentoring ended this year with an inspirational final session, where mentors and mentees said goodbye and reflected on their relationship development throughout the program.

Our Year 10 students are about to finish their final weeks at the Collingwood College home base before heading over to Wurun to complete their Early Commencement Program week. We wish them luck with their upcoming exams and look forward to seeing them at the Year 10 Formal.

We have many camps to look forward to at the end of this year. Our Year 9 students completed the Great Ocean Walk, Rubicon Camp, and Dookie Science Camp at Melbourne University.

It's fantastic to see the school production of Alice in Wonderland begin this week. We have six primary schools locally visiting on Thursday and Friday to see the show. Amazing work by Sarah, who has led and worked on the show all year, supported by Mel and Emma. We are all eager to see the show!

We have many events this term, including a whole-school Halloween dress-up and the Rotary 80's Fashion show. Our students have hit the basketball court twice this term, competing against the teachers, with each side winning one game. Well done to the SRC for an amazing event. We can't wait for the rematch.

We are fortunate to have many fantastic school volunteers who support us each week. We are hosting a thank-you event for them this term to recognize their hard work and the support they provide to our school community.

Next week marks the beginning of the fieldwork days of our school review. We look forward to celebrating our achievements and setting goals for the future of Collingwood College.

Our Year 10 Outdoor Education classes went on their final camp this term. Owen from Year 10 reflects on his time during this camp and the final camp at Collingwood College main campus –

The Year 10 Outdoor Education class spent week 3 walking through Mount Samaria State Park and canoeing the neighboring Lake Nillahcootie. With a focus on learning about environmental threats and solutions, there were relaxed walks to Wild Dog Creek Falls, the summit of Mount Samaria, and an old sawmill. The view from the summit was spectacular, as we could see part of Lake Nillahcootie, surrounding pine plantations, farmland, and natural forest – a vast expanse of verdant greens. Midway through the week, groups swapped base camps, and the remainder of the camp was spent traversing the man-made lake in canoes. Some of us attempted to source their dinner from the water, but no fish were biting. Reflecting on this being the final camp after 8 years, where outdoor adventures with classmates have been such an integral focus of Steiner education, is bittersweet, but it has also been an amazing journey of developing skills, an appreciation for the natural world, and memories we will carry forever.

Owen, Year 10

Looking forward to a wonderful last few weeks of Term 4. Good luck to all our students with their upcoming exams and camps.

Kind Regards,

Angela Watters

Secondary Assistant Principal

Honouring the Land

We live, work and play on this land, but our important relationship often goes unnoticed. However, it was not the case on Wednesday, October 25 when Class 8C had the opportunity to visit Little Yarra Steiner School for their Land Festival.

As a whole bus load, we grew calm as we exited the city and observed the rolling, green hills and trees along the way to Yarra Junction. It was quite amazing to see the beautiful architecture of the Steiner School, which was built in 1986 among the nearby mountain range. Class 8C met the class 7 and 8 students on the grassy hill under a huge gum tree. They sat and listened to a story about the landscape, which included mention of Waa the Crow and Bunjil the Eagle, two Ancestral Beings of the Dreamtime. Hugged by the mountains and kissed by the wind, the story worked its magic and set the tone of our day.

The children then split into activity groups, each honouring the land and local waterways in their own unique way. I attended the Djirri Djirri Indigenous Dance Workshop. In the light-filled eurythmy studio we learnt about the culture and language of the Wurundjeri people, including “kirrip” friend and “ngurrak” mountain. We then participated in a number of dances that included singing and clapping sticks. It’s amazing how music and movement can bring everyone together.

Finally, we all met back on the grassy hill to share what we learnt. We celebrated the gifts of the land, whether it be reeds for the weaving workshop, or music and mapping inspired by the landscape. Finally, we shared trees from our individual location on the Birrarung: a callistemon for Little Yarra and a sheoak tree for us. Class 8C planted this sheoak in our Indigenous Garden last Friday, and we hope to watch it grow for years to come. Similarly, we will honour our connection with this place and its people for years to come.

Sarah Powers,

8C Main Lesson teacher

Takeover Melbourne Writing Competition

For the past few years, the ABC has hosted a writing competition which invites students from all over Melbourne to share their own stories. The competition is accessible in format, gives students a chance to develop their writing skills, and allows them to contribute to discussions on important social issues. Every year we have entered we have been successful, and 2023 is no exception.

We have two winners; Kai Stephenson-Lum from Year 10 and Sophia Twigg-Edwards from Year 12. Both students wrote a winning entry about a personal challenge they face and how they have worked to successfully manage it. With ABC producers, they and other winning students made short audio versions of their stories, enabling them to share their stories with the world. You can access the texts and audio versions here

https://www.abc.net.au/takeover/programs/takeover-melbourne/meet-the-2023-winners/103053782

along with other winning entries.

Congratulations to Kai and Sophia, and well done to everyone who entered.

Here is a link to Kai's entry.

https://www.abc.net.au/takeover/programs/takeover-melbourne/takeover-kai/103051092

Here is a link to Sophia's entry.

https://www.abc.net.au/takeover/programs/takeover-melbourne/takeover-sophia/103051144

Charlotte Bailey

English Learning Area Leader

Wurun Senior Campus

INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE (updated 15 February) - Contact Person - Steve Wu

Please click on the attachment below to see a list of Stringed instruments for sale. If you have an instrument for sale please email Steve at: fengchih.09@gmail.com

List of instruments for sale - 15 Feburary 2023.pdf

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