College News,
Sports & Events
Kids in Philanthropy Excursion
Today we combined both Acacia and Banksia Student voice team together for the first time this year. Fiona and Myself worked with an organization called KIP or Kids in Philanthropy. We worked with three charitable organisations:
Lighthouse Foundation- working with at risk and homeless children- helping create homes with a familiar setting and being a resource for them when they become adults approx. 44,000 kids are considered homeless. Students were taught about the risk and where they could go for help along with having fake money to develop budgeting skills,
Kids for backpacks- working with kids who have to leave their homes in an emergency and more often than not, with nothing to wear other than the clothes they have. This organization helps by providing packs for school, clothing and newborn packs so they have clothes to wear, blanket to snuggle with, a teddy bear to cuddle and personal items to keep themselves nice and, Koala for Kids- working with kids and family with cancer in health care settings such as hospitals where kids are given virtual reality to help with treatments and choosing a fun band aid to put on a finger after prick test. As well as boredom buster kits to ensure that kids are kept distracted from painful medical interventions.
The students worked on a rotational basis through the charities helping create packages for the charity and learn more about each of them.
At the end the students were given discs which represented money and voted for the charity they felt aligned with them and what they do. Over 444 dollars were raised in just two hours of work. I would like to Thank Fiona my teamster and the students who were also highly commended by the charitable organization for being so engaged and polite and their willingness to give everything a try and they loved their beautiful manners.
We were really proud of the students that attended and appreciated some simple things can make a big difference in our everyday life.
Miss Cron and contribution by Ian Moller
Ian: I enjoyed the simplicity of the activity for Kids for backpacks, it was an easy task to complete but the activity was an enjoyable time socializing with my peers and helping the community.
Year 11 Business Management
On Tuesday 11th October the three, Year 11 Business Management classes presented a Market Day in the Yr 9 Courtyard at Lunchtime. After many weeks of planning it was the Assessment Task for Outcome 2, Marketing. Students had to have creative ideas on Market Stalls which included planning, marketing and delivering the event. There were 18 stalls with a variety of food, services and games. With great weather, there were hundreds of attendees. Congratulations to all students and teachers involved, with over $1100 raised for the Save The Children Charity
Business Management Teachers Mr Foldvari and Ms Stokes
Keysborough College Artists in Noble Park Community Centre Art Show
The weekend of the 14-16 October marked the Noble Park Community Centre Art Show. We were lucky enough to have a display showcasing artwork from students of both campuses, exhibiting examples of artworks from years 7-11 in a range of Visual Arts subjects. Well done to Tiffany Gartner who was the winner of the Mitchell Encouragement Award. In addition, multiple students were brave enough to enter the show as individuals notably, Nathanael Hingley of Acacia year 9 who won Runner Up in the Club Noble Junior Secondary competition for his painting “Chaos”.
We are so excited that our students had the opportunity to share their creative endeavours and talents with the wider community.
Even more exciting is that we won Runner-Up for Best School Display. We intend to put the prize money towards holding our very own Campus based Art and Technology Exhibitions in weeks 9 and 10!
Well done Keysborough Artists and special thank you to the Visual Arts teaching team and Tamara Wordsworth for their assistance in curating our display.
L-R: Artwork by Aaliyah Frost, Fatima Binti Mokhtar, Sorita Sim, Nathanael Hingley, Tiffany Gartner, Sovannara Dam
Ms Fleming – Visual Arts Learning Area Leader
Miss Rubi wins an MAE!
When one of our ES staff members won a community award, we wanted to commemorate the occasion! Aania Salaria, of Year 10 Acacia, interviewed Miss Rubi Kanagasabai to find out what it was all about. Thanks Aania, and congratulations to Miss Rubi!
The MAEs, or The Multicultural Awards for Excellence. Many readers may not know the significance behind this award, but one Miss Sivarhubhini Kanagasabai does. Miss Rubi is a dedicated integration aide with a passion for dance, song, teaching, and her Indian and Sri Lankan heritage. She enjoys watching Hindi and Tamil movies, her favourite Indian actor being Shah Rukh Khan.
Rubi herself began in the arts at age 7, in Sri Lanka, learning bharatanatyam, instrument and song. In 1989, she moved to Australia, barely 16, and unable to speak structured English. She attended East Doncaster High School as one of only a few Southeast Asians and stated that although she was new and had never seen “typical” Australian customs, the school was so “welcoming towards her”, and she began feeling comfortable in this seemingly new but strange country. Fast forward five years and Rubi became a social butterfly. She began teaching classical Indian songs and Indian instruments such as the Vina. Two years later, she expanded her teaching to all forms of Indian stage arts.
Roughly eight years ago, Miss Rubi created her dance company, the company that won her the MAE! Rubi began her company as a way to educate Southeast Asian kids on their culture and heritage.She always enjoyed giving back to her community and after she saw how devastated her old school in Sri Lanka was by the tsunami in 2004, Rubi knew that by using her two passions of dance and song, as well as teaching, she would be able to give back to her communities in Australia, India, and Sri Lanka.
As someone who has done classical Indian dance for a solid portion of my life, I can attest to the fact that not many initiatives are accepting of male dancers, and to see Miss Rubi accept any and all students, from as young as four years old, was like a breath of fresh air. Miss Rubi mentioned she had over 100 students, so organising events is quite the feat, but she does it so effortlessly, tirelessly, her passion for teaching, dance and sense of community fueling her to keep pushing. Her excitement and planning have helped her dance company be successful, as well as score her an MAE.
Rubi has continued her fundraising work, raising funds to support children orphaned by war in Sri Lanka, and providing talent to support a range of existing fundraising efforts, including bushfire relief in Australia, providing entertainment for senior citizens, and performing at the Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs, and Ganesh Temple in The Basin.
Rubi's altruistic actions have not gone unnoticed. She was shocked, ecstatic, and over the moon having found out she was nominated for the MAE. When describing the event itself, she had a twinkle of excitement in her eyes, describing the event as "fit for royalty" as if she was in "royal England with the queen" or a "red carpet event". The Multicultural Award of Excellence publicly recognises individuals and organisations that promote cross-cultural understanding. Rubi has gone above and beyond to assist everyone and happily does it, knowing she is making a difference for someone.
Congratulations to Miss Rubi for your amazing efforts to better our community! We appreciate your constant drive to help everyone around you, encouraging and inspiring others to do their best. We applaud you and wish you the best in future endeavours.
Aania Salaria, Year 10
Halloween at Banksia
Halloween at Banksia Junior Library is renowned for its scary decorations. Every Halloween the library seems to get even more terrifying than it was the previous year! Much fun is had. Enjoy these photos- hope you don’t get too scared!
DRUMBEAT Program
On Wednesday the 2nd of November our Year 7 and Year 8 group completed the DRUMBEAT program, celebrating with a performance and shared lunch. The Holyoake DRUMBEAT program applies social learning theory and cognitive behavioural therapy with the aim of improved emotional regulation, increased self-esteem, improved social skills and healthy relationships. We used African drums to express feelings and explore thoughts and emotions in a supportive space.
Our students demonstrated great group cohesiveness, improved understanding of a range of emotions and relationships as well and skills with playing rhythms on the hand drum. Congratulations to all of the students and staff involved in delivering the program!
Photo: Fotinie Zacharis (Social Work student), Benjamin Payet, Charlie Doan, Ally Chuua, Dinuka Perera, Timothy Ky, Junior Upu, Victor Lim, Pervaiz Mohammed Ali, Arsh Lonkar, Elika Kong, Fiona Fernandes.
Year 11 VCAL and Year 12 - First aid certificate
On the 13th and 20th of October, Year 11 VCAL and some of our year 12’s, completed our first-aid certificate. We had one full day of theory and hands-on activities. We learnt our DRSABCD, how to give CPR and how to wrap different types of wounds. Our presenter was excellent at showing and explaining how we were to do the different tasks. I for one really enjoyed learning about how I could save someone’s life. All of my classmates thought it was really fun.
Some of my classmates’ thoughts; Erica said “I really liked doing the CPR on the doll” Phakeo “My favourite part was when we had to guess what was wrong with our partner and solve it” Danny “I really liked the free food our teachers got for us”.
This is what VCAL is About, going out and doing educational and fun things to help our future. I can’t wait till the next fun adventure we have.
Halloween in ELC
As the day started, all seemed like your typical school day.
But that was until school began and the Halloween activities started.
In his first session, Mr. McElgunn set up a pumpkin carving activity for the whole class. He provided us with pumpkins and aligned a plethora of tools to carve with. The choices were overwhelming.
We had already dressed up in Halloween costumes for the festival. Ms. Tsantilas had brought some face paint for us to paint ourselves with during our recess session. Quite a few students decided to paint their faces. Different colours and designs were chosen; each student tried to look as scary as possible.
As we began to carve our pumpkins we built fun memories, taking photos to preserve these special memories we experienced in this exciting ELC class. Lots of pictures were taken and lots of smiles were witnessed on the faces of our friends and teachers.
Each pumpkin took on its own character, but they all still shared some similarities.
After carving and putting faces on the pumpkins, we set each down and placed candles inside to make them beam.
After lunch we continued to ‘party’ until the end of the last period.
We watched a movie and enjoyed every bit of the time we still shared together as a class. It is sad to think that we only have 6 weeks left until the end of our time in the Banksia ELC.
After ELC, most, if not all, of the class will go on to mainstream where the students will hopefully blossom into beautiful flowers. Our teachers are hoping for the best for each and every one of us. So, for them, and for ourselves, we will try out best to meet the challenges and achieve our goals.
“Time flies fast, so spend it wisely.”
Jon Sok, Year 9