From the Principal

Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends

 We are having a very rewarding term with our students and teachers collaborating on exciting learning initiatives leading to many individuals and teams achieving outstanding learning outcomes.  In fact this was celebrated in the Age (Saturday, 16 September edition) where an article reported on how teachers and students at our school are engaged in discussions to identify together the most appropriate teaching and learning practices for 21st Century learners.  This article celebrated how teachers and students held forums to share ideas about how we can improve the education on offer.  In addition to these forums, we have recently held in depth discussions with 30 students from each year level to further gain their feedback about what we need to do to continually improve. Whilst the overall feedback from students is that they love being at Frankston High School, they provided us with great ideas about how we can better cater for them.  The message is clear from students and also current research that we need to provide them with more authentic learning opportunities, they need to be supported to learn how to become independent learners and need the opportunity to be creative and more often provided with problem solving challenges.  The students tell us that teachers who are passionate about their subject area and genuinely care about their students whilst providing the aforementioned learning challenges, are the ones who make a difference. 

Year 12 Chemistry Team: State Champions: Thanks To Their Outstanding Chem Teacher Mr Valerio!

Mr Valerio inspires and encourages his Year 12 Chemistry students by having them enter the RACI Chemistry National Chemistry Quiz and National Titration Competition each year. Five teams were entered competing against 240 teams from 51 schools across the state.  All teams finished in the top 11% of students which alone is an outstanding achievement, but to have one team become State Champions is phenomenal.  Congratulations to the state winning team:  Nikola Guzys-McAuliffe, Pan Kim and Daniel Van Zeil. The reason for such an achievement is that these devoted students are fortunate to have the best Chemistry teacher in the state. Four of these teams will proceed onwards to compete nationally. We wish them every success.  

State Champions In Victoria University Business Competition

We were thrilled to hear of the incredible success of Laura Fairbairn (Year 11)  and Tamsyn Webster (Year 11)  at the recent Victoria University’s ‘I Plan a Business’ Competition. Both girls submitted a business plan for this competition being two of over 160 from across the state. Tamsyn was equal winner in the Individual category whilst Laura was equal winner in the Multimedia category.  It seems these girls are developing high level creativity and critical thinking skills which will lead them to become successful entrepreneurs in the future.  Thanks to Ms Sanderson for inspiring these students with her own passion for the subject of Business Management. 

Students Excel In Sport At State, Nationally And Internationally

As I write this newsletter Patrick Coates (Year 10) is representing Victoria on the State team in Adelaide.  We look forward to hearing of his experiences upon his return to school.

We are also extremely proud of Mitch McCarthy (Year 11) who plays basketball at the highest level in the State and recently co-captained the U18 state team that competed in the National Championships in Townsville. Mitch also plays football for the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup series and will be eligible for the AFL draft next year. Mitch’s love and dedication to sport has allowed him to become a champion in two sports.

Gerard Felipe (Year 9) has just returned from winning the National Karate Championships in Perth and now carries the title of Australian Champion.  In September he will represent Australia in the Oceanic Championships in Fiji, followed by the World Titles in October. We wish Gerard all the best in these international events.  

Brad Butler (Year 8) travelled overseas representing Victoria and competing in 11 competitions in discus, javelin and shot put in the UK and Austria.  Brad won every event whilst having the trip of a lifetime.

All these boys are fine, humble young men who are role models for us all.  They remain committed to their studies and always show great sportsmanship, being excellent ambassadors for our state and school.  As equally important as these boys’ outstanding achievements are the majority of students who participate in sport at our school and always uphold our school values no matter whether they win or lose.  A prime example of this is our Boys Intermediate Netball team who recently were state runners up.  Their opponents were disappointing in the way they conducted themselves but we were very proud because our boys did not respond in a like manner but showed good sportsmanship throughout the competition.  We know our future is in great hands with students who demonstrate such strong emotional resiliency and intelligence.

Frankston High School Students Selected For Exchange At Prestigious Japanese School

Brittany Wiles (Year 9) and Dalton Lee (Year 9) are following in the footsteps of a number of excellent language students who have been selected on a long term (9 month) exchange to study at a most prestigious IB Japanese School: Fukuoka Daiichi.  These two students have been living in Japan for a number of months already and will return at the end of the year.We are now celebrating another two students:  Ally Valerio (Year 9) and Chaya Tiktin (Year 9) who will be accompanying our students on our Japan trip in September, but then staying on at Fukuoka Daiichi until the end of the year.  I am sure you will agree that this is a most special opportunity for these highly talented students to experience Japanese culture and further develop their Japanese language skills.  Such experiences will greatly support them with their VCE Japanese studies when they return. 

In Conclusion

As you have been reading there is much to celebrate at our great school.  I have been so impressed with the students wearing full school uniform with great pride and thank parents for their support in this area.  Overall teachers and the wider community speak very positively of the wonderful students that we have at Frankston High School and this allows us to maintain our outstanding worldwide reputation.  Keep warm everyone: hopefully spring is just around the corner.