ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Short Story Competition

The state-wide competition was run by VATE (Victorian Association for the Teaching of English) and themed "A Story in Miniature". The story was to capture those small moments in everyday life. Congratulations to the following two students Alice Portz and Grace McKinnis!

Twice In a Lifetime

Alice Portz was runner up for the Year 9/10 age group

Sunny Hallowell sat on the too-tall metal stool, legs swinging in the air. As most young children tend to do, she was vacantly gazing around at the stacks of books lining every wall. Visiting the library was always a cause of excitement for Sunny, for she got to sit and think while her mother borrowed an abundant amount of books. Like most buildings made in the 1800s, the library was exceedingly excessive, with elaborate arched windows, unimaginably high ceilings and rows of wall-to-floor shelves that looked like they belonged in a palace. As Sunny sat there, wondering exactly how the fridge kept cold, she was startled by a tall woman walking out of an aisle of bookshelves, appearing so quickly it was almost as if she had materialised out of thin air. The woman looked remarkably out of place, with her crinoline dress so long it brushed against the floor as she walked. Perched atop her head was an extravagant feathered hat, which rather reminded Sunny of a bird. The unknown lady walked over to Sunny and knelt, her ruffled dress ballooning around her.

“Hallo there,” she said kindly, looking into Sunny’s wide eyes.

“This might seem awfully strange of me, but I was wondering if you knew what year it was, my dear?” Sunny thought for a while until she proudly exclaimed,

“Twenty twenty-two!”. She sat there, looking pleased with herself for knowing the answer to the kind lady’s question. The woman’s mouth slipped into a triumphant smile, and she pulled an ornate 24-hour pocket watch out of her bodice. She stared at the clock’s whirling hands, which spun far too fast, then looked back up to Sunny.

“Thank you, my child! Thank you very much indeed!!” Still smiling ear to ear, the woman rushed away, with Sunny good-naturedly waving goodbye.

It was many years later until Sunny saw the woman again. Now a university student, borrowing as many books as her mother used to, Sunny believed her encounter with the strange lady displaced in time was simply a childhood fantasy, something which she imagined to busy herself. Yet, those many years later, Sunny was gazing up from her textbook distractedly when she saw a familiar figure walk across the library and down a row of book-lined shelves. The figure, with her extravagant gown and eccentric hat, looked exactly as she did on their first encounter, not aged a day. Astounded, Sunny rose from her chair and rushed over to where she saw the glimpse of the woman. Yet, although Sunny hadn’t averted her gaze since first seeing the lady walk down the row of books, she now seemed to have vanished. She looked around to see if the woman had somehow left the dead-end of shelves, yet her search was unsuccessful. As she was about to leave, something caught her eye. Discarded on the ground was unmistakably the woman’s pocket watch, hands stopped on 18:22. Thus, Sunny knew wherever, or rather whenever she went, the unknown woman was gone.

Alice Portz Year 9

Sunny

Grace McKinnis was runner up for the Year 11/12 age group

The netted metal slams the wood behind me, clicking into place as my left hand is tugged ferociously, the material coiled around my wrist tightening. My fingers are fumbling for my earphones and being hauled to a curious magpie, the relentless growling of my dog doing nothing to scare it.

“Shush. Sunny, stop! Stop! Just wait a minute.” I hiss at the determined dog, exasperated as I try to find a place for my keys, phone, poo bags (a necessity), and the leash. I huff out a relieved breath, smiling at the quirked golden head and her worried chocolate eyes once everything is in its place. I coax her to turn around, until she is once again yanking me to the street to explore the wonders of suburbia. I keep up with her, jogging until we turn the corner, habitually pressing my earphones in as I worry that the cold plastic will tumble out and be crushed underfoot.

We slowly find a rhythm, the sporadic jerking of the leash following a new trail, or a territorial urination.

“Really?” I question her, staring into her concentrating gaze, eyebrow raised. Her eyes flit away from mine as she squats, shame lightening the brown as she acknowledges the ridiculousness of this practice. That doesn’t stop her though. We’re turning the corner now, striding up the concrete hill and past all the shuttered storefronts as I rush to be alone on the secluded streets once again because-

Oh no.

It’s our worst nightmare.

A… person.

They’re too far away! I can’t tell how old they are, let’s just pray that- no!

My voice wails in my head, everything rising with the thumping of my blood; they’re our age!

Fifty metres away.

Its fine, keep on walking, just don’t look at them. Or make eye contact. I fix my gaze on a fire-truck red post-box in the distance, and peek at her out of my peripheral.

Forty metres.

I can’t keep on watching the post-box, that’s weird. Let’s change the song.

Twenty metres.

Twenty metres?! How did that happen?

Ten metres.

Okay, okay, it’s time for brief eye contact. Prepare for close-lipped smile, initiate faraway gaze that will happen to land on her. It’s not like I’ve been monitoring her for the past minute or so.

Ha.

Five metres.

It’s go time.

Except... I’ve forgotten. How could I have forgotten?

Sunny. I see it in slow-motion, her long pink tongue hanging out of her lopsided grin, muscles tensed for the jump, the lead as tight as a guitar string.

Nooo! The word collects in my throat, ready to tumble out my mouth-

Sunny leaps into empty air. The girl weaves around us, her gaze fixed on her flashing screen.

Sunny and I walk past; her tail brushing the ground, head hanging low and deflated as I become aware of the uncomfortable heat in my armpits.

We turn into a long empty street.

It’s okay. I did it!

We did it.

Grace McKinnis Year 11

LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

We are delighted to be hosting 4 students from Yamawaki high school, in Japan, in Term 3. We have hosted students from this school in the past and it was an enriching experience for both our students and the students from Yamawaki. Anne Iinuma, Kanon Ishiwatari and Yui Nishitani arrived on Friday and were warmly welcomed by their Year 10 buddies Aisha Binnie, Sandy Hoang, Madeline Wilson and Nina Vuong. We have another student, Kisaki Chino, who will be joining us in a few weeks. There was lots of excitement all around as the Japanese students were given a tour of the school and introduced to our Academy students. Thank you to all of the students involved for being wonderful ambassadors for the school. We wish the Yamawaki students a very happy and fulfilling time with us at Academy.

Ms Natalie Dickson Languages Learning Leader

EARTH AT ACADEMY

There was a carnival atmosphere in the Food Tech room last Friday as the teachers pitted themselves against some of the Academy’s finest young cooks in a meat free Master Chef organised by Earth at Academy. While the challenge was to create a meat free dish, the performance in the kitchen was pure ham.

English teacher, Mr McNamara, was poetry in motion as he brought his sense of purpose and exacting standards to the task. ‘It is not raw’, he roared to the doubters at the window. PE teacher and crowd favourite, Mr Molino, managed a personal best whilst freely acknowledging ‘hey…this isn’t the Stoke House guys’.

Year 12 students, Yasmin and Amelia, seemed to float above the intensity. Their experience in the Food Tech room held them in good stead.

Judges Ms Pigo and Mr Chan demonstrated a depth of food knowledge which is frankly wasted in the Languages and Maths departments! Their silver palates deciphered subtle notes and bold flourishes and they were generous in their praise for both teams [while pointing out that the dropped frittata had not gone unnoticed].

Amelia and Yasmin’s zucchini fritters triumphed on the day and the audience was delighted. They had amply demonstrated that vegetarian food could be quick to prepare and delicious. Sinead and Malaya from Year 11 won the audience prizes by answering the question ‘why do we need to reduce our meat intake’ with great insight.

Some suggestions to reduce our meat consumption from the heaving crowd which gathered at the food tech windows:

Emma suggests having a vegetarian meal once a week. Maggie favours incorporating a new vegetarian meal in your meal plan each week. Use meat substitutes and rejig the ratio of meat to vegetables on the plate, suggest Alyssa. Rahel likes vegan burgers. Isobel replaces meat with chickpeas. Siobhan thinks looking at our waste is an important way to reduce our meat consumption. Jaida believes we should all be eating more carrots!

A special thanks to Ms Vaughan who raided her garden to provide herbs and lemons.

Ms Amy Prendergast Sustainability Leader

McAULEY RESOURCE CENTRE

Welcome back to Term 3 which is always an exciting time in the world of libraries as Book Week is celebrated in August.

Each year since 1945 the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) has brought children/teenagers and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. The awards for Book of the Year in the Older and Younger Reader categories are always eagerly anticipated and the books this year short listed have been fantastic. The shortlist for this year includes:

CBCA Book Week

has had a slogan since 1945. Artwork is developed by a winner of the previous year's CBCA Book of the Year Awards and used for CBCA Book Week promotional material and merchandise. The MRC will soon celebrate the theme of Book Week which this year is: "Dreaming with eyes open"

Yes, we are excited! Happy reading

Ms Anne Chowne and Ms Cathy Bennett McAuley Resources Co-Learning Leaders

iNFORMATION

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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