Student Voice
Wellfest Week
Wellfest Week was a student-led initiative hosted by the College’s Student Representative Council in partnership with Student Services and this year, was held from the 30th of November to the 3rd of December. The week’s purpose was to promote the importance of looking after all dimensions of health to students and staff in the College Community. Students and staff participated in organised activities to create a positive atmosphere and were given the opportunity to learn about services available beyond the College walls. Thank you to all the students who supported the week and helped make the last week of the year one to remember.
Esther Walker
Student Representative Council President
Tag A Friend
The purpose of this activity was to uplift students' spirits and create a positive atmosphere at the school by students being grateful for each other. During Mentor Group, students were encouraged to write up a compliment for someone at the school; it could have been a peer, friend, or teacher. The compliments were written on small tags and distributed on Friday. We were excited to see all our students and staff involved in writing compliments to each other and showing their gratefulness towards their peers.
You’re Wonderful Butterflies
This activity aimed to have students identify aspects of themselves that they love, allowing them to celebrate their greatness. The students were encouraged to write something they like about themselves on paper butterflies; it could have been about their knowledge, skills, attributes, personality, or anything they appreciate and are grateful for. These butterflies will be hung around the school to remind students to appreciate themselves. The activity was a success, with all students and staff members writing on butterflies of what they love about themselves.
We look forward to seeing these butterflies hung around our school and working with students and staff in 2022.
The S.R.C. would like to thank all the Student Leaders who ran each Mentor Group session and the staff who supported this initiative during the week. Thank you!
Meghal Patel
Health & Wellbeing Secretary
Student Representative Council
Victorian Electoral Commission Incursion
During the last week of Headstart, the senior students attended an incursion hosted by the Victorian Electoral Commission to gain an insight into what voting looks like in Australia.
All students became aware of the difference between the State elections and Local Council elections. In a State election, you are voting for one person to represent your area, also known as the District, in the Lower House, and five people to represent your area, known as the Region in the Upper House. In a local Council election, you are voting for people to become Councillors. Depending on the Council, you can be voting for several people from the Council area to represent you or represent your section of the community, or else vote for one person from the Council area to represent your section of the community.
You must enrol and vote in a State election if you are 18 years old or older and are an Australian Citizen. Voting is compulsory in Australia and If you don't vote, you will receive a fine.
They also discussed the three levels of government - Federal, State and Territory and Local government and by the end of the presentation, students were able to successfully recall the responsibilities of these groups.
On the behalf of South Oakleigh College, we thank the Victorian Electoral Commission for their time to educate senior students about the voting system in Australia.
Mehak Dhingra
Campaigns Representative
Studet Representatice Coouncil
Salvation Army Food & Toy Drive and Presentation
For the past weeks, the Student Representative Council has been collecting food and toys for the Salvation Army. The goal was to create an incredible holiday season for people in need. We were overjoyed by all the donations given in. All the people in need will have an amazing holiday!
We received boxed toys and books for children, warm beanies, and puffer jackets for adults, as well as non-perishable food just to name a few of the things received.
A few year levels also sat and watched a presentation from representatives of the Salvation Army. We learnt about people who come to the organisation in search of support and the reasons why they do. For example, they told us about a man who sleeps in his car in the car park and showers and eats in the church. We understood the different life situations that people come in for. We learnt all about the different programs they offer for people. It was great to learn about the kind people that dedicate their lives to helping the less fortunate.
Paz Hidas
Year 7 Leader & Campaigns Representative
Student Representative Council
Wellfest Week, State Library of Victoria
On the 2nd of December, students in Year 10 examined a range of sources and perspectives to sharpen their historical and critical thinking skills.
They learnt to conduct historical source analyses of John Batman’s deed and Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie letter, used artworks to explore how Melbourne has changed over time, paired sources to build an understanding of the colonial dating scene, and discussed the importance of recognising multiple historical perspectives.
Thank you to State Library Victoria for running this virtual workshop with our students.
Andrew Leap
Education Support
Wellfest Week Disc Art Workshop
Today students explored paint and techniques using ear buds as their tool instead of the traditional paint brush. Students were able to express their creativity, through colour, pattern, style and balance.
Old DVDs and Albums were used and a total of 357 discs were completed by students and staff.
Students and school body will continue to produce these colourful outcomes which will form a huge outdoor mural on school grounds in the future. Thank you to Andrew Leap, and SRC student Genna Windsor, and supporting students Olly Harrison, Alec Woodfield, who worked all day supporting this project.
Well done! :)
Olga Lambrianidis
Art Teacher
The disk memorial art piece was a task that let everyone participate in a beautiful art piece to represent our school.
The artistic freedom of the task let us create and interpret the task differently. While some people drew lovely, dotted pieces. Others blended colours to their creative freedom.
I can’t wait to see how it looks all together and see our school represented through some divine art!
Ana D
Year 9 Student
Welcome to Summer
The S.R.C Campaigns and Health & Wellbeing Team hosted the annual Welcome to Summer Fundraiser on Friday 3rd of December to celebrate the lovely warm weather with a summer-themed out of uniform day, as well as selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts, icy poles and raffle tickets at recess and lunchtime by the S.R.C. The summer themed raffle was drawn during lunchtime with three amazing prizes including a Gold Lux Swan pool float, Snow Cone Maker and Foosball Table. Congratulations to Mr Fernandes, Nikitas and Mila for winning the draw.
The S.R.C raised a total of $1006.31. All proceeds from the day will be donated to S.E.S. Victoria to support and strengthen communities in need of emergency services as well as the Lighthouse Foundation in support for young people impacted by long-term neglect, abuse and homelessness. The Welcome to Summer fundraiser was a wonderful event to celebrate the end of 2021. Thank you to all the students and staff who supported this initiative. On behalf of the Student Representative Council, we wish you a safe and restful summer break, and can’t wait to see you in 2022.
Sylvia Krozian
Leading Campaigns Representative
Student Representative Council
Stay Kind Virtual Presentation
On Wednesday 1st of December, a few of our classes tuned into the Stay Kind Foundation virtual presentation, as part of the Wellfest Week initiative. The Stay Kind Foundation (Originally called the Thomas Kelly Foundation before being rebranded in July 2019) was formed in 2013 following the death of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly who was coward hit in an unprovoked attack in Sydney’s King’s Cross in July 2012. The Stay Kind Foundation has the vision of making Australia kinder and have made it a mission to promote the prevention of harm from bullying, hazing, violence, self-harm, and suicide by inspiring young Australians to actively engage in simple daily acts of kindness.
As a class, we discussed and shared what kindness means to us, with some ideas including respect, empathy and thinking about how our actions influence others. We then discussed how kindness fits into our school’s values; High Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Teamwork. We were taken through the importance of staying kind, how we practice kindness and were shown a couple of videos demonstrating kindness. Thank you to Natalie from the Stay Kind Foundation for taking time out of her day to talk to us.
Greg Acciarito
Student Voice Secretary
Student Representative Council
Peer Support Induction
The group of Peer Support Leaders for 2022 attended a Peer Support Induction on Monday, December 6th. The students were encouraged to be proactive in their training by challenging themselves to think outside the box. It was great to see the trainers in person this year rather than on a screen, as it was last year. It was wonderful to observe the students’ participation and see the joy on their faces! This program not only taught them that trust, teamwork, and communication are key leadership abilities, but also taught them that if they asked something from someone, they must do it three times more themselves to be the person they want the other to be. Our school values, HRRRT – High Expectations, Resilience, Responsibility, Respect, and Teamwork, have been taught to all students at our school since Year 7.
We saw all of them display these principles throughout the day, and it was wonderful to see them get the support they needed to improve their leadership skills even more! Our leaders participated in games that taught them a lot about cooperation, trust and communication skills. For example, students participated in a game called “Ten Step Pathway,” in which they had to negotiate a path together and unlock their 10 steps. This acted as a lesson to demonstrate to them that, while they are individual leaders, they must cooperate as a team to complete their journeys. They were asked to reflect on how they acted at the end of their game, which was excellent to observe because it taught them that reflecting on how they performed helps them better as leaders. Many of our students began the day with low self-esteem and by the end of the day they ended up taking the responsibility of leading specific activities, which was amazing to watch! We look forward to delivering a great program for all our 2022 Year 7 students!
Iliana Derzotis
Peer Support Mentor 2022
Year 7 Orientation Day
South Oakleigh held their Orientation Day for the 2022 Year 7’s on Tuesday the 7th of December. The Staff and Peer Support Leaders had the pleasure of meeting all of the new students, and it is safe to say that they were all fantastic! The Year 7’s were introduced to Ms Koziaris and Mr Picone in the morning and had the opportunity to learn more about how South Oakleigh operates as a community by Mr Tzimourtas. Mr Picone set a challenge for the Year 7s at the start of the day, which was to learn two new names before the end of the day. It was inspiring to see all of the new Year 7s, who had been worried all day, grow throughout the day by taking on this challenge!
The Peer Support Leaders spent the entire day with the Year 7 students, ensuring that they felt comfortable, addressing any concerns regarding high school and helping them make new friends! All the students had the chance to attend various sessions where they met most of our staff and learnt about what our school has to offer!
Students got to tour our TV studio and check out the cameras, as well as play in the school gym and participate in a variety of activities in class! The Year 7s were taken back to the Theatre after their final session to end their day on a positive note with Mr Tzimourtas wishing them success for 2022!
Iliana Derzotis
Peer Support Mentor 2022
VicSRC Congress Excursion
Lauren, Sylvia and I on behalf of the school community attended VicSRC’s 16th year of Congress and 2nd year from the comforts of home. Congress is VicSRC’s flagship student-led experience which brings together secondary school students from across Victoria to design solutions to the top issues in the education system, as voted by students. These issues and solutions become VicSRC’s advocacy platform for the next 12 months, spearheaded by the VicSRC Student Executive Advisory Committee.
We were put into action teams that we worked with throughout the day. The issues the groups focused on were Student-Teacher Relationships, Senior Secondary, Assessment (Non-Senior Secondary), Inclusion, Consent, School Timetabling and Structure, Teaching and Learning, Family and Community Engagement.
Our first session of the day was about getting to know our peers and having a general discussion on our assigned issues, what they look like at our schools and what experiences we may have had with these issues. We broke off for a bit and tuned into a Student Perspectives Panel. We heard from a panel of students who discussed their perspectives on education and their diverse experiences of schooling. They were asked a series of questions about the current issues in schooling/education and what they would consider and do. It was very insightful hearing about the student’s different perspectives and ideas on those issues.
Our action teams returned for our 2nd session. This session was about unpacking our first issue and coming up with the main problems to them and the causes of those issues. We analysed the reasons for them and why. We came up with questions starting with “How might We…” to help discover the solutions. Followed by this, we filled in a template called Blue Sky Thinking which refers to brainstorming with no limits. Our action teams worked together to brainstorm what our schools/education would look like if our assigned issue wasn’t an existing issue. During session 3, we repeated this process with our 2nd assigned issue.
At the end of the day, our action teams joined the main call room where each team presented their assigned current issues and the key ideas the teams came up with. I had an amazing time working with my group throughout the day and hope to do something like this again!
Greg Acciarito
Student Voice Secretary
Student Reresentative Council
After being stuck in lockdown for so long, it was great to finally be able to catch up and work with some like-minded people for Vic SRC’s congress. I was placed in an action team focusing on community and family engagement as well as senior secondary education. I enjoyed hearing from others and being able to share my ideas.
Lauren Olver
Student Voice Representative
Student Representative Council
2022 Student Leadership Training and Induction
On the 13th of December, all 2022 Student Leaders had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a Student Leadership Training Day. We were fortunate enough to have the program facilitated by Mr. Andrew Leap and hosted in the Learning and Teaching building located on the Monash University Campus. The day consisted of 3 sessions that were focused on exploring and acknowledging our values, as well as our attitudes towards leadership. Throughout these activities, both the senior and junior leaders were able to engage with each other, workshopping various outlooks towards what each student expects of their leadership role in 2022. Overall, we are very thankful to have been given this training day and are looking forward to representing the school as a part of the Student Leadership body in 2022.
Maple La
2022 College Captain
In preparation for next year, student leaders old and new made our way to Monash University to plan for next year’s festivities. We learnt about ourselves and others as leaders.
We started the day by deciding what our values were and how we saw and used them in everyday life. We wrote down ten different values that blended into our lives. Then we eliminated 3, then 2, then 2 again. It was hard at first but, we had to stick to our gut, and we finally finished with 3 values. We put everyone’s values on the whiteboard and at the end, we had a Value Vision Board.
In the second activity, we answered questions about what we want for the future of the student body and what we can do to help others. We discussed what differences we want to see within the school with other leaders. I got the privilege of sharing with the Curriculum, Health & Wellbeing and Enrichment S.R.C. Portfolios.
Afterwards, we wrote and received advice from the senior leaders (vice versa for the junior). We received very helpful advice like being organised, taking every opportunity and never being afraid to speak up.
The very last activity was planning for next year. I cannot believe how many leaders there were for the coming year. Overall, it was amazing getting to know each other and being in awe of how big the Monash Clayton Campus is. If you have the chance to apply next year for 2023, I definitely recommend it!
Paz Hidas
2022 Campaigns Representative
Student Representative Council
On Monday the 13th of December, the 2022 Student Leaders attended a training day at Monash University. Students participated in activities to improve their leadership skills and to get to know their team. One of the activities was recognising the values that were most important to us. We initially chose 10 values that we cherish and narrowed it down to only three and explain why we chose them. This activity revealed what values we as leaders want to stand by so that we can improve as leaders in the future.
A “get to know you” activity was also held. Everyone was in groups and each student wrote a fact about themselves then gave the facts they wrote to another group so that they could guess who wrote what fact. This told us how much we knew about everyone, but it also allowed us to learn something new about everyone.
When we reached the last part of the day, students were tasked to work with their separate teams to reflect on the previous year and plan for 2022. This helped us to get to know the people in our teams while creating unique ideas that might come into effect in 2022. This training day was very well organised and was a good learning experience. I’m sure every person who got a leadership position for 2022 was inspired. Having it held in Monash University was also a big bonus. Overall, this training event was a very fun and educational experience.
Yohan Soju
2022 Enrichment Representative
Student Representative Council