Aitken College Newsletter

Principal's Message

 

 

                   

 

 

 

 

                                            Mrs Josie Crisara

It has been a busy few weeks with Book Week activities, Year 8 City Experience, Tournament of the Minds competition, the Parents and Friends Fathers Day Breakfast and Stall.

Book Week

The Library and English staff provided students across the school with engaging activities including visits from authors and illustrators, Book Club activities, Writing Workshops, Cumberland Picture Story Book activity, Book Week Dress Up and a hotly contested Literary Trivia competition.

Tournament of Minds

Congratulations to the students involved in the Tournament of Minds competition held last Sunday. This competition challenges students to solve problems by thinking outside the square and then communicating their solution to a panel of judges and an audience.  One group received an Honours Regional Award and will now be heading to the State Finals.

Year 8 City Experience

City Experience is a great way for students of the College to learn about the City of Melbourne, travel its streets, visit landmarks and display a level of independence in their small groups. Many students will have gained valuable experiences and knowledge to come back and share with fellow students, staff and parents.

Year 11 Presentation Ball

This annual event was held last Saturday and it was great to see our Year 11 students presenting some dancing they had learnt over 10 weeks and celebrating this event with families and friends. The first Presentation Ball was held in 2001. The students from the Class of 2002 were involved in the planning for what this event would be and they were keen for the Ball to reflect that we are a co-educational school, that all Year 11 students could participate, that only students of the College would participate in the presentation, that there should be lots of colour, that some formal dance lessons were covered and that family was an important part of the evening. Each of these elements still continue today.

Fathers Day Breakfast and Stall

The Parents and Friends Association ran another very successful Fathers Day breakfast and stall. Fathers and father figures play an important role in the lives of children.

Thank you to the parents who assisted with running these events for our community and also to those families who supported the events. The student Catering group did a fantastic job serving coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Lots of egg and bacon rolls were consumed and even some croissants and muffins.

AHISA Principals Meeting

Last week we hosted a Victorian Branch meeting of AHISA Principals (Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia) at the College.  Our guest speakers were, Michelle Green and Nigel Bartlett, from Independent Schools Victoria who spoke about the politics in the Education Landscape. A number of our Year 9 students were involved in directing Principals around the site, and the feedback I received from Principals, related to their courteous manner and the pride they have in their school.

Traffic on Mickleham Road

Please continue to write letters to people and organisations below in relation to Mickleham Road. On Thursday afternoon at school dismissal time, works on Mickleham Road caused significant disruption and delays particularly, with school buses, but also with access in and out of the College as well as impacting the rest of the community. I have contacted VicRoads regarding this matter and also traffic management arrangements related to other works on Mickleham Road impacting the College.