Koonung Secondary College Newsletter

Middle Years 

Middle Years Update 

It has been a fabulous start to the school year and I would like to thank the hard work and dedication of our Middle Years team. The coordinators have welcomed students warmly in assemblies, spent hours preparing classes, allocating lockers and have been responding to the inevitable string of queries and concerns in the first term.

Thank you to all the Year 7 students that represented the school so well while visiting a variety of primary schools over the last couple of weeks. Marianne Lee and I have been busy inviting the primary school students to our upcoming Open Day on 30 April. It is so important to continue to strengthen the links between our feeder primary schools and Koonung. It is always a lovely way to showcase our students. These visits are a great leadership opportunity and a place where our students can put their public speaking skills into practise. It also provides reassurance to the grade 6 students that secondary schooling is something to look forward to. I would like to thank and congratulate the following students. Shannon Yap, Jai Reddy, Eleora Suryahardja, Liam Hansen, Elka Sorrenson, Luka Stefanovic, Abby Hocking, Braden Lawson, Holly Burgess, Lex Bemrose, Dustin Ford, David Yan, Annabelle Field and Corey Lord. 

The holidays are a wonderful way to recharge our batteries. I encourage everyone to get some sleep, do some exercise, work off or make room for those Easter eggs. Get on top of any overdue homework and start preparing for Term 2. To our parents, enjoy your children, enjoy having them home, spend time together and talk to one another.   

Enjoy the break with your family and friends and thank you once again for a great Term 1.  

 

 

Extra-Curricular Excellence 

Calisthenics

Annabelle Field has been competing at the Blackburn Calisthenics for the past 7 years. She trains every Saturday, Sunday and Monday after school. This year Annabelle made the Victoria team!

Calisthenics is a mixture of both dancing and gymnastics. There are many different routines including rods, clubs, march, free arm, ascetics, song and dance. Her favourite is the review because it is a dance with the whole team and this year Annabelle is playing the character Tarzan. Last Sunday Annabelle won the solo competition and received a trophy. Earlier in the term she came 4th so she was over the moon to improve her ranking and take out the competition.

Fellow Koonung student Imogen Allen came second. Well done girls!

Photos sent Annabelle Field

 

 

 

Fencing

Hi everyone, back in February, I went on a trip to Tokyo with the NSW fencing team to represent Australia in fencing. Fencing is sword fighting and the types are; Sabre, Epee and Foil. The one I do is foil. Fencing is a fast sport, you always need to be

ready and alert, non-stop thinking about your next move. It has pain, action, excitement, disappointment, joy, fear, anticipation, friendship, envy and pride.  There are loads of emotions that go on inside you as you salute and go en-guard. Every bout is different and tests your skills and abilities.

The competition was on Sunday the 24th of February. The tournament was for girls doing Foil, 14 years old and under. When we arrived at the venue, it was packed! We had to take our shoes off before going upstairs to the warm up room with bags and equipment everywhere. In the competition, I had two NSW girls in my poule (the people who I fenced against) as well as two other Japanese girls.

The bouts were hard, confronting and intense (given the Japanese girls screamed every time they got a point to egg themselves on). In the end, I got a pretty good result, equal third with a NSW girl. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to share more adventures soon.

Taneka Huber 8F

 

 

Primary School visits

Last week I went back to my primary school Kerrimuir. The talk went really well, (Well, Mrs Lee assures me at least J) and it felt quite nice going back to see my old primary school. It was familiar just being in the buildings. Liam and I answered questions on our feet, it was just things that we already knew from our experience of starting Year 7. For example, things like the music program, the sport program, SEE@K etc. Some questions that the grade 5 and 6s asked shocked me a little bit. One, for example, was when a little girl simply asked, with a little awe in her voice, “What’s it like?!” I was caught out a little bit. Koonung seemed so much like my school now, I was so used to it. “Well,” I started, racking my brain back to when I was in Primary School, wondering what questions I would’ve been thinking about Koonung. “It… It’s very big?” I looked at Mrs Lee and she nodded me on. “You may think that it’s very hard to find your way around, but It’s really not. There’s a map in your diary, which isn’t hard in the least to follow.” I also remember wondering how I would find friends. “And finding new friends isn’t hard. Just remember everyone is in the same boat as you at the start, so… You’re not alone.” The girl nodded, seemingly happy with that response. I think it all went really well, it was great experience. Hopefully some new faces from Kerrimuir will be seen next year at Koonung Secondary College.

Elka Sorrenson  7D 

 

 Year 7 students who went and visited their primary schools.

(L-R) Shannon Yap, Jai Reddy, Eleora Suryahardja, Liam Hansen, Elka Sorrenson, Luka Stefanovic  

 

Uniform

Change to winter uniform

Thank you to parents for their support in ensuring students have worn the correct summer uniform during Term 1. We are changing our uniform but we are not changing our strong uniform culture.

Please note the following information for the changeover from the summer uniform to the winter uniform:

• Due to the variability of the weather, either summer or winter uniform may be worn for the first two weeks of Term 2 – from Tuesday 23 April to Friday 3 May, 2019;

• Students must not mix the summer uniform and winter uniform during these two weeks; • Winter uniform must be worn from Monday 6 May, 2019; and

• The winter uniform is outlined in the Student Diary.

The transition from summer uniform to winter uniform raises the following key points that students, parents and teachers need to work together on to maintain the uniform culture at Koonung Secondary College:

  • Shirts - students can wear long sleeved shirts which must be tucked in. Shirts must be able to be done up at the top button and sleeves are to be rolled down. Jill blouse for girls or school logo jack shirt for boys.

• Ties - are worn by all students and the tie is to be worn properly to the collar.

• Skirts - the summer dress is replaced by the winter skirt and must not be rolled or hitched up. Only wear black tights can be worn with the winter dress - socks are not permitted.

• T