LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Congratulations to both the Junior and Senior School Captains who were presented with their badges at the first General Assembly for the year on 8 February 2019.

SENIOR SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Captains: Erika Phan & Xavier Verdnik

Deputy Captains: Gemma Strangio, Sophie Van Doorn, Adam Alfawwal & Liam Atchison

SENIOR SCHOOL HOUSE CAPTAINS

CHISHOLM

Captains: Lara Van Zyl & Jason Clayton

Deputy Captains: Holly Watkins & Liam Taffe

FLYNN

Captains: Gemma Strangio & Sam Kristensen

Deputy Captains: Eleanora Gilbert & Miles Sellenger

GILMORE

Captains: Lilly Felder & Liam Atchison

Deputy Captains: Jessica Ponsford & Ben Howells

MONASH

Captains: Sienna Beaves & William Zontanos

Deputy Captains: Katrina Gill & Michael Pupko

SENIOR SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Myles Kelemen

SENIOR HOUSE MUSIC CAPTAINS

CHISHOLM

Captains: Chloe James, Jackson Tong, Mimi Bernstein, Oscar Zhang & Adam Alfawwal

FLYNN

Captains: Isabella Eikelis, Oliver Wiles, Chloe Swan, Keelan Armstrong & Orr Zaacks

GILMORE

Captains: Elizabeth Lanaras, Alex Zhang, Imogen Doherty-Brown, Myles Kelemen & Anthea Dimas

MONASH

Captains: Caitlin Irving, Eriks Stepanuks, Linda Nguyen, Michael Flavell & Fanxuan (Gary) Xia

JUNIOR SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Captains: Louisa D’Ambra & Drew Thompson

Deputy Captains: Alice Connolly & Arjun Jivanjee

JUNIOR SCHOOL HOUSE CAPTAINS

CHISHOLM

Captains: Holly Spencer, Will Kay, Alyssa Nikolakopoulos & Sam Kay

FLYNN

Captains: Caitlin Tampion, Romeo Martinez, Mia Sarra & Will Green

GILMORE

Captains: Mia Ciccolallo, Ethan Tran, Stephanie Baker & Kobe Francis

MONASH

Captains: Georgia Foran, Jordan Galgut, Matthew Day, Amber Lotzof & Gregory Liarakos

JUNIOR SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Sophia Diegelmann

We wish them well with their responsibilities and know they will be terrific ambassadors.

MINDFULNESS AT McKINNON

There is growing evidence that mindfulness has a positive impact on people’s lives so we are introducing ‘Mindful Mondays’ at McKinnon from next week. Each class will begin with a guided session of mindfulness each Monday. We hope this will be of assistance in terms of building resilience and stress reduction.

We are also running more optional sessions, available for students during lunchtime and after school to bring mindfulness drawing and meditation to our school community. In the busy world we live in, taking the time to feel in the moment, slowing down, experiencing some calmness is important for all of us!

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

The following ex-students have been featuring in the news lately and I would like to share and celebrate their success:

Harry Angus (Class of 2000) performed at the St. Kilda festival on Sunday 10 February, 2019 with his band ‘Cat Empire’

Sarah Aarons (Class of 2012) was a nominee at the 2019 Grammy Awards

Su Oh (Class of 2014) performed at the LPGA ISPS Handa Victorian Open from 07/02 – 10/02 and finished equal 2nd

CONGRATULATIONS

CONGRATULATIONS to Charlotte McLaverty (Year 9) who was nominated as a finalist in the junior Tropfest competition and on Saturday evening 9 February, 2019 she was awarded 2nd place for her film ‘Social’ at Tropfest. Well done!

I would like to congratulate and celebrate our students and ex-students for their marvellous achievements.

INTERACT CLUB

On Saturday 16 February, 6 Year 12 representatives of the Senior School Council were invited to the Melbourne Convention Centre for the first Australian Interact Clubs Convention.

INTERACT is essentially Rotary for high school students, providing them with the opportunities to fundraise for the charities that are chosen each year.

Following is the report from the McKinnon SC Senior School Council Representative for 2019 -

Myles Kelemen (Year 12)

"All students were welcomed from Rotaract District Presidents and reports by School Principals on the benefit of Interact in their schools. This was followed by a forum where schools shared their fundraising strategies and successes to inspire each other's ideas.

Afterwards, we were lucky to enjoy a performance of the Greatest Showman by Circus Oz, dances performed by Busy Feet, a group of kids with learning disabilities supported by Rotary and an inspirational speech given by Brittany Arthur, who also spoke at one of Justin Trudeau's conferences.

During lunch we enjoyed a magic performance and mindfulness session. Later, we broke into smaller groups to brainstorm fundraising ideas with the other schools, which included mental health, domestic violence and koalas with chlamydia. The day concluded with packing school supplies for disadvantaged school kids.

Overall, it was a great opportunity to build relations with other schools and we look forward to collaborating on fundraising ideas in the future.

Special thank you to Mr Peter Guttman and Salwan Shahine from Rotary for inviting us to the conference."

PARENT EVENINGS

Thanks to all the parents who have attended the Information Evenings held so far this year. Again a great opportunity to share stories, meet others in the same situation and reflect on our students’ journey. The support of our parent community is always very much appreciated and the Heads of Sub-school, Students Managers and teachers enjoy the strong partnerships that are built.

INTERGENERATIONAL CONVERSATION PROGRAM

We are very pleased to continue the Intergenerational Conversation program in German this year and welcome a number of senior native German participants to our first conversation. This program is well received by all participants, students and senior participants, and we appreciate the contribution that our volunteers make to the learning of our students.

BYTES PROGRAM

The BYTES program has commenced with 9UP (Year 9 Urban Project) for 2019. This project, regularly identified by students as a highlight of their year, sees students travel into the CBD on three days to investigate a key societal issue of their choosing. Past topics have included homelessness, sexism in the workplace and racism. Students will work to collect data and interview experts in the city to create an in-depth analysis of the issue. The project concludes with a presentation of their findings on Wednesday 27 March and Thursday 28 March to an audience of parents, teachers and peers.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

McKinnon is a full uniform school. We consider our students ambassadors for the College and expect all McKinnon students to wear their uniform with pride. All students in Year 7 to 12 are required to wear a blazer.

For terms 1 and 4 the blazer is optional – however it is the only outer garment permitted if the students want something warmer than their dress or shirt.

Adherence to school uniform rules is about respect for this community and its traditions and culture.

Again I thank parents for their support in implementing school policy. Anyone experiencing difficulties may contact the relevant Student Manager, Assistant Principals or myself.

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

A reminder that the ballot is still open to vote for the parent representative for McKinnon Secondary College School Council. Ballot papers are available from the school office and the ballot closes on Monday February 25th at 4.00pm.

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