PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Parent Teacher and Student conferences are an invaluable opportunity to connect and seek feedback about student progress.

The day reflects so much about the value of education at McKinnon.

I love seeing parents and students having discussions after each interview. Student outcomes are impressive at McKinnon because parents and teachers work so closely to achieve all we can for the student in our care.

The strong relationships formed between staff, students and parents and the respect shown is a credit to everyone.

It is a long day but such a rewarding and positive one!

To staff, thank you for being here. Thank you for your commitment, dedication and professionalism.

To parents I say thank you for taking such an interest in your child’s education and being such an invaluable support to us. You are an incredibly important member of the McKinnon success story.

Finally to the students, I say keep up your great efforts, do the very best you can and we could not be more proud!

SPRING SENIOR SOIREE

Thank you to Ms Tracy Videon, Ms Clare Bugeja with assistance from Ms Megan Papworth, for the organisation of the Senior Spring Soiree that was held on Sunday 17 September in the Lecture Theatre.  The standard of playing showcased both large ensembles (Orchestra and Chamber Strings) and smaller chamber ensembles and soloists. It was a relaxing afternoon of entertainment where the joy of music was enjoyed by all who attended.

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS

This year two teams won the Metro Central Region held at Deakin University, Burwood on 19 and 20 August.

Team 2 Secondary Engineering Maths Challenge

Facilitator: Mr Arwin Hurwitz with Lynton Perry Helping

Tim Blair 7A, Harry Mills 7H, Nicholas Lanaras8E, Vatsal Ved 8E, Elizabeth Lanaras 10E (Captain), Jack Mills 10E and Krishna Pillaai 10F.

Team 5 Secondary Science Technology Challenge

Facilitator: Mr Lynton Perry

Josh Ainsworth 7I, Reef Snell 7I, David Hantzopoulos 9E, Angel Aguilera 10I (Captain), Andy Kim 10N, Hannah St John 10H and Sophie Van Doorn 10J (Captain).

Team 2 Engineering Maths were unplaced in the State Challenge

Team 5 went on to win the Science Technology Secondary Division at Tournament of Minds Victorian State Final at La Trobe University on Sunday 10 September. Team 5 won the right to compete at the Australian Pacific Final in Adelaide at Flinders University on 28 October. This is the first time a McKinnon Secondary College team has won at a State Final ever in about 20 years of competition. McKinnon is sending a team to Adelaide to compete. 

Teams from all Australian States and Territories; possibly teams from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand and International Schools from Asia, South Asia, Pacific may compete in this years' Australian Pacific Final in Adelaide this year at the Australian Pacific Final. 

It has been estimated that 36,000 students will competed in the 2017 Tournament of Minds competition this year.

This year, 7 teams competed in the McKinnon Tournament of Minds Challenge which included 50 students, 5 student mentors and 4 staff.

Mr Michael Killeen     Team 1 Engineering Maths

Mr Arwin Hurwitz       Team 2 Engineering Maths

Mr Lynton Perry          Team 3 Engineering Maths

                                             Team 4 Engineering Maths 

                                             Team 5 Science Technology

                                             Team 6 Science Technology

Ms Marika McKinlay  Team 7 Social Science

Congratulations to all the teams who participated.

This is such a wonderful result. Thank you to the mentors and I would particularly like to thank Mr Lynton Perry for coordinating this event for students.

ASIA WEEK

This week we have been celebrating Asia week with fabulous celebration around food, music and dance which brought about great enjoyment and a celebration of cultural diversity and understanding.

I would like to thank all staff who have helped us celebrate and particularly Mrs Nayyar for her dedication and commitment to putting together a very enjoyable and successful week of celebration.

This is a week that helps us become even better global citizens giving us an appreciation and understanding of all things ‘Asian’.

Diversity and respect of other cultures, beliefs and customs is imperative for all of us to become the best citizens possible.

ALL SCHOOLS ATHLETICS VICTORIA KNOCKOUT

On Thursday 14 September twenty of our students represented the school at the Athletics Victoria All Schools Knockout Competition at Lakeside stadium. The competition saw our students competing against the top athletes from all public and private schools from across Victoria with winners progressing to National Finals in Adelaide.

Our Junior Boys Squad consisted of Seamus O’Brien (Year 7), Finn Paynter (Year 7), Nicholas Karamihos (Year 8), Lachie Edis (Year 9), Matt Day (Year 7) and Matt O’Brien (Year 8). A couple of noteworthy performances were recorded on the day, Seamus came 10th in the Hurdles, Finn 14th in the 100m and Matt O’Brien placed 4th in the Javelin. The Relay team ran a 4 x 200m at the conclusion of the competition placing 9th. The boys overall position was a fantastic 8th place out of 26 teams.

Our Intermediate Girls Squad consisted of Cara Smith(Year 8), Genevieve O’Brien (Year 9), Lilli Baikie (Year 8), Emma Hattingh (Year 10), Stephanie Baker (Year 7), Hannah Cote (Year 7), Arwen Verdnik (Year 10) and Gemma Strangio(Year 10). Hannah Cote, our star Year 7 sprinter came 4th in the 100m and 5th in the 200m despite competing against girls in Year 9 and 10.  Both Lilli (Year 8) and Stephanie (Year 7) also performed very well placing 2nd in the Javelin and 6th in the Shot Put, throwing against girls 2-3 years older than themselves. The girls finished the day by coming 7th in the Relay and placing 10th overall out of 19 teams.

Our Intermediate Boys team consisted of Jason Clayton (Year 10), Tom Johnston (Year 10), Ben Howells (Year 10), Xavier Verdnik (Year 10) and Will Sharp (Year 9). Jason finished 3rd in the 800m, Tom finished 4th in the Javelin and Xavier came 9th in the 200m. Despite the boys being two team members down they managed to finish 9th overall, which was a great result to see. 

Congratulations to all the students who competed, it was a fantastic opportunity with extremely positive results.

STATE SCHOOLS SPECTACULAR

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Kate Collier (Year 11) who performed at the Victorian State Schools Spectacular at Hisense Arena on Saturday 16 September 2017.  This show will be broadcast on Channel 7 in October.

Kate is a very commendable ambassador for our school and we wish her all the very best in her future endeavours.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations Gabrielle Goldab (Year 8) for winning Best and Fairest for U14 Division 2 Girls Football in the Southern Metro Junior Football League (SMJFL).  Gabrielle received 19 votes and was the only player from her Club, Bentleigh Saints, in the Top 10.

Also Gabrielle was Captain when her team won the Grand Final. She also received best on ground voted by the Umpires. This is a wonderful achievement Gabrielle. Well done!!

NEW CALEDONIA TRIP

Twenty-seven Year 9 French students, along with Ms Dickson, Ms Antal and Mr King left on Monday for New Caledonia.

Travel is such an important part of the rich extra-curricular opportunities for students. I wish them well and know that through this immersion their language skills will be much improved.

TERM 3

Term 3 has been very hectic indeed.  Tremendous learning has been undertaken and I thank our dedicated, passionate teachers who work tirelessly to ensure students are given every opportunity to strive academically and socially.

We have a strong sense of belonging and community at McKinnon due to the wonderful opportunities provided for the students in our care.

May I wish the community much enjoyment with family and friends over the coming break.