Student News

Debating and Public Speaking at SCHS

At SCHS, the debating and public speaking program has a proud history of outstanding individual and team success. With the DAV (Debating Association of Victoria) interschool competition about to commence on 14th March, our students are already impressing adjudicators. Three students (Anagha Giri and Rubina Singh of 12K1 and Fatima Arshad of 10K1) recently progressed through to the ‘call back’ round of the Victorian State Team trials. They were among 27 students selected from 140 students who participated in the first round of trials-an impressive achievement in itself!

Congratulations to Fatima, who went one step further and was selected in the Victorian State Team! Fatima now joins a squad of 12 students who will receive special coaching, in preparation for possible selection in the representative team to travel to Western Australia and compete in the National Championships.

"The experience I’ve gained in debating thus far has helped me immensely in my journey. I’ve received professional coaching and training, mentoring from Ms Sullivan and encouragement to compete in various public speaking competitions. Throughout my time at SCHS, I have been given the opportunity to develop my confidence and hone my public speaking skills and have found my own voice amongst many others. The quality of speakers in many of the competitions I’ve been offered to compete in has been very high, allowing me to learn from the best. Recently, I have been attending training sessions hosted by the VST and have found these to be very beneficial. I hope to advance from here onwards." - Fatima Arshad

The DAV competition will be held on the following dates, at Williamstown HS (Bayview Street Campus). The Year 10-12 debates run from 7pm-8pm, and the Year 9 debates run from 8pm-9pm. Parents, family and friends are cordially invited to watch the debates. More details can be found here.

Ms Cindy Sullivan

Head of English/Debating & Public Speaking Coordinator

Dance Co-Curricular Class’ Jamaican Party

In the first session of the Dancing Co-curricular, Ms Inserra and Miss Fenby organised for us to learn Jamaican Dancehall. The instructors, two Jamaican break-dancers, had just arrived in Australia, and we were very lucky to be joined by such talented dancers. The other students and I learnt a lot about Jamaican culture, and the class was great fun!!!

- Ilham Aliye, 11C2

Economics Excursion to Monash University Behavioral Economics Laboratory

Last year, for the economics excursion, we visited the Clayton campus of Monash University. After travelling there together from Flinders Street Station, we got the opportunity to explore the beautiful campus. The best part of the day was engaging in an economics experiment, revolving around a common value auction. While the experiment gave us an opportunity to gain a practical experience of what bidding in an auction would look like, we also got an insight into the common behaviour patterns of bidders during an auction. This, along with being interesting, enhanced our understanding of behavioural economics. The friendly professors answered our questions regarding the vast study options at Monash, and gave us a guided tour around the campus. We also got the chance to come back to Melbourne Central, and have lunch.

Overall, the day wasn’t just an opportunity to enhance our understanding of economics, but we were also able to spend some quality time with each other, looking at future study options and making memorable moments.

- Rubina Singh, 12K1

Year 9 House Program & Student Leadership Primus

A quick start this year saw the Year 9 Primus Cup, with Blackwood taking out the title, in the first week. In Week 2, all students headed to MSAC for the Swimming sports that was an astounding success with enthusiasm from all houses and the win once again returning to Kororoit.

Outside of these massive events there has been significant planning and development for the remainder of the year. Student leaders from each house, SRC and the school captains attended a leadership day with the the select entry schools. Students have developed a vision and plan for both the student leadership and house programs. A range of interesting and exciting ideas are now in the works. Most recently; the house leaders met to start the planning for House Chorals. All of the houses spent 5 periods planning their performances that are sure to astound come June.

Co-Curricular Update

The Co-Curricular program kickstarted on Feb 7th with a range of new and exciting classes plus a range of the old faithfuls. New this year we have Soccer, Billiards and Snooker, Table Top Games and Golf. All co-curricular classes are final for the semester though changes for Semester 2 will open during Term 2.

We'll have a more detailed rundown of Co-Curricular activities in our next Newsletter.