Principals' Report  

Executive Team Report 

We have come to the end of an interesting term.  One which included the beginning of our building project and the disruption that entailed as classrooms were re-positioned as well as a circuit breaking remote learning period. I would like to congratulate our staff and students for the resilient way they have managed a range of diverse challenges. 

To conclude the term, we conducted a series of assemblies. One was led by our Middle School Captains and which celebrated a number of student achievements and musical performances. The other allowed us to formally recognise our current Year 12 students. Student leaders and the Year 12 cohort were presented with their badges. Our school captains, Noah Jones and Karina Lyons, led the assembly with great aplomb. This was their first opportunity to speak to the student body and they delivered a speech of high quality.

We were also very pleased to welcome a range of special guests, including a number of students who completed Year 12 in 2020.

Paul Hamer, State Member for Box Hill presented the Mollie Holman Award (Box Hill STEAM Award) to Alvin Fung and Charlotte Terrill. Both Alvin and Charlotte have pursued their interest in Science and Technology with their studies at Monash University. 

Val Crees, the current President of the Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Rotary club, presented Citizenship Awards to Hayley Mason and Elisha Punay. These awards recognised the contribution made by these students as leaders and members of Interact. 

Jamie Bastion and Erin Lawson, the current Interact Presidents, welcomed Joe and Gillian Somers to the stage to present badges to all members of Interact on behalf of MASH Rotary.

Blair Tink, one of our School Captains in 2020, shared his vision in the design of a Reconciliation Plaque for the school. Blair’s art work has been captured in a beautiful piece which will be mounted in the reception area of the College. Blair has just begun his electrician’s apprenticeship and it was great to welcome him back to Koonung.

We also enjoyed excellent speeches, which were delivered by Reka Ropolyi, Dux of 2020, and Jiawen Wang who earned a perfect score of 50 in Maths Methods. 

Reka talked about the importance of recognising the demands of VCE and not wasting energy trying to suppress those needs. She also identified the value of pursuing things you love and changing your view of things you don’t love into things you can come to value. Her speech is included below and is well worth reading in its entirety.

Jiawen spoke about the beauty of Maths and the value of making mistakes and learning from them. He also mentioned the value of aiming high and enjoying the achievement of problem solving. In my speech I had thanked our ex-students for coming back to speak today it was very touching when Jiawen said, “that I did not need to thank them because Koonung is their family and why wouldn’t they want to visit family.” Jiawen’s speech is provided for your interest.

This assembly was an opportunity to recognise the achievements of our students and to hear about their journey and their new life experiences. One of the great strengths of Koonung is the willingness of our past students to continue to contribute to our school. We saw it with volunteers on the Year 7 Camp, the involvement of past students in our School Play and Musical and other important events. I would like to thank our past students for their continued involvement with the college and their generosity. 

The end of term 1 is an appropriate time for reflection, both individually and collectively. It allows us all to consider our performance and efforts. If we have worked well and achieved our goals, we can be proud and continue to maintain those habits.  If we believe we can do better, it is an opportunity to reset and adjust our practices. At Koonung we speak often about our values and the type of organisation we would like to be. 

Each one of our values was chosen because they demonstrate actions and beliefs which allows us to function effectively. If we live them in our actions, words and work habits we will be a cohesive community that celebrates diversity, supports and learns from each other and ultimately grows as a collective and therefore as individuals within. 

It has been enlightening hearing from our students in these assemblies. Their strengths and experiences are different, their outcomes individual, however, I believe we may hear a message that can resonate for each of us. I hope we are all inspired or challenged to set personal goals that we can work towards. 

Finally, thank you everyone for your hard work and contribution to our school during this term, I hope you all have a wonderful break. Take the opportunity to share special times with family and friends. Re-energise, re-set and return to us in April with optimism and excitement so together we can enjoy a positive and successful 2021.

Thank you BreadStreet

Thank you to David Winter (BreadStreet), who  epitomises community values and recognises the vital role of community partnerships. Today our staff were the recipients of his generosity once again when they enjoyed a morning tea of delicious hot cross buns.  

Marianne Lee

Principal