PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRICIPAL

CLASS OF 2017

We farewelled the class of 2017 in a formal manner with the Valedictory dinner held at the Crown Palladium and the evening was enjoyed by students, parents and teachers.

Many staff have played a significant role in educating and supporting these students over their years at McKinnon, however I would like to acknowledge the senior team in particular Lachlan Noble, Chris Hudd, Emma Mullane and Kath Cozens for their support of the Class of 2017.

Our Valedictorian for this year was Katiba Nainhabo and his reflection on the years at McKinnon included the following:

“It is a huge honour to be standing here as the valedictorian for the graduating class of 2017. These six years at McKinnon have been an amazing experience with plenty of fond memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

All the memories, all the friendships, the growth and development would not have been possible without the guidance and support of our teachers and parents. A teacher’s primary goal, as you should know, is to educate. But here at McKinnon you can tell that the teachers really put in more of an effort than their peanut salaries show. They show respect and compassion for each and everyone, ensuring that we get the best out of ourselves. In particular, I would like to thank our student managers: Ms Cozens, Mrs Mullane and Mr Hudd. As well as the principal team: Mrs Binnion, Mr Long, Mr Kan and Mr Noble.

Next, our parents have paved such an integral part of our lives. They’ve paid for our school fees, bought us lunch and provided a roof over our heads. But mostly they have been there through the dark times and rough journeys, as well as celebrating the joyous occasions, like tonight for instance. And for that we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

As the year winds down, we begin to think of ATARS, Uni’s, Tafes and various other achievements and pathways. This is the time to knuckle down and really demonstrate our capabilities. As the old adage goes: Hard work = success, and I believe we are all able to achieve each of our unique goals. Whether that be a 99.95 ATAR score or simply completing your final exam. As long as that it is the best possible output you could produce, you can walk away with your head high. This hard work that I believe we all possess should not come at the cost of a dying social network or drift in friendships. After all, it is our friends that inspire us, that strive us to do better and most of all make us happy.

We started this journey 2093 days ago in the halls of McKinnon, and now we are almost at the finish line. One final push, one last effort, let’s show our teachers and parents what we are made of. Best of luck to your future endeavours, it’s been a great ride.  Thank you.”

Thank you to the many parents who expressed such gratitude and appreciation to me for the positive difference that has been made to their children’s lives because of the experiences at McKinnon.

I thank our School Council for their support of this event and especially our President, Mr William Confalioneri.

To all the teachers and staff at McKinnon, thank you for what you do and the way you do it!

Year 12 Valedictory Dinner Photos

THISTLELONIAN REUNION

This annual event was held again last Saturday 28 October and it was a very successful evening. It really is a point of difference for McKinnon.

On the night we also celebrated the 40th anniversary for the Class of 1977 from Murrumbeena Secondary College.

The Thistlelonian committee work tirelessly to make this event possible.

Having ex-students back is truly heart-warming and brings all an opportunity to connect and share great memories. The atmosphere and laughter was wonderful.

In particular I would like to thank and acknowledge Melanie Lynch, Geoff Woolnough, Pam Dickfos, Jenny Cooke, Ian Jackson, Andrew Newton, Lee Xanthoudakis, Eddie Mest, Les McLeod, Jason Evans, Michael Kan, Lachlan Noble, Richard Long, Andrew Krause, Nick Xanthoudakis, Callum Lloyd, Matthew Shaw, Marie Landini, Joanne Robinson, Tania Burnell and Raelene Evans and to the many others who volunteered on the night. It is a team effort. I also appreciate our teachers who attend and who enjoy the conversation with so many ex-students.

GRAND REUNION PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE TO VIEW ON THE THISTLELONIAN'S FACEBOOK.

BENTLEIGH RSL

The RSL Community Presentation Night was held last week, and the school has been presented with a $3000 donation from the Bentleigh RSL.

This donation will be awarded on Presentation Night to music students to ensure they continue with their commitment and pursuit of musical excellence.

It is awarded in memory of the late Perc Brierley from the Bentleigh RSL.

I thank the Bentleigh RSL for their generosity and support and acknowledge the President, Mr Ian Butcher for his support of our school for many many years.

YEAR 8 CAMP

Congratulations to our Year 8 students and their teachers who participated in the Year 8 camp. Thank you to Peter Quinn, Brendan Hislop, Kally Alexandrou, Alice Carter, Daniel Farthing, Lauren Mellios, David Strehlau, Liam Adlington, Lauren Mauger, Renee Gordon, Chloe Krommydas, Matthew Shaw, Joshua Verlin, Kent Zhu and Nick Foot.

I acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the Year 8 Leadership team Phil de Salvo, Josh Cukierman and Charlotte Douglas.  It was a most successful and enjoyable camp.

SUCCESS STORIES

Congratulations to Ms Rose Kavanagh from our Music Department who won first prize in series 5 for the The Talent on 3MBS radio. This is a live broadcast performance competition for emerging artists. Among the prizes that she has won is a recital that will be presented and broadcast on the radio station.

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students: Max van Denderen, Jeffrey Chum, Elle Angelopoulos, Jarryd Harris, Jia Yi Li, Hamish Jobling, Nicholas Howe and Travis Chun Yu who successfully took part in this year’s competition at the German School Film Festival.

Their film Der Wurst-Albtraum was awarded 1st prize in the Middle and Later Years Category by the judges. The 1st prize is awarded with A$300.00 which is funded by the Goethe-Institut and the Association of German Teachers of Victoria Inc.

The event was held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image at Federation Square on Thursday 26 October 2017. Films in two categories were enthusiastically received by an audience of 160 students, teachers and parents.

This is a wonderful achievement for our students and I thank Mr David Nutting and Mr Josh Kamener for coordinating this event.

Aaron Khominsky (Year 8) has received an Academic Award from the Victorian School of Languages for Latin Year 9 for 2017.  This is a wonderful achievement for Aaron and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours with the VSL through Distance Education. Congratulations and well done!

Quinn Daly (Year 7) has received a Best Effort Award – Japanese Year 8 for 2017.  This award recognizes that Quinn has attained consistent effort and a very high level of achievement across all areas of the Distance Education course in 2017 with the Victorian School of Languages.  Congratulations and well done!

Congratulations to the following students who received a Glen Eira Council Student Achievement Award: Leiming Zhu (Year 12), Lucia Roohizadegan (Year 11), Stefan Simic (Year 10), Ze Kai Zhu (Year 9), Ray Lin (Year 8) and Stephanie Georgantas (Year 7). You are very worthy ambassadors from our school. Well done!

McKINNON INTERACT CLUB

McKinnon Secondary College Interact Club coordinator Andrew Hemsley and a number of Interact Club committee students were invited to attend the Bentleigh Moorabbin Rotary Club General Meeting on Wednesday 18 October.

Students including Sophie Van Doorn, Myles Kelemen, Jack Mills, James Hardy, Will Hardy, Chad Aizicowitz and Hayden Aizicowitz all presented to the Rotary Club, outlining what they had achieved so far this year, as well as their hopes and aspirations for the future.

The Rotary members were extremely impressed with McKinnon’s efforts in terms of fundraising for our chosen organisations, with over $3000 raised for the Leukaemia Foundation, Monash Children’s Hospital and Ba Vi Orphanage in Vietnam. This involved the Club running sausage sizzles, car washes, as well as busking at the Rotary organised Sunday market at Bentleigh Station.

Bentleigh Moorabbin Rotary Club have been proud sponsors of McKinnon’s Club since the beginning of the year. They sponsored six of our aspiring leaders to attend the RYPEN leadership and excellence camp in September, and have been financial supporters of the Club since its inception.

The McKinnon Interact Club looks forward to fostering a strong relationship with Rotary over the coming years.

I would like to thank and acknowledge Mr Andrew Hemsley for your organisation skills and for getting students involved.

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS

Team 5 Science Technology participated in the Tournament of Minds, Australian Pacific Final (APF) held at Flinders University Adelaide on Saturday 28 October. Team 5 flew to Adelaide on Friday 27 October. The schedule for APF involved the opening ceremony at Brighton Oval Sport Centre on the Friday and competing at Flinders University on the Saturday.

Team 5 Science Technology involved seven team members; Josh Ainsworth 7I, Reef Snell 7I, David Hantzopoulos 9E, Angel Aguilera 10I (Co-captain), Andy Kim 10N, Hannah St John and Sophie Van Doorn 10J (Co-captain). Mr Lynton Perry as Facilitator and Ms Judith Mantel, parent of Sophie, assisted with the team management over the APF challenge.

The Australian Pacific Awards Ceremony was held at Flinders University after the Tournament with 73 competing teams eagerly awaiting the result. His Excellency Hieu Van Le, Governor of South Australia opened the ceremony and Professor John Beynon, Vice President and Executive Dean (College of Science and Engineering) presented the awards. Our Team 5 Science Technology participated in their Challenge and we were pleased with their determination and resolve.

All Australian States were represented in the 73 participating teams and 8 New Zealand Teams, 4 International Schools, 3 from Thailand and 1 from Vietnam competed in this year’s challenge at the Australian Pacific Final. APF proved an exciting prospect and experience for the College with Team 5 Science Technology being our first Team to compete at this national level in Tournament of Minds.

Congratulations to all students for their efforts and participation.

I would like to thank and acknowledge Mr Lynton Perry who facilitated this wonderful event.