Leading Teachers Report 

Leading Teacher: Junior School Report

South Oakleigh College community, as always it has been an action-packed second half of Term 3. Our Junior School students have been immersed in various activities and programs including a number of them playing key parts in the magnificent production of Matilda. Special mention must be made of Year 7 student Sophie Volpert who did a superb job playing the role of Matilda. Well done to all students involved and it was great to see the show played over two nights in front of a packed theatre.

Our students are again excelling on the sporting field with our Year 7 Boys and Year 8 Girls Table Tennis Teams and our Year 7 & 8 Boys Hockey team advancing to the regional championships following their success last week. There were also numerous students who won their competition in the Monash Division Athletics carnival held recently and will now compete at the Eastern Metropolitan Athletics Carnival in Term 4. Congratulations to all of our students who so proudly represent South Oakleigh College on the sporting field.

Another highlight this term has been the high number of students who have been awarded certificates at our year level assemblies following the awarding of HRRRT points by their teachers. The certificates are awarded to students following the display of our College Values of High Expectations, Respect, Resilience, Responsibility and Team Work. Well done to all those students who received an award.

I hope all students take some time during the upcoming break to rest and recharge as Term 4 promises to be just as busy. 

George Tzimourtas

Leading Teacher: Junior School

Leading Teacher: Middle School Report

Term 3 had been a productive term for all our Middle School students. Our focus this term has centred around success and personal growth. I continue to be impressed with our Middle School students who have demonstrated substantial growth throughout 2022. 

This term, our students have been supported on a journey of learning in all subject areas. During the term students also took part in our second series of Elevate sessions that centred around Time Management (Year 9’s) and Student Elevation (Year 10’s). These seminars gave students insight into how time management was the first step to successful learning and how to develop a growth mindset. To develop their study routines, students created their assessment planners and were asked to prioritised high value tasks. Students learned techniques for self-motivation and how to break their goals down into manageable tasks and deadlines.

Our mid-term assembly included a celebration of success. We invited past students to talk about the individual successes that they have had since their time at school. All speakers spoke about dedication and commitment as the key to success. They implored our middle school students to set themselves goals and determine a plan on how they can achieve them. We remind students of our school values, encouraging students to set high expectations for themselves and to always try their best. 

As we look forward to the final term for 2023, I encourage students to continue to strive for success and make positive decisions which will provide opportunities for improved learning. Students should come to school with a growth mindset, ready to learn and with the required tools/equipment to do so.  This will ensure that all students develop the essential knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that enable them to be positive contributors to our school community. 

We would also like to acknowledge and congratulate the following students for participating in our HRRRT Awards Program. Our Silver Award acknowledges an ongoing commitment to our school values: High Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Teamwork. Our Bronze award acknowledges students that have demonstrated our school values throughout the year. Well done to the students below:

Silver Award 

Isavella Dimopoulos (Year 9)      

Genevieve Windsor (Year 10)     

Gregorio Acciarito (Year 10)

Bronze Award – Year 9

Alicia Robinson                         

Christos Tsoukalas                     

Olivia Calder

Yahya Muslemani                      

Stefan Krozian                           

Selin Canpolat

Massimo Lo Piccoli                    

Thomas McRae                         

Xander Szanto

Michael Efremoglou                  

Stephanie Galanos                    

Mia Piacentino

Jordan Backers                          

Mackenzie Dickson                    

Aakarsh Sethi

Nathaniel Kai Van Tay                 

Yamato Danckert                     

Gabriel Rodriguez

Lauren Olver                             

Summer La                              

Christos Angelodemou

Anna Alexopoulou                     

Catherine Daoud                       

Eli Storey

Lucy Zheng                               

Georgia Harty                           

Denis Del Castillo Delgadillo

Kristal Mabaet                          

Harvey Hamilton                       

Athanasios Berkman

Lucas Donohue                         

Luka Dedils                               

Anastasia Donnellon

Jamie Heng                               

William McManus                     

Ella Hunt                              

Phoebe Dedman                                   

Bronze Award – Year 10

Nguyen Tram Anh Vu                

Takoda Perkins                         

Anjli Sharma

Jia Kaur                                     

Saamyaar Sattar-Bagloo           

Stefani Milanovic

Shyli Barak                                

Claire Yeung                             

Dimitrios Papadimitriou

Alyssa Howard                          

Curtis Du Buisson-Fraser            

Maya Noyman

Arcturus Woodfield                   

Tiger Lao                                  

Keira Vincent

Middle School - Important dates for Term 4:

• Wed 26th Oct – Fri 28th Oct: Year 9 City Camp 
• Fri 11th Nov – Fri 18th Nov: Year 7-11 Exams 
• Nov 21st Nov – Fri 25th Nov: Year 10 Course Confirmation

Travis Knox

Leading Teacher: Middle School

Leading Teacher: Senior School Report

Our Year 12s have entered the final weeks of their secondary schooling. This is the culmination of 13 years of education. For some of our students it is a pause before continuing with more study, for other they are about to enter the world of work as apprentices. 

Our Year 12s have been very busy preparing themselves for their futures. The GAT held recently was the first experience of the VCAA exam period and our year 12s have been preparing themselves for the final examination period. 

Our normally boisterous common room was become much quieter, with piles of practice exams appearing on the tables. Discussions around tennis, basketball and F1 have been replaced with peer quizzes and SAC revision. We are reflective and grateful that 2023 has been interrupted by COVID and for the first time in several years a “normal” preparation process. 

We wish all our VCE students the very best over this exam season. 

GAT REVISION 

In late august our partners Skyline Hatch presented a GAT revision session for our students. The 2023 GAT has changed from previous years and now contained two separate sections – becoming a long exam day for everyone.  Our students revised over the new literary and numeracy standards and completed practice problems for science, English and math. 

PRACTICE EXAMS TIMETABLE:

PREPARING FOR VCE EXAMS

VCE examinations can seem like a daunting prospect but they don’t need to be if you’re well prepared.

These tips will help:

1. Make sure you’ve got notes on each of the Key Knowledge and Skills set out in the Study Design
2. Do 3 or 4 past exams to revise – if you can, work with friends to check and comment on each other’s answers
3. Read the examination reports
4. Don’t try and cram at the last minute. Draw up a revision schedule that makes best use of the exam lead-up period.
5. Better to get more sleep than stay up late studying during the exam period
6. Make sure you have two or three spare pens
7. Read the questions carefully
8. If you are stuck on a question, mark it, move on to the next and come back to it at the end
9. Keep track of the time during the exam, and make sure you try and answer as many questions as possible
10. Don’t leave the room early – use any left over time to revise and check

Grace Terdich

Leading Teacher: Senior School