Teaching & Learning

Calling all Former SOC Students!

Interested in joining our Alumni Community? We would love to hear what our former SOC students are up to! Fill out the following online form: https://forms.office.com/r/JakrRiSTFm if you are interested in sharing! 

Mathematics Extension Program: Melbourne University

In the school holidays, the University of Melbourne held a 90-minute program for Year 7 and 8 students in the Parkville Campus which I went to. During the session, we learnt a lot about Maths and Statistics, this session focused on probability and ways to interpret it. And a visiting Mathematician from England came to talk to us about her career and what she did in her job. 

For the activities, we sat at tables of four, and in pairs received a bag of different coloured gems. In our groups, we had to come up with ways to sample and determine how much of a single-coloured gem was in it. Everyone there had so much fun, and you also got prizes for engaging and contributing, like hoodies and candy. I highly recommend attending one of these sessions if you can, it is great for extending your knowledge and pushing yourself to do more. 

Jonathan Blyth

Year 8 Student

Accelerated English: Melbourne Writers Festival 

Earlier in the term, the Accelerated English classes from Years 7- 10 attended a Schools event held by the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, in the beautiful annex of the State Library of Victoria.

The day of lectures and Q and As with some of Australia’s most exciting and successful young adult writers, gave students great advice on how to find inspiration, develop a writing project, and what the creative writing industry is really like. Many students couldn’t wait to get home- and start writing!

Jessie Matheson 

English Teacher

VCE Art Making & Exhibiting: Gallery Visit

Early in May the year 11 and 12 VCE Art Making and Exhibiting class went on its first gallery excursion of the year. We spent time in both of the NGV galleries – one in Fed Square and one on St Kilda Road. At each location, we listened to a talk and spent time looking at a range of artworks. It was a feast for the eyes as well as being quite overwhelming with so much to see.

VCE Art students must be exposed to a range of art ideas and concepts, as well as develop an understanding of how the galleries work. The excursion was a success with students being excellent representatives of SOC, asking questions and learning heaps about the galleries and art. I look forward to our next outing.

Peta Close

Key Learning Area: The Arts/Technology

Greek Easter Traditions and Customs

Greek Orthodox Easter is a week-long celebration that includes a series of festivities. The Holy Week, or Megali Evdomada, is full of symbolic events, festivities, and traditions followed by the people.

Part of the Year 8 students' learning was, how Greek Orthodox people celebrate Holy Week and Easter Sunday. They dyed eggs red and held a Greek Easter competition by cracking their eggs, to determine who had the strongest egg. According to Greek tradition, the last person holding the unbroken egg is blessed with good fortune. 

The Easter koulourakia are served after lunch with Greek coffee, and the glendi continues with the most important part of any Greek celebration, music and dancing lasting into the late hours of the night. Students enjoyed cooking and giving different shapes to their koulourakia (cookies). 

Dimitra Maniatis

Key Learning Area: Greek

Oakleigh South Primary School Fete

South Oakleigh College made a wonderful appearance at the annual Oakleigh South Primary School Fete on Saturday, May 6. Three of our musical ensembles provided a full hour of entertainment in the school's hall, which was packed full of parents and students who stopped by to hear some wonderful music on their way to and from the Ferris wheels and hot dogs.

The VCE class wowed the audience with their musical talents, performing a range of classic hits and contemporary favourites. The Senior Contemporary Ensemble showcased their impressive, complex pieces, while the Rock Band, made up of some of our amazing Year 8 and 9 students, wowed us all with their electrifying performance, including an Eddie van Halen guitar solo. The crowd cheered and sang along, and the energy of our performers was palpable. Altogether it made for an unforgettable performance.

We are incredibly proud of all our students who participated in the event. Their dedication, hard work, and talent shone through, and they truly represented our school's commitment to excellence in the Performing Arts.

We would like to thank the Oakleigh South Primary School for inviting us to perform at their fete and for creating such a wonderful community event, and Mr Bennett and Mr Prewett for preparing the ensembles and delivering the equipment. We look forward to continuing to participate in future events and showcasing the incredible talents of our students. Well done to everyone involved! 

Aidan Prewett

Director of Music

Optus Digital Thumbprint Excursion

On the 15th of May, Students got the opportunity to attend the Optus Digital Footprint incursion. This event alerted students about the dangers of social media and reminded the importance of staying safe online. Dom, the presenter of this incursion, amazingly demonstrated different unique scenarios of how social media could affect your chances at employment. 

There was also a presentation about sexting and bullying online and what it could result in. We learned to keep our social media profiles clear of inappropriate content that employers wouldn’t want to see. We also learned about the hazards that sexting and being cruel online could cause. Like years before, this was a well-run program informing students how important it is to be safe online.

Yohan Soju

Your Enrichment Liaison and Communications & Student Experience Secretary

Student Representative Council

Cultural Diversity Week: Origami Session

On March 14th, some students gathered in C15 (the Japanese room) to celebrate Cultural Diversity Week. We made origami which is the Japanese art of folding paper. While doing so, there was some Japanese pop music motivating us to make as much origami as we could. There was a variety of origami that were made by the students such as cranes, frogs, flowers, butterflies and more. Everyone had an amazing time making origami and chatting with each other. The origami that the students have made will soon be used to be displayed around the school. Thank you to Miss Tynan and the student volunteers for organising this event!

Kinako Toniolo

Year 9 Student 

Giant Fungi found at SOC

Our lovely groundkeeper and gardener Elly found this gigantic mushroom at the back of the school this past week! 

After some further research the 'mushroom' has been identified as being from the Boletus species, commonly known as Bolete Fungi.

Some are edible but some are definitely poisonous! Elly believes the mushroom weighs approximately 2kgs!!