Student Voice
College Captains' Update
During the Term 1 break, the Year 12 Cohort had the chance to attend their Year 12 Formal at Vogue Ballroom. This small intermission before entering the thick of the trenches of Year 12 allowed us to don our classy suits and beautiful ballgowns, dance and celebrate the end of our academic journey to our heart's content, with many teachers joining us on the dance floor. This formal was a great experience and created memories we will surely cherish in the future.
As these things go, with the Year 12 formal also come the Year 12 Jackets. The jackets, designed by our classmates, were officially given to us on Wednesday the 3rd of May, and our cohort is thrilled to be wearing them with the cold weather beginning.
We also had the honour of representing SOC at this year’s Anzac Day Dawn Service at Pioneer Memorial Park in Oakleigh. Seeing our Australian soldiers and fellow community members gather together in the early morning for a special mourning was a very honourable experience. This emphasised our values of respect for those who have served our community and country.
With a new school term comes a slew of SACs to study for. We wish the best of luck to the VCE students preparing for their oncoming SACs during the term, and remind them to keep revising and reviewing what they’ve learnt in class to achieve the best outcomes possible. In addition, we’d like to wish the best of luck to the junior and middle year levels, who will have their semester one examinations this term.
Your College Captains
Sylvia and Jason
Student Representative Council Update
Presidents’ Report
This term, our Student Representative Council is building on its progress from the last term to bring more success to the college community. With the introduction of weekly meetings with the whole of the S.R.C., we have more inter-portfolio communication than ever. This allows us to add more elements and more perspectives as we develop our events and initiatives.
During Week 3, the Campaigns portfolio hosted Historical Fashion Day. Students and staff came into school wearing various throwback fashion looks and black and white outfits. We raised $639.65 from the day, and all the proceeds went towards the Returned & Services League of Australia (https://rslvic.com.au/). Thank you everyone for your support.
This term, we also had IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia), which raised $628.00. Funds will go towards Minus18 (https://www.minus18.org.au/). We will also host the Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea (https://www.biggestmorningtea.com.au/fundraisers/socsrc2023) later in the term.
Please stay tuned on Compass for reminders. Breakfast Club runs every Thursday morning from 8:00 am in the Canteen. It will be great to see new faces there as our program expands.
Please stay tuned on all forms of school communication for our events this term and moving forward, and as always, feel free to ask us if you have any questions, queries or concerns or just want to chat.
Genna Windsor & Shyli Barak
Your Student Representative Council Presidents
Historical Fashion Day
Historical Fashion Day was, by far, one of the best days of the year. Everyone looked amazing in their historical clothing from the 2000s and beforehand. This event was hosted by the S.R.C. Campaigns Portfolio, who did a great job organising and planning it.
Everyone dressed up was asked to bring in $2.00, and all donated money went to the RSL (the Returned and Services League - https://rslvic.com.au/.) Some amazing outfits were out there, including late 1990s clothing, NBA teams shirts from their peaks, black and white clothing, and band t-shirts, to name a few. Overall, the event went well, and we look forward to the next one.
Harshul Moon
Your Year 7 Leader & Campaigns Representative
Student Representative Council
IDAHOBIT
IDAHOBIT is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biophobia, and Transphobia. IDAHOBIT is the anniversary of 17 May 1990, when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the Classification of Diseases.
IDAHOBIT is dedicated to standing up for people that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. This is important as 2 in 3 people experience abuse due to their identity, and 35% of Australians have experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months. There is always a theme to IDAHOBIT; this year, it’s “Together always: united in diversity.”
On this day, people wore rainbow-coloured clothing, host an activity like a morning tea, build inclusion and donate to fundraisers. South Oakleigh had a bake sale and sold novelty-themed socks to support IDAHOBIT with proceeds going to Minus 18 (https://www.minus18.org.au/).
Leyansh Kamra
Your Connections & Wellbeing Representative
Student Representative Council
Breakfast Club Update
Our Breakfast Club runs every Thursday from 8:00 am to 8:35 am. During each session, your student leaders and helpers organise breakfast for everyone who comes along to eat. Our regular Breakfast Club has cheese toasties, juice, cereal, tea and more! At the end of each term, our Celebratory Breakfast Club has the regular menu plus milkshakes, hash browns, eggs and bacon. Any staff or students who want to enjoy a nutritious breakfast can come to the Canteen every Thursday.
We are also looking for more volunteers to help run our Breakfast Club sessions. If you would like to come to help us, come along to the Canteen at 7:45 am on Thursdays. If you would like to help or have any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact myself (sdhi15@schools.vic.edu.au) or Genna Windsor – S.R.C. President (gmwin1@schools.vic.edu.au) via Microsoft Teams or Email.
Soham Dhital
Your Campaigns Representative & Breakfast Club Liaison
Student Representative Council
Performing Arts Prefects' Update
Oakleigh South Primary School Fete:
On Saturday the 6th of May, the VCE music class band, along with a group of younger musicians, had the opportunity to play a set at Oakleigh South Primary Schools Fete. The afternoon was a lot of fun, and despite some technical difficulties our performers were resilient and put on a great show. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to OSPS for hosting us, and all family and friends who came to watch. We’d also love to thank all our performers onstage, and our music department for everything they do to create these opportunities.
Performing Art’s Carnival:
At the end of this term, South Oakleigh will run the Performing Arts Carnival. The day will feature various musical and theatrical performances, including theatre games and improv, group karaoke, choreographed dance, and musical performance. It will be heaps of fun, and a great opportunity for anyone interested in any aspect of the Performing Arts. If you might be interested be sure to contact Mr. Prewett, or ourselves, and keep on the lookout for more information to come. We really hope to see you with us on stage!
College Production of Seussical Jr:
Rehearsals are well underway, and the cast is really starting to get together to build a supportive theatrical community! It is a fairly new cast this year, and it's really encouraging to see all different year levels mix together every Monday and Wednesday afternoon and just have fun. We are laying the groundwork to help create a really engaging performance and are really excited to share it with you this August.
Maya Noyman & Fin Morgan
Your Performing Arts Prefects
Sports Prefect Update
On Tuesday 9th of May, I participated in the school’s House Cross Country Event. As a Sports Prefect, I competed in the Senior Boys' Race and helped with the organizational side of things, such as marshalling competitors after their race. Overall, seeing so many students competing and giving their all was fantastic.
William D’Costa
Your Sports Prefect
Peer Support Program Update
The Peer Support Leaders have been reflecting on what has happened in our previous Peer Support session and have received constructive feedback on how we can improve implementing the school values into their fun activities.
Resilience involves getting back up when you fall. For their next session, Peer Support Leaders will develop an idea to educate the Year 7s with a fun activity. The Peer Support Leaders will also be helping the Year 7s prepare for Semester 1 exams. This can be stressful for some Year 7s, and the Peer Support Leaders will try their best to support them.
We look forward to what the Leaders and Year 7s can achieve throughout the year.
Christian Saito and Jia Kaur
Your Peer Support Prefects
Year 7 Leaders' Update
I’m so lucky to be involved in the S.R.C., as everyone there is so friendly and helpful. I’m in the Campaigns Portfolio, and an event I have been part of is Historical Fashion Day, which was really funky and cool.
Transitioning into Year 7 was, quite frankly, a lot easier than expected. I made friends really easily, on top of my existing friends from primary school. The first three days of school were the Year 7 Induction Program, where we learnt about the school and how it worked, how to read a timetable, and how to work Compass. It gave us a massive chance to make friends and meet teachers. For some reason, I was quite worried about operating the lock for my locker, but it turned out to be easy enough, as I got help from some of the older students.
Just after classes started, we had the House Swimming Carnival, which was one of the best days of the year so far. During this term, my English class participated in the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, which was both informative and fun. I wish everyone good luck with the exams which are coming up soon. I think most of the work in the exams is based on homework in Year 7, so be sure to do that!
Harshul Moon
Your Year 7 Leader and Campaigns Representative
Student Representative Council
Year 7 has been amazing so far, with many opportunities, such as S.R.C. I like S.R.C. because I like to have different tasks to do so I can have something to do. The transition to Year 7 was much smoother than I expected. I was really nervous about making friends and moving classrooms each session, but it has been fine. People change, such as my friends, so now I have different people I connect with and feel like I can be myself with! Changing classrooms was my most stressful thought, and I soon realised it was totally fine! As someone who has ADHD, it’s better to stretch my legs in between classes, so I’m not as fidgety.
I’ve made so many fabulous friends this year and gotten really close with students in my home group. It’s a different experience for everyone, and I’ve personally had quite a good one.
We got to participate in the 2023 Melbourne Legacy’s 91st ANZAC Commemoration Service for Students, which I found really interesting, and it was amazing to see the soldiers and explore the Shrine. There are also CATs (Common Assessment Tasks) which you get graded on, so make sure to study for them. My tip for studying is to break your work into different parts, so you have different little bits to do!
Tessy Maske-Hill
Your Year 7 Leader and Connections & Wellbeing Representative
Student Representative Council
On the first three days of school, we were supported by Year 10s, who helped us transition into this new environment. This helped the Year 7s feel welcomed and comfortable. And I was quite lucky to become a part of the Curriculum Portfolio. We have been trying to develop innovative ideas to improve student and teacher interaction in the classroom. All the representatives have been understanding, and I’ve also gone to the 2023 Melbourne Legacy’s 91st ANZAC Commemoration Service for Students.
When we received our locker numbers, I was scared I would have to use a top locker since I couldn’t reach it very well, but a teacher advised me to ask the Year 7 coordinator to swap, and they solved the issue. I’ve been participating in the College Production and will soon start playing badminton for interschool sports. I know some students are a little nervous about the exams. My advice is to engage in class and do all your homework, and you’ll be set and ready.
River La
Your Year 7 Leader & Curriculum Representative
Student Representative Council
Year 7 has been filled with lots of events so far. Along with countless opportunities of things to take part in and achieve, each moment has been enjoyable and memorable.
Right at the start of the year, we undertook an induction program to get ourselves prepared for the year ahead. I found this super helpful and enjoyable, as it guided us through our transition and informed us of all we would need to challenge and prepare ourselves. This consisted of several informative assemblies, icebreakers and games to help us get to know our class. I appreciate all the work that went into making this happen, and I hope that the students to come will too.
Being a part of the S.R.C. this year has really changed my experience, and how I view myself. I have been able to take part in events and excursions that I have really enjoyed. I have loved working alongside my peers and getting to know them.
Overall this year so far has been wonderful, and I can’t wait for what’s yet to come.
Inara Linehan
Your Year 7 Leader and Communications & Student Experience Representative
Student Representative Council
ANZAC Day Dawn Service
On Tuesday the 25th of April, ANZAC Day, student leaders had the opportunity to attend the dawn service in Oakleigh. I'm so glad I were able to attend the ANZAC ceremony. It's such an important day to honour the brave men and women who fought for our freedom.
The ceremony is always so moving, and it's a great reminder of the sacrifices that were made so that we can live in a free and peaceful country. I was also given the chance to place a reef down on the memorial to commemorate the brave solider that gave their lives. The ceremony has inspired me to continue to learn more about the ANZACs and their incredible legacy.
Jia Kaur
Your Peer Support Prefect
International Student Excursion to Moonlit Sanctuary
On Tuesday the 2nd of May, our International Students from South Oakleigh College embarked on an exciting adventure to the Moonlit Sanctuary, an Australian wildlife conservation park. The students were eager to explore the unique fauna that Australia has to offer and get up close and personal with its iconic animals.
The drive to the sanctuary, which is located in Pearcedale on the Morning Peninsula, gave the students plenty of opportunity to observe the farms and landscapes of Melbourne.
The Moonlit Sanctuary is renowned for its commitment to wildlife conservation and education, making it an ideal destination for the curious minds of our International Students.
The students were given the opportunity to cuddle, feed and take photos with a Koala. They marvelled at how soft the koala was compared to what they were expecting.
Another highlight was getting to pat the kangaroos, wallabies and pademelons that roam free in the park. One of our favourites was a Kangaroo named Annabelle, who followed us around for a while and even sought shelter from the very short rain shower under Tung’s umbrella.
Abigail said that her favourite part of the day was being able to interact with the kangaroos and wallabies, because she had never seen them up close before. We also got to observe wombats, echidnas, a Tasmanian devil and a spot-tailed quoll, amongst many other animals.
Sovan (Year 9) enjoyed capturing photos of the various types of Australian birds at the park. Mollie (Year 12) and Tung (Year 10) fed the emu, which was funny to watch. Despite there being many enchanting species of birds at the Moonlit Sanctuary, Vincent’s (Year 11) favourite animal was still the humble duck.
Throughout the day, the students read the signs about animals' behaviour, habitat, and conservation efforts and listened to the Keeper Talks. The students learned about the sanctuary's role in protecting and preserving endangered species, as well as the importance of saving our wildlife, as they support the healthy ecosystems that we rely on.
Visiting the sanctuary was not only an opportunity for our International Students to immerse themselves in Australian wildlife, but also a chance for them to bond and form lasting friendships. Darsh (Year 9) said his favourite part of the day was being able to spend the day with his new friends.
Whether their favourite part of the day was the animals (Harry, Year 12) or the general peacefulness of walking around the sanctuary (Mollie, Year 12), every student returned to their classrooms carrying with them the memories of their day at the sanctuary!
