From the Principal Class Team
Winners Head to Sydney
Shalom Tiatia and James Mangali competed in the Social Ventures Australia, Fundies for the Future Competition earlier in the term. The competition involved students from all over Australia pitching an investment proposal to current top fund managers.
The pitch involved students receiving a choice of three companies to research. Once the research was completed, they needed to advise whether stocks in the their chosen company should be held, sold or bought. They had 48 hours to complete this task.
A week later, James and Shalom flew to Sydney where they performed a 10 minute pitch, outlining their proposal. They then faced 10 minutes of questioning from the panel. After deliberation, the panel described the high level of competition and how impressed they were with all students. However, Shalom and James impressed the judges the most, and came away winners. As a prize they have returned to Sydney to attend the Sohn Hearts and Minds Conference at the Sydney Opera House. We offer our congratulations to them both on this phenomenal achievement.
Interact Club and School for Student Leadership News
Last term four Year 9 students Anthony Mollica, Annie Nguyen, Ruby Hall and Jaxson Hodge attended the School for Student Leadership. As part of their study, they had to develop a community learning project. They wanted to build awareness of the issue of domestic violence in our community. They held a lunch time BBQ with the help of the Interact Club to raise money for Women’s Health West (a not-for-profit promoting women's health and responding to family violence in Melbourne's west). They raised $350 which is a fantastic achievement!
They would also like your help in starting the conversation with students/friends/children in a meaningful way. The Federal and state governments have started a joint initiative on targeting the issue of respect. The website for this program states that:
The cycle of violence starts with disrespect. Not all disrespect towards women results in violence. But all violence against women starts with disrespectful behaviour. When we make excuses for this behaviour, we let it grow.
As parents, family members, teachers, coaches, community leaders and employers, we have an important role as influencers of young people. Without realising it, we can sometimes say and do things that make young people think that disrespectful and aggressive behaviours are acceptable. Gradually, boys and girls start to believe that disrespect is just a normal part of growing up. We should speak up when someone says or does something that excuses disrespect towards women. Disrespect and aggression aren’t easy subjects to talk about with young people. Having the confidence to get started can sometimes be the hardest part.
This is not just a matter for a single discussion, but a conversation we need to have regularly as a community and something as a school we will continue to unpack to ensure everyone feels Connected, Protected and Respected.
Sub School Planning Day
Working together to ensure all students at our College feel Connected, Protected and Respected is a vital part our role. Last week, all coordinators and wellbeing staff engaged in professional learning in relation to restorative practice, to help build our collective knowledge on the best ways to work with young people. Restorative practice is a strategy that seeks to repair relationships that have been damaged, including those damaged through bullying. It does this by bringing about a sense of remorse and restorative action on the part of the offender and forgiveness by the victim.
The team also spent time reviewing the proactive programs that occurred this year at the College and working together to strengthen the suite of programs that we will offer in 2020 to support all students at our College to build a resilient mindset and experience successful outcomes.