Careers News

MICHELLE MASCARO

Career Advisor

EY - Ernst and Young Future of Work Day

On Monday 2nd July 2018, Year 11 Oakleigh Grammar students, Janvi Gupta and Rebecca Dajee, were two of just 50 Victorian female students accepted to attend the EY – Ernst and Young Future of Work Day.

The day involved a visit to the Melbourne Head Office of EY, where students spent the day learning about what the future of work will look like, with a focus on careers in STEM.

The day was fully catered for by EY and provided the students with a great opportunity for networking, and to establish a connection with one of the world’s leading workforce organisations. Well done girls!

Melbourne Careers Expo Excursion

On Friday 20th July, 2018 we braved the cold, and the rain held off, as we took the Year 10 students on an excursion to the Melbourne Careers Expo. Sponsored by Spot Jobs at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, the expo provided students with opportunities to learn about courses, jobs and careers of the future.

Employers such as Australia Post, Crown Melbourne, Coles, McDonald’s Australia, Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria Police, AMP, Master Builders, Ambulance Victoria, Defence Force Recruiting and many more were present to provide students with information on the varied careers and pathways available to them, upon completing their tertiary studies. Tertiary providers were also in attendance, which complimented the expo accordingly.

Students also had the opportunity to attend seminars about different careers, which were interesting and varied. This expo provided a one-stop shop for students about courses, jobs and careers of the future, which was an invaluable experience for them.

Student Representative Council (SRC)

NATASHA SPANOS

SRC Coordinator

Fundraising is not just a means of raising money, but also a way to promote the message and goals of a charity. Oakleigh Grammar supports different charities throughout the year so we can continue to achieve our goals.

Two big fundraisers took place towards the end of Term 2, raising money for good causes. On Tuesday 19th June, the SRC members worked together with the Social Justice Leaders from Junior School organizing our annual Red Nose Day to raise funds for SIDS and Kids. SIDS and Kids is dedicated to saving the lives of babies and children during pregnancy, birth, infancy and childhood, and supporting bereaved families. All students came to school in comfortable casual clothes, and wore an element of red to highlight the importance of this worthwhile organisation.

ELC and Junior School students had the opportunity to buy a red nose for $3.00 and support the fundraiser. Very proudly, we raised $1,500!

On Tuesday 26th June, our ELC and Junior School students participated in Crazy Hair Casual Day. Students came to school with a crazy hairstyle or wore a wig. Each student was asked to donate a gold coin to the cause. We raised $410, and all money was donated to the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia. Well done to students and teachers who participated!

Our first fundraiser for Term 3 was on Friday 27th of July. Year 10 SRC members organised our annual Jeans for Genes Casual Day. Students and staff from ELC up to Year 12 came to school wearing their favourite pair of jeans to raise funds.

Jeans for Genes Day is a national day when people wear their jeans to raise much-needed funds for research into birth defects and diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, and a range of genetic disorders. We raised over $1,300. Congratulations to the whole school community for participating in all these events.

Hellenic Culture

NATASHA SPANOS

Hellenic Culture Coordinator

Oakleigh Grammar students have the opportunity to represent proudly the school on different occasions throughout the year. Term 3 started with a Hellenic Cultural event. S.E.K.A, the Justice for Cyprus Committee of Victoria, kindly invited Oakleigh Grammar to participate in a special memorial service in commemoration of those lost in the conflict in Cyprus in 1974.

A group of selected students attended the liturgy and the memorial service on Sunday the 22nd of July, at St. Eustathios church. Students holding the Australian, the Greek and the School flags represented Oakleigh Grammar at this significant event. Congratulations to those students!

Chaplain's Corner

FATHER GEORGE ADAMAKIS

School Chaplain

The Orthodox Christian August is a sacred month that brings with it a feeling of intensified reverence. It is a month of the Blessed Theotokos. For on the 15th of August the Orthodox Church celebrates one of the most solemn feasts related to the Mother of God, namely, her repose or falling asleep.

Special prayer services are held regularly during the first 15 days of the month the Small and Great Supplicatory (Paraklesis) service. The service of the Small Paraklesis is chanted in times of distress and sorrow of soul and during the first 14 days of August. It is a period of special fasting similar to Great Lent.

In order to help parents explain the meaning of this sacred period to their children, we propose to deal with the following to questions:

1) What do we mean by falling asleep of Theotokos (Mary);

2) Why as Orthodox Christians, do we regard her above all the saints as "more honourable than the Seraphim and more glorious that the Cherubim."

In commemorating her saints, the church observes not the day of their birth, but rather the day of their death. The reason for this, of course, is our belief that for us the day of death is our real birthday. It marks our entry into the real sphere of existence, namely, eternal and incorruptible life. And so it is for this reason that the 15th of August we observe the falling asleep or the death of the Mother of God. We observe this feast joyfully because Christ our God has proved to us that death is not the end but the beginning of life.

Why do we honour the Theotokos?

It was in the person of the Virgin Mary that humanity gave consent to the Word becoming flesh, to God becoming man and coming to dwell among us.

The Blessed Mother said yes to God. She said yes for all of us. And God came down to earth to live in our lives. Mary the Mother of God made this possible for us. As the first Eve led us away from God, the Second Eve (Mary) brought God to us. Her yes was for herself and for us. She brought God to the world. We, too, can say yes to the Highest that may come to dwell in us so that we, in turn, may bring Him to our world today.

Do Orthodox Christians pray to the Theotokos?

We do not pray to the Theotokos Mary. We pray only to God. We ask Mary and the saints to pray for us. We ask them to pray for us much as we would ask living friends to pray for us. The Theotokos and saints are living and they are friends as members with us of the same family of God (Body of Christ). Therefore we encouraged to ask for their prayer support. They pray with us to the Trinity.

Was Mary's Body Taken up to Heaven?

Although it is not a dogma (official teaching), the Orthodox Church believes that upon death, Mary's body was translated to heaven, just as was Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Like her Son, Mary underwent physical death of body, like His, was afterwards raised from the dead and taken up into heaven in body as well as soul. The resurrection of the body which all Christians await, has in her case been anticipated and is already an accomplished fact.

May we all have blessed journey in the following 15 days of Lent of the Dormition of the Theotokos. A time to reflect, to pray and fast and confess. May the Mother of our God shelter and protect our school, staff, teachers, students, parents, families, friends and all the world! God bless!

EVENTS:

Thursday 9th August

Service for our parents of our school after drop off. 9.15am -9.45am - Small Supplicatory (Paraklesis) Service of the Theotokos in English at Sts. Anargiri church. Come along to ask the Virgin Mary to pray for our children, family members friends and for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Greece, for hope, for strength, health and peace. Coffee/Tea refreshments will be provided behind at our church hall.

Friday the 3rd August

Small Supplicatory (Paraklesis) Service in English Senior School - 9.00am

Friday the 10th August

Small Supplicatory (Paraklesis) Service in English Junior School & Middle School - 9.00am

More information about the Supplicatory service of the Holy Virgin Mary:

Service booklet in English

https://www.goarch.org/-/the-service-of-the-small-paraklesis-intercessory-prayer-to-the-most-holy-theotokos

Hymns of Small Supplicatory Service in English

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J96w3FfkqfM

Most Holy Theotokos save us!

Υπεραγία Θεοτόκε σώσον ημάς!

Καλό Δεκαπενταύγουστο!

Maths

ANGELA KORLOS

Head of Faculty Maths/Science

International Competitions and Assessment for Schools (ICAS) Awards 2018

In Term 2, selected Years 4-9 students participated in the 2018 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) Competitions. Over one million students sit for ICAS from all around Australia, New Zealand and 20 other countries including Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the USA.

Our results were extremely pleasing with many of our students ranked in the top percentiles of Australasia. Well done to all the participants, and congratulations to the following students:

Year 4

GEORGE PSARROS - Credit

Year 5

MARY ALEXOPOULOS - Credit

ALEXANDER KORLOS - Credit

OLGA PAVLOVIC - Credit

YIANNI ROMANIDIS - Credit

ATHANASIOS PAPAGEORGIOU - Merit

TAKARA SHARP - Merit

Year 6

MEGHANA ABBURI - Credit

JAEDA LOUW - Credit

THEOFILO ROMANIDIS - Credit

CAMERON ROCKS - Credit

Year 7

NOAH PEOPLES - Distinction

SENUKA RANADEERA - Credit

NICHOLAS MAUREL - Credit

ANSH KUMAR - Credit

PHOENIX SHI - Credit

Year 8

KHOA QUOC VU - Credit

HELENA PAPAGEORGIOU - Credit

TONI STATHOPOULOS - Merit

Year 9

HARMOHIT SINGH - High Distinction

MITCHELL ROCKS - Distinction

PETER KARKANIS - Credit

Orthodox Studies

FATHER GEORGE ADAMAKIS

School Chaplain

On Tuesday July 24th 2018, our school celebrated its inaugural Orthodox Day. The theme of the day was, ‘Love thy Neighbour.’ Students across the school participated in various activities that encapsulated the theme.

We had the blessing of His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis who attended and spoke to our Year 8 and 9 students about the importance of ‘Love thy self and Love thy Neighbour.’ He also joined staff in morning tea and visited some of our Junior School classes.

The Junior school topped off the day with an Icon Parade in the inner yard, led by Father George. It was a day where God’s Grace and love abounded, which could be seen in the sea of smiles on each individual person, from staff members and students alike.

The Arts at Oakleigh Grammar

The Arts in August