LATEST SCHOOL NEWS

@RSC NEWS

College Wide News

2019 SCHOOL DUX

Congratulations to our 2019 School DUX Amity Kunst who received an ATAR of 91.40. Amity started in year 7 in RIA as a Music specialism student and was our East School Vice Captain this year. "Well done Amity what an amazing life achievement! We're so proud of you and all your hard work has paid off. On behalf of everyone at the college we wish you every success in your future." - Ms Julie Kennedy, Principal.

"The 3 best things about going to school at RSC are the devoted teachers, the awesome opportunities and finally, the growth and experience of the specialised programs," said Amity. For the full interview with Amity click here.

GUMBUYA WORLD HOUSE ACTIVITY DAY

On Monday 16 December, 518 students and 110 teachers and staff jumped on a convoy of buses to Gumbuya World for our House Activity Day. "An amazing day, so much fun with all my friends, a great day to celebrate the end of the year the Taipan and Boomerango slides were the BEST." - Year 8 student. "The day was filled with rides, swimming and fast slides and a bit of lazy time in the river. We enjoyed a yummy lunch and I must say all the kids were well behaved and did our school proud." - Ms. Jones, Teacher.

2020 SCHOOL OPEN NIGHTS

Here are the dates for our school open nights and program specific information nights . Save the date/s in your diary or share them with friends or family who may be interested in coming along to see RSC is action and find out about our 'One Great School'. Please book here. All nights start at 7.00pm.

School Open Night, East Campus - Monday 23 March
School Open Night, West Campus - Wednesday 25 March
GE Information Night - Thursday 16 April
MSA Information Night - Monday 20 April
RIA Information Night - Tuesday 21 April
RSA Information Night - Monday 27 April

Please note we also have a MSA Immersion Day on Friday 24 April - click here for details.

2020 SCHOOL CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED....

This year our Principal Ms. Julie Kennedy, announced our 2020 School and Vice Captains at our Presentation Evening. Congratulations to our East and West captains who were given their badges and blazers on the night and celebrated by our school community. We wish you all the best in your leadership roles next year.

Eastern Campus

School Captains

Jessica Daish
James Ydreos

Vice School Captains

Matthew Goggin
Georgia Hilder
Hannah Underwood

Western Campus

School Captains

Cooper Denny
Tiana Massin

Vice School Captains

Ivanka Sugumar
Emily Ta
Naomi Alipan

PRESENTATION NIGHT WINNERS

We recently held our annual school presentation awards night to celebrate our students success. Well done to all of our award recipients from year 7 to year 12. We had approximately 120 students receive awards ranging from Academic Excellence and Achievement, Subject Awards, Sports and Arts Excellence plus a number of Community Awards including Barry Plant Scholarships, Rowville Lysterfield Community News Scholarships, Rotary Club, Lions Club, Bendigo Bank, Swimland Awards plus much more.

A big thank you to all the community representatives who came along to present their awards and to all the parents, family and friends who joined us in the PAC to show their support. Here is a full list of award winners and a selection of photos from the night below. If you are after any specific photos of your child please email Rowville.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au (Att: Marketing).

BARRY PLANT SCHOLARSHIPS

The Barry Plant Scholarship is awarded to high achieving Year 6 students from our five main feeder primary schools. Students are chosen on academic merit and excellence, community involvement and leadership. Well done to these students below and we look forward to welcoming you to the college next year.

Elizabeth Hon - Rowville Primary School

Cameron Ellis - Park Ridge Primary School

Cuneyt Ali - Lysterfield Primary School

Hayley Alford - Heany Park Primary School

Maya Fernando - Karoo Primary School

MOVEMBER MATES

There was a buzz in the plaza at the western campus as a group of year 10 students gathered in support of their mate Lucas Rosa who is battling a serious illness. Jack Walker instigated the show of support, and along with a number of other year 10 mates, shaved his head as an expression of solidarity for Lucas. It was a fantastic example to both students and staff and a wonderful display of enthusiasm, friendship and encouragement for Lucas.

Their efforts happened to coincide with the commencement of Movember and the importance of raising awareness about men's health.

Our very own teacher, Mr. Braedan Johnstone, along with growing a mo, completed a 7 peaks charity ride to raise awareness and donations for the Movember fundraiser over Cup weekend. The ride involved climbing 7 mountains within Victoria - Baw Baw, Lake Mountain, Mt Buller, Hotham, Dinner Plains, Falls Creek and Buffalo. In total, it’s approximately 175 km and 8425 m of riding and climbing. What an amazing effort!

YEAR 12 GRADUATION SPEECH

Written by Ms. Jane Zaal, VCE Coordinator & Teacher.

I want to tell you a quick story. A woman aged 27 years old, decided one day that the world was not going to beat her. She enrolled back into high school and completed her VCE. She sat every day in a class with students aged 17 and 18 and at lunchtimes, she went and fed her 6 month old son. She applied for University and did not get a first round offer, so she went to the University of her choice and spoke to the Enrolment Officer for her course. They had a hard conversation. How can a single mum of two young children working three jobs complete a double degree at university? Interesting question. The answer was this - “I can make a difference, I want the chance to make the life of kids just a little bit better if I can. I can make a difference.”

“I can make a difference.”

That became my mantra for the next 22 years.

Today year 12 you graduate from RSC and you leave here excited for what the future brings. You leave here wondering where will I be in 5 years, maybe 10 years? My message to you is this.

“Whatever you do and wherever you go, make a difference.” Say hello to strangers, smile and say hi when you go shopping, pay it forward. It could be a cup of coffee or a three course meal, a pizza, each thing will make a difference.

Hug your parents, be nice to your siblings, it will make a difference.

Most of all though, leave here tonight knowing that you matter and that everything you do in the future, tonight, tomorrow, next year, YOU can make a difference.

To the graduating class of 2019, the memories will be forever in our minds, your laughter will ring through the hallways a little longer and this is because ‘YOU’ made a difference.

MUSIC NEWS

Primary Band Tour 2019

On Wednesday 4th December and Thursday 5th December, the Junior and Intermediate Bands went on a two day tour to the local primary schools where we presented a 50 minute concert to over 1500 primary students. The students worked well to perform a very professional concert with students learning how to create seamless transitions from one band to another while instrument demonstrations were occurring.

Students also learnt about live performances and how sometimes we very quickly need to adjust to what is happening and the need to change what piece will come next.

“It was wonderful to see the enjoyment of the audiences, especially when they were able to join in clapping along, playing the tuba, singing, conducting and being part of the percussion section.” – Ms. Viv McPherson, Music Director.

Thank you to everyone who was involved and supported the Instrumental Music program and a huge thank you to the awesome students who participated.

Semester Two Ensemble Night

Wow – with over 12 different ensembles playing at the Semester Two Music night, there was an abundance of musical styles to enjoy and experience. From classics including ‘Puttin on the Ritz’ by the Saxophone septet through to ‘Somebody to Love’ by the West Rock Group, Disney Medley by the Senior Concert Band, to Penguin Parade by the Junior Concert Band, we had something for everyone.

The night finished with a finale item of “I’ll cover you” incorporating every musician who had performed during the evening.

Awards presented included:

The Conductor’s award, presented to an outstanding member of an ensemble who shows dedication, leadership and commitment:

Junior Concert Band: Daniel Shamir
Intermediate Concert Band: Penny Vancam
Senior Concert Band: Robin Vancam
Big Band: Cassie Hill
Guitar Group: Casey Skasif & Jack Lowe
Junior Vocal Group: Summer Henry
Senior Vocal Group: Madeline Homewood
David Rowlings Perpetual Award for Outstanding Dedication to the Instrumental Music Program: Adam Bromage.

Thank you to everyone who came and supported the event and for all your support throughout the year. We are looking forward to a bigger and better 2020.

Christmas Carols at Stud Park

On Friday Dec 6th, the members from the Junior and Senior Vocal groups performed Christmas Carols at Stud Park Shopping Centre. Working their way around the shopping centre, the students had a great time gaining performance experience and learning to adjust to the different environments they were performing in. With songs which included All I want for Christmas, Holy night, and, We wish you a Merry Christmas, the students were able to gather large crowds who appreciated the musical efforts of the vocalists. Well done to everyone involved and Merry Christmas to all.

Watch video

"We absolutely love having the secondary students sing in our shopping centre, it brings festive spirit and Christmas cheer. It's the third year they performed and the shoppers and retailers all love the carols. I have phone calls leading up to Christmas asking when, and where the students will perform. It really brings together the community. Thanks RSC!" - Ms. Murray Marketing Manager, Stud Park SC.

Regional Rookie Band

Here are our RSC students participating in the Regional Rookie Band on Friday 13 December.

CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION FROM NEPAL

Shree Rastryiya Basic School in Chitwan, Nepal have recently given us a Certificate of Appreciation from the World Challenge that 11 of our students took part in last year reconstructing the school premises to create a better learning environment for our school.

2020 PRODUCTION 'STRICTLY BALLROOM'

Our Rowville Secondary College Production website is now live. Click here to find all things Strictly Ballroom and how you can be involved in the Musical in 2020 - audition times, camp dates and performance week.

ROWVILLE SHINES @VET AWARDS

At Rowville Secondary College we support students across many pathways including Vocational Educational Training (VET). At the VET Awards evening, held at St Joseph’s College, fourteen of our Rowville students across ten industry VET courses were nominated for awards. All fourteen students received a Merit Award and 6 of our students received an Excellence Award. Assistant Principal Ms. Robyn Geake and VET Manager Ms. Lynda Del Din attended the evening proudly supporting our students as they graciously accepted their awards.

The following six students received the VET Excellence Award for the Mullum Cluster:

Lucas Durant - Certificate II in Electrotechnology Yr1
Stefan Ivanic - Certificate II in Plumbing Y1
Phoebe Mansour - Certificate II in Equine Studies Yr2
George Margaritis - Certificate III Music Industry Sound Production Yr2
Dylan Southcott - Certificate II Building & Construction Yr1
Lisa Sterland - Certificate II in Automotive Yr1

Merit Awards were distributed to the following students:

Dale Argus - Certificate II in Electrotechnology Yr1
Elisha Blood - Certificate III in Beauty Yr1
Lucas Durant - Certificate II in Electrotechnology Yr1
Hayley Foote - Certificate ii IN Salon Assistant Yr1
Stefan Ivanic - Certificate II in Plumbing Y1
Caitlin Kilner - Certificate II Hospitality Yr1
Joshua Leehane - Certificate II Building & Construction Yr1
Li-Ling Lu - Certificate II in Salon Assistant Y2
Phoebe Mansour - Certificate II in Equine Studies Yr2
George Margaritis - Certificate III Music Industry Sound Production Yr2
Mitch Mellis - Certificate II in Plumbing Y1
Taylah Neal - Certificate II Animal Studies Yr1
Dylan Southcott - Certificate II Building & Construction Yr1
Lisa Sterland - Certificate II in Automotive Yr1

Photo of Lisa Sterland

Photo of Elisha Blood

Congratulations also to Lucas Durant who has already commenced his apprenticeship as an Electrician.

Photo of Lucas Durant

“Our students were surprised and overwhelmed when they won the Excellence Awards. The smiles on their faces were priceless.” – Ms Lynda Del Din VET Manager.

FANTASTIC VIDEO TO WATCH PROMOTING RSC!

2019 YEARBOOK

Did you get a copy of our 2019 Yearbook? If you'd like a copy we are selling them at the East and West office for $15. Pop in and grab yourself one.

atEAST AWARDS

On Tuesday 3 December the atEAST 2019 Graduation Ceremony was held at Doncaster Secondary College. The atEAST School Based Apprenticeship and Traineeship (SBAT) Program is a School Based Program in Victoria offered to senior students as part of their VCAL program. atEAST is a consortium of 11 secondary schools in the Eastern Region of Melbourne. Such a rich, diverse depth of talented graduates in so many VCAL and VET fields.

The RSC award recipients are:

Connor Payne 1st Year Aquatics and Community Recreation Trainee of the Year (Intermediate)
Makenzie Corbett 1st Year Aquatics and Community Recreation Trainee of the Year (Senior)

Cooper Stainthorpe 1st Year Carpentry Apprentice of the Year (Intermediate)

Hayden Walmsley 1st Year Carpentry Apprentice of the Year (Senior)

Jemma Stapleton 1st Year Childcare Trainee of the Year (Senior)

Matthew Patton 1st Year Retail Trainee of the Year

Bryce Storie 2nd Year Warehousing Trainee of the Year

Well done to all of the RSC graduates in the 2019 program. What a wonderful achievement you should be very proud.

PUBLISHED WRITERS -

'A CLOSER LOOK AT STUDENT WRITING '

A Huge Congratulations to our very own Rowville Secondary College authors, Lachlan Kilner, Chloe Neil, Ben Chan, Holly Gabin and Charlotte May.

Their creative writing pieces were selected and published in the 2019 Knox Community of Practice Anthology, ‘A Closer Look at Student Writing.’

These budding writers can now count themselves as published authors and our school and community will be looking forward to reading more of their stories.

Pictured below is Year 9 student, Lachlan Kilner, who explained to RSC principal, Julie Kennedy, that his story, ‘Phoenix: Light is only the first of many in a series that he is currently working on.’

We are so proud of all your efforts including the submissions made by many other RSC students.

We look forward to tracking your future progress as accomplished authors!

STUDENT VOICE FORUM - TAKING ACTION ON GENDER EQUALITY

The Take Action – Student Voice forum in Ringwood was an amazing opportunity to help us learn how to make change in our own school community. We started the day jamming out in Mr. Mackay’s new car and talking about what we’d say in the presentation. When we got there, we were able to discuss further what we’d like to say and listen to local activists, learning how to form our goals into a great action plan. We presented our action plans to other public schools in the South-Eastern suburbs and spoke with the other students to talk about what each school could do to better their plan. We met many other friendly students and had a laugh with a few of them. On the way back we again listened to some awesome tunes, had a laugh and discussed the day and what we could do to be better next time. It was a fun day and an amazing learning experience.

Written by committee member Stephanie Huysing

YEAR 8 SCIENCEWORKS EXCURSION

On Tuesday 10 December our Year 8 students visited ScienceWorks and had a great day out! Our students were first challenged to take on an engaging problem-solving experience with a twist in the Beyond Perception exhibition. Next, they saw a presentation in a high voltage laboratory, that had unique lightning making equipment. Students explored different types of electricity beginning with the effects of static electricity and learnt how current electricity is produced using magnets and coils of wire and how this principle is applied in power stations and electrical devices.

Lastly, they went into the Planetarium to see a guided show of ‘What’s in the sky tonight’ as well as explore Indigenous Australian astronomy and the way Indigenous culture describes constellations that cannot be seen from northern latitudes.

"It was interesting to see constellations, such as Gemini that can be seen from Europe, appear a different way in the sky to us in the southern hemisphere." – Year 8 RSA Student.

"The highlight of our day was a hair-raising encounter with a Van de Graaff generator, it was really funny!" – Year 8 RIA Student.

CAMPS & EXCURSIONS @RSC

Camps and excursions are an integral part of our offering to students at every year level. There is a shift in how students learn beyond the classroom which builds independence, self-confidence and stimulates growth in both practical and social skills. Through a wide variety of camps and excursions commencing with the Year 7 Camp, the Year 10 Central Australia Camp through to opportunities for international travel such as the World Challenge, Rowville Secondary College students can experience more than you might think. Check out our Camps and Excursions here.

THE MUSIC CLASSROOM - LEARNING IN ACTION

C, E flat, and G walk into a bar. The bartender shows them the door and says, “Sorry, we don’t serve minors”. Whilst this 'comedy gold' might not have broad appeal, in music classes, it would get a good chuckle. See our students flexing their musical muscles in a variety of different ways…although making music jokes isn’t one of them.

VCE Music Performance Unit 2 students learning the finer points of using professional music notation software.

Year 7 RSA Music class preparing for the guitar performances and what looks like their next album cover.

Year 8 West students performing as members of a rock band after learning all rock instruments for a term.

@RSA NEWS

GO BIGGIE @AFL DRAFT

Well done to year 12, RSA student, 18 year old Bigoa (Biggie) Nyuon was picked #54 in the 2019 AFL Draft to play for Richmond Tigers. “A great result for the school! It really shows our program can help our student athletes achieve their goals. Biggie took a little bit of work but the reward is now there for him. A terrific young fella with a bright future and it’s up to him to take this wherever he wants it to go.” – Mr. Darren Bewick, Head AFL Coach. "RSC played a massive role in helping me develop into the player and person I wanted to be and I cannot thank Rowville enough. All the teachers and coaches, plus a special mention to Mr. Mark Fisher, RSA AFL Coach, Mr. Darren Bewick, RSA Head Coach and Mr. Craig Jamieson, RSA Director for their ongoing support and guidance.” - Biggie Nyuon. Read the full article here.

We also had an AMAZING article in the Herald Sun about Biggie and our school - read it here.

RSA BASKETBALLER SCORES ARTICLE IN HERALD SUN

Another awesome article we had this month featuring Year 12 student-athlete Eliana Bravington in the Herald Sun - read it here.

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

Congratulations to the Australian Schools Champions for U15 Rowville Sports Academy Girls Basketball. A very convincing lead from the front to win over Berwick who fought hard until the end. Final score was 62-43. Amazing! Well done players and coaches!

Also Congratulations goes to the U17 Australian Schools Championship gold medalists. The girls hung tough in a tight game to beat a fast finishing Haileybury by 2!

*Calling for Sponsors* - Our U15 Girls team has been asked to represent Australia at the World Basketball Championships in March 2020 in Croatia. We are looking for corporate sponsors to help us get there. If you are interested or know of a company who is, please contact the Rowville Sports Academy on 9755 4651.

TENNIS CHAMPS

A huge congratulations to our year 8 Rowville Sports Academy Tennis boys who defeated Maribyrnong last Friday to become School Sport Victoria State Champions!! Well done team!

YEAR 9 GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM

"The Year 9 Girls finished 6th in Australia in the Honours Division of the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup held on the Gold Coast over 8 days.

The girls finished as the highest ranked Victorian team winning 5 of their 12 matches." - Mr. Peter Bundy, Director of Coaching Volleyball.

Here are some photos of our Year 9 Girls Volleyball Team at the Australian National Schools Championships on the Gold Coast.

ELITE BASKETBALL CAMP IN JANUARY

PAST STUDENT TEISHA SHADWELL OFF TO TOKYO PARALYMPICS IN 2020

The Australian Gliders have qualified and are off to the Tokyo Paralympics 2020! Teisha Shadwell, former year 10 RSA student was part of the team. "The girls unfortunately lost the gold medal match but came away with a silver medal and a Paralympic spot is amazing. Teisha top scorer in 2 of the games and at 16 is the youngest in the team by 5 years. She was a starting 5 in each game and ended today's game with a 3 pointer on the siren." said Cindy Shadwell. Good luck for next year Teisha we look forward to hearing how you go.

@GE NEWS

"OFF ROAD" ON THE SHELF

When a student focuses on using their passion to fuel their assessments, the result produced can be very rewarding for everyone involved. This has been the case for Isaac Pedelty in Year 10 who has used his passion for both off road dirt bike riding and photography to produce a creative writing piece that has now been published and is available to borrow from the school library.

As part of producing this story, Isaac was able to use photos taken with his Gopro body camera which provided real pictures as a background for his written story. Congratulations Isaac on your achievement!

“It was great to see his story come to life!” – Ms. Marcelle Hall, Intergration Aide.

EX-STUDENT IS 2019 WORLD BOWLING CHAMP

A huge shout out and congratulations to ex-student Rebecca Whiting who recently became the 2019 World Champion at the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup held in Palembang, Indonesia. "Rowville Secondary College was very supportive of her bowling when she was a student there," said Val, Whiting's father. "I taught her. She was a really nice girl and a great student." Said Ms. Jane Zaal, current Teacher & added, "She was bowling back then too and always spoke about it."

“It has a nice ring to it!” said an excited Bec Whiting. “I am still in a bit of shock and it hasn’t really sunk in that I just won the World Cup. Might take me a few days I think.” A fantastic achievement Bec! Read the full article.

@RIA NEWS

SEMESTER 2 SHOWCASE

WHAT A NIGHT! On Thursday 12 December, RIA students 7-10 presented Semester 2 Showcase and the audience were treated to something very different from our previous Showcase events. In Semester 2, the RIA program pushed the boundaries and challenged themselves to create art in a modern world. Throughout this semester all Specialisms collaborated together to produce artworks around one central, cohesive narrative that progresses across the duration of the show. The collaboration and creativity that was explored and developed has been an integral learning experience for all involved. Working closely together, with each exchanging ideas, develops the artist's understanding and knowledge of different art forms and how they can be expressed. An appreciation and mutual respect is developed that provides a rich ground for creativity to flourish.

I’d like to take this moment to thank both the RIA students and staff for trying a new approach to showcase and maintaining enthusiasm and persistence as we tested new waters with a showcase program. I am so proud of the product that has been produced through all the hard work within RIA this semester.

Written by Ms. Kacey Hocking, RIA Director.

RIA MUSIC EXCURSION - BRIAN COX: A Symphonic Universe and City of Melbourne buskers

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra experience was one of the most amazing experiences I can say I’ve ever been a part of! Learning about the art of music even more and how music can express all different subjects and topics such as science was a real eye opener to what music is all about. When I watched the live performance of the MSO everyone was super prepared and knew everything or what they needed to do. They all also had AMAZING technique and it nearly made me cry! The MSO played a few very long but very interesting pieces so I never got bored listening to them. Just hearing the variety of instruments was an experience I’ll never forget. The light and smooth texture of the violin, the dark and mysterious tone of the double bass the determined voice of the trumpet!! All of these elements put together made an amazing symphony and they all blended really well together. And the idea of mixing science with music doesn’t sound right at first but when it was explained by the amazing BRIAN COX! It all made sense and it was so fascinating how it all tied together, it was amazing to have had that experience up close!! The busking experience after was really, really fun and we saw some amazingly talented buskers especially this one girl who sung some really classic songs, stuff I recognised and her amazing tone and controlled voice filled my ears and she was just spectacular!! And I wish her the best of luck for her career. Buskers lives are very different from someone who plays in an orchestra but in lots of ways they both have the same sort of passion for music and it’s beautiful. After that we got to wander around a bit in the city and we all had a blast, and got some good food, truly a day full of smiles and laughter that will never be forgotten.

Written by Year 9 RIA Music student, Ellery Gould.

@MSA News

2019 LEGO LEAGUE COMPETITION

A representative group from 7M attended the First Lego League Regional competition at KIOSC on Wednesday 16th November. They had to program a Lego Mindstorms robot to complete various challenges. As a rookie team, we were very proud to score 90 points in the Robot Challenge. The group performed well when explaining their robot design to the judges. The students learned a lot about how the competition works and are looking forward to dominating the competition next year.

Written by Ms. Lucy Anders, MSA Teacher.

SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS

Check out these awesome photos of our Year 8 MSA students from their inspiring swim with dolphins excursion.

MSA IMMERSION DAY 2020

It's Friday 24 April. If you are interested in coming to MSA in the future or know of someone who is, come along to our Immersion Day. Visit our website to find out more.

THANK YOU FOR THE AMAZING CHRISTMAS TREATS

Last week our teachers and staff enjoyed a feast of beautiful Christmas sweets & treats from year 7 MSA Mum, Maxine. Maxine is a cake decorator and wanted to express her gratitude for the fantastic year that her son has had at school Thank you for the yummy treats - you put a BIG smile on the faces of our staff!

CHEMICAL CHRISTMAS TREE

It's in the Western Campus school office our Chemical Christmas Tree. Well done to Mr. Braedan Johnstone, our Science Teacher who cleverly put this together.