Year 9 Report - 

Term 3 Reflections  – by Grace Cosgriff-Camm

What happened in Term 3 at Dromana College in the Year 9 Cohort? In the first week of term we had the opportunity to go on camp in Melbourne. It was really fun! We got to go to all sorts of places like the MCG, the Melbourne Star, Melbourne Zoo, the Queen Victoria Market, Eureka Sky Deck and the Melbourne Aquarium.

When we got back to school it was straight back into the new classes that we had started in Jumpstart. In Pastoral we started talking about what subjects we were going to do in Year 10 and ultimately Years 11 and 12, we also discussed what we could do for a career with those subjects. For everyone it came as a bit of a shock! Where did the year go? The teachers were really helpful and made sure that we carefully considered all the subjects that we could choose from. We also discussed how the choices we made now could affect our futures, which was a real eye opener. After scouring the Year 10 program we pieced together some idea of what we wanted to do in Year 10.

After Careers Counselling, in Pastoral, we got to talk about empathy, failure, success, learning confidence and student motivation. Exploring our perception of what it meant to fail was a really interesting experience and getting to see what everyone thought was fascinating. We learnt that even though the word ‘failure’ or ‘success’ or ‘empathy’ or ‘learning confidence’ or ‘student motivation’ may have a set meaning, it has a different meaning for everyone. This also gave us some idea of what Year 12 could be like. While some people might be doing VCE and some people might be doing VCAL and some people might be doing something else entirely, everyone can achieve success. Because success is not something that is defined by other people rather it is defined by you because you can choose to see your achievements as successes or failures because a failure is not a bad thing merely a lesson that you can learn.   

Stan ‘The Man’ Longinidis  - by Sebastian Zelisko

On Friday the 7th October, a guest speaker came in to talk to the Year 9 boys in pastoral. His name was Stan Longinidis He spoke passionately about success and failure. Some of the big things I got from his presentation was success coming from failure and using his kickboxing experience as an example This correlated to what we have been doing in pastoral, talking and doing activities related to success, failure and resilience. Doing activities like mazes and talking about failure in a positive sense. Following your passions even if it means sacrificing something significant. Also to leave a legacy behind you.

Overall, I got a lot from Stan Longinidis but the biggest point I took away was Wisdom Vs Knowledge as I don’t often apply what I know into real life situations.

Year 9 Pastoral Guest Speaker  - Temeka Adie

On Monday the 10th October all the Year 9 girls had a guest speaker during pastoral.  David Nyuol Vincent  is a Sudanese ex child solider and war refugee. He shared his inspirational story of how he survived death, famine, war and 15 years in numerous camps to find a new life in Australia. He told us stories about living in South Sudan and described the horrors that he faced in his adolescences.

He spoke to us about how, at only 8 years old, he was torn away from his mother by his own father and fled his war ridden country. David was forced to leave behind his mother, sisters, village and his childhood because he was “a man”. David had to search for a better life for his family. For three months David and his father walked across the Sahara desert, barefoot with only the clothes on their back and a gerri can of water. They joined a large group of men and boys who were searching for safety, food and water so David and his father continued their search with them. Eventually they arrived in Ethiopia. When the group of men and boys finally arrived in Ethiopia, all the men were taken away. David's dad was taken away. David and the boys he arrived with were trained as child soldiers.

They did abhorrent things because they were brainwashed to believe that it was the right thing to do. David then had to survive the next 17 years of his life alone in refugee camps. Life in the camps was a constant struggle against starvation, bombings and people determined to kill David and his people. In 2004 David was offered a Humanitarian Visa as a Lost Boy and was then resettled in Australia. He was traumatised by what he had endured. It was a long and slow process for him. He had to recreate himself and build a new life away from war, death and hunger. Now, 12 years on, David has a university education and is determined to make a difference. He wants to make sure no child ever has to endure what he did. David has been sharing his stories for 8 years now and is proof that your past doesn't control your future. His words were inspirational and had a moving effect on the all the year 9 girls. Everyone left with a more grateful outlook on their life

The Transition from Year 9 to Year 10 – By Daniel Gough

This year  the Year 9’s have had a great opportunity with assistance through the scary transition from junior year to senior year. Throughout term 3 and 4 the year 9’s have had the help of careers counselors, teachers and head of year  with the usually  worry-some transition from Year 9 to Year10. During our Monday and Friday pastoral-health lessons, the head of year and Year 9 teachers put the time and effort into helping us making our futures the best they can be. Working with: VTAC, ATAR calculator, course counseling booklet, Year10 course counseling nights and having one on one chats with our year level teachers, the Year 9 cohort teachers have helped set up our Year 10-Year12 future. With the hope we can be on the right pathway for our journey after we finish school. Throughout this transition we have had our teachers by our side the whole way, and have had an endless amount of help, which has put us on the right track for a bright future.

Remembrance Day Ceremony at Rosebud RSL

On Friday 11th November George Kalogeras, Chloe Hill, Kate Strickland and Noah Turner attended the Rosebud RSL Remembrance Day Ceremony with Mr Andrew Wynne and Mrs Jennii Johnson. At the end of the ceremony the students were presented with scholarships generously given by the members of the Rosebud RSL to support their future education at Dromana College. The students were very gracious when receiving their scholarships and were a credit to the college. Congratulations to you all!