From the Principal

It is with great joy that we commence Term 4 and finally see the return of our wonderful students to classroom learning. I am sure that the recent announcement by the Victorian Government was very well received by the entire community. Seeing the smiles twinkle in the eyes of the (masked) students on Monday morning filled me with joy and such positive energy. We are all so delighted that our beautiful campus is once again full of life and that we can look forward to finishing the year together. 

In preparation for all students returning to campus, Huntingtower has completed a thorough clean of all spaces, refreshed the hygiene stations and re-commenced regular cleaning of touch points throughout the day.  Under the new government regulations, we will not be conducting temperature checks on arrival to school.  

All students from Years 7 - 12 must wear a mask throughout the day and practise physical distancing. We understand that everyone will be excited to see each other in person again. However, please be mindful that for some students, coming back to larger gatherings may be a little overwhelming. Teachers will be gently reminding students of this throughout the day and support will be available for any student who requires assistance.  

We seek the support of every family to reinforce the importance of following the necessary protocols for the safety of all the community. Don't forget that if your child is showing any symptoms of COVID-19, they must not attend school until they no longer have symptoms. Any students showing symptoms throughout the day will be asked to return home.

We are currently reviewing the end of year activities in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions and will use our imagination to ensure we celebrate each event in the best possible way. We need to re-imagine the Year 12 Final Assembly, the Valedictory Celebration, Speech Nights, Graduations and Assemblies. It is going to be an action-packed term and we are ready to adapt to any new restrictions. As we get closer to each occasion, we will let you know how they will be run.

Huntingtower students have enjoyed participating in virtual competitions and we are delighted to celebrate their success. A huge thank you is extended to all the staff who have encouraged and supported our students.

Tournament of Minds

The Middle School, together with the support of Mrs Susan Swan, Mr Greg Hellard, Mrs Sandra Tiepermann and Mrs Fiona Hamzi, competed in the virtual Tournament of Minds. It proved to be a very different experience for the teams, as they had to work together to solve a problem and present their solution as a video. Of course, this all had to be done in an online space.

The competition was state-wide because the usual first step of competing at regional level was omitted this year. All four teams did an amazing job and managed to produce their video ready for submission by the due date.

Hearty congratulations go to one of our teams: Chloe Chaung, Muthu Sakthi Velmurugan, Isabella Zeuschner, Julia Poon, Yash Bilagi, Charlotte Chaung and Ria Madden, who received the top award of Distinction in their category. This was an amazing effort as more than 150 schools were involved in the competition.

It is great to see that online learning does not need to be a barrier to wonderful teamwork and creative problem solving!

Monash Youth Film Festival

Congratulations to our Year 12 Media Students who were involved in the Monash Youth Film Festival. They were supported as always by the enthusiastic and dedicated Ms Mel Beal. 

Many prizes were won by our students, with Kaja Clayton winning the whole competition! 

Best Overall Film - Leap Year- Kaja Clayton 

Best Cinematography - Tiana Jo 

Best Experimental - Yohei Tang-Yamaoka

Best Stop motion -  Aaron Zhang

Best Music Video- Nathan Camilleri 

Best Animation - Chase Adams 

Best Mockumentary - Chloe Smith 

Best Drama - Jerry Sun 

Best Comedy - Jack Wu

House Cross-Country

In a year of adapting events to the ever-changing situation, this year we conducted a virtual House Cross-Country Competition. A huge thank you to Ms Mel Beal and the Sport Department for their organisation and support of the event. It was a great initiative to invite the community to participate. Congratulations to Bruce House for winning the event.  We have now had each house win one event for the year. 

Results:

1st: Bruce

2nd: Rayner

3rd: Mather

4th: Warrell

Thank you to all the families who joined in to help make our first virtual Cross-Country such a success.

As the community begins the process of getting ‘back to business’, we have many families who will be reopening their own businesses. I encourage the community to support Huntingtower families wherever possible. A Huntingtower Business Directory can be found under the community tab of the website. If you have changed your business or wish to have one listed in the directory, please contact the school office to provide your details.

I wish all families a wonderful term ahead and hope with all my heart we can celebrate the end of the year in the same way we began it… together. 

Andrew Houghton

Principal