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On Friday the 1st of April the year 9’s went on a geography excursion to Dandenong! This was the first Year 9 excursion of the year, so we were all looking forward to finally getting to do some practical work and discover some of the great things Dandenong has to offer. We all met at the Noble Park train station. From there, the whole year level took the train tothe Dandenong Station and all made our way to the Greater Dandenong Library. This was where we split off into our allocated groups and got to explore the different parts ofDandenong for our CAT. There were three places to explore in this CAT. There was the strip mall, Dandenong plaza and the Dandenong market. In all of these places, us Year 9’s were looking to identify the differences and similarities between the locations and to see how that affects the community.

At the strip mall, we were required to draw sketches of the streets. We took a few photos, this helped us to record information by viewing and understanding the landscape. After an hour or two we moved on to the next place.Once we got to the Dandenong plaza, our task was to take multiple photos inside of Woolworths, as well as their fruits and veggies. We would then use those photos to compare the prices of the same fruit and veggies with the prices of produce in the Dandenong Market. The next location was the Dandenong Market, here we found that some of the produce in Woolworths was cheaper but some of the produce was more expensive. The next task for us to complete was to interview vendors to find about the food mileage and food security of their products. It was interesting to find out where the food came from and how it is stored away from the market. We also got the chance to explore different shops and restaurants inside the market. One of the most famous shops we came across was the Dandee Donuts stall, which has been operating since 1968. There were many highlights throughout the day as it was our first excursion for the year, we all enjoyed seeing the cultural foods within the market, as well as the fun times and experiences we had on this excursion with our friends. We can’t wait for our next excursion.

HARMONY DAY

During last term the VCALs of Acacia came together to produce a very engaging and enthusiastic Harmony week celebration. On the 21st of March, the official day for Harmony celebrations, students across the campus performed cultural performances. These included Billy and Jet, performing a traditional Chinese Lion dance, the Senior boys performing a cultural dance and Tusipepa and Kaituu performing a duo Samoan Siva. A few of the Year 11 VCALS ran a couple of fun cultural games and activities. 

Students came dressed in cultural dress or wore something orange, and at lunch we all enjoyed a BBQ lunch with all proceeds going to the Red Cross Flood Appeal. Overall it was a fantastic day of fun celebrations for Harmony Day!

By Jamilly, Natalie and Maddy

COLLEGE YEAR 12 DUX OF 2021

Socheng Som studied English as an Additional Language (EAL), Biology, Further Mathematics, Mathematics Methods and Chinese Second Language as a Year 12 student in 2021. She achieved an ATAR of 93.25.

Kim Tran, International Student Coordinator notes "Socheng was a very hardworking and a quiet student. She never missed a class or was absent. She was not only diligent in studying but also very well-behaved, ready to help friends when they needed it. Our school is very pleased to have had a student like Socheng who both excelled in studies and was a role model of good conduct."

Socheng says "the most challenging part of her VCE studies was transitioning in and out of lockdown towards the exams". Fortunately, she felt supported with her family, teachers and friends who helped her successfully complete VCE. Her advice to all future international students is "although the road may be long and filled with obstacles, it's up to you to open up and find a way to get through."

Socheng is now studying a Bachelor of Radiology and Medical Imaging at Monash University. 

We wish her success in her future life pathway and encourage all our students to stay connected to our school as part of our Alumni.

Kim Tran ( Acacia Campus International Student Coordinator) & Robyn Hughes (Acacia Campus Senior School Assistant Principal)

Sithisak Sereibott and Jasmine Chang along with Mr Boyd attended the Springvale RSL ANZAC Day Dawn Service on Monday 25th April.  The event was attended by Federal Member of Parliament for the seat of Hotham Clair O’Neil MP, Dandenong Councillor Richard Lim OAM, students from Keysborough College, Haileybury College and Killester College along with members of the Springvale RSL and representatives from the local community.  It was an early start to the day, beginning at 5:30am at the RSL in Osborn Avenue, Springvale.  Sithisak and Jasmine spoke to the gathering about the history of the ANZAC Day Dawn Service and heard presentations from other students and community representatives about the sacrifice of those who have served Australia in all armed conflicts and peace keeping missions.  After not having an ANZAC Day Dawn Service for the past two years it was a privilege for representatives from Keysborough College to be present at this event and the school looks forward to continuing the relationship we have with the Springvale RSL for many years to come.  

Lest We Forget

Keysborough Libraries news

Donations aplenty

Keysborough College libraries continue to donate books, that are no longer being used by our staff and students, to underfunded regional schools and children’s organisations in the Philippines. This is an initiative of The GAT Foundation, a small, Melbourne-based, not for profit organisation, developed to address two problems: the growing mountain of books that end up in landfill in Australia, and the identified lack of educational resources in regional areas of the Philippines. Please enjoy these photos of our helpful, hard working students, who cheerfully pitched in with the sorting, making a difficult job much easier.

Which are our favourite books?

Banksia Junior Library continues to get to the bottom of this pressing question. In March, the favourite Dystopian novel, according to voters, was ‘The Hunger Games’. In April, the favourite Fantasy series was- shockingly- the Harry Potter series. 

May is Mystery month. Pretty little liars, Series of Unfortunate events, or something else? Which will win?

The Keysborough Chronicle

An amazing group of Acacia Senior students worked hard in Term 1 to create the first edition of the Keysborough Chronicle, the first ever Acacia Senior School student newspaper. They took photos, wrote reports on events and opinion pieces, interviewed teachers, created surveys, and reviewed books. Well done Chroniclers.

Annual International Student Excursion­­­

International excursion is  an annual event for all international students from both campuses of or College. It has always been such a great opportunity for us to celebrate our first successful first term of the year. In 2022, this occasion took place at Gumbuya World, on Friday, April 8th. 

It was a 26-degree sunny day. As early as 8:45, most the students had arrived at Burden Park, waiting for attendance check. And in less than 45 minutes, two buses pulled up in front of the theme park. The day at Gumbuya was divided into three stages, and as group we moved toward to our first destination: “Oz adventure” world. Right in front of our eyes were a massive ride called “Rebel” which gives you the liveliest experience of a 360-degree circular motion along with the feel of G-forces. However, besides the adventurous ride, there were a few other choices, like tree swing, mining race coaster, Desert Derby. 

After all the rides together, we had lunch and got ready for the “Oasis Spring”. It was such a refreshing feeling to soak in the 300 metre Lazy River and attempt more challenges together with friends on the giant water slides. Finally, we got changed and proceeded to the last destination wildlife Park where we were able to observe up close native Australian animals like koalas, kangaroos, and peacocks. 

We finished our day at

 Gumbuya and headed for a delicious dinner together at "The Royal East," where our excursion ended. It was a great day, where everyone could all simply bond, chill out, creating memories.

Phuong Duong – International Student Captain

Year 8’s have had a great start to Term 2. From May 9th – 11th, 86 Acacia and 44 Banksia Year 8’s attended Lord Somers Camp in Somerville. They learned how to kayak, stand up paddle board and designed their own camp memorabilia t-shirts. Students also participated in a fierce pop culture trivia competition and completed a teamwork and initiative course.  We were blessed with good weather and a delicious menu each day and students came home excited and exhausted after their first high school camp experience. Camp is such an important rite of passage for school students and we hope that this experience sparks excitement for future camps at Keysborough!

Grade 5 NAPLAN Writing Success Workshop at Athol Road Primary School

Going to Athol Road Primary School was definitely scary and we were nervous about the reactions of the year 5’s to our visit. Going back to an old primary school you thought you’d never leave is nerve racking , but going as a complete stranger to a school that you’d never been to before was even more terrifying. We were very nervous when arriving but once we got there we definitely felt very welcomed by the teachers and felt like role models.

We were going to teach them about persuasive techniques and tell them about the upcoming naplan assessment as this would be their first naplan ever. Their reaction to us talking about naplan seemed nervous and confused but by the end they understood better. 

Telling them about naplan gave us more of an understanding of how it worked. Teaching them about persuasive writing gave us a feel of leadership and control in a situation that is scary and outside of what we are used to.

We taught the workshop to  2 groups, it was hard when the students were a bit shy, but our second group very into the debates. Overall the groups were keen to learn and had fun.

It was really exciting and we were super privileged to have this experience. Thank you to Ms Hoskin and for taking us and Ms John and Ms P for helping us get prepared! 

A special mention must go to Ms McCarthy, Alvin and Jenisa the Year 8 Captains who also ran a workshop on the day.

Zara Lilburne and Grace Barber – 7F

YEAR 7 VOLLEYBALL

Late last term, our Year 7 Girls and Boys Volleyball teams ventured to Dandenong Stadium to play against other schools in the Greater Dandenong and District Volleyball Competition. With the Year 7 camp being scheduled at the same time, both of our teams (and Acacia) were at a disadvantage, and for the first time, both teams had Year 8 students as part of our coaching team. The Girls competition was a close affair between Banksia, Acacia and Sirius College, with all teams winning 5 games out of 6. Unfortunately, Sirius won one more set across the day compared to us so they won and the Banksia girls came second. The Boys competition was also very close, with Banksia and Chandler both winning 4 of their 5 games. This time though, due to head to head results, the Banksia Boys won the competition and went to the Southern Metropolitan Zone Finals. In a tight 3 way battle with Dromana and Westall, our team finished second in our group. The eventual winner of Southern Zone was Westall - who we beat in the preliminary rounds. 

Congratulations to both teams for their excellent commitment to training and their positive attitude on display on competition day. A further congratulations to Irene Pham, Nancy Sidawi, Erica Sor, Daniel Kamana and Kendrick Simiona for their coaching prowess.

Teacher – Ms Fakos along with Jelena Chhoung, Jasmine Nguyen, Emily Chhor, Han Han Huong, Liz Sus, Souy Ung, Infra Son and our coaches, Irene Pham, Nancy Sidawi and Erica Sor.

Jayden Ung, Hay San San, Kelvin Lao, Rotanak Srun, Adam Nguyen, Sela Ke, Cam Lor, Erick Chiv, Seanghi Van, Hugo Cu and our coaches, Kendrick Simiona and Daniel Kamana.

SOUTHERN ZONE SWIMMING

This year, we only had 7 students volunteer to swim at the District Swimming Competition - Jayden Ung, Lester Ung, Jack Pham, Bao Nguyen, Kendrick Simiona, Yukching Saing and Kimcheng Heng

Jayden, from Year 7, was the only student from Banksia who qualified for the Southern Metro Zone Swimming finals, which were held on Monday, March 28. 

Jayden came 6th in the Under 12-13 Boys 50m Freestyle event. Great effort, Jayden.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability. For more information, refer the document below.

On the 20th May, Advanced Math students were lucky enough to go to Escape Games Melbourne located in Richmond. At Escape Games we were put into different escape rooms in groups of 7-8. We were tasked with solving multiple problems and puzzles within the rooms. Being in the escape rooms required us to work together cohesively and communicate, using our brains and wits. I had so much fun through it all: The escape rooms entertained us greatly, where we became immersed into the story of the escape room in the midst of having to solve the mind-stimulating puzzles. The workers there were lovely. During the excursion we also had plenty of free time where we were able to grab lunch and chill out in Richmond. Ultimately the best part was generally the time we have spent with friends just having an enjoyable relaxing time before our upcoming exams.

On Thursday 12th May, the Banksia Senior Boys Volleyball team participated in The Volleyball Victoria One Day Schools Cup held at the State Volleyball Centre in Dandenong. They played schools such as Eltham High School, Upwey High School, De La Salle College and Waverly Christian College in their pool. After winning their matches either through sets or point difference, they were overall 1st place in their pool. As they were 1st in their pool, they went straight into the semi-final and competed against John Monash Science School. They were down 4 points in the early part of the first set but in the end, came back strong and won 25-21. The second set again was a close call but the teams eventually drew and as a result we won based on point difference.  This set up a fiery clash for the final against Suzanne Cory High School. Again, it was a very close game in which the students won 25-23 in the first set. The time ran out in the second set but it was exactly the same result as their previous game, 10-10 meaning they had emerged victorious!

A massive congratulations to the Banksia Senior Boys Volleyball team for winning first place in the competition! A truly magnificent achievement considering the high level of skill and ability of competing schools. Also, a big thank you to Sarah Nguyen for coaching this fantastic team!

Keysborough Chronicles second edition podcast article

Let’s Talk KSC!

We have some very exciting news for Keysborough College, coming to you this term. Four of our Year 12s across both campuses will be hosting the school’s very own podcast!

Pictured: testing the mics 

Pictured: the crew setting up the podcast equipment 

Here is a brief description in the voice of the Let’s Talk KSC team:

“Have you ever wondered what Keysborough College is up to behind the scenes? Join both students and teachers here weekly to discover our fun discussions and intriguing stories, grand announcements and news, and our special interviews with guests inside and outside KSC! Made with R.E.D., each episode will showcase the most anticipated ideas and talks everyone wants to hear.”

One of our newspaper members asked what the podcast will feature. Here is the team’s answer:

“We plan to let Keysie students have a voice about their own topics! The podcast hopes to be a platform for expressing the many personalities we have at Keysborough College. Some topic examples include reviews, Q&As, interviews, deep discussions, debates, and more!”

That sounds awesome! Where can we listen to the podcast?

“On the intranet! There should be a page for the podcast, but it’s still in progress.”

That’s it for now! Sound exciting? Stay tuned for the release of the podcast’s first episode, and happy listening!

Sincerely, Ayca E. Dogan