Senior School Report
Message from the
Director of Learning
- Mr. Jonathan Roberts
Senior School complete a few milestones as we creep past the half way mark of 2019.
Congratulations to all the students for successfully completing Unit 1 and 3 subjects of their VCE and VCAL.
A few weeks ago, students who undertake Unit 3 & 4 subjects completed their General Achievement Test (GAT) which is a huge 3-hour test of concentration, assessing multiple skills across various subjects. I’m sure everyone slept well that night.
The Year 12s were rewarded for all their hard work so far this semester with one of their last opportunities to spend time with each other outside of the classroom at the Year 12 Formal. It was a fantastic night to see everyone looking glamorous, enjoying a meal, and best of all, a boogie together. A massive thank you to Mrs Gatsios and to the Formal Committee for the work they put into making it such a wonderful night!
Year 11s have recently finished a big challenge as well. Theirs was a full fortnight of exams in smaller doses. Majority of the students did a fantastic job in the way that they managed their time and organisation to make sure they were at their exams with plenty of time to spare and with the correct resources, ready to go. This was great practice for what is to come for our Year 11s in 2020. A big thank you to Mr. Bandara for all his preparation and to all staff that supervised the exams.
Our VCAL students participated in a fantastic excursion into the city attending appointments with many financial institutions, and then, getting $25 to spend at Coles on their way home to budget for a meal that they had to cook back at school for themselves in the kitchen. This activity was great for them to get a taste of the responsibilities that come with becoming more independent. Also, over the past couple of days all students completed a mid-year interview to check on their progress and to make sure everyone is heading in the right direction. Well done to those students that are up to date and achieving great things at their VET courses and work placements. Thanks to Mrs. Gordon for all the time and effort that she has put into the students and the VCAL program.
YEAR 11 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT MARKET DAY
On Tuesday May 21st, the Year 11 Business Management students ran the 2019 Market Day. This was a very successful day, with students having to set up and run their own stalls in an endeavour to make the most profit. Some groups put on a range of food, such as Brownies, Fish balls, Spicy Noodles, HSP, Milo & Matcha, Bubble Tea. Others ran activities that included quizzes and ball tossing challenge. It was great to see the all the groups so busy and working hard to keep up with the demand. A special mention goes to the Bubble Tea group, who made the largest profit. Overall, the day was a huge success with students raising over $400, which goes towards World Vision, the SRC’s nominated charity. Congratulations to all students and Mrs. Vasilikas for organising such a great event.
Mr. Jonathan Roberts
Director of Learning - Senior School
Year 11 Exams
Semester One came to a conclusion with all the Year 11s sitting their Unit One exams. Students were both excited and a little nervous, with this being the first time many of them were having to sit formal exams. To their credit, students displayed maturity, dedication and highly developed learning skills to tackle this stressful period. Feedback from the teachers was very positive and students showed themselves to be a cohort that is hard working, with a bright future ahead. Thank you to staff for preparing the exam papers and well done to students for their hard work this term.
Mr. Jared Bandara
Year 11 Coordinator
Class of 2019
Year 12 Formal
On Thursday, 13th of June the Year 12s celebrated one of the highlights of their year with the annual Formal, which was once again held at Vogue Ballroom, Blackburn. It was great to see how much effort the students had gone to in dressing up for the occasion and making the most of the evening. The students had a great time with plenty of dancing and innumerable photos to remember the night. Special thanks must go to the our Senior School Committee for all their efforts in organising the event, to all the teachers who gave up their time to support the night, and to all the students for the manner in which they embraced what was a fantastic school event.
A special mention to Tutu Mani and Sione Misuiepa, for sharing the role of MC and the cultural drummers who attended.
Ms. Gatsios
Year 12 Coordinator
Biology/Enviromental Science Excursion
On Friday 24th of May, the combined biology and environmental science classes spent the day in the city collecting and analysing data near the Yarra river. One downside of the day was that it was pouring down, so many of us were finding shelter under the Swan Street bridge. There were many discussions between the students on the data collected, especially how the two bridges had very different carbon dioxide levels from the car traffic and factory pollution. As soon as we headed back into the city, the rain stopped and the sun started shining. Mother nature was providing an extra abiotic factor into our data.
Mr. Charles Tran, Ms. Loan Luong
& Mr. Hieu Tran
Science Teachers
PwC Employablity Event
On Friday, 31 May, six Year 12 students attended the “Employability” event held at PwC, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The event involved speeches from current staff members telling us about what PwC is, what it does and how it operates, how to apply for jobs, and we were given a tour inside the PwC building. From this program, we gained an understanding of different career pathways available to us and acquired significant skills on how to make an appropriate resume, as well as the ways to respond to questions in interviews. We all found the program very helpful, particularly the interview tips given by Justin, the PwC Human Capital (Recruitment/Human Resource Manager).
Oubingdu Lar
Year 12
VCAL Panel Interviews
Earlier this week, the Year 11 and 12 VCAL students participated in panel interviews, where they were required to present and discuss what they had been doing in each of their subjects over Semester 1. Some students were very organised, with impressive workbooks and portfolios, and this was great to see. We also looked at their attendance and work submissions, and it was very pleasing to see that four students, Dean Sangil, Aljohn Evangelista, Ambrose Lou and Sa Min had a 100% attendance rate for Semester 1.
Ms. Ngarelle Gordon
VCAL Coordinator
VCAL - Intermediate WRS Refugee Activities
The Intermediate work related skills class have been busy this week hosting some activities during lunchtime as part of Refugee Week. There were a couple of groups that cooked some of their cultural dishes, and a few groups that hosted some craft and sporting activities. The students were able to get some good hands on experience, in planning and hosting an activity, time management and working in teams.
Ms. Ngarelle Gordon
VCAL Coordinator