General News

The Monash Scholars Program

The Monash Scholars Program accepts high-achieving secondary school students and works with them over the coming years to help them explore and pinpoint their passions, develop a broad suite of study skills, and gain the confidence to make great course and career choices. It is also a fabulous networking opportunity for these students, who will mix with other high-achieving students from other schools. Congratulations to the following Year 10 students, who have been accepted into the 2017 Monash Scholars Program:

• Sofiya Solodunenko
• Lena Schulz
• Stephanie Barito
• Leo Crnogorcevic
• Elita Pinto
• Mariam Malak

Ms Sue Harrap

Assistant Principal

Chess Tournament Comes to Nossal

On June 27, Nossal hosted an interschool chess tournament, which drew strong players from schools such as Pakhenam, Drouin and even a particular Shawn Zilmann from Mitcham Primary. We picked a very strong team as well consisting of John Wang, Rahul Preman, Patrick Xiao, Rohan Prince and myself.

Then the battles began. Some very good games of chess were played, notably John Wang achieving a draw against the top seeded Shawn Zilmann. Although the tension was high, we kept ourselves cheerful, cracking jokes in between games and the results favoured us. Individually John Wang won a very well deserved second place, having got 6.5 out of 7 points. I closely followed in third place winning 6 out of 7. 

Shawn Zilmann took out first place on tiebreaks, also with 6.5 out of 7. The team standings were of more joy as we thrashed the other teams with a solid 22 points out of 28 to secure a place in the National Interschool Chess Finals. As goal was achieved we now hope to improve ourselves and sharpen our skills in preparation for Nationals.

With Thanks,

Akshayan Manivannan - Year 10

On Tuesday June 27, a group of 7 students from Nossal High School competed in the Casey Regional Chess tournament. The tournament was held in the Jean Russell Centre. Initially there were going to be two divisions: Middle Years (Year 6-9) and Open Secondary (Year 10-12), but there were only 6 students competing in the Open Secondary division. It was decided that they would also play against some of the Middle Years students, but when the final results get announced everything would be split into the two division, depending on their year level. There were 9 teams, including two (Middle Years and Open Secondary) from Nossal High School, and 62 students that competed. There were 5 students representing the Middle Years team and 2 students representing the Open Secondary team. Each player played 7 arduous games against other opponents.

The Middle Years team finished first and the Open Secondary team finished second in their respective divisions. For the Middle Years team, there were John Wang (who won 6.5 out of 7), Akshayan Manivannan (who won 6 out of 7), Rahul Preman (who won 5 out of 7), Patrick Xiao (who won 4.5 out of 7) and Rohan Prince (who won 4 out of 7). For the Open Secondary team, there were Tom Do (who won 5.5 out of 7) and Ryan Harker (who won 5 out of 7). For the individual standings, John Wang finished second and Akshayan Manivannan finished third in the Middle Years division. In the Open Secondary division, Tom Do and Ryan Harker finished first and second respectively.

Overall, everybody enjoyed the experience and everyone was pleased with their results.

Thank you to all of the participants and the organisers of this event.

Rahul Preman - Year 9

PESA Awards 2017

On the 26 July, a small number of students from Years 11 and 12 accompanied Ms Banaag, Mr Page and Cree Oliveira of Year 12 to the state finals in the CBD of VCAA’s Plain English Speaking Awards (PESA). Having already blitzed her way through both the Regional Competition and State Semi-Finals, Cree was one of just six students to make it to the State Finals and the first from Nossal to ever reach this level.

As the first speaker of the day, Cree delivered an extended version of her speech ‘In Defence of Happy Pigs’, in which she explored the cultural value of modern reality television, and in particular the simple pleasure of the Logies-awarded ‘Best Factual Program’ for two years running: Gogglebox. Contrasting Cree’s light-hearted (but thought-provoking) speech, other topics included using education to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, stereotypes around the label of feminism, political tribes in the 21st century, commercialising mental illness, and the forgotten identity of regional Australia.

In addition to their prepared speeches - all of which were excellent - the competitors had to deliver 4-minute impromptu speeches, with only 3 minutes and the prompt, “One step ahead, one step ahead” to guide them. Being some of the best speakers in the state, all of the competitors took unique and interesting approaches to the topic which was extraordinary for all in attendance to witness. In spite of the tough competition, Cree was able to demonstrate her extraordinary speaking skills and finished the day as Victoria’s runner-up, closely behind Fergus Dale from Caulfield Grammar.

Overall, the day served as a great opportunity both for Cree to develop her public speaking ability, as well as for all of the debaters in attendance, who had the chance to learn from some of Victoria’s best public speakers. We would like to thank VCAA for organising the event. Extra thanks goes to Ms Banaag for organising the event at Nossal, and to Mr Page for attending. And, of course, the day would not have been possible without Cree’s astounding speaking talent, so a big congratulations to her too!

Hayden Radford and Jordan van Rhyn - Year 11

2017 Year 12 Formal

On June 8, Nossal’s annual Year 12 Formal was held at The International of Brighton. Over 250 staff and students attended this evening and all made memories that will surely last a lifetime. The Year 12 Formal will truly be a night to remember for the 2017 graduating cohort.

2017, our final year at Nossal High School, is an incredibly busy year filled with stress, SACs and exciting opportunities. The highly anticipated Year 12 Formal was finally here, a celebration we have all been looking forward to, a brief break from the toil of school. This special night not only allowed us to cherish our time with our peers and times, but also enabled us to create memories which I will treasure for many years to come. While we danced our anxieties away for the night, this event allowed us to come together in a night of fun and laughter before we jumped into the stresses of VCE life.

On arrival, it was exciting to see how amazing all the students looked in their beautiful dresses and dashing suits. Over the course of the evening, guests enjoyed a delicious three course meal followed by hours of dancing and an awards presentation. While everyone looked incredible, I would like to congratulate Shivangi Bhowmick and Viren Sood who were voted Best Dressed, as well as Yuli Leong, Nihal Todd and Melania Iskander (Best Gal Pals), Veroch Handunpathirana and Vasu Kashyap (Best Bromance), Abel Muller (Best Dancer), Crystal Zheng and Akito Rossy (Cutest Couple).

On behalf of the guests, I would like to thank Ms Soltys and the Formal Committee for her help and support in making this night a night to remember. It was truly a night among the stars. Also, a special mention to Shevin D for taking incredible photos throughout the night!

I would like to say a warm thank you to my peers, parents and teachers for giving us the opportunity to build strong friendships, create lasting memories and complete our last year of schooling. I wish everyone the best of luck for their future endeavours, and look forward to seeing where life takes you!

Indira Unnava