This edition of The Aviso introduces the Guest Contributions section, which will feature the work of students from a range of other schools in Melbourne. It is delightful to launch the new section with two contributions from students at The Mac.Robertson Girls High School, located in the Melbourne CBD. The support which The Aviso has received from Mac.Rob is greatly appreciated.

This week, two students have joined The Aviso as cadets. Hannah Benhassine of Year 10 and Rania Widjanarko of Year 11 will be assisting with the creation and publication of The Aviso during the remainder of this year, and will be continuing the publication throughout 2021 in an editorial capacity.

The work featured in this edition of The Aviso has been created by students in a large range of year levels. They range from Year 7 to the Class of 2015, who commenced year 7 a decade ago.

If you would like to make a submission to The Aviso, please email theaviso@mgc.vic.edu.au - every contribution is much appreciated.

Xara Hudson

Humanities Captain

Guest Contributions

Teenage Dream (Wen Wei cover) - Jessamine Lau, Year 9, The Mac. Robertson Girls' High School

enough - Esha Serai, Year 11, The Mac. Robertson Girls' High School

Alumnae

The City of Melbourne - Judy Liu, MGC Class of 2015

Judy Liu graduated from MGC in 2015 and holds a Diploma in Youth Work from the Australian Catholic University as well as qualifications, and four years’ experience, in gymnastics coaching. An aspiring English and Music teacher, she is currently undertaking a combined Arts and Education degree at Monash University.

Beyond - Evelyn Fittock, 7M2

Author’s Note

My inspiration for this piece came from a documentary I watched about the great escape. 76 war prisoners dug a tunnel under the Stalag Luft III and escaped on March 24th, 1944. Although Sven and Nazra are not war prisoners, they are living the same life of many of the escapees and had to be quick and resourceful to outsmart the German military. The reason I used Sweden and Norway as my countries for this story is because it is an accurate depiction of the second world war in Europe. Norway was occupied by the Nazi’s, but Sweden was a neutral state meaning many Jews and refugees of war-torn countries fled to Sweden. This book gives a more fictional insight into the victims of world war two and adds a new aspect of more than a group of peoples getting hurt but finding out about the one or two peoples stories. The trauma many children had to go through after losing their parents required a lot of resilience in not only comforting themselves but their siblings. I tried to demonstrate this in this story, a lot of the time the older sibling would become the main provider for the family and have a lot of burdens from finding food and clothing to trying to comfort them when they are hurt, even though they are also hurting inside as well.

Beyond

The steady sound of my feet slushing in the leaf litter drowns out the sound of the chatter from behind me, my feet are cold, my socks are like sponges, with every step the water coming out of my socks and then absorbing it again. Some birds chatter high up in the trees shielding the sound of our group from the German camp beyond.

“Svenson, hello you in there” I look up my sister’s face was smiling up at me

I silently nodded and turned my head forward. “Are we going to be near the border soon”, her little innocent eyes staring up at me. Deep down I know we're not close, but she was so small, and she needed hope, “yes, Nazra soon.” I muttered.

We carried on walking only stopping in a clearing to eat, and in our convoy we had to find food for ourselves. Nazra and I sat on a moss rock and broke some bread. Nazra was staring at the river close by, I followed her eyes. The glassy river showed my reflection, the dust and dirt on my face so muddy and black no one would recognize me if they ever saw me. I look at Nazra and see my mother in her eyes and then get reminded of my father. Loud sirens rage everywhere my father and mother clutch us tightly and then shove us off, with them we are running for our lives. My legs are pounding the ground, my head hearts nearly as much as my chest, but I keep going, my mother told me to never stop. After coming to the forest, we stopped running. I looked around to find my mother and father smiling tiredly at me not too far behind. Leaving my sister, I run to them but all a sudden two gun shots sound and they both fall to the flour.

“Sven...Sven!” Nazra whispered harshly “Listen!”

I nodded and hushed my breathing to listen. Footsteps edging closer and closer,

“Sie sind nah” I looked at Nazra.

The Germans were here.

“From my estimate there are a few meters from the camp” I whispered.

Nazra nodded. The group leader gave the signal and we all rushed to put out the fire and pick up our belongings. I grabbed Nazra and we ducked into a nearby ditch, summoning all my strength. I pulled a nearby log over us and we clutched each other in utter fear. It by now was twilight and starting to get cold, the Germans were closing in.

“Nazra stay quiet, they can’t find us” I breathed.

“Aufstehen!” they pronounced.

From the little German I knew I knew what they said they wanted us to get up and show ourselves Nazra and I stayed quiet. The rest of the group stood up, The Germans spoke.

“Ist das alles von euch?”, Nazra looked at me with questioning eyes. “He said is that all of you” I explained, my voice trembling. The group nodded.

The Germans weren’t so sure “Bleib hinter dem Bletcher.”

“Dammit” I swore.

Nazra asked again annoyed “What!?”

But I didn’t need to explain, one of the officers I assumed was named Bletcher, stayed behind the rest of our convoy and was led to the woods never to be seen again. It was pitch black by now and the ditch was getting rather stuffy. Nazra and I knew we needed to escape.

“Sven, I’ve got a plan!” Nazra whispered excitedly

Her face was now red from the heat in the cramped space. Nodding I waited for an explanation, but all she did was fumble around in the mud.

“Nazra, what are you doing?” I ask annoyed.

“You’ll see!” she says excitedly.

After a minute of “searching” she seems satisfied that she found what she needed. It was a rock? Carefully she edged out from the narrow hole from the ditch and threw the rock with all her might, making a loud “thwack.” The officer turned his head and dashed after the sound.

“Halt für Hitler und die deutsche Amy!” he screamed.

And then he was out of sight. Smiling at Nazra we both climbed out of the ditch.

“Good job” I murmur. We started slinking through the forest again heading towards the Swedish border, lapsed in comfortable silence processing what had just happened. Nazra suddenly broke the silence and asked me something,

“Why didn’t you tell me about mum and dad?”

I stuttered “Because you shouldn’t have to know what they… they did to them.”

Nazra nodded “Well I saw. When they shot… them and then I saw them fall and… then you came running back to me, I’m sorry Sven. But you must tell me these things. We are the only family each of us have left okay?”.

I smiled and nodded. I grabbed her hand and we both carried on to the safety and freedom beyond the Swedish border. I can’t wait for what lies beyond.

Untitled - Alexandra Pilepich, Year 8

Untitled - Priska Eunike, Year 10

Quote of the Watch

"Magnanimity represents the apotheosis of human nature" - Matt Evans

“A ghost can be a lot of things. A memory, a daydream, a secret. Grief, anger, guilt. But, in my experience, most times they’re just what we want to see. Most times, a ghost is a wish.” - The Haunting of Hill House (2018) dir. Mike Flanagan

“We outgrow love, like other things / and put it in the drawer” - Emily Dickinson

Humanities News

The Humanities Team has just begun to organise a team who will apply for the 2021 YMCA Youth Parliament. If you are interested in debating, politics, governance or law, and are passionate about advocating for a social cause, the Youth Parliament is a unique opportunity for your message to be heard in a parliamentary setting, and potentially by the State Government itself. If you would like to become a member of the team, please email Xara Hudson at hud0006@mgc.vic.edu.au
The development of MGC’s entry into the ANZAC Day Schools’ Awards is well underway. The entry takes the form of an anthological booklet, featuring submissions covering various aspects of the Second World War and its impact upon Australia. In early September, the entry will be finalised and submitted.
The Philosophy Club met online last Wednesday, and will be meeting again on Friday, August 25.
The Humanities Club can be joined at: https://bit.ly/2VUDmx5
The Philosophy Club can be joined at: https://bit.ly/3d74PBL
The MGC ANZAC Day Schools’ Awards Team can be joined at https://bit.ly/2U8MFZj

Crew

Hannah Benhassine, Cadet

Rania Widjanarko, Cadet

Dean Allan, Promotion at the Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School

Sandra Lin & Michaela McMahon, Promotion at the Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School

Beth Barrass, Publication & Formatting

Carolina Trujillo, Review of Submissions and General Support

Terry Donnelly, General Advice

Anthony Keen, IT Support

Australian Air Force Cadets