A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

WINTER CONCERT

Each year I am astonished at the talent and dedication on display at the annual Winter Concert. The sight of all those students on stage for the massed singing which finishes the night never fails to move me.

The music staff do a wonderful job but I would like to acknowledge those unsung heroes the backstage crew. Ably led by Ms Kirk, Mr Stooke, Mr Braniska and Mr Kurowski, the student crew comprised the following people: Eliana Adler, Kate Baldwin, Ruby Comte, Jarryd Harris, Thomas Herterich, Yasmin Lamb-Tjahjono, Thomas McGlone, Jason Moncrieff, Aron Murray, Ellen Nichols, Nicole Olascoaga, Charlotte Pentland, Shai Pik and Irene Tartiris.

I really appreciate the many messages sent by families who attended the event. Thank you for being there and watching the children shine.

YEAR 9 CAMP

Congratulations to our Year 9 students who participated in their Year Level camp to Campaspe Downs in Kyneton. These activities provide tremendous learning and assist in the development of problem solving and communication skills for students.

They partook in all activities enthusiastically and worked together to ensure the camp was successful. The students were a credit to themselves, their families and their school. Thank you to Mr Reynolds and Ms Dickson for their tremendous efforts with organizing this wonderful opportunity.

SOUNDS OF GLEN EIRA

While still on the subject of things musical, our very own Sons of Daniel will be performing at the Sounds of Glen Eira, a free music event for young people created by young people.

Eight acts will compete, with some fantastic prizes up for grabs, including two full days professional recording at Glen Eira Youth Services Plugged In recording studio with a sound engineer to record, mix and master the work. Additionally, one of the finalists will be selected to perform at the 2016 Party in the Park — Under The Stars event.

Selected youth musicians will play to a packed audience at the Bentleigh McKinnon Youth Centre, Higgins Road, Bentleigh from 5:45pm to 10:30pm on Friday 18 September.

Sounds of Glen Eira, is a fully supervised drug, alcohol and smoke free event. Entry is free, no pass outs for people aged under 18. So go along and support the Sons of Daniel.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Once again I thank the parents who attended the Parent Teacher Interviews. Feedback at this time is crucial for improved student learning outcomes to be achieved.

The strong partnerships that exist between parents and teachers at McKinnon contribute significantly to student success.

There was a strong sense of community and celebration.

I thank the many parents who took the time to thank staff for their efforts. I appreciate your support. Together parents and teachers, we all work tirelessly to achieve the best educational outcomes for all the students in our care.

THISTLELONIAN REUNION – CLASS OF 1965

The Class of 1965 was invited back to school last Sunday in recognition of the 50 years since their Graduation. An afternoon tea was arranged by our Year 11 Food Technology class. The following students made the day possible: Nikki Charters, Isobella Gilbert, Brigitte Hancock, Emily Harbis, Demi Hu, Fiona Liu, Chelsie Loader, Bryce Morley, Talia Rose, Zoe Shilbury, Natalie Vashevnik, Amy Volfson, Lachlan Wiles, Jessie Wu, Ziyue (Mary) Fu and Jie (King) Chen.

The Thistlelonians do a wonderful job in keeping in touch with annual celebrations. I cannot thank enough Ms Moloney and the students who all worked tirelessly! They also demonstrated so many of the McKinnon values. I would also like to thank Su Rogerson, Martin West and the Clarinet Choir: Gabi Basman, Lee-Ling Bristow, Jamie Morrissey, Cassandra Samiotis, Melissa Seow and Tristan Sumarna for their musical performance on the day.

As for the Class of 1965 itself, I have received some lovely emails and cards thanking us for giving people the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and the school itself. One message particularly resonated with me when the sender said ‘I was blown away by the size of the school and the facilities now available to the lucky students.’ It is easy forget how fortunate we all are in belonging to the McKinnon community.

Click here to view photos from the Class of 1965 reunion

PHILOSOPHY CLUB

Students involved in the lunch time Philosophy Club attended the Preshil VCE Philosophy Student Conference at the University of Melbourne on Saturday 22 August from 8:30am to 5:00pm.

Just considering getting out of bed early on a Saturday morning to feed one’s brain with ideas and challenge one’s perspective on ethical issues is exhausting. However, our students took up the opportunity with enthusiasm to engage in interactive seminars from Professor of Ethics, Dr. Julian Savulescu, Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Philosophy Prof. Rob Sparrow, Monash Univ., Dr. Russell Blackford, University of Newcastle, and Prof. Lucano Floridi, University of Oxford.

McKinnon Secondary College was the only school with participating students ranging from Year 7 to Year 11. Jedd Stein, Chad Aizicowitz, Adam El-Horri, Liam Atchison, Morris Bernstein, Gideon Stein, Avinash Thandaoori and Ellen Nichols are students who seek to better understand their environment and I hope will continue to contribute to a global conversation about the kind of world in which we would all like to live. I thank Ms Rocca for her leadership in creating these opportunities for tremendous learning.

I personally thought it was great being able to go to Melbourne University and spend a day listening to people's philosophical ideas. Even though I did find talking to university students a bit overwhelming, the topic I found most interesting was about genetically modifying Embryos.

- Jedd Stein (Year 7)

My experience with the philosophy conference was amazing! I had one question for Philosopher Rob Sparrow: Although it is allowing them to live, why not pick a better embryo than a worse one, for the benefit of the child?

– Chad Aizicowitz (Year 8)

The Philosophy conference that we attended was a very interesting experience. We had the chance to hear from globally renowned philosophers share their research. We had opportunities to ask the presenters questions and also to participate in community of inquiry discussions with senior students from other schools. I found that the highlight of the day was hearing from Professor Luciano Floridi; Director of Research and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford. His interesting talk was about the evolution of technology. He made some powerful arguments about how artificial intelligence cannot take over humanity and this diminished the concerns I had after watching the Terminator series. Altogether, it was a mind opening day. What I heard made me think about possibilities that I previously hadn’t considered could even be possible.

- Gideon Stein (Year 10)

ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING

Last Sunday, a group of McKinnon staff, (Kate Brown, Daniel Farthing, Mark Fernandez, James McLaughlan, Karen Sargent, Rita Van Der Wolde), gathered with teachers from other local schools for a meeting of the South Eastern Region Ethical Understanding Project. The day involved a mix of theoretical and practical components, exploring measures to increase student understanding of ethical concepts within the classroom. Thanks to Michelle Rocca for her great leadership of the Project and her organisation of the day.

NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK at McKINNON

(17-23 August)