Mooroolbark College Newsletter – October 2022

25th October 2022

Our latest Mooroolbark College Newsletter is here!

The Mooroolbark College newsletters are an important form of communication for our school community.

Each newsletter contains a great deal of information about what is happening in the College including upcoming events and celebration of student success.

Enjoy reading about all the amazing things happening around our College.

Upcoming Events

Apr

Wed

General Assembly (ANZAC Assembly)

Tickets

Apr 24 – Apr 25 all-day

Year 11 & 12 Art Gallery Excursion

Tickets

Apr 24 – Apr 25 all-day

Apr

Thu

ANZAC Day

Tickets

Apr 25 all-day

ANZAC DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Apr 25 all-day

Senior Boys Netball

Apr 26 all-day

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

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What an exciting and busy start to Term 4 we have had!!

The 2022 National Wakakkiri Performance, Night of Excellence, our 10th Film Festival, and Grade 5 All-Rounder Day are just some of the wonderful events that we have offered our community.

Our Night of Excellence was a fantastic evening shared with many parents and students, showcasing the amazing talent our school has to offer. I am also proud to announce that Mooroolbark College has taken home a NATIONAL STORY AWARD for excellence in performing arts and raising awareness about Environment for their performance ‘The True Cost’ as part of the 2022 National Wakakirri Story-Dance Festival.

I am extremely proud of the time and effort that has been put into organising and running these events, from both students and teachers. We have all come together as a Team and the hard work was clearly evident. You should all feel proud of our achievements.

Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of interviewing students for the 2023 School Captain positions. It is always such a rewarding experience speaking to students who have shown commitment to the school by expressing their interest in becoming School Captain.

Congratulations to the 2023 College Captains – Ciara Delaney and Carla Hunaidi.

During the next few weeks of Term Four, interviews will be taking place for additional Student Leadership positions. I wish those students who have nominated for these positions, all the best with their interviews and I look forward to announcing the appointments in Term 4.

The College’s Year 12 students will be continuing their VCE exams over the coming weeks and we wish them the best of luck.

Ann Stratford

PRINCIPAL

ENGLISH

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Farewell and Good Luck to our year 12 students

The Year 12 English Team are proud of the work that students have put in this year and for the resilience that has been shown when overcoming the challenges presented throughout the last two years. A highlight of the year was reading The Crucible aloud as a class, which revealed some hidden acting talent and helped to develop students’ understanding of the key events in the play. As a teaching team, we also enjoyed listening to the oral presentations that students delivered, as they spoke passionately about a topic of their choice whilst applying their knowledge of persuasive language.

We wish all of our students the best for their upcoming exams and for the bright futures that lie ahead.

In the wise words of Elizabeth Proctor from The Crucible, “Whatever you will do, it is a good [person] does it.”

Night of Excellence

English was excited to showcase the best three text response essays at every year level on the Night of Excellence. This offered us the opportunity to celebrate the top students in English at each year level as well as show the progression that students make in the analytical and writing abilities from year 7 through to year 12. We are so proud of the advances that all of our students are able to make from year to year.

Year 7

Our year 7 English students are currently studying a unit on poetry which has given them the opportunity to flex their creative muscles and experiment with many different forms of poetry including sonnets, limericks, Odes, Slam poetry, free verse and the ever-popular haiku. Here is a sample of the great work our year 7 students have been producing.

Seasons by Adam Spencer 7A

Laying on the floor
To hot to do anything
I don’t like Summer

Standing on the lawn
Raking is my job today
I don’t like autumn

Up at the window
Been raining for two straight days
I don’t like Winter

Outside at the park
Sneezing from all the pollen
And I don’t like Spring

This year isn’t great
I need to see the bright side
See the glass half full

Swimming at the lake
Perfect day to be outside
I do like Summer

Looking at the trees
A beautiful orange glow
I do like Autumn

Sitting at the fire
All cosy in the warm heat
I do like Winter

Gardening at home
Bees dancing in the flowers
I really like Spring.

Dog by Johan Al Thang 7G

I bark,eat and play
I run a lot and pee, poo
I love my owner

I smell very bad
I love my owner a lot
I wake up and eat

I love playing catch
I run around with my friends
I smell like doo doo

I love to eat food
I get fed by my owner
I am loveable

Amy Broekmann

English Key Learning Head

EAL

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2022 is a year packed with excitement as we finally have the opportunity to complete a whole year of teaching and learning on-site, and participate in camps, excursions, and other school events like we used to after two years of pandemic life. To many, the year feels incredibly long. Yet, the time has gone so quickly. It is hard to believe, within the blink of an eye, we have already farewelled our lovely Year 12s, the largest EAL cohort ever in Mooroolbark College. On their last day, the group of 11 recreated their Year 12 Day 1 photo. Over the course of 10 months, some have grown taller, some have had a different look, and some have taken off their jackets to embrace the summer; what they share in common is that they all have become better people. From the bottom of my heart, I know these beautiful young adults have been incredibly resilient in the last few years and made the very best of their life at Mooroolbark College in their own ways.

Sheba, Thomas, Jessie, TC, Kbiak, Anu, Van, Bawi, Wash, Esther, and Phond, we wish you the best in your exams and the future. Don’t forget to come back and visit us sometime.

A message from Esther Ngun Tha Sung: “we are thankful to be in a school such as Mooroolbark that embraces us for who we are and for providing endless help throughout the year. Making us believe that school can be a home where you can feel safe and comfortable.”

VCE

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Over the past couple of weeks, we have celebrated the amazing effort and achievements of our Year 12 students. The whole school farewelled our graduating class of 2022 at their final general assembly. We were so proud to see the students celebrate with the whole school, before having their own private final assembly at the end of the day.

The students had a celebration day out at Funfields where they were able to relax, have fun and enjoy each other’s company one final time before exams begin. We were lucky with the weather and shared a BBQ lunch as a group.

With the commencement of the VCAA English and EAL examinations on Wednesday 26 October we have some exam tips to help students get over their final secondary school hurdle.

Exercise, eat and sleep well

Organise your study space at home

Develop a study routine

Act on feedback from your teachers

Ask for help from a teacher or friend

Study with friends

Complete past VCAA exams

Have a balance between work and play

Some top tips from high achieving students at Deakin University:

https://this.deakin.edu.au/study/exam-tips-from-high-achieving-year-12s

Dates to remember

Monday 7/11 – Tuesday 8/11 – 2023, Year 12 VCE-VM Orientation

Thursday 17/11 – Wednesday 30th November – 2023, year 12 VCE Orientation

Monday 28/11. Tuesday 29/22 and Thursday 1/12 – 2023, Year 11 VCE-VM Orientation

Monday 28/11 – Friday 2/12 – 2023, Year 11 VCE Orientation

Skye Jennings

VCE Coordinator

ASPIRE

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Welcome to Term 4! It has been a busy start to the Term in the Aspire program with our 2023 Testing Day taking place on Saturday 8th October. Grade 6 students from 12 local primary schools attended our 3-hour session – comprised of a Music Aptitude test, Literacy and Numeracy Examination and a Design Sprint Challenge.

During the Design Sprint, the students were placed in groups and given the challenge of creating an enrichment toy for an animal at the zoo. They needed to work together to research their animal, focussing on how it behaves, uses its senses and moves it body. They then brainstormed 100 ideas in 10 minutes and were given the difficult task of narrowing the list to just one idea. The groups then worked collaboratively to design and produce a prototype of their enrichment toy. This task required students to use their communication skills, creativity, resilience and problem-solving skills.

Letters of offer for our 2023 Year 7 Aspire class will be distributed in Week 4 and I look forward to welcoming the class next year.

Our current Year 7 class is off to Yarra Ranges Tech School on Thursday 27th October to participate in the program, An Introduction to Design Thinking. I look forward to reporting on this in the next Newsletter.

Kara Salmon

Aspire Program Coordinator

SRC

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The SRC had a fantastic end to term 3, running the school’s first ever Mullets for Mental Health campaign successfully. With the help of Mr Ingham bravely cutting his hair in the middle of the Quad, the school was able to raise $2380! This is halfway to our ambitious’ goal of $5000, and so the SRC is already thinking ahead to next year so we can smash this goal next year.

To further raise money for Mental Health in Body Kindness Month, the SRC organised a Father’s Day stall, Footy Colours Day, Sausage Sizzle, and promoted Kindness through the school’s first Odd Sock Day. These were all fantastic events and are sure to become Mooroolbark Tradition for years to come.

The SRC are looking to the future this Term, planning for next year as they elect their Executive leaders, and idealise what they want to achieve for the school next year. At the same time, students farewell exiting President Emily Reid. Emily has done an inspiring job picking up the role this year, after two years in remote decimated the SRC’s presence at the school. She will be greatly missed by the team that worked closely with her this year, but we know she has set up a thriving group of students ready to embrace student voice next year!

SCIENCE

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In Science we would like to congratulate and say goodbye to our Year 12s who have finished their final VCE classes. We hope that they continue to strive and assist the scientific community in their futures. We thank them for their contribution to Science over the past 6 years. All the best for your exam period, and know that we are here to support you now and in the future.

Other year levels in Science have been working hard, our year 11s and 10s don’t have far to go, work hard on your final CAT’s and SAC’s in preparation for your exams. Now is the time to start refining your study techniques and work out what is best for you.

Our junior students in Year 7-9 are beginning a very exciting component of Science, their independent investigations. Where they will create and conduct their own experiments. It’s fantastic to see their curiosity blossom and we can’t wait to see their end results.

Tristan Dunkley

Science Key Learning Head

HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION

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It has already been a busy start to Term 4 but before we get there, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the other incredible activities and accomplishments of our students that occurred during the back end of Term 3.

Starting off with a bang is our Year 10 Talented Sports Program students. They were recently treated to an incursion from the awe-inspiring Victorian Institute of Sport triathlete and aspiring Paralympian, Liam Twomey. Liam shared his journey from being diagnosed with an Ewing Sarcoma and having his right leg amputated at age 7, to battling hardship throughout his teenage years now currently competing on the world stage. Liam discussed the importance of resilience and gratitude, along with his training and diet in preparation for competition. We wish Liam all the best for the future and with his training towards Paris 2024.

Here at Mooroolbark College we believe that all students should get the opportunity to experience things that they might not get the chance to do outside of school, regardless of if they’re part of an Outdoor Education class or camp. The annual Mooroolbark Snow Day is an event that has not run for a few years due to Covid and was a welcome return late September. Students and staff had an absolute ball of fun (minus the pun). Students showed incredible resilience throughout the day in learning a new skill and our intermediate/advanced skiers and boarders got to explore the mountain, whilst learning some new tricks. The students also demonstrated endeavour as they pushed through some unfavourable conditions and visibility on the day. I can’t wait to see it run again next year! A huge thankyou to Allie Grey-Smith and Matthew Bell for organising the day. I know the students appreciated it.

In more recent events It was a great day for 16 of our students who competed at the Eastern Metropolitan Region athletics carnival. Special congratulations to Eva Johnson for placing 3rd in the U12-15 1500m walk. In addition, well done to our U16 Boys 4x100m relay team, who also placed 3rd.

Since finishing up with the Peer Support Program in Semester 1 the Year 7 Health students have been working extremely hard in health to explore a range of new topics. Recently, 7G health students participated in a race against the clock to match like terms that they had been learning. The topics covered Bullying and the Dimensions of Health. Students worked in pairs to match the terms together as fast as they could and placed their times onto the board. The students displayed great resilience, even with the added time pressure.

Continuing the Health path. Our Year 10 Health and Human Development students just begun exploring their final unit on Global Development. Students have been learning about the Pre-Requisites of health which are 9 concepts that are required in order to achieve optimal health. This week’s focus was ‘Shelter’. To cement student understanding, they were asked to create a lego figure that best represented what ‘adequate’ shelter looked like. Students worked in groups and had many creative ideas! Some even had a garden, outdoor BBQ area and a dining room with a tv! Some of these works will be displayed during our Night of Excellence. A brilliant effort by all.

Stephanie Todd

Health and Physical Education Key Learning Head

THE ARTS

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Our annual Night of Excellence was another huge success for The Arts. The multipurpose room was the venue for our amazing VCE Arts Showcase exhibition that displayed the incredible work completed by VCE students in Art, Media, Studio Arts and Visual Communication Design. The night also saw our junior students showcase their artworks in the library alongside our Primary School Arts Showcase.

Capping off the evening was our phenomenal Performing Arts Showcase that was held in T-Block. The showcase was abuzz with wonderful performances from our Media, Drama, Music and Production students.

A big thank you to all of our amazingly talented students, our hardworking staff and to everyone that attended the night. It was a huge success.

Matthew Neil-Holland

The Arts Key Learning Head

LANGUAGES

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Is it already Term 4? Well, well, the year really has gone quickly! However, Mooroolbark College’s Language classes are abuzz with end of Year activities. There’s the regular coursework and of course, the cultural aspects to language learning that will become more important in the coming weeks, as the grades are finalised and reports written.

Mooroolbark College’s Night of Excellence is not just one of the term’s highlights but is in fact a true annual event. On Thursday the 20th of October we opened the College to the community, in order to show off the incredible work that our students are capable of. And what a MEGA-turnout and success it was! Staff were on their feet answering questions and proudly showing off their students’ work while the creators themselves were busily taking photos of their efforts and that of their friends, liking this, QR-Code reading that and all while keeping busy voting in the College’s People’s Choice Awards. Congratulations to all of you who had work on display and thank you to our staff for assisting in this extravaganza. 2023, you have a lot to live up to!

For the rest of Term 4, our Year 7 Language Learners will be focusing on designing and describing their fantasy creatures for their ‘Monster Poster CAT’. We have seen many excellent designs while students are drafting and finalising their texts by working through their class materials such the Powerpoint ‘Sausage Machine Grammar SMG’ resource. Meanwhile, our Year 8 students will similarly be engaged with their work for their ‘Comprehension CAT’ in Chinese and their ‘School Uniform Poster CAT’ in German by using their SMG2 resource. Resources will of course be available in Compass as per usual.

Parents and students, please remember that the College can only pass students who submit satisfactory CATs, but students who have overdue CATs will have the opportunity to complete these to a Satisfactory Standard if the task is more than a week late, as per the College requirements.

Culturally we will also be investigating themes like Chinese inventions and history such as that of the Terracotta Warriors, while in German we will investigate the Fall of the Berlin Wall, German Christmas traditions and German Geography.

It’ll be fun!

The Languages Faculty

Yi Jiang, Jiaqi Tan, Jordan van Keulen & Jonas Bahlo

STUDENT WELLBEING

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I recently came across this useful information from the Beyond Blue website about how to talk to young people about mental health.

More information around this topic can be found on their website
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/have-the-conversation/talking-to-a-young-person

And I found this video really helpful. https://youtu.be/LFyetdiDB_Y

Talking to a young person

Are you worried about a young person and not sure what to say? Do you worry that you might make things worse? You want to help them, but not sure how?

It all starts with a conversation.

Even if you aren’t sure quite what to say, the important thing is that you say something. Let them know that you are concerned and why. They may be experiencing anxiety or depression, or they might be struggling with suicidal thoughts. By starting a conversation and showing your concern and willingness to support them, you’re giving them an opportunity to share what they are going through. This can make all the difference in ensuring they get any support they might need.

Things to remember

A young person may find it uncomfortable discussing their thoughts and emotions openly with you. They may even get angry when you ask if they’re OK. Try to stay calm, and realise you may need to try raise the conversation in different ways over time to get a response.
If a young person doesn’t want to talk to you about his or her problems, try not to take it personally.
If a young person has anxiety or depression, it will probably affect the way they think about things. They are more likely to approach situations negatively, believing nothing much can change or that things are hopeless. Being terribly anxious and worried can also get in the way of finding solutions. If the young person feels this way, they may need:

encouragement to explore options for help
reassurance that things will be OK
to focus on small steps and achievements.

When young people have anxiety or depression, it doesn’t help to pressure them to ‘snap out of it’. You can’t assume that the problem will go away without help. You won’t always have the answers, and you may say the wrong thing at times – but simply showing you care and will be there to help them through this is what matters.
Young people who resist seeing a doctor or a health professional may prefer to contact a professional over the phone or online, as this is anonymous and can be less confronting.

Take their lead by asking how they would like to be supported. It might help to suggest a few options; some that support them emotionally (being available to listen, offering reassurance), others that offer practical help (help with homework or getting to a part time job).
Recovery is possible, but it can be a slow process.
Seek support from trusted friends or relatives, or talk to a counsellor about ways to cope and support your child.
If you think that a young person is thinking about suicide, you need to talk about it.

And as always, we want to remind you, that your child’s wellbeing is our priority. If you have any concerns at all about your child then please contact your child’s coordinator or myself so we can discuss appropriate wellbeing support. We are available to parents via phone or text. Your child can also contact us directly by knocking on the door of our office. We are here to support you.

John Nichol

Well-Being Leader

WELLBEING AND WELFARE SUPPORT SERVICES

24 Hour Emergency
Police/Fire/Ambulance		24 hours/7 days	000
Kids Helpline	Counselling service for people aged between 5 and 25	24 hours/7 days	1800 551 800 www.kidshelp.com.au www.kidshelpline.com.au/young-adults (email, web chat)
Lifeline	Crisis support, suicide prevention and mental health support services	24 hours/7 days	13 11 14
Beyond Blue	Information and support for all ages to promote optimal mental health.	24 hours/7 days	1300 224 636 www.beyondblue.org.au (Chat online or email)
1800 RESPECT	24 hour counselling line for anyone who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.	24 hours/7 days	1800 737 732 https://www.1800respect.org.au/
E headspace	Provide mental health support for young people aged 12–25	Phone: 10pm – 1am Online counselling: 1pm – 1am	1800 650 890 https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/
Inspiro	Free youth, teen, young adult and family		counselling 9738 8801 or visit https://www.inspiro.org.au/ for more information
Parent line	Support for Parents and carers with children from birth to 18 years	8am–midnight/7 days	13 22 89
EDVOS	Family violence service in Melbourne’s eastern metropolitan region	Mon-Fri 9am-8pm Sat 9am-5pm (phone or email)	03 9259 4200 edvos@edvos.org.au https://www.edvos.org.au/

LIBRARY

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It’s Halloween this month and we’re celebrating stories that have a little bit of ‘boo’! Pop into the Library this month to find a recommendation to get your heart racing!

October is also Dyslexia Awareness Month. We have quite a number of books that are printed specially to support dyslexic readers – the font is slightly larger, differently spaced, and printed on an off-white paper to make it just that bit easier to read. The stories are great too!

As we get closer to the end of the year, this is your friendly reminder to return any overdue books! If you’ve got the copy, then it means no one else can read it!

Prue Bon

Library Coordinator

CANTEEN

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Welcome back to Term 4!

Please find attached our new Spring/Summer menu, smoothie menu and ice cream menu!

This term we say goodbye and good luck to Mitchell Steele and Jackson Alexander (both Year 12) who have completed their studies at Mooroolbark College. We are so thankful for their help in the canteen this year, they were always willing to help if needed and were a delight to work with. I’m sure our students will miss seeing their smiling and friendly faces in the canteen.

If you are in Year 10 or above and interested in volunteering your time in the canteen at lunchtime, please come in and see me. I will be looking for some new volunteers for 2023 and you would be gaining some valuable hospitality experience and also become more involved in the Mooroolbark College school community.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the canteen!