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Mooroolbark College Newsletter – December 2022

12th December 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.

In this Issue:

Upcoming Events

Next PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE

PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE

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It is hard to believe the school year once again draws to a close, I would like to thank the community for their ongoing support of the College as we continue to strive for excellence to ensure our students have the best possible educational outcomes. This year has been an exciting one for the College with the completion of the $7 million building programs.  

AWARDS ASSEMBLY 
We are proud of the achievements of our students and this year have introduced ‘Student Award Presentations’ held at the College; displaying the continuous effort and contribution of our students to their own academics and to the community. The successful series of events held for our Year 10 and Year 11 students on the 30th November, Year 8 and Year 9  and Year 7 held on Friday 9th December was a testament to their hard work and dedication as well as the diligence and talent of our staff.  

EXAMS 
I would like to congratulate all Year 10 and 11 students for completing their end of year examinations. This is an important stepping stone for students and it also a terrific learning experience for all involved.  

VALEDICTORY DINNER
On Thursday, 17th November, we said our final farewells to our Year 12 students. The Valedictory Dinner was a wonderful night where each individual was recognised for their time at the College.

Congratulations to the following students who received Awards on the night.

Art People’s Choice Award – Shaylah Haywood
Doug Fraser – Rhys Thomson
Future Innovator – Rhys Thomson
Long Tan – Emily Reid
Ampol All Rounder – Jackson Addicott

HOUSE AWARDS
BAAN: Emily Reid
Hayley Knight
DARRANG: Rhys Thomson
Sheridan Rancie
BIIK: Jessica Voigt (only 1)
NGAWAN: Jackson Addicott
Daniel Petrella

MCPA 
I would like to thank the MCPA for the wonderful support they have given to our students over the past year. The members under the leadership of has enabled the College to purchase a number of resources to support our educational program including a significant investment in the College’s fitness track which will be installed in the new year, musical equipment and bike education equipment.  

YEAR 7 2023 ORIENTATION DAY 
Our Orientation Day for our new Year 7 2023 students is on Tuesday 13th December. This is an exciting day when we get to welcome our new Year 7s. In advance, I would like to thank our Friendship Ambassadors for being part of this special day.  

BEGINNING OF 2023 
The College has two Professional Development days at the beginning of 2023; they will be on Friday 27th January and Monday 31st January. 

Students in Year 7 & 12 VCE/VCE-VM will commence on Tuesday 31st January 2023 

Years 8, 9, 10, 11 students commence on Wednesday 1st February 2023 

COLLEGE PHOTOS 
In 2023 the College photos will be taken on Monday 13th February 2023 (TBC). More information will be sent to families early next year.  

REPORTS 
Parents/Guardians can access reports through Compass from 3.00pm on Tuesday 20th December 2022. 

CHANGES FOR 2023
There are two significant changes for the Mooroolbark College Community in 2023. 

DAILY STRUCTURE CHANGE
The first change will impact on the daily schedule with the College moving to a 5 period timetable with a start time of 8.44 am and finish time of 2.55 pm.  The day will begin with Home Group followed by Periods 1 and 2.  Recess will then be followed by Periods 3 and 4.  After lunch the day will finish with Period 5.  The periods will reduce to 57 minutes (currently 70).  This arrangement will bring further flexibility to the teaching and learning program and provides for additional face to face teaching time in both Year 11 and Year 12.   

UNIFORM CHANGE
The second change is in regard to the College uniform requirements.  After extensive consultation with students, staff and the College Council all students will now be required to wear grey tailored school pants or tailored school shorts if that is the uniform option they choose for day wear.  This will be immediately implemented for Year 7 2023 with a transition period of two years for current Years 7 to 11.  By 2025 it is expected that all students will be wearing grey shorts and school pants (if they are choosing this uniform option).  Students can still choose to wear the College tartan skirt or College school dress.  The white polo/shirt with the College logo, school jumper, school rugby jumper and College jackets remain unchanged.

The only change to the sports uniform is the replacement of leggings with plain blue track suit pants.  Additional styles of logoed shorts are available through PSW, the College’s supplier of school uniform.  I would encourage families to visit PSW to try the new sports shorts options which have been assured by students are far more comfortable.   The sports uniform can only be worn during PE/Sports periods and on specific sports days such Athletics/Swimming/Cross Country carnivals.  

It is expected that all students wear the correct school uniform daily including polishable school shoes.  Track suit pants are not part of the uniform (other than for PE/sport).  We understand that on occasions that uniforms can get unexpectedly dirty or become in need of repair.  In this situation, students must bring a note from home in order to get a short term uniform pass from their Home Group Teacher or House Coordinator. 

 

I would like to wish all our students, parents, teachers and community a very Happy Christmas and a safe New Year. I look forward to welcoming you all back at the beginning of the 2023 academic year for another full year at Mooroolbark College.  

 

Ann Stratford 

PRICIPAL

PreviousCover PageNext ENGLISH

ENGLISH

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The English KLA would like to bid Lucy Badrock and Prue Bon a fond farewell. Ms Badrock is going to teach year 12 English Language at a Catholic school and Ms Bon is taking a year of leave to study.  

Our senior students are busy doing orientation for VCE. We have been impressed with the energy they have brought to orientation and are excited for what the 2023 school year will bring. All year 11 and 12 students VCE English, English Language and Literature students will have holiday homework over the summer break and it is important that they complete it on time so that they don’t start the school year off already behind. We are excited to introduce some new texts at both year 11 and year 12 next year and it is important that they have all been read before the school year starts.  

Our junior students have finished their final CATs for the year and are finishing up with mini units that will lead to more work that they will complete in 2023. Year 7 have just finished a film study unit and are currently working on an Indigenous language and storytelling unit. Year 8 have also just finished a film study unit and are currently working on some poetry. Year 8 have just finished a unit on Argument Analysis and are finishing the year on a film study.  

We would also like to extend a huge congratulations to Giselle Leonard, in year 7, who won the People’s Choice Award for English at the Night of Excellence.  

The year 7 students recently did a poetry unit and the following poems stood out as mature, compassionate and insightful.  

 

Ukraine by Cassie Howland

 

5am wake up. 

No time for yawning, get up. 

French toast, let’s get going. 

 

Bring the dogs with you. 

Put in as much as you can. 

You got everything? 

 

Stock up on food first. 

Air raid sirens everywhere. 

Pick up Mum quickly. 

 

Getting closer now. 

Time for lunch, but keep driving. 

We are almost there. 

 

Finally arrived. 

We are the few lucky ones. 

By my home, Ukraine. 

 

 

 Rainbows by Chloe Jasper

 

Red like fire,  

Yellow like the sun, 

Fills you with warmth, the Summer has begun. 

Pink is the flowers, 

Green is the trees, 

The garden smells beautiful as you inhale the breeze. 

Purple like grapes, 

Blue like the moon, 

Orange is leaves when Autumn is soon. 

There is a tradition that will never grow old, 

At the end of a rainbow lies a big pot of gold. 

Rainbows mean hope, sunshine after rain, 

Happiness and joy that comes after pain. 

Crossing the rainbow bridge, the animals that have passed, 

Your souls and memories will forever last. 

Rainbows are colours, seasons and moods, 

Feelings and thoughts, memories and foods. 

So take a look around you, the sky to the ground, 

Look all around you, pay attention to sound. 

We are so very lucky that rainbows can be found! 

 

 

Waa (Crow) by Ainslie Naughtin

 

You are free, flying above it all. 

Wilam this place is. 

Where your brother Boorougang joins your side. 

Where the Boggon scuttle and the gum leaves reach the clouds. 

Wilam this place is. 

Others call it home. 

You cry to be heard, screeching your name. 

“Waa”, you say, “Waa!” “Waa!” 

You fly away. 

Higher and higher. 

Where the tall people reside and can no longer drive you away. 

You cry to your brothers and sisters. 

“Waa”, you say. 

Wilam the air is. 

Clean and crisp. 

Heat meets your beak. 

A flame you are forced to carry. 

Hot and red. 

Wilam this place is. 

Others call it home. 

 

 

Recommendations: 

Movie – The Wonder directed by Sebastian Lelio – Starring Florence Pugh and based on the book by Emma Donoghue. 

Books – Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton – The first and only behind-the-scenes Harry Potter memoir from one of the films’ biggest stars 

TV Show – The Fosters – A family drama that follows the life of a blended family of biological, adopted and foster children. 

 

Amy Broekmann

English Key Learning Head 

PreviousPRINCIPAL’S UPDATENext EAL

EAL

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The year has gone by so quickly and it is hard to believe we are at the time of the very last newsletter of 2022! Isn’t it a great opportunity now to reflect and celebrate the achievements of the EAL faculty in 2022.

Wakakirri Dance Festival has been the absolute highlight of the year for many of our Chin students, or dancers as we should refer to them. They dedicated months of hard work to prepare and eventually present a remarkable story dance piece – The True Cost. The story has provoked the audience’s deep thinking on the real cost behind the fashion industry and how it has impacted the lives of garment workers in poorer countries. A big shout-out to our Wakakirri squad and a well-deserved National Story Award!  

Another program that has finished strongly in Term 4 is the EAL Homework Club. Despite all the interruptions at the beginning of the program during COVID, we continued working closely with MIC (Migrant Information Centre) and CMY (Centre for Multicultural Youth) to bring it back to life in 2022. It is great to see many students utilise the resources from homework club to strengthen their social connections with teachers and peers and improve their work completion/quality. 

Some events to look forward to at the end of 2022 are the Year 7 EAL Parents’ Orientation and the EAL Re-Enrolment for 2023. Both being held on Tuesday, December 13th. Invitation letters have been translated into Hakha-Chin and Burmese and posted to more than 70 EAL households, plus 27 new families who have child/children joining the Mooroolbark family in 2023. On the day, parents and guardians will be given assistance with enrolment paperwork, Compass accounts, CSEF funding forms, and uniform and textbook orders. Our EAL graduates and external interpreters will be around to help as well. We are very excited about this opportunity of meeting all EAL parents in person!  

 

Yi Jiang

EAL Coordinator

PreviousENGLISHNext SENIOR SCHOOL

SENIOR SCHOOL

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Wow! What a year it has been. Stepping into the Senior School office in late January seems like just a few short months ago. But a year has passed, and we are now looking to 2023. 

I’d like to congratulate every student who completed their Year 12 this year. You are a respectful and entertaining group, who always strived to be their best both in and out of the classroom. It was lovely to celebrate your Valedictory together in November. It was a terrific night, you all dressed beautifully, and I loved hearing your speeches from your House Leaders throughout the night. A reminder to save the date for your reunion on Friday 24th February. We can’t wait to hear about your plans for 2023. 

I’d like to congratulate the following award winners from the evening. 

ADF Long Tan Leadership Award – Emily Reid 

ADF Young Innovators Award – Rhys Thomson 

Doug Fraser Award for excellence in Maths and Science – Rhys Thomson 

House Awards – these inaugural award winners were nominated by their Houses and selected by the Principal as students who have been outstanding contributors to their Houses and have displayed the College values of Respect, Endeavour, Compassion and Resilience throughout their time at Mooroolbark College. The winners were: 

Baan House – Emily Reid and Hayley Knight 

Darrang House – Sheridan Rancie and Rhys Thomson 

Biik House – Jessica Voigt 

Ngawan House – Daniel Petrella and Jackson Addicott 

All Rounder Award – Jackson Addicott 

Congratulations to all students and we wish you the best of luck with your results and planning for 2023. 

  

The 2023 year 11 and 12 students have been busy with Orientation. Both groups have worked diligently and shown endeavour in their classes to get a head start on their VCE and VCE-VM classes. Make sure your holiday homework is completed by your first lesson back and don’t forget to come back with a full pencil case, a charged device that can connect to the school Internet and the motivation to do your best. 

Elevate Education have visited throughout Orientation for both groups of students. Study Sensei at Year 11, and Student Elevation at Year 12. Both groups found the presenters engaging and relevant to what they are hoping to achieve next year and beyond.  

We hope that all students take the time to refresh after a long year over the summer break and come back motivated and reinvigorated. We can’t wait to see what you can do! 

 

 

Michelle Colette

Senior School Leader

PreviousEALNext SRC

SRC

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Meet the new SRC Executive!  

 

Some long time members mixed with fresh faces to the school, the SRC is thrilled to welcome into office Aliyah Orwin (President), Minh Nguyen (Vice President), Daniel Bohun (Secretary), Micah Cove (Treasurer), Tiffany Chew (Publicity Manager) and Victoria Niang Suan Hoih (Photographer). 
 
The Executive have already spent an extensive few day’s planning for 2023 on their recent Leadership Camp at Chirnside Country Club.   Students bonded as they were challenged in time constraining, nerve wracking and communication challenges. They have emerged from the camp as a unified team ready to implement positive change and advocacy for student voice in 2023.  

 

Rachel Farrell

SRC Representative

PreviousSENIOR SCHOOLNext ASPIRE

ASPIRE

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What a fantastic end to the year in the Aspire program with our graduating Year 9 class hosting the “Aspire Adventure Day” for our Year 7 students. The Year 9 students, aided ably by Mr Parr, worked hard throughout the term to plan the activities – they even ordered a special lunch! Students needed to work in teams to design, plan and produce activities that would be suitable, enjoyable and challenging for our Year 7’s. Mr Parr and I were so proud of the enthusiasm and leadership skills that the Year 9 students showed and I’m sure the Year 7’s appreciated your efforts. 

The day provided opportunities for our Year 7’s to work collaboratively in teams to complete a variety of challenges. It was pleasing to see students working well in their groups, showing enthusiasm participating in the tasks and giving 100% effort the whole day. 

At the end of 2022 we farewell or graduating Year 9 class. Well done to you all for the endeavour you have shown during your 3 years in the program. I hope that as you enter Year 10 and VCE, you feel well equipped to deal with the challenges ahead. Congratulations and best of luck for the future. 

 

 

This will be my final year as the Aspire Coordinator as I move into my new role as the Mathematics KLA Leader in 2023. I would like to thank all of the students and parents that I have met during my time in the role for their enthusiasm and support of the program. I wish all of the Mooroolbark College community a safe and happy holiday and look forward to seeing you around the College in 2023. 

 

Kara Salmon 

Aspire Coordinator and High Ability Practice Leader 

 

PreviousSRCNext SCIENCE

SCIENCE

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The Science KLA would like to farewell Skye Jennings, Matthew Donald, Lachlan Mann, Dannielle Keogh, Tristan Dunkley and Christie Godby. We wish them all the best on their journey.  

Our Senior students have been busy completing their orientation for VCE. They have enthusiastically jumped into their new classes and are already starting their coursework as a key component of their VCE journey. It is important that students have their holiday homework complete to start 2023 on the best foot.  

Our junior students have been busy completing their Independent Investigations and have been exploring a range of topics to create some amazing scientific reports and posters. Students have demonstrated their learning throughout the year through designing their own experiments to complete, even completing their own risk assessments and order forms to safely conduct their experiments. This has seen some great investigations around the questions: “Does removing senses affect the taste of foods?”, “How high can an egg fall without breaking?”, “which material has the highest tensile strength?” and “How does the presence of worms affect composting rates?”. We have had fantastic feedback from students about the hands on learning they have completed over the past few weeks. We can’t wait to see the students Scientific Posters around our classrooms. 

 

Everyone from Science would like to wish all the best to the Class of 2022 and wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holidays. We look forward to welcoming everyone back at the start of next year. 

 

Tristan Dunkley 

Science Key Learning Head

PreviousASPIRENext LITERACY

LITERACY

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The year 2022 was a ripsnorter! There were changes aplenty and some exciting new initiatives and programs that will continue into 2023 and beyond. It would be remiss of I not to mention the immense support and endeavours of our Independent Reading teachers who managed the new aspects with enthusiasm and much needed adaptability which as a result, helped our students succeed in their reading and reflection goals for the year.  

 

Textageddon HG Champions 

 

I am sure I speak on behalf of all when I say that students in Independent Reading have never read so much before, and it goes to show how important it is to spice things up with a bit of good old-fashioned competition through the ‘Textageddon’ program. Some eased through the program whilst many others read to their heart’s content, and it is a fantastic achievement for the following students who managed to accrue the most points in the competition and win the coveted Textageddon Home Group Champion accolade!
 

7IRA – Vincent Kim & Giselle Leonard 

7IRB – Blake Mealor 

7IRC – Ruby Harper 

7IRD – Max Dunbabin 

7IRE – Oliver Randall

7IRF – Mataya Schmelzle & Hollie McInnes 

7IRG – Johan Ai Thang 

7IRH – Lily Russell 

 

An enormous reason these literacy related programs and competitions ran smoothly and the way they have is because of our highly dedicated and supportive library staff. To have so many students borrowing, reborrowing, gaining much needed reading and book advice and general help in utilising the library – there is nothing more integral to students and teachers. They are enormously appreciated.    

 

Quicksmart students celebration 

Quicksmart continued to develop our students into amazing literacy learners and their progress has culminated into a lovely end of year celebration full of pride, happiness, and snacks. These students worked incredibly well throughout the year, and we are super proud of what they have achieved. A massive thank you to the team, in particular Jamila who coordinated and ran the well-oiled machine that is Quicksmart. We look forward to the next crop of young people to be welcomed into the program and thrive just like those involved, this year.  

Signing off for another year of Literacy, with a whole lot of things ahead of us. Have a brilliant break and we look forward to a huge launch of literacy next year!

 

Tyrone Ingham 

Learning Specialist – Literacy

 

PreviousSCIENCENext LANGUAGES

LANGUAGES

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As we near the of Term 4, Languages are trying to make sure classes end the school year on a positive and consistent note for students. 

CATs have been completed and students rewarded for their excellent recent work. This has included Monster Posters in Year 7 and Uniform Posters in Year 8. A few Year 8 samples have been included and so we must again congratulate Tilly Gange, Madi Carratelli and Ava Hosie of Year 8 for their outstanding submissions, whose work can be seen in this newsletter. Yet, there were so many excellent designs and posters – this is just a small sample.  

Unfortunately, it is also one of our roles as teachers to follow up on overdue work. Failing is not meant to be an easy option, and we are running catch up classes to get students the chance to complete work to a satisfactory standard, to stop them from receiving an N result for the subject for the semester.  

Additionally, Club 3/4 on Thursday gives students the chance to seek extra help. We always make sure we check in every week for consistency and in order to connect with students there. 

While we take much care to make sure all the CAT marks are entered correctly, sometimes a minor mis-entry can occur, especially if work is submitted late. We request that all students carefully check their CAT results and comments to make sure they are accurate reflections of their submitted work. We frequently remind learners to check and double check, so that parents receive accurate feedback on reports. 

With the reports almost complete and all CATs submitted, our final tasks revolve around cultural investigations of Germany and China. In Year 7 the focus is on regions and seasonal (e.g. Christmas) celebration. Meanwhile, our Year 8s are investigating more detailed topics such as Divided Germany & the Berlin Wall. It’s wonderful to see so many students start to become more historically, culturally and geographically aware. Language has always been a vehicle to help understand the wider world and watching students in this way begin to get ‘the big picture’ is a proud moment for every educator and an asset to any student. 

So, if the achievements and activities of 2022 are anything to go by, 2023 should be even better! We are looking forward to seeing our learners back next year and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a safe holiday. 

 

 

Jonas Bahlo, Yi Jiang, Jiaqi Tan, Jordan Van Keulen

Languages KLA

PreviousLITERACYNext HUMANITIES

HUMANITIES

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We are thinking of our Year 12 Humanities students who are awaiting their results at the time of writing. Many thanks to Maria Pisano & Natalie Bisi (Business Management), Arran Stuart (Accounting)and Alex Scott (Legal Studies) for going above and beyond with their classes, plus all the Humanities staff who have assisted students over what for most has been a six-year journey. 

Since the previous newsletter, there have been many highlights: 

  • Year 7 History students explored the Ancient Roman city of Pompeii.  They were tasked with ‘becoming the teacher’ this week.  Students researched and presented information to the class.  The finished products were amazing! 
  • Year 7 History classes also created working aqueducts which successfully transported water, using gravity and a great deal of cardboard and aluminium foil.  This was followed up with the production of authentic-looking Roman shields. 
  • Year 7 Geography students worked collaboratively and used Lego to build an ideal suburb, as part of their preparation for their final CAT.  These were followed with class presentations. 
  • Year 8 Geographers learned how to make sustainable megacities for the future by studying Mumbai and Jakarta. They conducted an independent investigation into a chosen megacity with a focus on the economic, social and environmental effects of rapid urbanisation and how different governments are trying to manage these areas sustainably. 
  • Our Year 9 Be Your Own Boss class held Trade Day in November, after months of preparation. Two of our four groups made well over $100 in profit. Thank you to our wonderful staff and students who helped make this such a success. 
  • Year 10 Economics students aimed to save the world!  After becoming subject matter experts in different economic fields, they formed think tanks and wrote briefing reports for the Prime Minister on the top global risks facing the world today: environmental issues (flooding/bushfires/climate change/extreme weather events), social cohesion (covid protests/indigenous voice to parliament/war in Ukraine), cost of living and debt crisis (energy costs/inflation/housing) and technological threats (hacking/scams). 
  • Year 10 Work Related Skills students worked in teams to build towers to develop problem solving. 
  • We also have several impressive new displays in our foyer and classrooms: Global Risks, Where will Geography Take You, History in Hashtags and the Insta-inspired Histagrams. Thank you to Natalie Bisi for organising these.  

Chris Hanneberry 

Humanities Key Learning Head

 

 

 

 

PreviousLANGUAGESNext HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

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Demonstrations of excellence have not been difficult to find this year. What better representation to highlight such work is the annual night of excellence. It was a tremendous success, and it was fantastic to see work from both health and physical education students on show. The students should be extremely proud of what they created. 

With all this wet weather we have been having it can be tricky to find activities for students to do in PE. However, with 9-Square and a bit of Table Tennis it makes all the difference. 9-square is like downball but with a volleyball. The Year 9’s have been enjoying their lesson and even got a little competitive! 

Just last week our Year 7 girls Volleyball team made it all the way to the STATE FINALS! The girls played an incredible match winning 2 and losing 1. The girls made it to the semi-final and ended up coming runners up. We are so incredibly proud of their efforts. A huge thankyou also goes out to Belinda Cannington and Ryan Exon for coaching this incredible team.  

What better way to revise and cement understanding than by creating or modifying a board game. Our Year 9 Health students were assigned the task of creating a board game that will help students review the unit of work in a fun and interesting way. Some examples of board games include Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders, Cluedo, Trivial Pursuit, and many more. Below are some of the awesome examples that were created by our students. 

Year 7 Health students have continued to be busy bees this term. Recently, they explored the topic of body image. Students discussed the influences on body types such as social media and filters, the 3 diverse types of bodies and how we can all strive to have a good outlook on our own bodies using positive self-talk. Students then explored magazines to try and find 3 images of each body type. We then discussed why some were easier to find than others, and how that influences people’s feelings about themselves. 

Year 10 PE classes have been experiencing diverse ways to get physically active in the local community with a spin & pump class down at good life and a game of ten pin bowling.  

Staff and students have been treated to some special activities this week. We had Pierre from Omnikin Canada teach our students Kin Ball. Pierre has travelled far and wide to 50 different countries sharing his games to schools. Kin Ball is an internationally recognised sport, the balls are light weight and made of a special type of latex. The students had the opportunity to play so many different games including Poison Ball and Beat the Ball. We’d like to thank @International Kin-Ball Federation for sharing Omnikin with us and we hope to see you visit another time. 

 

Stephanie Todd


Health & Physical Education Key Learning Head

PreviousHUMANITIESNext THE ARTS

THE ARTS

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This year has been a fantastic year in The Arts. It has been so great to have all of our events back with fantastic performances, displays and attendance throughout the year. 

It has been a big year in the performing arts. This year we introduced our new Performing Arts subject at Year 7 and 8 which helped to combine the areas of Drama and Music into the one semester. Students have absolutely loved being able to combine their passions for both areas in the one subject in both year levels. Outside of the classroom, this year’s College production of ‘We Will Rock You’ was a huge success! The performances were amazing. All of the students and staff involved should be very proud of their work. 

In the visual arts, it was fantastic to be able to once again host our annual VCE Arts Showcase as part of our Night of Excellence. The night showcased amazing work created by students in Art, Media, Studio Arts and VCD. The sheer amount of work, the quality and the variety was phenomenal. The night also saw voting once again in our highly coveted People’s Choice Award, which was taken out by Shaylah Haywood of Year 12 for her Studio Arts piece ‘Decay’.  

 

Recently, Term 4 also saw the return of our annual film festival. The 10th annual Mooroolbark College Film Festival was a huge success, showcasing the highly engaging films created by our Media students. Two students in particular did an outstanding job; Liam Casey in Year 12 Media and Anisa Aganovic in Year 11 Media both creating stunning short films. 

In the past few weeks, our senior students have been busy completing their VCE orientation. Students have been highly engaged and completing work to sure a great standard. All year 11 and 12 students VCE Art: Creative Practice, Art: Making and Exhibiting, Media and VCD students will have holiday homework over the holidays. It is important that they complete this on time so that can start the year on the right foot.   

 

Our junior students have just finished their final CATs for the year and we must say, they look fantastic. The quality of work is amazing and makes us so excited for what 2023 will bring.  

 

 

Matthew Neil-Holland 

The Arts KLA Leader 

PreviousHEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATIONNext HOUSE UPDATE

HOUSE UPDATE

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Term 4 has been a busy term, with lots to celebrate and lots of good-byes. At the beginning of the term we had our last house assemblies with our Year 12 cohort, to send them off and wish them well on their exams. We have celebrated many value award winners in our final house assemblies for the year – amazing achievement to all those students who received an award! 

In the final general assembly the house trophies were given out. Biik House won the Community Involvement Cup and Baan House had an outstanding year taking out the remaining cups – Academic Achievement Cup, Values Cup, Sports cup and including the honour of the overall House Cup. Congratulations to Baan House. Let’s go Biik, Darrang and Ngawan House to beat Baan next year! 

We have had year level assemblies to recognise academic award winners, sports awards, arts awards and non academic special awards, these students should be incredibly proud of their efforts. 

Each house had interviews at the beginning of the term to appoint their 2023 house captains. Thank your to all the 2022 House Captains for their encouragement and work throughout this year. Congratulations to the following students, we look forward to your contributions to our houses and in the student leadership team. 

Baan House Captains 

Senior School: Anisa Aganovic and Will Carpenter 

Middle School: Aliyah Orwin and Abbey Heemskerk 

Darrang House Captains 

Senior School: Abigayle Huang and Aidan Fox Wright 

Middle School: Sienna Haywood and Matilda Sleeman 

Biik House Captains 

Senior School: Ellie Lynch and Kyla King 

Middle School: Rory Simmons and Teresa Hramkam 

Ngawan House Captains 

Senior School: Illaroo Smith and Amy Oliver 

Middle School: Henry Pearce and Jacob Garrat 

 

We wish all our students and families a happy holidays and a Merry Christmas. 

 

Allie Grey-Smith

Red House Leader

PreviousTHE ARTSNext STUDENT WELLBEING

STUDENT WELLBEING

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So as our first full “Covid Normal” year comes to an end, it is nice to breathe a sigh of relief that we had a full school year without lockdowns and excessive restrictions. Despite the feeling of normality, the mental health experts are telling us that the ‘hidden pandemic’ of ongoing mental health issues is continuing and things have not returned to normal for some young people. As a school and as parents we need to continue to monitor our young people and provide them with a safe, caring environment and ongoing support. 

Below are three high quality organisations that support the mental health and wellbeing of young people. On each website you will find resources, helpful tips, videos, and counseling support if needed.  

     

                            

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

Student Wellbeing Leader, on behalf of the College Wellbeing Team 

 

 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 years8am–midnight/7 days 13 22 89
EDVOSFamily 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/ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CANTEEN

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What an amazing year 2022 has been for the canteen!  We have celebrated many special days including Chin National Day with cupcakes and Burmese food from our local Burmese restaurant, Wear it Purple Day, R U OK Day, Footy Finals Day and today to finish off the year we celebrated International Day of People with Disability. We had cupcakes and donuts with edible images and decorated the canteen in balloons and posters!  It is a day to challenge the way you think about disability and help grow a more inclusive community. We are extremely proud of the way our Mooroolbark College community joined together to break down barriers and promote greater awareness!  

In addition to our three wonderful student helpers, Jack, Leonardo and Campbell, the canteen is looking for student volunteers to assist us next year.  If you want to gain some hospitality experience in a busy and vibrant school canteen please come and see me. Even if you have only one day available to help us, that would be fantastic! Pop in and say hello to register your interest, or send me a message in teams. 

Over the holiday break we are expecting to get the final touches on our coffee/lunch order window and  shade sails are due to be installed. Look out for a different canteen area on your return to school!  

Finally, I would like to thank all of the Mooroolbark College school community for your support of the canteen and we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! 

 

 

Donna, Lynette and Melissa. 

The Canteen Team 

 

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Mooroolbark College Newsletter – December 2022