Farewell to the Class of 2023

Today we farewelled our Year 12s with our traditional Celebration Day. The students celebrated the end of their official secondary schooling with house activities, morning tea, a visit to the clock tower to sign their name on a brick, the final service and the celebration parade. 

It has been a wonderful day for all involved and provided a great opportunity for our students to reflect on everything they have achieved, experienced and enjoyed during their time at Christian College.  

During the service today, I mentioned that in 2011 Julia Gillard was our Prime Minister, The Queen and Barrack Obama visited Australia, Geelong were the AFL premiers and most if not all of our year 12 begun their official educational journey as Preps. I know all of us parents remember this first day of school with pride and excitement, much like the feeling many of our families felt this afternoon as their children walked down the road to officially complete their time at Christian College. Thirteen years pass quickly, and we know all our students during this time have grown academically and learned the value of hard work, dedication and the importance of never giving up. 

Annual Music Evening – A Whole School Community in Song!

Congratulations to the nearly 450 students from across the Christian College Campuses from Prep to Year 12 who performed on the Costa Hall stage last night in the Christian College Geelong Annual Music Evening.

It was a fantastic night of celebration, culminating in a very colourful finale! The Hall was filled with over 800 family, friends and College staff, enjoying the outstanding musicianship and skills of the choirs, bands and string orchestras.

We cannot measure the positive impact of such a significant experience for our students and community …. however we can be confident that it runs deep and lifelong. We are so blessed to have highly skilled, generous, caring and invested music staff. Teachers who establish wonderful relationships with their charges, which in turn provide the impetus for students to grow in their confidence to ‘take a risk’ to perform! These relationships also make it possible for us to foster and nurture the students in their musicianship and character growth, putting them in good stead for things to come.

Congratulations and thank you to the College staff from across the campuses who supported the event in so many ways. Thanks also to the music families and friends who attended, and for their ongoing investment in their students’ music lessons, camps, tours,  instruments, attending rehearsals, and encouragement of regular home practise! These elements all work together to result in the tremendous program we witnessed last night!

Congratulations also to the graduating Year 12 musicians,  we would like to acknowledge and thank them for years of commitment and musicianship, it has been a privilege to have seen them ‘grow up’ in the program. We send them on their way with hope, that they will continue to enjoy music in their lives, and to play, sing and give joy to others their musical gifts.

Market Day – Running a Small Business 

On Wednesday, Year 10 students from the Running a Small Business classes ran their Market Day. Over the last two terms students have brainstormed, planned, brainstormed again, and created their very own small businesses. Students were responsible for creating a business plan, a name and mission statement, and source their own products from manufacturers. 

Wednesday was their chance to put their planning, money, and business skills to the test! At lunchtime, the Taylor area was filled with fantastic fairy floss, juicy burgers, finger-licking pretzel sticks, piping hot HSPs, cupcakes, eye-catching jewellery, and many other products. Students were responsible for setting up, food preparation, selling to customers and cleaning up products.  

I want to congratulate each student on their success, whilst not every group was able to make a profit, the skills and learning they achieved will no doubt help support their future growth. We certainly have some young entrepreneurs amongst this group! 

Year 11 Ensemble Evening

“Some are Born Great….

some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”   

Such familiar words were heard in their intended format by the Year 11 Literature students, when they viewed the Bell Shakespeare Company’s performance of our current text, “Twelfth Night, or,  What You Will”, last Saturday afternoon.  

Accompanied by Mrs Saffin and Ms Corless, students had the opportunity to view the recently renovated Geelong Arts Centre, in all its chrome and neon glory.   

This performance has toured nationally and has caused a stir for the fresh re-telling and re-imagining of the love plot – Orsino thinks he is in love with Olivia, who thinks she is in love with Cesario, who is really Viola in disguise, and who has fallen in love with Orsino. The nature of reality and disguise, of love and longing for love, and deception are examined in the comedy.   

A highlight for many students was the hi-jinks and physicality of the comedy, notably in the characters of Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby Belch, and Feste the Fool.  Thomas Kantor, in the role of Feste, danced, scootered, played piano, and showcased their extraordinary voice singing Sarah Blasko’s version of the songs from the text.  

Lily Barnes enjoyed how “the performances added a new darkness to the otherwise comedic play”, while Alice Joyce found that “when the comedy she was studying was brought to life on stage, she was able to appreciate the complexity of Shakespeare’s narrative”.   Caitie Deretic enjoyed “how the multi-functional props, such as the fallen tree and the piano, created setting and location to serve the audience’s imagination”, and Hayden Ellery was “surprised about how the use of music and song was incorporated into the play”.  

Shakespeare suggests in the play that it is better to be “a witty fool than a foolish wit”, and both were in evidence in this funny and moving play.  

The Elements 

We have been thrilled this week to receive one of the Elements kits which have been put together and gifted by Prof. Stuart Batten of Monash University.   

The kit contains 37 samples of pure elements selected from the periodic table. In small, sealed jars they are a great way for students to get a close visual and hands on experience. The samples are used in everyday life, but often not seen in their elemental form. The kit will be a great aid in investigating the properties and structures of the elements and understanding the organisation of the periodic table.   

We express our gratitude to Prof. Batten for putting together over 1000 of these kits which have been sent to high schools across Australia and consider ourselves fortunate to be one of the recipients. 

The photo is of one of our Year 12 Chemistry classes celebrating their arrival! 

Year 12 Drama 

On Monday October 9, the Year 12 Drama students demonstrated their creative skills and ability as they undertook their Solo Performance exam. 

For this task, the students had to write a seven-minute eclectic performance piece based on a prescribed character, and then present it at Platform Arts to three external examiners. 

The students faced this challenging and difficult task with enthusiasm and determination, with each student coming out of the exam smiling. 

Congratulations to all the students and their families for achieving this task. 

Some of the characters explored by the students included Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from Cats, Dennis Denuto from the Castle and Professor Trealwney from Harry Potter.  

A Brass Extravaganza! 

As part of the Melbourne Universities outreach to regional areas, The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Brass Faculty Staff and a selection of their tertiary brass students visited Christian College RW Gibson Centre on Monday this week. The visiting musicians worked with selected brass students (from Years 5 – 12) as well as students from a number of other schools. The morning’s activities saw 60 trumpet, trombone, French horn, euphonium and tuba students take part in a warmup workshop in specialised instrument groups, participate in a ‘side by side’ performance with the visiting performers and then enjoy a superb concert by the visitors as a large brass ensemble. There was a question-and-answer session between the students, lecturers and tertiary students, with our students asking thoughtful questions and getting a glimpse into life of a tertiary music student, they also learned of opportunity to develop your performance at university whether studying music as a major or on the ‘side’ of your major study. The MCM faculty also shared some thoughts on how to ‘succeed’ as a musician and all about how their music provides lifelong opportunities to meet others, travel, and experience many aspects of the creative arts/performing industry.  

The final concert performed by the visiting musicians was superb! The brass ensemble performed a range of music, some written specifically for brass, but as well transcriptions of works from across the centuries written for a range of instruments. Congratulations to our brass students, supported by our brass teachers Sean Rankin, Andrew Dunlop, Rob Moffatt and Cameron Williams, for their engagement in the activities and this opportunity to grow as musicians.

20 Years of Friendship Celebrated! 

An international guest, our first ever coordinator of Uma Maun Allin, past committee members and chairpersons, and many other guests who have had the wonderful community of Viqueque touch their hearts, gathered at the RW Gibson Music Performance Centre last Friday night to celebrate 20 years of friendship between Christian College Geelong and our closest international neighbour East Timor. It was a wonderful night of music performed by our current coordinator in Viqueque Samuel da Costa, and dancing. Congratulations to Andy Phillips and Darryl, Debbie, Jordan and Maddie Riddle who were honoured for their outstanding contribution, friendship and relationship with the people of East Timor. Here’s to another great 20 years. 

College Production 2024 – Update

As published in The Vine at the end of Term 3, the College will be staging Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Broadway Version) at the Geelong Arts Centre from May 2 – 4, 2004.

Audition Registration

All students from Years 5 – 11 (in 2023) across the College will receive an email early next week, with information and a link to an online registration form. Auditions will commence across the College on designated days from Sunday October 22. To register for an audition, students must complete the online form on/by Friday October 13.

There will be an information session held at each campus for students to have an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the show. These will be held at:

Highton MS Campus Chapel                   Monday October 9 12.40

Senior Campus Music Department         Tuesday October 10 1.20pm

Bellarine Campus Auditorium                Tuesday October 10 at Lunchtime

Surf Coast Campus – Ms Notini will visit the Year 5 classroom next week.

Foundation Golf Day 2023

Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, we are delighted to announce the Christian College Foundation Golf Day tournament for 2023.

Save the date: Thursday November 9.

We are seeking prizes for this event – if you own a local business and are interested in creating partnership opportunities with Christian College, please contact Fiona Provan on 0400 477 467, or email [email protected]