From the Head of Campus
This week saw our 2022 timetable draw to a close, with Year 10 and 11 students sitting final exams before our entire community came together on Tuesday in the Middle School Sports and Aquatic Centre for the Senior School Presentation Afternoon. It was wonderful to welcome families back into the audience after two years of video-recorded events due to COVID-19. There was much to celebrate as we acknowledged the many achievements and endeavours of our students, as well as their contributions and service to their House, our campus and the broader community.
Whilst the campus was void of students on Wednesday, the Senior School staff took time out for a morning tea between the planning, marking and report writing to recognise the Movember initiative, raising awareness for men’s health issues. Led by teacher Mr. Craig White, a number of our male staff grew moustaches for the month of November and the staff collectively raised over $1000 for men’s mental health. On Thursday and Friday, the 2023 Senior School Prefects, chosen from our current Year 11 cohort, took part in a two-day Prefect Immersion program. Throughout the two days, the prefects were encouraged to reflect on what it meant to be a leader and what sort of leader they wanted to be. A visit to Northside Salvation Army gave students firsthand experience of serving others, whilst the high ropes course in Anglesea helped them face their fears and overcome obstacles. Other aspects of leadership, such as vulnerability, goal-setting and teamwork were also explored through various activities, challenges and discussions. We are truly looking forward to the contributions this group of 24 student leaders will bring to the Senior School community in 2023. In an article below, Deputy Head of Campus, Mr Damian Stephenson, shares more information about next year’s prefects as well as staffing changes in the House system. Speaking of 2023, next week will give all our students, including the current Year 9s, a taste of next year with our Transition Week program commencing Monday and concluding Friday. Students will receive their Semester 1 timetables on Monday morning, meet their new subject teachers and make a start on their course content. An email was sent to all families earlier today regarding Transition Week arrangements.
Rick Geall, Head of Campus
Prefects and House Leaders
The House System is a vital part of the life of Senior School: it fosters a sense of connection and belonging; it facilitates a pastoral network to support wellbeing and learning for our students; and it promotes active involvement in our school community. Our House Prefects play a key role in creating the sense of pride that our students feel for their House and also developing an inclusive culture that encourages our Bears, Falcons, Panthers and Tigers to get involved in the amazing opportunities that Senior School presents beyond the classroom.
It is my pleasure to be able to share with you the students who have been nominated and selected as their House leaders for 2023, and their respective Heads and Assistant Heads of House.
Burrows Prefects: Isaac Boseley, Laura Hall, Kade Leigh, Mackenzie Saunders Head of House: Steve Sullivan Assistant Head of House: Dave Evans Flynn Prefects: Nicole Briscoe, Ehab Fahad, Isabella Henry, Hendrik Meehan Head of House: Ben Hines Assistant Head of House: Louis Gross Penman Prefects: Jonty Grills, Jacob McKie, Imogen Oliver, Caysee Vos Head of House: Kylie O’Brien Assistant Head of House: Simon Powys Taylor Prefects: Katrina Cochrane, Charlotte Frisch-Duff, Abbey Hodgson, Kirvanna Ponnan Head of House: Paul Breguet Assistant Head of House: Brendan Winter Additionally, our College Prefects support the Senior School community through initiatives that promote a positive, inclusive and supportive culture across our campus. They work in conjunction with our House Prefects and provide a conduit between students, staff and school leadership – striving for continual improvement in areas that will enrich the experience of all members of our community. It is my pleasure to be able to share with you the students who have been nominated and selected as College Prefects for 2023, who will be supported through the year by our Deputy Heads and Head of Campus. College Prefects: Molly Cooper, Ali Cronk, Angel Lawrence, Kirrily McConachy, Georgia Odd, Jett Parkinson, Nieve Smart, Seth Wilkinson All our prefects have been given their role of responsibility due to the exemplary character they have already displayed within our community, their standing amongst staff and students, and their willingness to serve others. We are proud of what they have already achieved to this point, assured by their attitude and enthusiasm over our Prefect Immersion camp these past two days, and excited for the impact they will have in 2023. We wish them all the best in their new leadership role!
Damian Stephenson
Year 10 Geography Fundraiser
On Friday November 18, the Year 10 Geography – Human Wellbeing class organised a fundraiser to help the local Indigenous people of Geelong. Students learnt about wellbeing of people living in Australia and other countries. The class was tasked with arranging a social action for a chosen population group and we wanted to contribute to efforts to try to help Close the Gap for our First Nations peoples.
The day consisted of casual dress with a splash of Indigenous colors, sausage sizzle and a Year 10 footy match. In the lead up to the day the students chose a particular local Indigenous organisation they would like to raise money for. They all voted on the Wathaurong Medical Co-operative. During the organisation period of the fundraiser, the class were selected into different groups with categories. The advertising group made and displayed posters around the school and promoted the event at each house assembly to let the other students at Christian College know what would be happening. The sausage sizzle group were in charge of…you guessed it – sausages! Beef and kangaroo sausages were enjoyed by all. The last group worked on the organisation of the lunchtime footy match. Speaking of the footy match, the lunchtime event saw the year 10 students from each house go head-to-head in an exciting match with Penman and Burrows vs Flynn and Taylor. A student in the geography class pointed out that this pairing of houses matched with the colours of the indigenous flags, with Burrows and Penman representing the Aboriginal red and yellow flag, while the Torres Strait Islander flag was represented by Flynn and Taylor with the blue and green. Indigenous guest Michael Cousins, together with Liam Salvado began the footy match with an instrumental song on the digeridoo. The final scores on the board had Indigenous Australia – Penman and Burrows coming out on top 34 to 22. Overall, the day was an incredible success and saw the school raising $780. The atmosphere was fantastic, and the school community all supported this very worthy cause.
Tracy Dawson
Principal’s Acquisition Award
Eloise Wingrave was the recipient of the Principal’s Acquisition Award this year. Eloise studied Studio Arts in year 10 /11 and 12, building her skills in printmaking. The artform of printmaking involves quite a detailed meticulous process of cutting the image out of a lino block. The block is then inked up with paint using a roller, then printed onto paper. The works chosen for this award were prints depicting four prime ministers of Australia. We congratulate Eloise on her high level of skills, the works are amazing!
Jane Bailey
Senior Sport Spotlight: Will Cavanagh, Year 10
Year 10 student Will Cavanagh has once again excelled in the sport of baseball. This year Will represented Victoria in the under 16s National competition. It was great to see him cement his spot in this team and play a key role in the team’s success at Nationals in July this year.
We also congratulate Will on being selected as a member of the 2024 under 18s Victorian Baseball team, this is a huge achievement for Will as next year he will be bottom age. Will participated in a number of trial sessions to be selected. Congratulations Will, we look forward to following your successes and achievements next year.
Andrew Tucker
Congratulations Daisy O’Brien!
Year 12 Product Design and Technology students are tasked with designing a product for a need, opportunity, or issue for an end user group. Daisy decided to design a user-friendly product that organises and transports a student’s home office/school resources easily and in one place for students of separated parents who move from house to house. Daisy worked with a variety of materials including wood, fabrics, and upcycled components of a discarded suitcase. She had not worked with wood before, and she enjoyed learning new transferable skills in the process. The set up and resources at the Villa and skills of the staff located there allowed the flexibility for this to happen. Daisy is to be congratulated on her work being shortlisted for the VCAA VCE Seasons of Excellence – Top Designs. The VCE Season of Excellence is a five-month annual festival held at The Melbourne Museum showcasing outstanding senior secondary student work from Victorian schools. We wish Daisy well for the final stage of the selection process.
Kerryn Fearnsides
‘Movember’ at Senior School
In 2003, two mates from Melbourne encouraged 30 of their friends to grow a moustache, for a charge of $10, as part of a campaign to raise awareness about Men’s health and prostate cancer. From these humble beginnings, the ‘Movember’ movement has grown to be a truly global one, inspiring support from over 6 million ‘Mo Bros’ and ‘Mo Sisters’ around the world, raising hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund 1250 research projects related to the three biggest health issues facing men today: mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
This year, the Senior School team, consisting of Mr David Harmer, Michael Lewis, Drew Oliver, Simon Peake and Craig White grew some magnificent facial hair, much to the dismay of their partners! Through their encouragement of friends, family and colleagues, the team raised $955 for this important cause. Thanks to the Library ladies who put up displays throughout the Library to help raise awareness. Well done to all and see you same time next year.
Craig White
Qustodio App and Other Parent Resources
Last week we launched the Qustodio Parent App with our families as part of our Cyber Safe Schools Program, in partnership with Linewize by Family Zone.
We’ve been delighted by the level of engagement and uptake by parents with this tool so far. Qustodio is a tool intended to help parents and guardians be empowered to supervise and engage in positive conversations with their young people around their digital activity.
It has been wonderful to offer this tool, alongside our school’s Online Safety Hub, to parents and our broader community to support our children and teenagers in this space. I encourage parents who have not already done so to activate their account, and to explore the support resources under ‘Child Safety App’ on the Online Safety Hub. It may also be helpful to explore the article ‘Should I be using a parental control?’ which has helpful information and advice about the place and role of a tool like Qustodio in your overall home digital wellbeing strategy. Qustodio Parent Feedback Survey I invite our parents to take just a few moments and share some feedback on Qustodio and getting started with the parent app. Please click the link to access the Parent Feedback Survey Holiday Resources for Parents on our Online Safety Hub As we approach the holiday break and Christmas, there are a range of helpful guides and resources on our Online Safety Hub that parents may find supportive. There are direct links to some key guides below: The hub also has lots of helpful parent guides for specific games, social media platforms and other general technology and cyber safety questions under the ‘Parent Advice’ section.
Brendan Vanderkley, Director of Digital Learning
Picnic at Hanging Rock- 2023 Senior School Production
Preparations are underway for auditions for the 2023 college play Picnic at Hanging Rock. Based on the novel by Joan Lindsay, the play tells the story of a group of schoolgirls in 1900 who go on a picnic to the Hanging Rock, an excursion from which several do not return. This well known and iconic story has had a few stage iterations but is best known for the 1975 movie starring Anne Lambert and featuring many haunting melodies and images.
Students currently in Year 9, 10 and 11 are invited to audition for the play which will be staged from May 11th-13th 2023. An information session has been held at senior school and Highton Middle school for interested students and anyone who did not attend this but is keen to audition should contact Ms.Calderwood to be added to the Teams page where all the information about the play is located. Information will be conveyed to Bellarine Campus students next week. Auditions will be held during Transition week. We will be looking for a cast of about 30 students for both female and male roles. The play will be directed by Ms. Kelly Clifford alongside assistant director Ms. Taylah Broad. More information about rehearsals will be conveyed after auditions but at this stage they will be held at senior school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Several Sunday rehearsals are also scheduled as listed below and students must be available to attend these if cast. Sunday 23rd and 30th April and Sunday 7th May. Any enquiries please contact Ms. Mandy Calderwood at Senior school, Ms. Taylah Broad at Highton Middle school, or Ms. Victoria Kent at Bellarine Campus.
The Santos Science Experience ‘ Where Science Meets Fun’
The Santos Science Experience is a fun 1 or 3 days of science activities for 2022 Year 9 and 10 students run by University and Tertiary Institutions.
There are a number of different programs at different venues including the following: 17th Jan 2023 18th April 2023 26th September 2023 20th Dec 2022 18th May 2023 22nd August 2023 Note: This is a program supported and promoted by Rotary International, hence students may wish to seek sponsorship from a local Rotary club. Details are on the Santos Science Experience website. Each program is designed to provide students who have an interest in science with an opportunity to engage in a wide range of fascinating science activities under the guidance of scientists who love their work. Participants perform experiments in laboratories, meet and hear senior lecturers in lecture theatres, attend site visits and walk around and experience what it is like to be on the campus of a university or tertiary institution You are invited to visit the website for more details and to enrol. https://www.scienceexperience.com.au/ University & Tertiary Institution Program dates Best Apply Before Cost Marine & Freshwater Discovery Centre $65 RMIT University 18-20th Jan 2023 10th Dec 2022 $190 University of Melbourne, Parkville 23-25th Jan 2023 19th Dec 2022 $190 
Canteen not Open on Last day of Term
Please note that on the last day of Term 4, Friday December 9, the canteen will not be open.
Thank you to all volunteers for your fantastic help during the course of this term, and throughout 2022.
Recycling Uniform Items
As part of the transition to our new College wardrobe it was important that we consider the environmental impact of clothing items no longer required. Whilst it is still possible for students to wear items from the traditional uniform, when items are no longer able to be worn, they can be recycled.
Any such items can be dropped off and placed in recycling bins at each campus. We are working with our wardrobe manufacturer to ensure that these can be recycled as part of the introduction of our new wardrobe over the next 18 months.
A MYTERN Thought for This Week
Things can get hectic at this time of the year, often throwing a random curve ball, making you skid out of control. At first your reaction will be extreme. That's ok. Once the panic is over, stop and breathe. Regain control. Don't judge it. Give it space to unfold... and then inspire you 👍😊
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