Newsletter volume 4 issue 09

Volume 4 Issue 9 | Week 10 Term 3, 2014NEWSLETTER

2Suzanne Cory High School Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 9 | Week 10 Term 3, 2014

R e s p e ct A s p i r at io n C o nt r i b ut io n

From the Principal

As we come to the end of term 3 we can reflect upon the many co-curricular programs and events that are central to the life of Suzanne Cory High School. This week the Art Design Technology Showcase has been open to all members of the community with student work across these sub-

ject areas on display. Our students have excelled in these areas and we are hopeful that student work will be selected for an upcoming Youth exhibition hosted by the Wyndham Gallery. Students and staff have been involved in athletics, many excursions and incursions, LOTE week, Sci-ence week, Book week, House Chorals, the subject expo, French poetry competition, the Australian Maths Competition and the ski camp to Bogong with Nossal High school. The Telescope program has continued and the Duke of Edinburgh program camp is being held this week. Our gymnastics aerobics team is competing in Queensland in the National Championships during the Term 3 holi-days which is a first for the school and we also have a group travelling to China for a tour and visit to our sister school, the Shanghai Foreign Language School over the break. Many of the events men-tioned are highlighted in this newsletter.The Year 10 formal was held at the Melbourne Aquarium on Friday 5th September. A very enjoy-able evening was had by all staff and students who attended and again I received very positive feed-back regarding our students who are always won-derful ambassadors for the school.Parent teacher interviews have now been held for all year levels. Parents are most welcome to contact Year Level Wellbeing leaders throughout term 4 regarding your child’s progress and written reports will be made available at the end of the semester.The Term 4 calendar will be available via the school website at the start of Term 4 and has many impor-tant dates for families for the end of this year and preparation for 2015.We wish all families a restful break and to our Year 12 students all the best for the remaining weeks as they prepare for their final examinations.Kay PeddleActing Principal

Visit from the Shanghai Foreign Language SchoolOver the last week we have been joined by two teachers and eight students from the Shanghai Foreign Language School. The group have partici-pated in classes and school programs and enjoyed excursions to the city, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Werribee Mansion, the State Rose Garden and to Ballarat where they visited the Museum of Austral-ian Democracy, Ballarat Wildlife Park and Sovereign Hill. Our visiting students have all commented on how wonderful their host families have been dur-ing their stay and we thank those families for host-ing the students from Shanghai. Owen Liao and Yvonne Fang from the Shanghai Foreign Language School spoke at our assemblies this week. Excerpts from their speeches are included below.

From Owen LiaoShanghai Foreign Language School was originally founded to cultivate qualified future diplomats for the Chinese government. As a matter of fact, the previous Chinese prime Diplomat Yangjiechi used to be a student at our school. This is why my school offers an especially large variety of language courses, including English, German, French, Span-ish, Russian and Japanese. I, myself, have learnt German for already five years. However, this is not everything about my school. We also have vari-ous clubs, like grass and roots and model United Nations, where students are free to explore the beauty of learning. I myself have participated in the Princeton Maths contest and received an award. In conclusion, SFLS is an educational diversified school with a massive amount of opportunities and it will definitely excite our potential. Every single student can discover his or her own universe. Last but not least, on behalf of all students and teachers from SFLS, I would like to express the most sincere gratitude to you all for your warming hospitality! For me, I would especially like to say thanks to Ste-phan, who made my one week stay more amazing than ever!

From Yvonne FangIt is my first time to be in Australia. And the mo-ment I stepped on this continent, I felt that my childhood dreams have been realized. I still re-

3Suzanne Cory High School NewsletterVolume 4 Issue 9 | Week 10 Term 3, 2014


member those old days when I was staring at those vivid pictures of kangaroos and koalas in a book, wondering if one day I could have the chance to go near and touch them. And just last Friday we went to the Ballarat Wildlife Park where

I had an unforgettable experience. We took tons of photos with those cute creatures. However, there is something that outweighs the good time with animals, and that is all the friends I made here. Friendship is so important, and I will never forget the week I spent here. Last but not least, on behalf of our team from SFLS, we would like to express our most sincere gratitude to you all, for your most warming hospitality and most incredible memories you gave me. Your coun-try Australia has a special meaning to me now. I will never forget my friends here and I'll definitely come again and see them.

This exchange program has truly given me far be-yond what I had expected. I truly thank everyone that made this awesome program happen!

Important DatesOctober 24 Year 12 SWOTVACOctober 24 Year 12 Valedictory DinnerOctober 27 Year 12 SWOTVACOctober 28 Year 12 SWOTVACOctober 29 Unit 3/4 Exams startNovember 7 Home Study Day (Year 11)November 10 Unit 2 Exams StartNovember 10 Home Study Day (Years 9 & 10)November 11 Year 9 & 10 exams start November 17 Unit 2 Exams & Year 10 Exams end

This issue’s cover art was created by Teshan

Gajanayake of 10G



Assistant Principal

On Thursday 4th September, Ms. Peddle and Mr. Ryan attended the first lecture in a four-part series of the 2014 Boyer lectures run by the ABC network. The lecture was titled “The promise

for science: a vision of hope”. Prof, Cory took the audience through her journey of discovery, begin-ning with the reasons, factors, and individuals who inspired her and ignited her passion and interest in DNA sampling (and later in molecular biology), to her PhD and research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, England. Prof. Cory then discussed some of her contributions to understanding the genetic reasons that pro-motes cancer growth and how such discoveries can help creating medicines that can target/cure spe-cific cancers while avoiding the vicious side effects

of current cancer therapies. Prof. Cory ended her lecture with an overview of her vision of the future of science in Australia.

For a teacher, Prof. Cory’s most remarkable com-ment was that teaching science should be fun and practical, it should be full of “hands on” activities and learning by application. Science is the tool we use (and solve problems with) everyday, whether its curing diseases, driving our cars to work or typing this newsletter.Students should be exposed to be beauty of science and its role as a problem solver. More importantly, students must learn how to utilize science to overcome daily chal-lenges, which aligns perfectly with our sci-ence teaching practice at Suzanne Cory High School. Mr Isaac Ryan

2014 Boyer Lectures

Competition Writing newsCongratulations to Katha Villanueva (9B) who came second in an Australia-wide writing competition with her short story ‘Strange Civilizations’. The Imagination Crea-tion’s Writing Competition was sponsored by the Western Union Writers, Wyndham City Council and Wyndham Community and Education. Katha won second place for a story in the Age 11 – 14 Category. Katha is pursuing her love of writing in her co-curricular class, Competition Writing. Well done Katha!Ms Pauline Wigan

Summer UniformA reminder that summer uniform is optional until after Melbourne Cup Day, when it will be compulsory.

EnrolmentsA friendly reminder to parents that if your child will not be returning to Suzanne Cory High School next year, please put this in writing and email it to [email protected]

This information is critical to us, particu-larly as the end of the year approaches.

We appreciate your cooperation.



Are you studying or considering taking History at VCE? Do you enjoy Science and want to learn more? Suzanne Cory High School is offering a His-tory / Science trip to the USA in September 2015. The trip will be based on the VCE Units 3&4 Histo-ry: Revolutions course (American Revolution) and Physics. However, it will be open to students from all subjects and year levels, allowing all students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge, con-sider future subject options and have an incredible experience. Some of the exciting and educational places we will be visiting include the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the Freedom Trail in Boston, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Wall Street and the Mu-seum of Natural History in New York, the Smith-sonian Air and Space Museum in Washington,

D.C., George Washington’s estate on the Potomac River, battlefields from the Revolutionary War when America won its independence from Great Britain, Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Amish Country in Pennsylvania. Transport will be a combination of flights, train (including the beauti-ful Boston to New York Amtrak route) and guided coach, all of which are included in the price. Expressions of interest forms will be circulated next term. Please note that the overall cost will be determined by the number of students who at-tend. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the organising teacher, Ms Raquel Fenby (VCE History teacher) at the school. Ms Raquel Fenby

USA TRIP 2015



The Arts, Design and Technology Showcase was a smash hit. There was an exceptional standard of student work on display, students catered the event and the performances (which included music and comedic skits) were phenomenal. All students and teachers involved should be rightfully very proud.

Arts, Design & Technology Showcase





Wyndham Division Athletics ChampionshipsSpring came early on Thursday 28th August for the Wyndham Division Ath-letics Championships. Eighty-five stu-dents from Suzanne Cory exception-ally represented the school both on and off the track. The results speak for themselves with twenty-two students finishing first in their events and quali-fying for the Western Metropolitan Re-gional Finals which are being held to-day, Thursday 18th September. What we were particularly proud of was the unprompted kindness and selflessness exhibited by a number of our students helping out other schools in the field events throughout the day. Mr Daniel McDowell

Name Event Rudi Chatterje 14 boys 100m Stephanie Le 18-20 girls 100m 18-20 girls 200m 18-20 girls long jump 18-20 girls relay Alexia Humphries 15 Girls 1500m Kristine Carlos 16 girls 1500m Hayden Richards 17 boys 1500m Lynne Ngo 17 girls 1500m James Kearney 18-20 boys 1500m Ravee Pathya 16 boys 400m Jean McGhie 16 girls 400m Amanuiel Taddese 16 boys 800m Tori Kovach 17 girls 800m Bianca Trajcevski 18-20 girls high jump 18-20 girls triple jump 18-20 girls relay Ibukum Oluyide 16 Boys Javelin (700g) Darius Lewis 18-20 Boys Javelin (800g) 18-20 boys shot put 18-20 boys relay Bailey Allen 18-20 Girls Javelin (600g) Emmanuel Kifle 14 Boys shot put Sarah Ng 15 girls triple jump Ben Jin 17 boys triple jump David Nguyen 18-20 boys relay Khizar Bhatti 18-20 boys relay Sankeerth Nekkadapu 18-20 boys relay Jenny Nguyen 18-20 girls relay



School Wide Positive Behaviours UpdateI cannot believe we are at the end of Term 3 already! Where has the year gone? Heading into the end of the term, and our final term with Year 12 students, the tutorial program has been planned to allow students maximum time to prepare for upcoming assessment tasks, allowing them to use some of the lessons for private study. As a result of this, many students have been working with their Homegroup teachers on strategies to assist them in preparing in the upcoming exam period. One of our main goals over the last few years through the tutorial program was to give the students a toolbox full of strategies around time management, study skills, wellbeing skills, anxiety, stress many other skills they need to be successful in their lives. We are finishing off the term with a seminar for both Year 11 and 12 students presented by Elevate Education, once again consolidating their exam preparation skills.

The Year 10 students have been focusing on coping strategies, how to manage stress and how to ask for help when they are feeling overwhelmed. It has been a hard term for many of our Year 10 students, and we as a school are so proud of how they have banded together and supported each other throughout the term.

In the tutorial program for Year 9, we have been looking at being cybersmart and cyberbulying. Unfortunately, along with the amazing positives associated with access to the digital world, it also poses some risks both from a safety and social perspective. At SCHS believe that knowledge is power, if we ensure the students understand how the digital world works, as well as the risk and protective factors associated with it, then they can make more informed decisions about what they do online and how they conduct themselves.

Last week, in assembly the SWPB team spoke to students about are core values of Respect, Contribution and Aspiration and what these look like here at Suzanne Cory. We referred back to the school Behaviour Expectations Matrix (See image below) and focused on ‘In Classrooms’ and ‘In School Grounds’ and what respect looks like in these areas. It is easy with so much going on each day like assessment, house corals, raising money for charities etc to lose focus of those little things that build to successes and high quality academic outcomes.

At its foundation, being respectful to others means many things. Giving ourselves the opportunity to learn, giving others the opportunity to learn, respecting the opinions of others, respecting your teachers and having them be respectful to you also as well as respect for our school and its environment. What does respecting our school look like? Being in the correct uniform at the appropriate time, pick up after ourselves during breaks and being punctual, prepared and pumped to learn! We are looking forward a positive start to Term 4 and wish everyone a safe and productive holiday. Ms Laura Ruddick

RESPECT

ASPIRATION

CONTRIBUTION

In classrooms I will...In the school

grounds I will...Out in the

community I will...In the virtual

community I will...

- Respect diversity and treat all others as equalsRespect the learning and opinions of others and those in authority- Respect all property, equipment and belongings of other students, the school and my own

- Ensure that I am correctly prepared for my classes

- Always persevere- Strive for excellence- ALways try to do my best- Set achievable goals and aim to succeeed

class discussions- Encourage and support other students and teachers in their learning

- Respect all property, grounds

- Use or stay only within areas that are allowed and safe- Appreciate the school- Show respect to students and

- Move safely around the indoor and outdoor areas

- Keep locker areas, The Agora and other areas of the school

- Socialise and be friendly to all- Take up leadership roles and

- Contribute to the maintenance of the school grounds, furniture and equipment

- Be considerate on public transport and courteous to all- Respect those that are less privileged- Ensure that I wear the school uniform as expected- Represent the school with pride and professionalism in all I do- Behave in a safe and orderly

others especially in regards to road safety

- Demonstrate and uphold the school’s values- Support the needs of others- Be a good role model within the community

the community- Support community events

- Contribute to those in need

- Be a safe, responsible and

of others

network and use the digital technologies provided with care and respect

- Use the internet as a resource to support my learning

- Contribute to the world wide

manner- Report inappropriate,

digital technologies

Our Core Values



Social Justice/Citizenship Group @ SCHSEarlier this term, a group of students interested in social justice and making a contribution to the lo-cal community met up for the first time. The group is open to all students who are interested, and it will undertake actions and activities decided on by the group.

The first major activity of the group was to make sandwiches for the "Nosh" van, which is a food and health outreach support service run by White Lion youth services. A group of super-enthusiastic sandwich makers met up on Wednesday 3rd Sep-tember and made dozens of rounds of delicious

and healthy sandwiches, which were delivered to local young people by the Nosh van later that day. The students had a great time, and learned quite a bit about food preparation and hygiene. We plan to run another sandwich/ snack food making session in Term 4. Thanks to all the students who contrib-uted sandwich ingredients and their energy, and thanks to Ms Nugara for allowing us to use her fabulous kitchen!

Ms Timmee Grinham and Ms Marissa Chui Stu-dent Leadership Coordinators

Social Justice/Citizenship Group

As in previous years there is an opportunity for stu-dents to attend three days of sailing at the Victorian School of Sailing in Geelong in early term four. This is not an over night camp, students will be trans-ported to and from Geelong within school hours each day. No prior sailing experience is required as full instruction and lessons are provided, although students must be able to swim. Positions are limited and costs are likely to be $40 – $50 per day, although this is yet to be finalised. Interested students should speak to myself to register their interest. A meeting will be held early in term four to establish numbers and provide information and forms.Mr Nick Cummins

Sailing Excursion in Term 4



Book WeekWeek 7 of this term was Book Week – a wonderful week celebrating the reading that staff and stu-dents do. Thanks for all the work put in by iCentre staff, and to the many students who got involved in some way. Here are some photos of students on the dress up day - they came dressed up as a character from a book. It was a brilliant effort!



To parents of Year 9 studentsWe have been studying Shakespeare's 'A Midsum-mer Night's Dream' this term in English. We were unable to arrange for students to see a production of this play, but there is a production coming up by the Bell Shakespeare at the Arts Centre, Melbourne, during the school holidays, if anyone is keen to see it. For booking and other details, please go to:

http://artscentremelbourne.com.au/Whats-On/Theatre-Drama/The-Dream

Shakespeare IncursionOn 1 September, a troupe of four actors from the Bell Shakespeare Company came to perform Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the school auditorium. This isn’t a play that most of our Year 9 students have studied, but it was a great oppor-tunity to see Shakespeare being performed and discussed. There are many connections that can be made to our current Year 9 text, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Although one is a tragedy and one a comedy, Shakespeare wrote both plays during the same period, and Pyramus and Thisbe, the play-within-the-play that the tradesmen perform in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is almost a spoof of the ill-fated tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The performance was fast, energetic and acces-sible. This is what some of our students had to say about it:‘Watching Romeo and Juliet was good because we were able to experience Shakespeare in a perfor-mance, the way that the play was originally written to be presented.’ Charlotte Simons ‘… it was well acted, with a modern twist to allow students today to understand different situations.’ Sarah Ng‘The play established a connection between Pyra-mus and Thisbe and Romeo and Juliet.’‘Watching Romeo and Juliet was a wonderful expe-rience because we understood the storyline and realised Shakespeare’s plays are educational and entertaining as well.’‘Watching Romeo and Juliet really helped me to understand the true meaning of the play as the ac-tors explained what was happening between the scenes. As Shakespeare uses old English, the trans-lations helped a lot and I really enjoyed the play.’‘Romeo and Juliet was great. I liked the fact that

they took time during the play to explain what was going on when some of the Shakespearean Eng-lish was a bit difficult to understand.’ Anna-Maria Antonijevic‘I learnt that the connections between Pyramus and Thisbe and Romeo and Juliet are strong. Despite having only four actors and the complex language, the message and plot was clear.’‘Romeo and Juliet was good because it was so easy to understand (through explanations) while re-maining interesting.’‘I learnt that classical stories can still be depicted in the modern day, with a unique twist.’‘The play Romeo and Juliet helped me to under-stand the language that was used in William Shakespeare’s time because it included visuals…’ Sasini Dematampitiya Arachchige ‘Romeo and Juliet was an experience. It was well acted and they explained the play well.’‘Watching Romeo and Juliet was extremely enjoy-able, as it was easy to understand, as the actors stopped and explained the play using modern day English as well.’



All Year 9 and 10 students are invited to write a poem for the Poetry Object Competition 2014.

Red Room Poetry Object is a writing competition that gives students the opportunity to create, publish and exhibit a poem inspired by an object that is special to them. Poems should be no more than 20 lines. Poems do not have to rhyme.

The poem should: 1) Describe the object for a reader who is unfa-miliar with it2) To explain to the reader why the object is special or valuable.

Final date for submission: no later than 5:00 pm on Friday 19th September 2014Submitted poems will be published on the Red Room Company’s website.All Highly Commended poems will be recorded by ABC RN for broadcast on a special edition of ‘Poet-ica’ and for inclusion on a RN Poetry Object project page on the ABC website.For further details, please see redroomcompany.org/projects/poetry-object/

Please see Ms Helen Bradwell (English) or Ms Amanda Wallace (iCentre) for further details on how to enter your poem.

Poetry Object Competition

Year 10 Studio Arts students have just com-pleted their gouache paintings which pay homage to French painter Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Some examples of student gouache paintings are shown here.Matisse was a member of the Fauve group of painters, essentially a colourist whose aim was to depict the “joyous aspects of life” and for his art to have “the same effect as a com-fortable armchair on a tired businessman”.He discarded conventional perspective and distorted objects for the sake of good de-sign. He composed large, flat paintings of intensely rich colour, exotic patterns and vicorous line to make bold, brightly decora-tive pictures.Ms Kerrie Blain

Homage to Matisse



Flash Mob!“A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a pub-lic place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression”.

On the 6th of September, some members of the teaching staff performed a dance flash mob to a medley of songs (which included The Backstreet Boys...). They had been secretly rehears-ing for weeks and nailed it on the day!

One of our students commented that, “It reminded me why I love this school so much”.

A video of the dance was posted to our Facebook page for those who are curious!

Here are some updates from the previous meeting held on 27 August:• PFA elected Mr Grant McGhie as the Secretary of PFA. Con-gratulations Grant!• Parents Association resolved to have its Motto as "Sup-porting our Students" to convey how we can help our children in the school.

Join us and volunteer in various areas to support our stu-dents. We want your help in working groups listed below:• Finance, Fundraising and Sponsorships• School PFA Desk for events• Parents Feedback• Event Organising• Barbeque Group - in school and out of school• Working Bees• Breakfast Club

The Parents & Friends Association can be contacted via our website.

Supporting our students



Last week 18 students from Suzanne Cory High School and 17 students from Nossal High School joined together for a week of skiing at Falls Creek through a program run by the Bogong Outdoor Education Centre—students not only learned to ski cross country and downhill but also learned about environmen-tal sustainability and the alpine environment. Mr Stewart Milner

Snow camp with Nossal High School

The foundation of a nation is not financial wealth; it is great minds and tactical long term thinkers that determine our future. Suzanne Cory High School is fortunate to accommodate some of the best minds across the state, not only our students seek academic excellence; they also seek excel-lence in many other fields, including music, debat-ing, swimming, athletics and Chess.September the 16th marked a new era for Suzanne Cory Chess Club. 12 members travelled to Box Hill Chess club to represent our school in an official VIC state qualifier tournament where they competed in a 7 rounds tournament against a 100 students from 10 other schools.Our students played solid games; they made the right moves and remained calm, patient and pro-fessional regardless of the continuous challenges they faced. By the end of the tournament, our stu-

dents secured 6 entries to the Victorian State Chess final tournament, which will be held during week 2 of term 4.Suzanne Cory High school’s team did an amazing job, 10 out of 12 students reached top 50%, and the remaining two were among the top 64%. Our students also achieved the second highest average score (out of 11 schools).All girls qualified for the VIC state finals with one of them achieving an award for scoring the second highest score across her year level.Our students demonstrated that with hard work and careful planning, nothing is beyond reach.This also demonstrates that our school is not only fostering academic minds, it is evolving to cater for all forms of excellence. Mr Isaac Ryan

SCHS Chess Club Dominates

Zeeshan MalikSumedha SethupathyJustin SunarioSehajmeet (Sehaj) SinghDuong (Jasmine) VoBryson NgWill PanShehan WisidagamaKade KimRyan PhanRobert TranAndy Chung



The house chorals competition was hotly contested this year and in the end it was Cottrell that took home the trophy. Congratulations to Cottrell!

House Chorals

Newsletter volume 4 issue 09

Documents

school programs

sister school

school website

nossal high school

book week

lote week

end of term

visiting students