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Newsletter Mount Eliza Secondary College

Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza 3930 Tel: 9787 6288 Fax: 9787 9888

Email: info@mesc.vic.edu.au Internet www.mesc.vic.edu.au

Website http://www.mesc.vic.edu.au

Editors: Angela Pollard & Heather Hiam 14 June 2013 Volume 4/2013

This Newsletter is available in colour electronically on the College website and on the College intranet.

Dear Parents, Students, Teachers and Members of the Wider School Community,

It is hard to believe that we have commenced second semester, and are now heading into the final few weeks of term two. Our year 12 students will soon be beginning their last full term of schooling prior to the exam period which commences shortly after their return from third term break. Many teachers are offering additional learning opportunities and support for our senior students, and I strongly encourage parents to discuss the importance of utilising these opportunities at home. Continued success for our students The evidence of the quality work of our staff is really gaining recognition at the moment, and it is with great pleasure that we are able to congratulate the following students:

Congratulations too to Susan Bollard and her students who submitted a short film about groundwater issues, and as a result, have received funding to attend the Melbourne Water Kids Teaching Kids Seminar in October. Again, fantastic recognition for excellent opportunities provided. Sometimes it is work staff members do directly with students, and sometimes it is the encouragement and support they provide that makes the difference. Any way you look at it this is an impressive outcome! Clearing of land at the college Many of you will be aware that the large section of bushland adjoining the Mount Eliza Way boundary of the school was cleared recently. This was done without authority and I have received a great deal of correspondence regarding the matter in recent weeks. I certainly understand community concerns about the manner in which this has occurred. We are currently investigating the matter with the assistance of the Department of Education, and will be developing a plan of action in consultation with interested members of the local community as soon as possible. New uniform Members of school council including staff representatives have been working this year to consider the introduction of a new uniform for our students. The current uniform was introduced over 12 years ago, and the general feeling from parents, staff and students was that it had become very disjointed, with numerous options making a consistent approach extremely difficult to achieve. There was also a sense that the uniform was dull in appearance and many students have commented that they feel their uniform to be inferior compared to surrounding schools. Because our current school council has ten parent representatives, we decided to use this avenue for initial consultation. The decision was made to keep to the general colour scheme [green, grey and purple tones] but to significantly enliven the look of the items. Some preliminary colour samples were put together, a small working party commenced development of concepts, and this has been presented back and forth to council members for feedback and further development. An important part of this process has been consultation with students, and whilst we all know that we will never get 100% agreement on something like this, hearing from the students is a most important part of the process and we have received excellent advice and ideas from the thirty students who have taken part in this process at different times.

Current Students

Deborah Hill Winner - Legacy Public Speaking Competition

Sam Brett and Annie Jeffries Finalists - Student Art Competition—MPRG

Danielle Gallichan Preliminary Finalist - National Dance Aerobics

Sarah Hayes, Maddie Collinge, Sonali Green Monash Scholars’ Program

Ex Students

Sonny Tilders King Kong Animatronics

Adrian Portell Assistant Musical Director King Kong

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New uniform Some key factors are worth sharing:

There is a strong view coming through that a more formal uniform is required and council is considering the inclusion of a tie and blazer

The uniform company has told us that if the blazer is compulsory, it would reduce the cost by $30-40 potentially, resulting in a cost of around $160

A two year change over period would be in place so that next year’s year 7s would start in the new uniform. Any current students who wanted to buy the new version could do so and all students would be in the new uniform for the start of the 2016 school year

Pricing would be similar to the current items, although the quality will be much improved School council feel that the introduction of a new uniform is an important part of ‘rebadging’ the college, as it signifies to the local community that things are changing. I know from previous experience that a new uniform can engender pride in students, and send a clear message that Mount Eliza Secondary College is a quality organisation, with high expectations for student success and presentation.

I have included some preliminary conceptual drawings that the uniform supplier has put together. The girls’ summer dress will be a similar colour/pattern to the winter skirt. If you have any thoughts or suggestions regarding the uniform proposal, please feel free to email me directly apollard@mesc.vic.edu.au

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Senior Team Achievement - The Mount Eliza Secondary College Student Team: Reduce, reuse and recycle: these were the watchwords of this dedicated team, who mounted an impressive campaign to promote sustainable practices in their local community. Beginning with their ‘Red Bucket’ recycling and composting program, the team ran a sophisticated marketing campaign to encourage students and staff to place fruit and vegetable scraps in composting buckets. The scraps were then used in a series of no-dig organic gardens the team had established to grow seasonal vegetables. The group then launched the ‘Can Do’ recycling program, which encouraged school staff and students to collect and recycle cans. The team took part in Earthwatch’s TeachWild program,

monitoring Canadian Bay beach, and initiated ‘Nude Food’ lunch days to encourage students to do away with unnecessary plastic packaging. They also started a monthly home harvest event whereby people in the local community can swap produce and supplies they no longer want. The team took it in turns to manage each project and utilised the skills of individual members, assigning tasks according

to each person’s strengths, from IT to horticulture and public speaking. Their efforts won them numerous awards,

including Sustainability Victoria’s ResourceSmart Active Secondary School Team for 2012 and Canon’s Environmental

Secondary School of the Year.

Teacher Award Winner 2012—Program Development Susan Bollard Through a series of sustainability projects, Susan integrated Personal Development and Work Related Skills learning outcomes and created opportunities for students to experience an array of realistic workplace situations. In the process, she turned 23 Year 12 students with little in common into a close-knit team of committed environmentalists. Susan’s students learned to take responsibility for promoting their work and were encouraged to see projects through to completion. From establishing whole-school composting and can-recycling programs to running ‘Home Harvest’ (a monthly swap meet where locals exchange unwanted household goods), Susan’s program brimmed with successful sustainability initiatives. Susan also arranged for visits from guest speakers from the environmentalist field. A representative of Kids Teaching Kids delivered a workshop on how to develop and present an effective marketing strategy, while Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Waste

Management Educator taught the students about selling an idea. One notable guest speaker was a CSIRO scientist who inspired the students to embark on the Earthwatch TeachWild program. Susan’s class learned beach monitoring techniques and used GPS equipment to manage and record their findings about marine debris at Canadian Bay beach. By designing her activities to play to individual participants’ interests while extending their skill sets, Susan and her

program had a powerful impact on her Senior VCAL class, all of whom continue to be involved in promoting

environmental sustainability.

Seung Jin Bae, Elly Brown, Andrew Burson, Samuel Christie, Samantha Clarke, Danielle Crapper, Zoe Evans, Madeleine Francis, Shane Hamilton, Chris Jewson, Jana Langenberg, John Marshall, Charles Milne, Jack Nisbet, Chelsey Price, Matthias Schwellinger, Bronte Seager, Daniel Walls, Lauren Wells, Hayden Whitelaw,J ordyn Wright

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GERMAN EXCURSION On the 30th of April 7a and 7b went on an excursion to the Austrian Club in Heidelberg for all the students in Victoria that study German, French, Italian and Spanish. We were asked to dress like a person from one of those countries or just in any costume. There was also a competition for the best dressed and Quess and Emma won a prize! One of the highlights of the excursion was the food! It was great to taste different food from different countries, my favourite food was the Bretzel which was massive!

7A and 7B all had an amazing t

WE ALL HAD A FANTASTIC TIME AT THE GERMAN FESTIVAL ! THERE WAS HEAPS OF MUSIC ,FANTASTIC FOOD AND HEAPS OF FUN THINGS TO DO !

Woolworths Earn & Learn Program As you know, our school has been participating in the Woolworths Earn & Learn program. The program has now finished for this year, so a big thanks to everyone who supported our school. We’re now at the important stage of the program where Points Sheets are collected and lodged as our Earn & Learn claim. We will then be able to get new educational equipment for our school. The more we collect, the more we can redeem. So this week please send in your Woolworths Earn & Learn Points Sheets and any loose Earn & Learn Points Stickers you may have. Remember to check your handbag, the car glove box or they maybe stuck on the fridge. Every little bit helps. Thanks again for all your support!

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Taking on the Arthurs Seat Challenge The Annual Arthurs Seat Challenge Launch was held last Wednesday 5th June. Two Year 11 students, Georgia Minotti and Jordan Barnes (Advance students from 2012) were invited to the launch to talk about their experiences from last year which included heavily promoting the event in the local community and organising participant packs with the Advance Team. Being participants on the day, the students also spoke about how rewarding it was to see so many runners and walkers take part, knowing that so much time and effort had gone into promoting the Arthurs Seat Challenge in the community. Both Georgia and Jordan spoke incredibly well in front of a large number of principals, teachers, politicians and special guests. Congratulations on being such fine representatives of the college.

Ride to Conquer Cancer - Sean Matthews—Year 10 The ride to conquer cancer benefiting the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is cycling from Mel-bourne through the Mornington Peninsula, that’s the fight I’m embarking on to fight cancer. It will be a challenge in a number of ways, but with my bike, my helmet, and your gener-osity, a real impact will be made. Contribute to the history-making event with a donation. Funds raised in The Ride to Conquer Cancer will support Peter MacCallum, the only public hospital in Australia solely dedicated to cancer. Further information and donations can be made by clicking on:-

http://ml13.conquercancer.org.au/site/TR/Events/Melbourne2013?px=1277328&pg=personal&fr_id=1111

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Mount Eliza Aerobics

Jekyll & Hyde Congratulations to the Mount Eliza Secondary College Senior team ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ who competed in the Dance Aerobics Heats and gained fifth place and a spot in the Finals.

Danielle Gallichan Yr 12

Ella Price Yr 12

Sophie Clark Yr 12

Tamika Joy Yr 11

Shanika Tunley Yr 11

Imogen Matich Yr 11

Briarna House Yr 11

Bronte McCoy Yr 11

Emily Taylor Harcourt Yr 8

Elly Schiffer Yr 8

Ashleigh Harman Yr 7

Brooke Reid Yr 9

Invitation to the Nationals in Brisbane !

Congratulations to Year 12 student Danielle Gallichan who competed in the Soloist Dance Aerobics state finals and won a place to the Nationals in Brisbane in August.

Mrs Williams

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Library News So what do Smurfs, boston terriers, bluegrass bands, superpowers, space opera and bacon have in common? They are just a few of the favourite things that were spoken about by current authors at the recent “Reading Matters 2013” student day, at the State Library of Victoria, which our Year 7 Library Monitors recently attended. Our session involved authors Raina Telgemeier, Myke Bartlett, John Flanagan, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Garth Nix and Libba Bray, who each gave an insight into their world of writing and/or illustrating. They spoke about growing up and using stories from their childhood; writing about stories for their children to show that “heroes come in all shapes and sizes”; spiky characters and brothers who helped them with titles and storylines; and stealing ideas for their next story from children! It was a great day for everyone and culminated in a ‘meet and greet’ session in which students were able to ask more questions, get autographs and have their photos taken with each author. The Library Monitors are putting together a series of posters about each of these authors for a future library display – so watch out for this.

“It was great how Raina used stories about herself in her books and was drawing a cartoon character whilst talking too!” – Shelby & Stacey “Libba Bray was so funny when she had students on the stage to make up a ‘book’ about piggy oink-oink and bacon” - Brooke & Skye “I liked listening to how the authors write their books and how they are all different” – Ella “Being able to meet my favourite authors, including John Flanagan, was great and I got them to sign my books” – Tom I’d also like to thank the Library Monitors for helping out with the recent “Endangered Species” display of work by 7A & 7B students and the many lunchtimes they have spent recently processing and covering new books. They are a great group of students and their enthusiasm for the library is very much appreciated.

Mrs Swannell, Librarian PROTEADS Proteads” is the name of the Mount Eliza Secondary College past student/staff association which enables members to continue a strong connection with our College. A newsletter is produced quarterly and members share news of their current endeavours, career pathways, and memories of their times as a student and/or staff member. Student reunions are also advertised via this newsletter. We are very fortunate to have an article from Sonny Tilders, the Creative Director and Creature Designer of “King Kong” (currently on stage at the Regent Theatre) in our next issue. Sonny was a student at Mount Eliza Secondary College (Class of 1984) and credits much of his success to his time exploring Studio Arts subjects whilst at school. We also have another ex-student involved in “King Kong”, Adrian Portell (Class of 2000) who is the Assistant Musical Director/keyboard for the production. “Proteads Newsletters” are available on our website and if you would like to join our database please email proteads@mesc.vic.edu.au

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State School Spectacular Rehearsals are well and truly underway, with hundreds of students participating in the Regional Rehearsal at Oakleigh South Primary School on May 16th! The students rehearsed all the choreography for the show and were enjoying every minute of it! The theme for this year’s show is “Home” and the dancing and singing is guaranteed to be amazing! The next regional rehearsal will take place Fri June 14th with the dress rehearsal and technical run through occurring on July 25th and 26th July. The performance will be on Saturday July 27th at 11am Matinee and 5pm Afternoon at Hisense Arena. Please support the students by seeing the show. Tickets available on the school website or at Ticketek.

Kathryn Nightingale

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Please support the College by selling at least the one raffle book allocated to your child. If you have not received it at home then please check with them. Raffle book returns can be made to the library at any time – however we ask thatthey are in the envelope provided with the correct amount of money inside. The final return date for the books will be the 31st of July. Please ensure that all books (sold or unsold) are returned by this date. Contact Mrs Lynn Swannell (Library) if you have any queries regarding this raffle phone - 9787 6288.

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TERM DATES 2013

Term 1

31 January—28 March

Term 2

15 April—28 June

Term 3

15 July—20 September

Term 4

7 October—20 December

“You can now follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out about upcoming

events at the College” http://twitter.com/mtelizasc

http://on.fb.me/zWNp06

IMPORTANT DATES TERM 2 & 3 2013

Wednesday 12 June GAT

Saturday 22 June - Friday 5 July Central Australia Camp

Friday 28 June Last Day of Term—NORMAL DISMISSAL TIME

Monday 15 July Term 3 Commences

Saturday 27 July State Schools Spectacular 11am & 5pm—Hisense Arena

UNIFORM SHOP

Opening Times During School Term:

Wednesday 8.15am—10.30 am & 1.00pm—3.45 pm

First Sat of each Month - 9.00am – 12.00 pm

Telephone: 9788 6240

Orders can be completed online Email: sales@fcw.com.au www.fcw.com.au PLEASE NOTE THAT CHEQUES ARE NOT ACCEPTED

30% DISCOUNT OFF ALL EXISTING NEW UNIFORMS IN STOCK

**ABSENCE LINE**

STUDENT ABSENCE LINE PHONE NUMBER IS

9788 6290

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS ON SALE NOW

Entertainment Books are now available for sale from our administration office. Copies are $65 per book, all profits raised will

be donated to student welfare projects.