Department Notes

Chinese

We had a good start in the Year of the Tiger and the zodiac sign Tiger is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness. We organised a series of Chinese cultural activities, including learning Chinese painting and calligraphy, appreciating Chinese dumplings, and a Chinese painting competition. Students actively participated in these activities and showed great talents. Our students also participated in the Chinese Reading Awards organised by the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Victoria (CLTAV), Jacob Meaney (Year 7) achieved a top ten result and Thomas Douglas (Year 9) won an encouragement award.

Our staff also took part in various professional development activities organised by CLTAV and VCAA. This year, Ms Emily Wang has been appointed as our Middle School Coordinator looking after all the Middle School Chinese classes. We farewelled Ms Min Zhang, who had worked in our school for over 25 years, and we welcomed a new teacher, Ms Lisa Zhang, who has taken Ms Min Zhang’s place. We continue to build up our resources on DEEDS and develop effective strategies to cater to our students’ needs.

Mr Wei Ha

Head of Chinese

Commerce

The noise of students in the classroom is something we are grateful to hear once again. The controversy and competition of Year 10 students fighting to make more money in the ASX Sharemarket game than their counterparts; the gasps as we sit and watch live streaming of sentencing of murderers in the Supreme Court; the excitement of actually getting out of the classroom and going on an excursion to Queen Victoria Market or the Old Melbourne Gaol. All of these activities show the progression and effects of the last two years. We can now engage in many more online activities as organisations, like the courts, allow greater streaming access to what really happens in the courtroom. At the same time society’s nervousness around large gatherings is starting to dissipate, allowing students to wander around a marketplace, analysing economic forces in practice, is also very liberating. Much time has been spent in the classroom this year as we cherish the discussions and debates that went missing for so long. Although at times it has been hard to see the expressions on their faces due to masks, we know they are all glad to be back. Commerce is an integral part of every student’s education and an understanding of the society they live in is important for their development. The Commerce program and staff bring the classroom alive and foster an inquiring mind within each student.

Mr Andrew Warne Head of Commerce

Computing

Building on work in previous years, in 2022 students undertaking Computing subjects were again offered more opportunities with an expanded and upgraded curriculum, new equipment, and, in Term 4, a new dedicated space adjoining the classrooms to host a robotics field and VR/electronics lab.

This year saw the introduction of Digital Citizenship for all Year 7 students. Students are now exposed to a range of topics about navigating the digital world, from password management and basic cybersecurity to media literacy and digital creation. A big thanks to Ms Sarah Alton and Mrs Jenny Luca for creating and leading this new subject.

The Year 8 Robotics class introduced new VEX IQ robot kits. These kits allow for a greater depth of challenge in programming, design, and engineering. In class, students must design, build, program, and drive a robot to score points in a game. This year’s challenge involves getting discs out of dispensers and flicking them into various goal zones.

In the same VEX platform, some students put in extra time outside class to prepare for competing in the inter-school VEX Robotics Competition. The Year 8 team consisted of Julian Nguyen, Caleb Obeyesekere, Jerry Tang, Richie Yang, and Lucas Gu and the Year 9 team was Ari Canale, Lachlan Courmadias, Ivan Zhang, Christopher Khong, and Joash Law. We hope to see these students continue in the future and aim for spots in the National or World Finals for the competitions.

Year 10 students now have the opportunity in Term 4 to spend seven weeks building a project of their own choice. This is an effective capstone of the work they have done up to that point – projects this year included Virtual Reality experiences, a dominolaying robot, flight simulation games, and a smart dustbin.

On Wednesday lunchtimes in Coding Club, students taught other students topics such as Python programming, game animations, and, notably, neural networks. Ishaan Nandurkar and Ben Bosmans led this initiative and taught many of the classes.

None of this would be possible without the commitment and dedication of the Computing teachers: Miss Maddi Voumard, Mr Glenn Pountney, Ms Sarah Alton, and Mrs Jenny Luca.

Mr Andrew Worsnop Coordinator, Computing

e-Learning

This year the School has looked to expand the opportunities for students undertaking VCE Extension studies by taking advantage of the online learning resources of Deakin University and its Deakin Accelerate program. Excitingly this allows the School to add an additional ten VCE Extension subjects to its offering, ranging from Accounting and Criminology to Law, Philosophy, Robotics, and Sports Management. It also allows students to participate in an online campus experience as an enrolled student at Deakin University, participating in online lectures and seminars with other Year 12s and first-year undergraduate students, while being fully supported by the University’s student support and resource services.

This offers an exciting opportunity for students to undertake one of a variety of different experiences in an online campus context by introducing them to the changing face of post-compulsory education at one of the widely acknowledged leaders in the provision of innovative online learning in the tertiary sector.

This will complement the existing University of Melbourne Extension Mathematics program taught at school and enable participating students in the Deakin Accelerate program to obtain the same ATAR Increment for the studies they undertake. We look forward to extending this program to interested students in 2023 as a way of using online learning to extend the educational opportunities our students might be interested in undertaking and showing our students the variety of degree pathways available to them in the tertiary sector.

Mr Matthew Wood Head of eLearning

English

Whilst the post-Covid lockdown normal is yet to be established, the year felt more like a regular year. Saturday sport, the Hamer Hall Concert, plays, House events, Open Day, camps, and the like punctuated the year. Whilst these events gave a seemingly familiar sense of return, the renegotiation of expected behaviours in terms of work and sharing social spaces was challenging for many. The new classroom was now a hybrid form of the best parts of technology incorporated during lockdowns and a return to the personal connections made through in-person teaching.

The full impact of the lockdowns is yet to be determined. What we do know is that some students were able to return to school and excel in their studies. The following students have not only been conscientious in their approach to work but have achieved outstanding results. Congratulations to Joshua Hui, Andrew Ong, and Tom Nguyen for their performance in English Units 1 & 2. As the highest-ranking Year 11 student, Ashton Lu was the recipient of the Brian Gill Memorial Prize. Nicholas Graves should be applauded for the exceptionally high standard of achievement he maintained in English Language Units 1 & 2. An unusual double is to be at the top of two English subjects. This impressive feat was achieved by Patrick Homes who managed to secure awards in both Literature and English Language. In Unit 3 & 4 subjects, there were some equally impressive results attained throughout the year. The academic awards for English Units 3 & 4 were obtained by Daniel Meagher, Ben Bosmans, Andrew Lee, Kerry Sun, Yanning Zhang, Leo Simo-Orgonas, and Je-Rard Cheong. The highest achievers in English Language Units 3 & 4 were Lidong Chen and Brendan Tse. In Year 12 Literature, Marcus Peeters-Williams was the winner of both the highly sought-after Mervyn Britten Memorial Award for Writing and the equally prestigious Shirley Thomas William Goodwin Prize for Literature. This follows alum Aidan Harris’ (2021) double-up victory in the previous year.

Just as much as students struggled to return after numerous interruptions in the two years prior, teachers also found the new terrain difficult to manage. It was the tireless effort of the subject coordinators that forged a path forward for others to follow. The entire Department owes a great deal of gratitude to Mrs Penelope Wood in Year 12 English, Mr John Allen in Literature, and Mr James Victor in English Language. Expressions of gratitude and congratulations are extended to Mrs Julie McCarthy and Miss Georgia Bellchambers who have made excellent contributions throughout their first year and have now joined Camberwell Grammar as ongoing staff members. We have also been blessed by the enormous contributions made by a number of staff who came to cover classes in the middle of the year. Mr Jordan Moulday, who bravely stepped into two Year 9 classes and a Year 10 class did a sterling job, especially considering his graduate status. Miss Melissa Drentin crossed the channel from her teaching of French and was a welcome addition to the Year 9 English team. Ms Jane Hickey was such an excellent cover in her key teacher role in the Middle School and with her Year 9 English that she secured a position for 2023. Thanks to all the teachers of English who so generously give of their time to get the job done, day after day.

In other staffing news, it was wonderful to see the return of Ms Laura Dubberley in Term 4 from her Maternity Leave. We thank the contributions of Mr Will Cordner and wish him well for his future endeavours in teaching. During the year, we also farewelled Mr Vincenzo Piscioneri. His passion for teaching English and Literature was never questioned over the 14 years of his connection with the School. The last note about staffing is left to acknowledge that after a year away from the chalkface on Long Service Leave, Mr Peter Robinson folded the scorebook on his teaching career and announced his retirement. After decades of dedicated service in Middle School, he will be sorely missed. When linked to the recent retirement of Mr Ken Schwab, the landscape of debating and class rivalry has been handed over to others. Hopefully, next year offers staff and students an opportunity to reinforce the solid foundations laid this year.

Mr Rick Mason Head of English

English as an Additional Language

In 2022 Camberwell Grammar ran EAL classes for Years 9 to 12 students, with the Years 9 and 10 composite class being taught by Mr James Victor. Mr Michael Daniel taught the Years 11 and 12 classes. As in previous years, Years 9 and 10 students used the Headway Course. The Year 11 class consisted of ten students. The texts they studied included Medea, Maestro, Twelve Angry Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Year 12 cohort consisted of seven students. Students completed regular listening comprehension practice tasks, usually based on material from the ABC Radio National website, as well as practice examination tasks. They read Christine Piper’s Australian novel After Darkness for the single text analysis. For the comparative study, students studied Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible and Rosalie Ham’s novel The Dressmaker.

During the 2021-2022 summer holidays, Mr Michael Daniel wrote a significant portion of a textbook for Year 11 EAL students, entitled EAL Year 11 VCE Units 1 & 2 – 2023 Study Design, published by Insight Publications, for the new course which commences in 2023. The book was launched online early in Term 3. In addition, Mr Daniel again contributed to the Year 12 EAL student revision program run by the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English by preparing a video presentation on the persuasive text analysis component of the examination. He also delivered presentations to EAL students from disadvantaged backgrounds, run by the Australian Catholic University, in July and September.

Mr Michael Daniel

Head of EAL

French

At the end of 2022, we farewelled Mr Ken Da Costa, who, after almost two decades at Camberwell Grammar, decided that it was time to retire. Ken is known for his knowledge of all things French, including the culture, history, and language amongst other things, and has a reputation for running the most successful Paris-Art-History tours that the School has ever seen.

While we searched for a suitable replacement, we were lucky enough to have Chris Bradtke take the reins once again. In Term 2, Miss Melissa Drentin took up her position within the Department and quickly let her many talents be known and also joined the English Department. Bienvenue Mademoiselle Drentin! Following last year’s success with our French Poetry Competition, we launched a larger, more daring project for all students. This year saw the inaugural Prenez la Parole – a French-speaking competition for all students. The aim was to impress the judges in under 60 seconds, whether it be a monologue, stand-up comedy, a rap, a poem, a speech... au choix! Prizes were awarded at each year level and this year we introduced a highly contested ‘staff only’ category. Winners enjoyed meals at Franco-Belge Restaurant plus a bag of French treats. It was lots of fun with fantastic feedback from students, judges, and staff. Warning: Prenez la parole 2023 will be even bigger!

Another initiative this year was reconnecting with neighbouring Camberwell Girls’ Grammar School. With the aim of rehearsing French conversation prior to the oral examinations, the Year 12 classes from both schools met up for a coordinated rendezvous and afternoon tea or goûter. It seems that long-lost friendships were reconnected after this event in M44, as well as brushing up on French conversation skills.

As for rekindling our reciprocal exchange with Lycée Bellevue in Lyon, we expect that this recommences in 2023 and applications can be made from the start of the School year for Years 10 and 11 students. Furthermore, the tours to France are currently in negotiations with the History Department about the possibility of a collaboration in the near future. Very exciting!

It’s been a tough year getting back into the swing of things, but overall it is good to be back!

Merci à tous!

Ms Naomi Eckersley

Head of French

Geography

2022 ushered in changes to both curriculum and staffing within the Geography Department. This year, a new VCE Study Design for Years 11 and 12 was introduced, as well as an overhaul of the way the Year 8 and Year 10 curriculum is delivered to our students. Mr Ian March has taken a well-deserved six-month Long Service Leave, personally and as a Department, we wish him all the best as he travels and spends time with family and friends. His replacement for Semester 2 is Mr Tom Everett, a teacher who has enthusiastically engaged with the students and Geography staff alike. After years of lockdowns and restrictions, we have finally been able to organise three field trips this year, the Unit 1 excursion to Marysville to experience and collect data related to the 2009 Black Saturday fires, the Unit 2 field trip to St Kilda to study the effects of Tourism, and the Unit 3 field trip to Moorabbin Airport to study land use change over time.

I would like to personally thank each and every member of the Geography Department for their collegiality and hard work in developing, creating, and delivering innovative lessons and units for our students over the past few years in very trying and tough conditions.

Mr Tim Cross

Head of Geography

History

With the introduction of a new VCAA Study Design, both Year 12 Revolutions classes have focused on the changes and continuities experienced by different social groups in the French and Russian Revolutions. They developed their ability to work with both primary and secondary sources in a variety of ways, while also enjoying plenty of lively discussions. Year 12 Global Politics students, working under the guidance of experienced teacher Mr Roger Devine, have been busy keeping abreast of the many developments in international relations in 2022. So current is the focus of this subject, that classes would often begin with a discussion of what had occurred overnight in certain parts of the world. Both Year 10 and 11 students were able to benefit from the resumption of excursions to the Jewish Holocaust Centre. Different classes were fortunate to hear the stories of either Abe Goldberg or Paul Grinwald and also had the opportunity to directly ask them questions about their experiences. Although both men endured significant ordeals, the message they clearly conveyed was the need to respect others and also how Australia provided them with the opportunity to start a new life. Year 9 students enjoyed spending time with Murrundindi, the ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people, during their unit on the Port Phillip Settlement. He generously shared artefacts and his personal story while also providing his perspective on areas the students were studying. This was the first time this incursion has been made available and we look forward to it continuing in future years. Congratulations to Patrick Homes and Vincent Chen who placed in the top three in Victoria for their categories in the National History Challenge. Consequently, they progressed to national judging and Patrick was awarded the State Prize in the Australia’s Wartime Experiences category. He received his Gold Award at the state presentation held at the Victorian Archives Centre in late November. Thank you to all the History staff who have worked tirelessly this year. In particular, thank you to Miss Miranda McDonald for her oversight of the Middle School History curriculum, Mr Roger Devine for overseeing Global Politics, Ms Cairistiona Tait for co-ordinating Year 9, and Dr Graham Morey-Nase for returning in Term 2 to cover a long-service leave position.

Mrs Kathryn Smith

Head of History

Indonesian

We live right next door to Indonesia, and our students are fortunate to have the choice of studying Indonesian at Camberwell Grammar. By 2030, Indonesia will be the fifth-largest economy in the world and Indonesian is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world. 2022 marked the return to the classroom and students were able to take part in interactive incursions and excursions. We started off the year with a Year 7 joint excursion with the Geography Department to Ceres. Students learnt about sustainable environments as well as traditional Indonesian dances and village life. In April, Senior School students attended the Indonesian Film Festival at ACMI followed by an Indonesian lunch. We were fortunate this year, through a collaborative effort with Scotch College, to have Mr Robbie Gaspar run soccer workshops for our students. Robbie, a former soccer player with Persita Tangerang, Persema Malang, and Persib Bandung, lived in Indonesia for eight years. Robbie, a fluent Indonesian speaker, believes that sport provides an important vehicle in developing Australia-Indonesia relationships and is heavily involved in sports diplomacy. We were also delighted to have Camberwell Grammar alumni, Kimon Taliadoros (1985), the CEO of Football Victoria, and Brendan Schwab (1985), Executive Director – World Players Association, join us for this event. Students learnt the different drills in Indonesian and were able to put this into practice. In addition, Robbie spoke about his experiences in Indonesia and how learning the language enriched his life experience and expanded his career opportunities.

To celebrate Indonesian Independence Day on 17 August, students at all levels had the opportunity to sample Indonesian foods like Rendang and Soto Ayam. In addition, Year 7s learnt about the spice trade and made spice pictures, which tied in nicely with the Food incursion.

I want to thank the Indonesian staff who have worked tirelessly to make all the above activities possible, as well as Camberwell Grammar parents and students for their support.

Ms Janet Sharman Head of Indonesian

Latin

2022 saw the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions and a return to normal classroom teaching for our Latin Department staff – a much anticipated and welcome development as a signature strength of our program has always been the quality of staffstudent interactions and relationship-building. A number of staff, Mr Samuel Gough and Dr John Tuckfield in particular, resuscitated plans for overseas travel to the destinations in the Classical world they love so dearly. And for the students, one suspects, a Latin Tour may once again become a possibility in the near future – an exciting prospect.

A notable absence around the Department this year was Dr John Tuckfield, who decided to take a year of long service leave. Dr Tebb Kusserow assumed charge of both Year 12 classes, 26 students in total. Their Latin studies this year culminated with Book 4 of Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid, the famous tragic love story of Aeneas and the queen of Carthage, Dido. Mr Samuel Gough, meanwhile, led the team at the Year 7 level, where structural changes to the curriculum posed new challenges. Nonetheless, with a record number of students selecting Latin as a Year 8 elective, they seem to have managed very well indeed.

One of that team was Mr William Guest, a new teacher this year, young, energetic, and already fast becoming indispensable! We welcome him warmly to the Department, where he will serve as the replacement in 2023 for Mr Samuel Gough, Dr Tebb Kusserow, and Mr James Victor in succession, who all have long service leave stints planned. We will be relying heavily then on Ms Kassandra Arvanitis, Mr Michael Daniel, and Dr John Tuckfield to hold the proverbial fort and ensure that Latin remains as vibrant and attractive a subject as it ever has been at Camberwell Grammar.

Learning Enhancement

All students are encouraged to test their strengths and expand their knowledge in co-curricular competitions and events each year and there were many opportunities to engage in enrichment in 2022.

The annual Model United Nations competition, the Gladwyn Cup, was conducted at school with the usual elements of diplomacy, knowledge of the subject matter, and negotiating skills on display for the 16 teams participating. In this highly prized competition, Gladwyn sees students assume the role of ambassadors to the United Nations Security Council, observing the protocol of the institution and emulating its process for considering resolutions. Delegates are presented with three proposed resolutions on international issues and can amend them, debate them and rally the chamber’s opinion for or against them to further their country’s goals. Throughout it all, they must take care to avoid international embarrassment from the pointed questions of their peers. Judging was carried out by Camberwell Grammar alumni and Model UN enthusiasts Tom Sun (2021), Jack Hu (2021), and Andrew Zeng (2021).

After five hours of solid debate, negotiation, and diplomacy, France emerged victorious due to the consistency of their skills across the three resolutions presented: congratulations to Kerry Sun and Ishaan Nandurkar (Year 12). Well done also to second-placed Mexico represented by Cooper Carbone (Year 11) and Alan Tian (Year 10), third-placed China represented by Charles Lewis and Finnian Mahaffy (Year 12), and best-performing Year 9 team Albania, represented by Lachlan Courmadias and Alex Zhang.

Following on from the Gladwyn Cup, Camberwell Grammar was lucky enough to have three teams qualify for the State Evatt Cup competition where a full day of debating and diplomacy saw each team perform well. The competition was held in the Legislative Council chamber of State Parliament.

The Chess team competed in three competitions and was pleased to be placed in the top section in all three, which entitled these teams to be in competition for the Chess Victoria Secondary Schools’ State Title held in October at Brighton Grammar School. Students selected to represent the School were: Lachlan Lee, Kerry Sun, Kayson Wang (Captain), Eugene Goh, William Wu, Cody Greenwood, Justin Kwan, Hugo Thornton, Scott Zheng, Steven Wang, Joel Cheok, and Ishaan Nandurkar. Congratulations to Kayson Wang who was awarded Full School Colours for Chess and also the School Chess Prize.

The da Vinci Decathlon was an online competition this year at both State and National levels. Congratulations to our Year 10 team of Adrian Chiu, Joel Cheok, Jerry Jin, Matthew Lau, Timothy Gunasegaram, Rohan Wickremasinghe, Ethan Mak, and Tommy Auwardt on placing second at the National event held online.

The Australian Computational and Linguistics competition also saw Camberwell Grammar enter eight teams from Years 9 to 12 and perform well overall.

Six teams entered the Brainstem competition and were mentored by university and industry professionals. The teams’ presentations were varied and most interesting based on a healthcare theme.

The annual Australian Computational and Linguistics competition attracted seven teams from Years 9 to 12.

A Human Rights Conference centred around the rights of refugees to clean water, food, and housing as well as safety was organised by a lively committee of Year 10 students in conjunction with Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School. The day was very successful and attracted delegates from five schools.

Other conventions attended were: a day at Lalor Secondary College examining voting rights of minority groups, a Secondary Schools’ State Parliamentary Convention held at the Windsor Hotel with a live link up with other states to form a National Convention examining the age that voting should be allowed. William Lardner (Year 10) represented the School at another constitutional convention piloting a new program Victorian Curriculum Services is implementing. As well, William won the Balwyn Rotary Club’s four-way speaking competition against other Boroondara Schools.

Mr Paul Double

Head of Enrichment

Mathematics

Mathematics students in 2022 have enjoyed the return of face-to-face teaching after two years of interruptions to classes and assessments.

In early May this year, nearly 50 students from the Middle and Senior Schools sat the University of Melbourne Mathematics Competition. This is a particularly challenging competition taking up to three hours in which only a handful of questions are answered. Several of our students received awards in this competition. Jerry Jin from Year 10 and Roger Cao from Year 11 were Outstanding Award winners in their divisions while Tony Zhang and Ivan Zhang both received Merit Awards.

The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking competition also took place in May this year and, for the first time in three years, we were able to have the vast majority of students in Years 6 through 10 compete. Our students performed at a very high level with 113 students receiving High Distinction or Distinction awards.

The Australian Mathematics Competition was held in August. Some of the best performers were Maxwell Cai of Year 6, Hayden Chan of Year 7, Aaron Zhuang of Year 8, Ethan Lau of Year 9, Joel Cheok of Year 10, and Roger Cao of Year 11.

We were very fortunate in having a team of students from Year 12 consisting of Akalanka Gunawardana, Jerry Ji, and Ishaan Nandurkar being selected as finalists in the University of Melbourne Mathematics and Statistics competition. These students were invited to present the results of their project at the University in October.

In 2023, Year 11 and 12 students will be following new courses of study due to updated VCE study designs. All of the VCE Mathematics subjects see some changes and, consequently, the Mathematics Department staff have been attending professional development sessions and planning together to ensure that we are fully prepared for the challenges ahead.

My thanks go out to the Mathematics Department staff in the Junior, Middle, and Senior Schools for their excellent work in teaching and mentoring the students in their classes.

Dr David Rodgers Head of Mathematics

PE

After a difficult past two years dominated by online learning, it was pleasing to return to normality, albeit awash with a constant veneer of hand and equipment sanitiser. The energy and enjoyment of students exercising together again was a refreshing sight that hopefully signifies the end to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Sports Centre and surrounding Physical Education facilities played host to 43 practical classes, numerous Department-based theory lessons, and many Junior School sessions each week, making this area of the School one of the busiest and most vibrant. The practical curriculum focused on three major components to improve performance and they were developing sport-specific skills, increasing awareness of game strategy, and elevating fitness levels.

Our academic curriculum that encompasses Year 10 Sports Science elective, Unit 1 & 2 and Unit 3 & 4 VCE Physical Education courses continue to swell in numbers and next year is proving to be our biggest intake for the Year 10 elective with over 70 students enrolled. This is an incredible number as it is close to half of the cohort and bodes well for the planned introduction of VET Sport and Recreation, which can be studied at VCE level from next year and beyond. I would like to acknowledge the work and preparation that Mr Jamie Watson and Mr Matthew Sofoulis have put in to set up this VET course within the School.

This year, the Department welcomed four new members of staff including Mr Ben Jeacocke (Head of Senior School), Mr Jordan McKinnon, Kaylah Young (AFL trainee), and Ms Meg Robinson (AFL trainee). All four have made valuable contributions to the Physical Education Department throughout the year. Unfortunately, we bid the latter three farewell and wish them all the best with their future endeavours after completing their one-year contract with the School.

I would like to congratulate all the Physical Education staff and students involved in the program for the way they conducted themselves and for the outcomes achieved, particularly as we transitioned back into school life on campus.

Mr David Beardsley

Head of Physical Education

Science

‘The proper method for inquiring after the properties of things is to deduce them from experiments.’ Isaac Newton

Science is about testing our ideas and 2022 has seen a year where students have been back on site, testing hypotheses, using equipment, making observations, and exploring the universe in a way that wasn’t possible over the last two years. From titrations and pH measurements to dissections and air track collisions, it has been fantastic to see the passion and enthusiasm return to our busy classrooms.

To complement the learning in the classroom, this year has seen the return of many excursions that students have been able to engage in. Physicists have put their knowledge to the test analysing the circular motion of the rides at Luna Park, Chemists have tested water from the Yarra River, and Biologists have studied adaptations and ecosystems at Healesville Sanctuary to name a few.

The eagerness of students has also been evident with the large participation numbers in a variety of competitions. ICAS exams, the International Chemistry Quiz, and the Science Olympiads in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology provide students with an opportunity to put their knowledge to the test. There were many excellent results across all competitions. A number of students scored in the 99th percentile Australia-wide in the ICAS exam. We also have a Biology student being invited to attend a summer camp for the Australian Olympiad team. Congratulations to all those who participated.

Then there was Science Week. The daily Science questions kept students pondering, while the Giraffe skeleton naming competition had a significant amount of interest. Say hi to Geraldine Numbolelo next time you pass Wheelton. Camberwell Grammar was also visited by the Monash HPR (High Powered Rocketry) team. They presented to a group of keen budding rocket surgeons and then launched a (lowpowered) rocket from the KAO. To sum up, I think Elon Musk said it best with ‘Rockets are cool. There’s no getting around that.’

Weickhardt Library

The wonderful author, Neil Gaiman once said ‘Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them.’ The Weickhardt Library has tried to live up to that ideal, creating a world to escape from reality beyond the doors. From the first day of the year, the students and staff of the School returned to the Weickhardt Library to enjoy the opportunities that have been on offer.

The beloved Bloke’s Book Breakfast returned to Camberwell Grammar in 2022 with a bang. Tickets were sold within a day of becoming available and everyone enjoyed the stories, dry humour, and honesty of our guest speaker, Paul Kennedy. All the blokes present were enthralled by his adventures as a young man, coming of age and completing Year 12, while a serial killer lurked in the background in 1998 Frankston. His talk was thought-provoking and entertaining, as he spoke about finding love, football, and being a bit of a boofhead.

The Library has continued to grow and develop our collections, encouraging students and staff to try out something new, a novel, a biography or an audiobook. Classes continue to look forward to their Library sessions, some making it clear it is their favourite time of the week. Mrs Janine Pietralla continues to ensure students have the right book at the right time to assist them in finding their love of reading. Our students welcomed a new staff member, Ms Tara Suri, who ably and enthusiastically replaced Mrs Regine Miriklis while on maternity leave. Ms Suri has taken on all the challenges that working in a busy Library offers, with great skill. Encouraging reading through new bookmarks and offering creative outlets through MakerSpace. She has been a wonderful addition to the Library Team and we wish her luck in her future endeavours as we welcome the return of Mrs Regine Miriklis in 2023.

The Weickhardt Library is able to offer a variety of experiences, competitions, and activities only through the hard work and dedication of the Library team, Mrs Sarah Emerson, Mrs Jan Everett, Ms Tara Suri, and Mrs Janine Pietralla. Without their hard work and innovations, the Weickhardt Library would only be a space to store books without the hustle and bustle of people.

Ms Cairistiona Tait

Head of Library and Information Services