61 minute read
DIRECTOR OF ELC | ELC GROUPS | HEAD OF EBLANA 100 YEARS OF FOUNDATION | YEARS 1-4 | LIBRARY GROWING GREENER INITIATIVE | BOOK WEEK
40 THE MENTONIAN 2020 EBLANA EBLANA GROWING GREENER INITIATIVE
The Eblana Growing Greener Initiative (GGI) is now in its second year and continues to be delivered in a way that is hands-on and engaging for students. Together we have continued to explore different ways we can make a difference in the world through the smallest of changes in our everyday lives.
This year has certainly been a challenging year for students, teachers and parents. It is important that through the GGI we provide students with lessons on how they can make a difference in the world around them and provide a touch of certainty within these uncertain times.
Students have taken to this initiative with enthusiasm and passion and my hope is that lessons learnt during this time will influence the way they lead their lives both now and into the future. The following actions have been delivered as part of the initiative during 2020: • A new Green Team was elected at the beginning of the year. The members have been involved in assembly presentations, maintaining the Magic Garden and conducting talks in classrooms on the importance of reducing the amount of waste we produce. • During off site learning, students were invited to be involved in the preparation of the garden through digital meetings to discuss the winter and spring plantings.
Students were back on site to help prepare the garden beds and plant the vegetables for spring. • The Magic Garden continues to provide students with much pleasure; the opportunity to experience the joy of watching plants grow and sampling a variety of vegetables when they harvest the produce. • The Year 4 classroom received six monarch caterpillars which they fed and nurtured during their lifecycle, from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. All students were welcome to visit the caterpillars and observe the wonderous lifecycle of the butterflies. The butterflies were released in the Magic Garden. • The worm farm is thriving which has allowed us to supply two ELC farms with worms to help reduce food scraps. The liquid worm juice has played a large part in ensuring the success of the vegetable crop. • Thank you to all the people who have sent in bottle caps, we now have sufficient caps to reuse in a mural for the Magic Garden. • Pre-recorded videos went out to students in Terms 2 and 3 to keep all students updated on the garden with many students sending in videos and photographs of their own gardens at home.
This year has reiterated the need to prepare our students for unprecedented times. I have been amazed and humbled by the resilience and ability to adapt which has been shown by our students. I look forward to another amazing year of the Eblana Growing Greener Initiative.
BELINDA McKINDLAY
EBLANA LIBRARIAN
OUR LIBRARY
Library lessons in Eblana continue to be delivered with a focus on sustainability and the environment, whilst still exploring the magic and joy of books. This year saw the Eblana Library pivot by taking a traditional system into the digital age. This included contactless book
42 THE MENTONIAN 2020 EBLANAloans, virtual story time, online classes and a virtual Book Club.
Linking in with other initiatives taking place through the Eblana Growing Greener Initiative, we looked closely at the 4 Rs: recycle, reuse, rethink and reduce. To grow students’ knowledge in this space we read many books that focused on plastics and waste reduction.
Specific activities undertaken during Library included: • How to make our own paper, by reusing shredded wastepaper. • As part of the paper recycling and reusing initiative, sustainability champions from
Year 4 put on their teacher hats and showed students how to make chatter boxes, bookmarks, paper planes and origami. • Foundation students reused tin cans to make pots after looking at the lifecycle of a seed. Each student was given a small bag of potting mix to take home and plant out the herb seedlings they had nurtured in the classroom. • We researched and celebrated Earth Day on 22 April, National Tree Day on 31 July and we observed Plastic August Audit in place of Plastic Free July. We researched the damage plastic pollution is doing worldwide to the environment with students designing posters, logos and initiatives to reduce the use of one-use plastics.
Eblana students also continued to be involved in annual Library initiatives which are intended to encourage students to read and to introduce them to a wider genre of literature.
• Students were invited to participate in the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge.
It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic students sign up for the Challenge. • During National Simultaneous Storytime in May, students were treated to the book,
Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas by Lucinda Gifford. Students had the choice of watching a prerecorded video by Mrs McKindlay or joining NSS online. • The CBCA Book Week was once again a highlight in Eblana; postponed from August to October, but it took on a different twist this year. A competition was held encouraging students to draw the most curious creature with the wildest mind.
The Book Week Parade was like no other and whilst it looked a little different this year, there was certainly no lack of imagination and enthusiasm by all students in Eblana. Visiting Author and Illustrator, Lucinda Gifford, visited the classrooms virtually, entertaining students and staff with her demonstrations and stories on writing and illustrating a book.
BELINDA McKINDLAY
EBLANA LIBRARIAN
BOOK WEEK
BOOK WEEK
CLASS PHOTOS
FOUNDATION A
Rocco Becconsall Roy Beljon Rachael Chun Will Gu Isabella Ibrahim Celia Khong Thomas Lander
Eric Li Charlotte Lorinc Scarlett Marshall Zion Nayna Chloe Orfanidis Mason Pascoe Aiden Pham Jai Schultz
William Tian Sharman Wang Max Widdison Max Xie Albert Yu
FOUNDATION B
Xavier Alapont Sylvia Chen Max D’Andrea Caleb Gec Ayaan Zaheen Aden Zhang Laura Savage
TEACHER
Alexander Georgiadis Pierre Gilardi Franklin Ingle
Huxley Jones Nicholas Joseph Xavier Kirwan Anthony Lanthois Harper Lettieri Levi Lombard Taylor Lyons Nathaniel Maingi
Beau Messina Anna Nagato Demi Panopoulos Ojas Pradeepkumar Mischa Robinson Ashlyn Tan Jesse Turner Rana Wassmann
Maximus Zou Sheree Smith
TEACHER
CLASS PHOTOS
Anush Bromidis Eloise Carroll Thomas Forde Max Hancox Toby Kitchen Joshua Lighton Chloe Lin
Torres Liu Kaelan Majstorovic Rohan May Michael Papanikolaou Aisha Rahhali Charlize Stephens Amelie Strickland Lionel Wang
Harry Ward Ronnie Weng Lucinda White Ethan Wu Duomi Xu Kaleb Yang Xipeng (Alice) Zhang Cassie Dixon
TEACHER
Advai Aradhya Isaac Barron Indiana Bell Addison Dannals Alyssa Duman Blake Galanos Ziqi Gong
Yi He Jordan Joseph James Karlaganis Maia Livolti Patterson Manning Arthur Nguyen Huynh Joy Piao Adit Prakash
Shanuth Premaratne Connie Ruigrok Charlotte Sleep Kimi Song Hudson Toovey Joshua Webster Lachlan Yang Sonja Cowell
TEACHER
YEAR 2A
Aprameya Awasthi Luka Bozic Alexandra Coates Penelope Connell William Dormer Lila Forkes Zaden Goodson
Kennedy Grant Ashleigh Hooker Joy Huang Lachlan Kirwan Abel Korybutiak Abbey Neeman Grace Newman Riley Oliver
Kiarah Perera Ethan Rogers Adam Savahl Cameron Turner Trinay Vinothkumar Jack Widdison Mannix Woods Yichi Zhang
Linxi Zheng Anastasia Antoniadis
TEACHER Kate Wright
TEACHER
YEAR 2B
Jules Alapont Alexis Antoniou Dominik Buschkuehl Bob Cao Sura Chen Eliza Cregeen Harvey Dannals
Hamish De Livera Anokhi de Silva Mandel De Zoysa-Lewis Yigit Guvenir Ella Hancox Felix Jia
Pippa Leonard Isla Lettieri William Lighton George Lyons EJ Paice-Brandt Ryan Piao Ben Kohler Elissa Lanthois
Alice Rabak Eliza Trevis
Phillip Tsiatsias Tracy Wu Meg Hayes
TEACHER Briana Walker
TEACHER
CLASS PHOTOS
Sophie Apostolidis Bailey Bartlett Harry Bowers Yanxiang Cao Hudson Chan Jaime Clark Benny Crook
Hunter Daemen Imogen Donaldson Rory Garrick Addison Hamilton Summer Lettieri Max Lovell Kaylee Lyons Jasmine Matulick
Mali Nayna Thomas Newman Fergus Riddle George Shen Henning von Zweigbergk Ryan Wagner Lawrence Walton Violet Winestone
Mia Basin
Harrison Edwards Dylan Falvo-Karakurt Emily Birch Christian Burrows Helena Chorianopoulos Taron Clarke Alexander Cook Levi Dayaseela
Pippa FitzGerald Bronson Galanos Adam Hussain Nathan Jones Steven Karlaganis Kevin Meng
James Murray Sienna Panopoulos Hudson Park Jordi Poulios Madeleine Saunders Aidan Tan Tiffany Te Leo Wang
YEAR 4A
Mika Arvanitakis Chloe Britter Sophie Carr Oscar Cox Kushlan de Silva Marlia De Zoysa-Lewis Oliver Derham
Zoe Dwyer Eddie Forkes Zac Hones Alexander Hussain Connor Jackson Lily Kerr Lachlan Majstorovic Sonny McKinnon
Raegan Nguyen Hudson Nicholson Claudia Piotrowski Patrick Reynolds Chloe Robertson Byron Robinson Lachy Smith Jasmine Webster
Anna Xue
YEAR 4B
Mandy Chamberlain
TEACHER
Rahul Aravindth Charlotte Bell Kallis Bernasconi Aidan Bunnett Ruby Castello Harrison Coulson Charlotte Ellix
Riley Evans Ava Glotzer Christopher Hobbs Emma Jung James Kerr Julian May Brandon Milat Yenuth Premaratne
Samir Rahhali Ilia Rozman Ashlee Schultz Jack Wall Tyler Ward Isabella Welsh Kimorah Wong Shalice Wong
Cooper Wuillemin Jennifer Harrison
TEACHER Gemma Sullivan
TEACHER
52 THE MENTONIAN 2020 BAYVIEW
FROM THE HEAD OF BAYVIEW
In a year like no other, it has been interesting to watch the different ways that Bayview students have engaged with their learning and with their Community as things have changed over the course of 2020. What is evident is that students do love being out of school, but they also really love being in it as well.
During remote learning, our students showed how adaptive they can be, transitioning quickly to a different style of study. They quickly developed new routines and habits, and they showed great discipline as they continued to engage with their academic program, virtually. Alongside their regular learning, we saw fantastic wellbeing initiatives such as push-up challenges, crazy hat days and online student ‘sandpits’, providing time to connect and have fun with their classmates outside of lessons. Students also built new skills, learning Rubik’s cubes, trampolining tricks and creating short films amongst other things. It was impressive to see that the Bayview virtual campus was still creating smiles and growth amongst our community; students seemed to find lots of things to enjoy about learning remotely.
Students also loved being out of school when on learning journeys. Whether physically travelling to Shoreham like our Year 7s or engaging in virtual museum tours, students embraced the opportunity to take their learning outside of the classroom and engage with their broader community. A personal highlight of the year was experiencing the overnight hike at Shoreham which our Year 7s undertook in Term 1. Camping out under the stars and watching our young people set up tents, cook for themselves and enjoy learning about their environment was very special and clearly enjoyed by those who took part. The enduring memory for this year, however, will be when students came back through the school gates after several weeks of remote learning. The joy that was on their faces as they saw their friends in person and connected with their teachers and community again reflected the real love that students have for being in school. There is something about the buzz of the yard before school, the incidental interactions in the corridor between classes and the camaraderie of a busy classroom which makes a school a special place to be. Our students clearly valued it when they came back and their love of being in this environment was wonderful to watch.
There are undoubtably lots of benefits to learning remotely and empowering our students to become flexible and agile with their learning, particularly given how society has changed this year, yet seeing the excitement and happiness that students felt when they came back onsite definitely reflects the deep connection they feel to being in school at Mentone Grammar and Bayview – something that makes our School and Campus a very special place to be. If we can strike a good balance between the two, our students and School will continue to thrive in the future.
JAMES WALTON
HEAD OF BAYVIEW
YEARS 5 & 6
Butterflies! A noun that best describes Keith Jones Learning Centre individuals. This year we were forced inside our cocoons, but we didn’t simply maintain a dormant state, instead we evolved and transformed ourselves to emerge with different perspectives, as education took on a
54 THE MENTONIAN 2020 Off site, online learning opened up our eyes to a new world. We quickly realised how kindness, friendship, support, gratitude, belief and regularly shared quotes assisted our wellbeing. We were all there for one another and even managed to have some fun along the way. Learning was still evident as groups collaborated across subjects and in some instances across classes and year levels. Leadership opportunities didn’t change; Class Captains successfully ‘stepped up’ to conduct Mentor sessions. Hidden talents were revealed as opportunities were provided for students to perform, participate and shine online. whole new look and feel. We adapted and embraced new learning platforms and communication techniques. Mentone Grammar Years 5 & 6 mentors and students supported one another, grew together and learnt so much. Adopting the mindset ‘This evolution must go on!’ We certainly did!BAYVIEWOne of the things I am most grateful about is how lucky I am that I live here and that I go to a school whose teachers have done so much to support us during this time.
YEAR 5
Opportunities & Events
5A – TIME CAPSULES
Time Capsules were constructed as a memento of this unprecedented experience that is now a part of our history. The Year 5s loved making a special ISO Time Capsule, to reflect on the year, because the task was so creative and fun. Students got to express their feelings by writing down all of their lockdown experiences. They also found funny photos and special objects to put inside decorated boxes.
‘It was so enjoyable because we got to make something that we can all look back on as we get older. We will be able to reflect on how we felt and how we handled this – together!’
5A STUDENTS
5B - FUN WITH FRIDAYS
The Year 5s looked forward to Fun with Fridays each week and it was a highlight of their online journey. The students revelled in the spectacular of each week, embracing the themes with creativity and seeing it as an opportunity to express themselves. They dressed up, showed off their pets, chilled in their PJ’s, embraced their favourite things and generally had fun with the theme each week, bringing them closer together and making stronger connections with one another.
‘We loved fun with Fridays because
it brightened up the week, it was fun to see other people’s outfits/ thoughts and it was like we got to know each other a little more.’
5B STUDENTS
5C – 5KM FROM ME
The Year 5s created walking and riding routes within 5km of their house as part of our Measurement Unit in Mathematics. Students filmed their adventures and recorded the time taken, route taken, local landmarks and distance covered. Wow, the creativity of their end products was super impressive!
‘5km from me was such a fun way to learn measurement to get outside in our neighbourhood and it was the best way to teach ourselves iMovie to edit and put it all together with music.’
5C STUDENTS
5D – VIRTUAL EXCURSIONS
In Humanities this year we did some virtual excursions online. It was very different to what Year 5 thought it would be like. We watched some videos which took us on a tour of the Bayview Discovery Gardens, Kangaroo Island and the Botanical Gardens.
‘It was really fun because we got to see things in a different way instead of in school. The videos looked realistic and some of us thought we were actually at that place, but we weren’t!’
5D STUDENTS
YEAR 6
Opportunities & Events
PARLIAMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICE VIRTUAL EXCURSION
Even though we couldn’t go to Canberra, I still enjoyed how we got to explore Parliament House and how we had a Q & A with Mark Dreyfus. The experience got me to think about how much more there is involved in working in the Parliament.
NIKKI MALOTSIS
VIRTUAL EXCURSION: MOADOPH
Visiting the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in Canberra was a great experience. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go to Canberra this year, so we took a tour using Zoom. We visited both the House of Representatives and the Senate and learnt about key moments and people in Australian Democracy.
FREDDIE STAFFORD
NGV VIRTUAL ARTFUL ENGLISH
In Artful English we looked at art and wrote poems and used author’s craft to describe the paintings. This connected to English as, at the time, we were learning about author’s craft techniques. Looking at all the little details and finding out the story behind the paintings was really fun and made a change from what we usually do in English.
ALICE FLETCHER
VIRTUAL EXCURSION- TIM COPE
Tim Cope, an adventurer and author, joined us via Zoom and told us his story about how he travelled across Asia. Because it was online, he was able to share his screen and show us pictures and videos. It was really interesting listening to all of the challenges he had to face in the wild.
DEBATING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP WITH SAM PONSFORD
I really enjoyed the debating workshop because it bought some new perspectives to my opinion on debating. Debating is about trying to think not only about your own argument but the opposition’s argument.
REAHN ORFANIDIS
SOLARBUDDY VIRTUAL PRESENTATION
The SolarBuddy presentation was one of the most memorable experiences of my life because it made me think about not just the world I live in, but the world others live in without things like energy. It made me hungry to help people.
ZAHRA JACOBS
ASIAN CULTURE FESTIVAL
During Term 3, the Year 6 students investigated and shared different Asian countries and cultures during our Asian Culture Festival. Although we had to run it virtually, everyone got super creative and had a bit of fun with it by creating videos or doing live demonstrations. Some students decided to cook a traditional meal while others shared with us some of the cool sports, festivals and celebrations of their countries.
LUKE GEORGIOU
ONLINE YOGA
Doing yoga with Mrs Nimorakiotakis after learning online for a long time showed me that it was important to take time to relax. This experience influenced me to change my thinking and to calm my mind.
OLIVIA APOSTOLIDIS
THE BIG ISSUE
Meeting with someone who has experienced homelessness, helped me to learn how they coped with it and the struggles they went through.
OLIVIA FOSTER
JACQUELINE CARTWRIGHT
YEARS 5 & 6 COORDINATOR
AN OPEN LETTER TO YEAR 7
56 THE MENTONIAN 2020 BAYVIEW
In a normal year, this page would be full of descriptions and photographs which highlight the major events, achievements, and challenges that you have all experienced this year.
While we were all fortunate to spend five days on the Shoreham Learning Journey, we did miss out on many events. Almost two full terms in lockdown meant that you were denied the opportunity to learn and play with your friends. Looking back, this may cause you to feel frustrated or disappointed. However, all of you have achieved so much despite this. Each of you adapted to the shift away from the classroom and onto new digital platforms. You became self-directed learners and were a source of encouragement and patience for your peers, teachers, and mentors.
The personal and academic challenges you faced and overcame this year were extraordinary. At times, it was difficult to complete online tasks, to ask questions in MS Teams, to collaborate in small groups, and even to just show up to an online class. Most of you had only been at Mentone Grammar for nine weeks. However, the strength of character you all demonstrated as you communicated maturely, problem solved cooperatively, and developed your IT and time management skills was inspiring. You have all shown patience, compassion, perseverance, enthusiasm, and sheer grit to make it through your first year of senior school. So, when you look back at Year 7, I hope it will be with a sense of pride and satisfaction, knowing you achieved so much and established yourselves as independent life-long learners.
Kind regards
ELLI MONRO
YEAR 7 COORDINATOR
YEAR 8
This year was an opportunity for the Year 8 cohort to step into the challenge of remote learning and they did so with resilience and integrity. The focus of our year level was to offer the support and
58 THE MENTONIAN 2020 Swiftly and excitedly, the year began with our Leadership Day, House Athletics and extraordinary short films were made for English. The group rapidly became a part of their new mentor groups and were able to build relationships with their staff and peer community. During lockdown, students developed their global thinking by communicating with aged care homes, took part in photo and film competitions and engaged with each other through our ‘Sandpit’ in Mentor sessions. During this shared time, we also thought more deeply about major issues, considering what we cared about most and this, in turn, created knowledge and provided an opportunity to research, write and make a difference. KILL YOUR DARLINGS WRITING PRIZE - In Year 8 English, students focused on finding their voice about an issue they were passionate about. Some students opted to submit their work into the Kill Your Darlings Writing Prize 2020. We congratulate Nimra Haseeb and Joel Ruberu who received High Commendations (Top 6) and Blake Short who was selected in the Top 12. Well done to all who bravely submitted their writing! YEAR 8 PHOTO COMPETITION - Year 8 was invited to take a photo of their pets and submit this to our Year 8 Photo Competition. A massive congratulations to our Best Photo: Will Hood with his beautiful Golden Retriever, Nelson, and Most Creative: to Sophie Frost for her photo of her dog Teddy the Cavoodle. encouragement young adolescent students need to build healthy peer relationships and to maintain a healthy state of wellbeing.BAYVIEW
THE BIG ASSEMBLY RUN BY PROJECT
ROCKIT - We were invited to join PR’s Biggest Assembly and students were privy to some wonderful anti bullying and online safety guidelines.
The Mentor Staff and I would like to commend all Year 8 students for the way in which they conducted themselves during the year. This year has challenged and changed us in ways we never thought possible and all students should be so proud of their efforts.
A very special thank you to our Year 8 Mentors: Joe Monro (Assistant Coordinator), Leigh Chislett, Emma Lindsay, Naomi White, Umut Ersezer, Heather Stone, Luke Thompson and Luke Wintle. We also thank Michael Martin and Barbara Muller who stepped in to cover at points in the year. An extraordinary team, once again supportive, inspiring and so deeply caring for their classes and the year level as a whole.
GENNIE MCNAIR
YEAR 8 COORDINATOR 8A 2020 presented a whole new way of life for all of us! I am so proud of my 8A girls and the way they handled online learning: they have taken to it with gusto! Even though they are missing their friends, they have not let this affect their positive attitude towards schoolwork, and some have flourished. They have shown dedication and determination to continue to get the best from their courses. 8C ‘Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors.’ The girls of 8C braced the waves of remote learning with determination, humour and resilience.
NAOMI WHITE
8D has developed a growth mindset during 2020. They have worked together to achieve many positive outcomes both at School and during off site learning. They have all been extremely resilient and should be proud of their achievements.
JOE MONRO 8G 2020 has clearly been a challenging and very different experience for all. The 8G boys have adapted impressively to all obstacles that have come their way. Throughout some adversity, they have managed to maintain motivation, encourage each other and maintain a safe learning environment - regardless of the platform, they have shown respect.
LUKE WINTLE
EMMA LINDSAY
8B is a group of keen, eager-tolearn students who showed immense resilience during the two periods of remote learning. They developed a growth mindset whereby they assessed the things that didn’t work, fine tuned them and tried to adapt their learning style to cater for their hurdles during the second school closure. 8E The resilience and positivity shown by all 8E students, through their attitude towards the challenges of 2020 is inspirational.
LUKE THOMPSON
8F A very mature group of students who have worked tirelessly to create a positive and supportive learning environment. 8H 2020 is a year best summed up by Henry Ford: Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
LEIGH CHISLETT
HEATHER STONE UMUT ERSEZER
DARE2DREAM!
EXTENSION AND
60 THE MENTONIAN 2020 BAYVIEWENRICHMENT PROGRAM As I read through the many emails sent to colleagues throughout the year, I notice one sentence which had been repeated many times: ‘….in light of the extremely challenging circumstances our students certainly rose to the challenge.’ If 2020 has taught me anything, it is that the students at Mentone Grammar are capable of so much more than we could ever imagine.
Working with a heavily reduced amount of available competitions and programs, the Dare2Dream! students embraced every opportunity they were given to challenge and extend their thinking skills.
We had close to 100 entries in the Science Talent Search and Maths Talent Quest competitions with students ranging from Foundation to Year 9 entering. In these competitions we were once again overwhelmed by the high amount of Distinction, High Distinction and Bursary Awards presented to our students. Congratulations to Henry Pryzchodzen (Year 6) who received the prestigious Jim Trotter Award for his MTQ project. This award is presented annually to the best Upper Primary entry in Victoria.
Many students chose to participate in the various Maths competitions on offer, including the CAT (Computational and Algorithmic Thinking) Maths competition, Maths Challenge for Young Australians and the Maths Olympiad. Once again, our students scored in many of the top divisions for each of these competitions. Jiahao Qian (Year 9) was the only student who qualified for the prestigious Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad for which we are still waiting on the results.
Despite moving to an online program, we had three teams participate in the Tournament of Minds competition. Each team had to complete a Super Challenge and put together a 5-minute video presentation detailing their solution to the presented problem. The high level of collaboration, teamwork and problem-solving skills demonstrated during this competition is something we can all strive to replicate.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) programs were still represented in the Dare2Dream! calendar. We had two groups of students from Years 9 and 10 participate in the Mentone Grammar’s first BrainSTEM Innovation Challenge. The Year 10 group consisting of Annalisa Calvi, Victoria Gelbak, Ulyana Kondratova, Irene Lu and Alannah Marriott researched, prototyped designed and produced their own line of teas for adolescent females.
Secondary students got involved in the variety of Philosophy events on offer including the Ethics Olympaid and the Australasian Philosothon. Last year was the first time that a Mentone Grammar team had participated in the Victorian Philosothon, and after taking out second place the team earned a spot in the highly acclaimed Australasian Philosothon. The team came 9th overall and Ruben McSwan (Year 9) was award third place in his age division. I am sure for Year 12 students Joshua Madden and Akul Saigal this event will be something they remember for many years to come.
In the ‘Storyathon’ creative writing competition Abbey Neeman (Year 2) won second prize for her entry entitled ‘Friends with the Monster’. In her biography Abbey wrote: ‘I love reading and writing and would like to be a famous writer when I grow up.’
Thank you to the other Dare2Dream! teachers, Tony McRae and Mark Smith for their invaluable contribution to this program, and dedication to our students. Congratulations to all those involved in Dare2Dream! in 2020, and we cannot wait to see what you will achieve in 2021.
HAYLEY KUPERHOLZ
HEAD OF LEARNING ENHANCEMENT – TALENT DEVELOPMENT
CLASS PHOTOS
Eylul (Maya) Akgun Myra Arya Brooke Bernasconi Elizabeth D’Andrea Zoe Donaldson Riley Dunn Abby Gallagher
Ruby Harper Alexandra Hooker Matilda Hutchison Chloe Keyte Lucy Kitchen Tianyu Li Jasmine Lombard Zara Measures
Amelia Mullins Grace Murphy Emily Murray Islah Neeman Mackenzie Simpson Jacqui Cartwright
MENTOR
YEAR 5B
Haya Al-hashimi
Mora Cimino Annalise Di Tirro Olivia Edmondson Lily Goble Ariana Goralski Amelia Hall Angela Hooker Katerina Iatropoulos
Ruby Jupp Abigail Leydin Phoebe Lucarelli Isabella Mirhom Olivia Monro Helena Murphy Eva Redfern Sophie Shing
Sophia Stilianos Cordelia Walker Mary Mae Welton Justine Hamilton
MENTOR
YEAR 5C
William Adams Thomas Butler Oliver Connor
Jasper FitzGerald Benjamin Fraser Lucas Goddon Jonathan Kalogerakis Vitya Kirsta Dash Leonard Keanu Lucarelli Christopher Lucas
Bodie Matulick Evan McCall Benjamin Nish Leahm Orfanidis Jake Pyszczek Levi Svec Tian (Max) Tan Bailey Tomas Ryan Vassallo Henry Walker Johnny Weldin Cameron Riley
MENTOR
YEAR 5D
Zac Bartlett Rhys Basin Jetton Becconsall
Jack Bowers Baxter Chan Stevan Dakic Paolo Fragale Jackson Gasparini Elliot Grant Cooper Imlach Nikolas Lynch
James McGrath Matthew Moran Jamie Newgreen Sullivan O’Donnell Callum O’Hare Lachlan O’Sullivan Charles Ong Lennox Reark
Samuel Ren Blake Schultz Xiaoyi (Wesley) Wei Angus Todd
MENTOR
YEAR 6A
Zoe Becker Mia Daniell Carol Duan
Alice Fletcher Emma Kombol Sienna Lyons Amelia Monro Natalie Nomikos Phoenix Park Hannah Pitt Ava Pregnalato
Alyssa Tam Ella Watkins Isabella Williams Alyce Myszka
MENTOR
YEAR 6B
Mia Antoniou Olivia Apostolidis Francesca Bentley
Harper Carroll Olivia Foster Zahra Jacobs Jade Knight Nikki Malotsis Reahn Orfanidis Valerie Pilarinos Alitsia Piotrowski
Kate Pregnalato Taj Reynolds Rimjhim Singh India Steiner Ella Whittaker Pip Madden
MENTOR
CLASS PHOTOS
Campbell Brown Samuel Bunnett Alexander Burrows Kristof Buschkuehl Byron Castello Nick Chambers Micah Cheah
Hudson Close Christopher Coates Sarabjeet Dawar Lachlan Dwyer Utkarsh Garg Riley Hamilton Yuantai (Tiger) Ma Curtis Murphy
Joshua Murphy Malcolm Nguyen Henry Przychodzen William Richardson Max ScottBranagan Luke Sheppard Josh Turner Oliver Tzounos
Tyler Veza Lucas Wagner Wayne Essing
MENTOR
YEAR 6D
Harvey Burnside Lucas Derham Julian Dimopoulos James Evans
Luke Georgiou Lachlan Glotzer Jae Hadjiyannakis Matthew Harford Jai Heib Benjamin Ingram Ben Jackson Ilias Kurmanov
Liam Lazzari Alex Marriott Jack Messina Zakaria Rahhali Diesel Reid Ned Robertson Patrick Saunders Elliott Savage
Frederick Stafford Cooper Topp Harrison Tzounos Marcus Welsh Matthew Hardie
MENTOR
YEAR 7A
Brienna Bottomley Amelia Bull Madison Carr Montana Cheers Jasmine Denbury Lily Flynn Ruby Appel Abigail Barrett
Sophie Goble Georgina Laws Indy Mannix Piper Nicholson Eve Opie Zoe Richmond Priithika Sarma Grace Sibbald Olivia Smith Evelyn Tilli
Sofia Trantino Mia Ursprung Abigail Walker Sara Weeks Linda Barnard
MENTOR
YEAR 7B
Amelie Bean Lana Cananzi
Jessica Chaplin Anika Cherney Sarah Chun Ashley Dunn Kerri-Grace Giazi Chloe Gibbons Talia Groeneveld Eliza Hunt
Yasmin Ishchenko Asha Jewell Amy Jones Arshpreet Kaur Jessica Long Ashleigh Lowe Angelica Malamatinas Lucy Riddle
Emilie Royale Morgan Shearer Scarlett Spitzer Emily Welton Caitlyn Platt
MENTOR
YEAR 7C
Emma Adams Shaya Clarke
Daisy Drew Emma Enkelman Lina Fedotova Sienna Hall Ciara Hayes Nianzhu (Shirly) He Poppy Hudson Indiana Kruss
Rosie Meagher Alexandra Miles Matilda Mure Zoe Nixon Siobhan Phillips Jasmin Prior Poppy Samild Helena Scott
Caitlin Smith Isabella (Bella) Tanner Abi Tucker Molly Vega Amelia Wong
MENTOR
CLASS PHOTOS
Dimitri Aravindth Russell Armstrong Luke Bennett Panayiotis Bountroukas James Boxall Thomas Burton Lachlan Caldwell
Mitchell Campbell Jun (Alex) Cao Michael Di Tirro Alex Fenech Daniel Green Kevin He Angus Jackson Anthony Karageorgiou
Hugo Large Dane Lazic Adam Malaeb Noah Sawyer Aryan Singh Ethan Smith Erik von Zweigbergk Thomas Wale
YEAR 7E
Siyu (Charlie) Chen Max Doyle Blake Durston Cooper Gallant Mingyu (Alvin) Gu Lachlan Hill
Joshua Hyland Zian (Alan) Jiang Alexander Kila Ben Parr Cody Perring Oliver Potts Mitchell Reed
Jake Rowse James Salisbury David Sprung Jaxon Stephens Nate Trowell Flynn Walker Zejun (Joe) Weng Alan Zou
YEAR 7F
Liam Bacon Hugo Barbey Dan Chamberlain Ian Chaplin William Douglas Samuel Dumoff
Hugo Flower Daniel Gromov Edward Hall Edward Holmes Archie McNeill Toby Notman Connor Panagis William Paroz Cameron Perta Jack Robinson Hugo Roest George Rose Andy Shi Wilson Tan Stefan Vyshenkov Ashley Waddell
Atahan Yildiz Vanessa Riach
MENTOR
YEAR 7G
Aaron Britter Thomas Bunnett William Clayton Hamish Devers Yuan Du
Finnegan Gowdie Lachlan Hecker Edward Henshall Thomas Hoyles Thomas Hutchison Isaac Johnson Matthew Kennedy Nicholas Leydin
Scott Marrow Alexander McKenry Oscar Mentiplay Will Orchard Luke Papagiannis Zachary Raffaut Silas Stansby James Van Heerden
Riley Wilkinson Jeff Welsh
MENTOR
Ryley Finnis Jake Fix
YEAR 7H
Parker Austin Curtis Bates Maxwell Bright Kai Brown Lachlan Christie
Jenson Flower William Forstner Jake Frankland James Georgiou Noah Harding Kay Thomas Humphreys
Julian Lau Riley Philp Oliver Prince Hudson Read Luca Scott Matthew Shing Marlon Turco Joshua Villanti
Sharon Chance
MENTOR Vic Djajamihardja
MENTOR
YEAR 8A
Remy Barker Sophie Bond Mia Castello Ava Collins Charlotte Cowan
CLASS PHOTOS
Paula Cuevas Real Pippa Davies Isabel Ellix Sophie Frost Arunita Ghosh Bridie Glanville Brooke Knight Ava Kombol
Rosie Mackenzie Kiara Morris Holly Nish Lily Parsons Nina Pertzel Jordan Pyszczek Amelia Raffaut Ella Rankin
Jessica Smith Lulu Stansby Nicola Thompson Kayleigh Wallwork Emma Lindsay
MENTOR
YEAR 8B
Matilda Best Sienna Beynon
Caitlin Brown Jodhi Carter Amelie Davis Paige Gallagher Olivia Hine Elise Laws Amelia Lea Trinity Madden
Charlotte Maddern Courtney Male Ella Michell Sienna Moore Clea Mumford Chloe Nimorakiotakis Lily Oldham Sahana Paine
Keqing (Flora) Peng Sarah Rafferty Chloe Selby Aimee Stewart Grace Symons Lucy Wloszczak Heather Stone
MENTOR
Isabella Becker Ava Bizzotto Anna Brady Charli Bucci Nelly Connor Sarah Daniell Nimra Haseeb
Aurora Hogios Emily Holmes McKenzie Hood Arabelle Jeffery Aimee Lancaster Katherine McCormack Eloise Miller Paige Oliver Scarlet Park Elisha Parkes Jessica Rafferty Kiyomi Rossborough Noemi Sniezek Sally Stevens Reva Thaker Hannah Wagner
Lexi Wheeler Naomi White
MENTOR
YEAR 8D
Max Ainley Tomas Barlow Mayukh Bera Ernie Brook Ilija Cucukovic
Ben Forster James Fotomaras Lachlan Fraser Jareth Haagen Nicholas Harris Alexander Iatropoulos Alexander Large Minh Duy Le
William McGlone Joshua McGrath Dimitri Michael Benjamin O’Connor Lachlan O’Hara Max Pavlidis Dimitrios Rellos Rohaan Thilak-Mathew
Rueben Verdiants Cooper Wilcock Alexander Wilson Shannon Zhao Joe Monro
MENTOR
YEAR 8E
Jakob Albiston Charlie Atlee
Lochlann Bellamy Hunter Creelman James Failla Samuel Ferguson Leo Hennessy Dylan Hoang Ethan Hunt Thomas Kurta
Aiden Laurent Justin Li Zikai Liu Aidan Rankin Harry Riley Oliver Rowley Jeremy Stevenson Jamie Taylor
James Vassallo Evangelos Vrionis Dengping (Derek) Wang Archie Weldin Moritz Weller James Wu Zijing Zhou Luke Thompson
MENTOR
CLASS PHOTOS
John Bleakley Ollie Campbell Luca Cavarra Oscar Cheah Reilly Clark Loke Egede-Poulsen Hayden Gilligan
Ben Hawker David Hayes Hamish Hooley Ryan Jeoffreys Maksi Kaurin Harvey Lansley Oscar Lewis Mackenzie Manning
Anthony Mirhom Trent Neumann Callum Orr Cayle Parker Noah Ryan Brendan Sheppard Alex Soden
Reno Zoggia Umut Ersezer
MENTOR
YEAR 8G
Fletcher Batty Christopher Chambers Christian Gourgoutas Luke Growdon Sebastian Gude
Aras Harbutt William Hood Liam Jakob Sean Kulakovskiy Kingston Marsh Sam McCauley Kieran McNamara Lachlan McNamara
Marcus Peachey Ryan Porter Justin Pregnalato James Righetti Samuel Robertson Joel Ruberu Benjamin Seers Riley Shilson-Josling
Matthew Temby Tierry Vayenas Liam Welsh Luke Wintle
MENTOR
YEAR 8H
Johnny Bakas Ashley Blackman James Cramer
Lachlan Cusack Alexander Dumont Oliver Fitt Zachary Granell Angus Hall Flynn Hodgkinson Harry Hurlston Ryan Langenfelds Owen Lazzari Joel McCall Hamish Rankin Blake Short Alexander Swindells Dane Taitoko Ayden Tezay John Toby
Jake Vorrath Kieran Vorster Noah Whitehouse Christian Williams Leigh Chislett
MENTOR
While the 2020 year in Greenways was unique, there were a number of exciting events that our Year 9 students will remember as they prepare to begin their Frogmore journey in 2021.
When the Year 9 students began in Greenways at the end of 2019, there was a great feeling of excitement and anticipation around the Campus. Wearing their new Greenways fleeces, they commenced their Transition Program with great enthusiasm and diligence. It was so pleasing to see our new cohort settle quickly and find their place in a new learning environment. At the beginning of 2020, our students once again settled into the routine of the Greenways Campus. The excitement of having friends and classmates work in the Greenways Café was felt immediately, and the line to buy muffins, noodles and zooper doopers seemed never ending. There were other exciting additions to the Greenways Campus which the students utilised at every opportunity – a toasted sandwich machine, a microwave and a new addition of a basketball ring with a small court near the Venice Street entrance, were all sought after at any available opportunity. 76 THE MENTONIAN 2020
The weeks were very busy and involved a number of exciting events, including Wednesday Afternoon Sport Sessions with Senior Teams, Jekyll and Hyde auditions and rehearsals, the House Athletics Carnival (on a day that certainly saw all four seasons make an appearance), the Interschool Surf Life-Saving Carnival (again, all four seasons were definitely felt at Mordialloc Beach) and the introduction of the Cadet Program, in which Greenways Students were introduced to Cadets by senior Cadet leaders. Our students also participated in an Ice Bucket Challenge, in which they braced themselves to be covered in ice cold water in the middle of winter, to raise money and awareness for Motor-Neuron Disease. In Mentor Sessions, students worked collaboratively with their classmates and Mentor using a program called Open Parachute. These sessions allowed students to focus on their mental health and wellbeing, while developing a skillset that should hold them in good stead as they start Year 10. While online learning was a prominent feature at various times throughout the year, such learning opportunities allowed our Greenways students the opportunity to focus on developing their own learning style and discover how they can make the best use of their time. The skills of selfdiscipline, organisation and time GREENWAYS management were established and an appreciation of simple things in life, like walking the family dog, kicking the footy or going for a bike ride with a friend became more valued than ever. No doubt, 2020 is a year that will long be remembered by our Greenways Students. While it may have turned out differently from what they had imagined, the resilience, positivity and diligent work ethic will forever be linked to the 2020 cohort of Greenways students. CATHERINE POULTON DEPUTY HEAD OF GREENWAYS FROM THE DEPUTY HEAD OF GREENWAYS A YEAR IN GREENWAYS
Each group started its culinary experience with an excursion to the city where they completed, Prepare and Serve Espresso unit of competency at Complete Hospitality Australia. The seven groups spent the rest of the week working in Greenways Café within the Greenways Campus where they served staff, their fellow Year 9 students and Year 12 students. We look forward to seeing everyone back again in 2021. MARK STEMBRIDGE ASSISTANT GREENWAYS CAFÉ MANAGER.GREENWAYSWorking in the Greenways Café was a great experience where I learned a range of new skills such as making coffee, cooking new foods and taking orders. I also enjoyed this experience as I got to work with different people and make new friendships through the course of a week. EBONY PHELPS 9C
GREENWAYSCAFÉ In Term 1, seven Year 9 groups completed Week 1 of the Greenways Café program.
CADETS
This year has been a challenging but exciting year for our Year 9 Cadet recruits. In Term 1, the Year 9s were excited to experience their introduction into the Cadet Program.
This first day of training saw the Year 9s beginning to learn the fundamentals of drill, Army ranks and navigation. However, with the first lockdown the second training day had to be moved online. Despite the challenges this created, the Year 9s demonstrated a remarkable amount of resilience as they engaged with the online training program. From performing drill movements over their laptop cameras and learning to tie different knots using their shoelaces, the Year 9s embraced the opportunities offered by this unique situation.
The return to School at the end of Term 2 allowed for the Year 9 recruits to get in one day of field skills training at the Keysborough Playing Fields. This training helped them consolidate the training done online and learn new skills around building shelters in the field. Despite our annual Puckapunyal Camp not being able to be run this year, the Greenways students have embraced the Cadet training program and the varied learning opportunities they have had in 2020. Many of them have already expressed an interest in continuing with the Cadet unit in 2021 and getting to explore the diverse leadership opportunities offered through the Australian Army Cadets program.
CAMERON WILSON
LT MGACU
CLASS PHOTOS
Lexie Allan Sienna Block Ella Clark Zoe Crombie Lelani de Silva Alexandra Ewart Julia Gerresheim
Amelie Harper Gemma Hollingsworth Eliza Hulley Angeline Karageorgiou Alyce Kerr Ella Mahoney Jessica Male Madeline Miles
Lucy Page Keira Patron Zara Quin Avelyn Reynolds Keira Richmond Marieke Roest Skye Shipton Jada Stephens
Lillian Toncinich Tara van Straaten Jasmine Williams Tayeesha Despotellis
TEACHER
YEAR 9B
Pippa Bethune Jennifer Bodinnar Alana Carruthers
Abrielle Duker Tess Farrow Jemma Forstner Ava Gibbons Amelie Hall Ella Hinton Claudia Hollingsworth Claudia Irving
Keisha Jacobs Mady Kalogerakis Julia Kokkinos Jessie Leembruggen Jessica May Tilly Meagher Bella Orchard Olivia Parkes
Ruby Raymond Eliza Schmidt Zoe Tesoriero Lucia Vega Jessica Watson Josie Wong Wendy Hong
TEACHER
YEAR 9C
Willow Bailey Tiffany Bates Alanah Becker Amelie Blackham Mia Callow Kiara Campbell Caitlin Cooper
Ceri Cooper Jemma de Vos Nichola Di Tirro Ginger Fennessy Elisha Fitzgerald Molly Forster Maya Jacobs Olivia Katsouranis
Meg Lewis Miranda McLean Lizzy Muller Giselle Mure Nalisha Ong Ebony Phelps Ruby Samild Jamie Shepherd
Amelia Tippett Charlotte Wood Emily Zallmann Jo Huang
TEACHER
YEAR 9D
James Armit Jayden Bedford Rhys Bellamy
Matthew Bourke Will Brown Hayden Cooley Thomas Federici Declan Fogarty Harrison Gaitanis Jade Hanson Anirudh Hariram
Fraser Helliwell Tianqi Li Harrison Long Blake McClure Lachlan McLaren Lucas Missen Luka Pajic Darcy Richards
Jett Spence Alexander Stavropoulos Toby Straw Brandon Veza Luke Weeks Sarah Connell
TEACHER
CLASS PHOTOS
Heath Cananzi Luke Caris Nicholas Corcoran Jake Daniels Nicholas Di Rosato Toby Duckinson Thomas Dumoff
Jack Falconer Makenzie Flower Aariyan Gokhale Ethan Green Riley Hunt Joshua Lai Sam Lewis William Mutton
Hamish O’Donnell Luca Pinzana Lachlan Smith Elliot Styles Maxim Topor Luke Trantino Costas Tryfonopoulos
Finn Vorrath Cameron Wilson
TEACHER
YEAR 9F
Sam Albiston James Appel Aidan Cafarella Archie Cullen James Davey
Oliver Dipietrantonio Noah Eley Mikail Fantas George Fennessy Phoenix Hall Christian Howe John Humble Sean Lai
Ruben McSwan Mathieson Meakins William Nish Campbell Paroz Chethiya Ranaweera Patrick Riley Jude Scott Rocco Scott
Ollie Stafford Luke Tucker Yiyang (Steven) Wan Catherine Poulton
TEACHER
YEAR 9G
Alexander Barrett William Bond Cohen Brown Daniel Charles Harrison Cowan Murphy Dickson Jonathon Gourgoutas
Zane Ishchenko Harrison Kidd George Lewis Flynn Magennis Declan McNamara Samuel Morgan Thomas O’Rourke Nathaniel Petty
Fergus Rann Archer Read Guy Richards Owen Rowlands Jeremy Sheppard Thomas Staunton Matthew Vyshenkov Lewis Wagstaff
Ned Wilson Tom Christiansen
TEACHER
YEAR 9H
Jack Callow Ben Chamberlain Joe Davie James Dennis James Dimopoulos
Alex Enkelman Matthew Georgiades Charles Holmes Jackson Kemelfield Nate Leonard Frederick Liu Ryan Naismith Max Noble
Jiahao Qian Zitong Ren Nicholas Saunders Hudson Sims Alexander Thow Declan Tibb Gabriel Truelove Kristian Varsamis
Youran (Tim) Wang Zack Warmuz Jensen Wong Siwei (Oliver) Xiang Bernard Quay
TEACHER
FROM THE HEAD OF FROGMORE ‘Crisis doesn’t create character; it reveals it.’ This has been a quote I have utilised a few times this year as I have reflected on the resilient and caring manner in which our students and staff have responded to the challenges of 2020. FROGMOREWhile there have been setbacks along the way, and some have found the journey considerably more difficult this year, the manner in which our staff and students have continued to progress their learning, maintained their connectedness and supported and encouraged each other has been truly wonderful. The character of those within our School Community has clearly been on display, reflecting the strength of our ‘village’. The focus on learning and teaching within the Campus has continued, albeit remotely for many, under the leadership of Ms Kara Baxter, our Head of Teaching and Learning (7-12), who alongside our Heads of Faculty and dedicated staff, has looked to facilitate meaningful learning experiences for our students through a variety of online platforms. The opportunities to embed technologies into our practice, as necessary as they have been this year, now provides us with impetus to move forward with greater confidence as we explore the possibilities to further enhance learning outcomes for our students. Indeed, I commend the staff on the swift manner in which they smoothly transitioned to our online platforms and the effective implementation of online learning materials. Further, our students are also deserving of praise for the manner in which they also adjusted and took further steps along the journey in
becoming independent learners as they looked to achieve their personal best. Working towards achieving their personal best, our students were well-supported through the nurturing pastoral program provided within our Houses, and this has been as important as ever in 2020. The pastoral care, and the strong sense of connection students feel to their House have, again, been fundamental in facilitating the wellbeing, connectedness and happiness of our Frogmore students and I commend Mrs Terry Matthew, our Head of Student Wellbeing - Programs, our House Coordinators and Captains for the role they played in ensuring our Houses continued to provide nurturing and supportive environments, via various online initiatives. The strong sense of camaraderie, immense pride and allegiance students have for their Houses was well and truly on show this year. While we were unable to fully complete our House Championship this year, we again saw high levels of participation and endeavour evident in each of the activities we were able to hold. I also commend the Houses on their Intra-House events. The innovation shown in organising activities and events online and the manner in which students joined those activities and engaged with their peers, again, reflected the strong House spirit our students have for their House. Despite the disappointment of the many cancelled events, Frogmore students continued to involve themselves in numerous activities, including debating, fitness sessions, music lessons, production performances and some students even undertook work experience via online platforms. Our students are to be commended for the enthusiastic and engaging manner in which they have embraced those opportunities. In particular, the chance to be involved in public speaking and debating events has been one such opportunity grasped by our students, enabling them to develop their presentation, public speaking and debating skills whilst demonstrating their awareness and connectedness to global issues. We have seen a large number of students looking to engage and I commend our Debating teams, superbly guided and mentored by Mr Sam Ponsford, on their achievements this year. While our Winter Sport season was cancelled, our sports teams represented the School extremely well in the matches completed during the Summer season, producing numerous highlights and personal best performances. It has been a very different year in sport and our thanks go to the numerous coaches and managers, and in particular Mr Stuart Bainbridge, Mr Peter O’Gorman and Ms Erin Hunt for their leadership and organisation throughout the year as they sought to provide opportunities for our students.
As I mentioned, student leadership has been evident in activities both on the Frogmore Campus and online. Led by our excellent Head Prefects, Oskar Phillips and Hannah Schmidt, our student leaders have made a wonderful contribution in connecting with students to lift spirits and enhance engagement within our School. While the nature of the year made it more challenging to undertake activities, our leaders have continued to develop and implement initiatives to continually support each other.
In acknowledging the leadership, they have shown throughout, I would like to offer congratulations and a very fond farewell to our wonderful Year 12 cohort. I am simply in awe of what they have achieved and the manner in which they have supported each other and managed the challenges of the year. They have contributed much to our Campus and despite the disappointments they have faced, with various aspects and celebrations scheduled for their final year unable to go ahead, they have remained good natured and good humoured. In addition, they are wonderful role models for our younger students and we certainly wish them all the very best for their lives beyond Mentone Grammar.
Finally, and in writing my final report as Head of Frogmore, I would like to acknowledge the assistance, support and boundless energy of Deputy Head, Ms Louise Daly and the enthusiasm, warmth and efficient organisation and planning of our Frogmore PA Ms Rebecca Russell. I am fortunate to be part of such a strong team within our School. My heartfelt thanks also to the House Coordinators, Faculty Heads and staff who have provided their support and encouragement, both within the classroom and through their online endeavours, maintaining their tireless efforts and excellent work to ensure the Frogmore Campus has provided a supportive, productive and engaging environment for our students.
CAMERON LANCASTER
HEAD OF FROGMORE
92 THE MENTONIAN 2020FROGMOREVCAL 2020 VCAL students maximised every opportunity to develop and apply an impressive suite of enterprise skills across their academic studies, industry training, work placements and practical projects. Students continued to study at TAFE and work in a range of industries, including construction, early childhood education, business, IT, allied health, electrotechnology, hospitality and landscaping. Integrated projects included ‘Seasoned Travellers’, an exploration of the travel industry in which students explored eco-tourism, domestic and international travel, and impact of technology on travel. The project culminated in a camp to various tourist hotspots along the Great Ocean Road, for which they had to create a tour package for a designated client within a specified budget. Students visited Loch Ard Gorge and the Twelve Apostles, explored the Otway Rainforest at Triplet Falls and the exhilarating Zipline tour, and shredded the waves at Anglesea. Students showed resourcefulness and persistence during remote learning, creating and implementing a six-week physical and mental training plan, based on personalised goals for their ‘Live Smart’ project. They also undertook DIY projects around the home, planning these around the enterprise skills they most needed to improve. They developed a feasibility report, undertook a risk assessment of their ‘job site’ and established appropriate timelines, a budget and materials list. It was great to see some students implementing some of the skills learned at projects in school, to create raised veggie beds, decking areas and landscaping. Highlights of the year included construction of an extension of the decked seating area adjacent to the pizza oven in Frogmore Campus, forming new friendships on our Transition and Great Ocean Getaway camps, working with the Food Security Network to nurture and harvest crops donated to Fare Share, and the Big Freeze community project, for which students hosted the Ice Bucket Challenge, ran a free dress day and sold beanies, raising over $3000 to support FightMND. At the end of the academic year, Year 12 VCAL students were busy preparing their Pathways portfolios and presentations, packed with a customised Career Action Plan, personal resume, certificates, and references. We congratulate these students on completing their VCAL and wish them well for their individual journeys of work, further study and training. We are immensely proud of their achievements and their contributions to the Mentone Grammar Community, and excited for their futures. SHELLEY MUIR VCAL COORDINATOR
A STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
VCAL is a great program; all students are part of a team who work together and bond as a ‘family’. This year, the VCAL students constructed an outdoor deck for students and staff to use, built bird boxes for animals that were affected by the Mallacoota bushfires, constructed planter boxes to grow vegetables for disadvantaged people and made and sold wood fired pizzas for students and staff. We completed a community project in small groups to help a vulnerable group in the community who were affected by the isolation of the pandemic. This included baking cookies and organising letters to the elderly from the younger students and raising money with the ice bucket challenge for MND. Personally, I found the VCAL program to be the ‘perfect fit’ for me. It has allowed me to pursue my passion for Early Childhood Education whilst still being a part of my Year 12 cohort. Through the VCAL program I have learnt many valuable life skills and have had challenges that have built my confidence and self-esteem and helped prepare me for further studies and employment.
JESSICA DUNKERLEY
APPLIED LEARNING CAPTAIN
ENGLISH Sometimes the best writing is short on words, but big on impact. Here is what all of our English teams had to say in 20 words or less.
YEAR 5 Collaboration is the heart of our Year 5 English program where sharing our thinking about reading and writing is central to our growth.
YEAR 6 Mmmmm books! What’s on the menu? Action, adventure, realistic fiction… metaphors, connotation, sensory imagery… inferring, synthesising, connecting… What makes you say that?
YEAR 7 Exploring the nature of words to understand the world around us and to create our own meaning.
YEAR 8 Finding your voice to explore an issue and enjoying the freedom to explore different text types.
YEAR 9 ‘May the odds ever be in your favour...’ (The Hunger Games). Embracing Year 9 English with determination, resilience and grit.
YEAR 10 Making connections between each other, our texts and the world has been a rewarding experience.
YEAR 11 ‘If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it.” (The Penelopiad) Year 11 English - Our Year of Resilience and Flexibility.
YEAR 12 This will be one of our Longest Memories; at the end we will find All the Light We Cannot See.
EAL ‘The days were not long enough for all they had to tell each other’ (The Golden Age) Reading, sharing and discovering stories.
LITERATURE ‘The more I read, the more I learn, the more I discover…’ (Frankenstein) - Year 11 Literature 2020 - Our year of discovery
LANGUAGE English Language explores language use - yesterday, today and tomorrow. COVID, politics and societal change have been fascinating in 2020.
TRACEY PATE
HEAD OF ENGLISH
HUMANITIES & COMMERCE
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
The unexpected and unique challenges thrust upon us all in 2020 has resulted in the Humanities and Commerce Team adapting and altering both the way we teach and the way we envision education. The move towards Microsoft Teams and the greater reliance on an online learning platform has seen both students and teachers adapt to these altered demands and greatly enhance our digital literacy along the way.
In Year 6, 2020 has seen the teaching team further enhance their multidisciplinary approach to teaching Humanities and, in so doing, students have spent the year constructing critical questions, problem solving, and researching solutions to tackle problems in the world. In this vein, students have been engaged in the process by increasingly taking ownership of their own learning and collaborating effectively in teams. Similarly, this focus on collaboration, communication and critical thinking with regard to practical applications has equally been enhanced across Year 5. Overlapping studies of both Commerce and Humanities have prevailed throughout Years 5 and 6 in 2020, as students seek to better position their learning within the world around them.
Year 7 students have engaged in a greatly reimagined course this year, beginning by unpacking the history and culture of Indigenous Australia. To this end, they were first guided through the scientific process of archaeology and carbon dating, and then presented with the ethical questions that inevitably emerge when new discoveries are made. In Geography, these ethical and moral questions continued as students investigated the role of water and water scarcity in our everchanging world and what, if anything, we should do about it. In Terms 3 and 4, students delved into their studies around Entrepreneurship and Civics and Citizenship. In Entrepreneurship, this involved being tasked with not only creating an ethical and viable product but also in developing communication and collaboration skills. Similarly, such skills were extended upon in T erm 4 in Civics and Citizenship, whereby classes unpacked the demographics of their local area and what measures were being taken to celebrate the unique and evolving identities and values within it.
Students in Year 8 were provided with the opportunity to develop transferable skills of critical and creative thinking in their investigation of Urbanisation. Groups were asked to put their digital literacy skills to the test, not only in investigating and attempting to solve a selected urban issue but in presenting the conclusions of their findings as well. Students further expanded their capacity to undertake historical inquiry in their studies of Medieval societies and to develop their analytical skills, use of primary sources and explain and communicate arguments. They were also able to experience life in Medieval times through a fun-filled incursion in Term 1. For Medieval Day, a troupe of performers provided students with a more realistic hands-on view of life during Medieval times including culture, education, fashion, games and tournaments typical of this historical period.
Year 9 students heightened their learning experience in Humanities through the collaborative learning task ‘How do we feed the world?’ and were introduced to the machinations and ethics of a global food network. In these studies, classes investigated how biomes, globalisation, and individual choices combined to influence the environment in various places around the world. In History, too, students were asked to utilise a host of primary sources to make informed opinions about the varied motivations of Colonial Australians and, in the 20th Century, of Australians who enlisted and fought in World War One.
In Year 10, evidence of learning took on a new format as the year progressed. In Term 1, as classes unpacked World War Two, students visited the Jewish Holocaust Museum to speak to survivors and then subsequently utilised this knowledge and their in-class skill development to unpack propaganda of the era. In Terms 2 and 3, as students transitioned into and then continued their off site learning, their skills were challenged through increased enhancement of digital literacy. In History, this resulted in the creation of an animation, podcast, or movie to display their understanding of the Civil Rights Movement. In Geography, in Term 3, such knowledge and understanding of data and Human Wellbeing was evidenced in their creation of a fully formatted magazine article. Moreover, the elective, Global Politics, equally saw students delve into digital literacy through new areas of study surrounding the role of the United Nations and the impact of global terrorist organisations.
With financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills becoming so vital for this generation, students are being offered the opportunity to enhance these skills in Year 10 with the Commerce electives of Money and Markets, and Business and the Law. Both subjects were wellreceived by students with the continued focus in these courses on teaching students to deal critically and logically with subjective and complex information relative to their day to day lives. The Year 10 Commerce teams, in both of these subjects, ensured students were highly engaged through the use of relevant case studies and skills that students could readily apply in real-life situations – the current COVID-19 pandemic was used as a significant example to connect theory with reality. Students delved into the impact COVID-19 has had on society and the economy within Australia and around the world. Students within the Money and Markets elective commented on a better understanding of financial literacy, including the calculations of individual taxation amounts, and the importance of a healthy economy. Furthermore, students of this subject also noted the significant role that demand and supply plays in business and the global economy. In Year 10 Business and the Law, students were equally given the opportunity to develop their theoretical understandings of the legal system.
The VCE Humanities and Commerce staff, again, worked tirelessly to raise the bar for students, setting high expectations for their students learning and results. Following the ‘the best ever’ results of students in these subjects in 2019, students and teachers have been working harder than ever in 2020 to build subject knowledge and, as equally important, learning skills. This has been a challenge for students and teachers in 2020 but the resilience and discipline of VCE students should be commended. Various formative assessment strategies across the VCE Humanities and Commerce team have allowed students to continually build on their learning and development of understanding how to improve on their own skills and knowledge. The VCE Commerce and Humanities team have been maintaining their collaborative learning environment, as well as engaging students to critically think and take ownership over their own learning in the classroom. The implementation of these different strategies for learning is to ensure that students, once successful in finishing Year 12, will also be able to be successful learners in the future.
This year has been one we won’t forget – with challenges and changes to how the ‘normal’ classroom became, it was a year that we will reflect on and hopefully find positives to improve ourselves as individuals and as a community.
Our sincere thanks to the hardworking and dedicated teams who have taken on the challenges that this year has brought upon the Humanities and Commerce Department, whilst continuing to be innovative, progressive and reflecting the needs of 21st Century learning. It has been our privilege to be the leaders of such committed and diligent educators. We look forward to continuing our work with the team in 2021 and beyond.
AARON COOK AND NIZAM ABDALLAH
HEADS OF HUMANITIES AND COMMERCE
