10268 yvg levavi mini version (text) web

LEVAVI 2017

Editor Marg Kimber +61 03 9262 7700 margaret.kimber@yvg.vic.edu.au Design Tandem Design +61 03 9571 7253 www.tandemdesign.com.au Front Cover Image by Mark Chew Photography

Thank you to students, staff and parents for their contribution to and assistance with the creation of Levavi 2017.

LEVAVI

2017

Contents From the Principal

2–3

Student Wellbeing

4–5

Community Links

6–7

Junior School

8 – 17

Middle School

18 – 27

Senior School

28 – 37

From the Heads of Department

38 – 55

School psalm and prayer

56

2018 calendar

57

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 1

Yarra Community

From the Principal “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” Socrates “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” Aristotle

Welcome to the 2017 edition of the Levavi which chronicles the life of our School this year. There is cause for considerable celebration and acknowledgement of hard work, contribution and perseverance.

Congratulations and well done.

Ought we now to consider our students to be educated? No! I would hope that none of us would describe ourselves as educated. This may sound a strange thing to write but let’s consider the term. To be educated suggests that our studies are complete. We have learnt all that there is needed to be known…the process is finished. We have grown enough.

Today more than ever, what we need to know and understand can shift in an instant. A better aspiration for us is not to be educated but rather to be in the process of educating.

For this process of learning does not stop, it’s continuous and it’s evolving. It’s not a store of knowledge that we rely upon but rather a set of skills to find, capture and use the right knowledge at the right time and in the right way.

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Our students are acquiring those skills.

• Our science and mathematics students employ the skills of experimentation, observation, analysis of data and equations to find solutions.

• Our humanities students analyse text, find evidence and propose theories, • Our artists express themselves in creative and unique ways. They show us an alternate view of the world. This is very clever stuff…important skills which will stand them in good stead.

But it’s not enough.

Wisdom is more than ability and more than knowledge. It’s more than just being clever.

Wisdom is not just having knowledge or just having access to facts. Google does not bestow wisdom. Google provides information, most of it accurate. Michel de Montaigne was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. The guy who invented the essay…Not a popular figure amongst some students.

He wrote that: “Learned we may be with another man’s learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.”

It’s not enough to learn and repeat what other people think, we need to learn to think and understand for ourselves.

Wisdom then is not downloading other people’s thoughts and repeating them.

Wisdom is not just having strong opinions either.

I have a greater aspiration for them and it’s bound up in a word which has gone out of fashion. We don’t use it very much anymore…but we should. The word is Wisdom. Wisdom to be wise.

The American philosopher William James asserted that:

It’s good to be clever but as Euripides one wrote: “Cleverness is not wisdom”.

We see this in all aspects of modern commentary, on social media and in

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”

political discourse. One side of politics today has a tendency to tell us what we must believe and say whilst the other side will believe and say anything. There’s not much wiggle room for original thought. It’s hard to have an original thought where trolling forces conformity and not just opinion but now facts are subjective. I am a keen observer of U.S. politics. I do this by watching MSNBC, CNN and FOX to try to understand how others with different views see the same events. The bizarre thing is that we seem to be living in parallel universes where meaning is lost amongst alternate facts, fake news and political spin.

It’s no longer just difference of opinion, it’s become a difference of facts.

Julius Caesar nailed it when he said:

It’s hard to discern the truth when there is so much unbridled, unsubstantiated information out there. Our world has become a world where we only speak to those who agree with us…the rest of the time we yell formulas at those who don’t.

How do we find truth here?

If cleverness and knowledge are not enough…what is wisdom? How do we become wise?

Wisdom or sapience (from the Latin sapientum: to be wise) is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, common sense, understanding, selfknowledge and insight. Importantly, wisdom is also associated with virtues such as compassion, ethics and benevolence.

‘Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.”

Let’s look at the checklist and ask ourselves if we can tick all the boxes:

Very loosely translated this means: ‘We readily believe what we want to believe”

• Knowledge

The Nazi Minister for Propaganda (I don’t often quote Nazis) Josef Goebbels once cynically said that:

• Common sense

• Experience

The U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt once wrote: “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”.

Wisdom seems to be a happy combination of intellect and virtue. Wisdom can’t be downloaded from the intellect. It has to be a discernment borne of the mind and the heart.

It’s quite a confronting question…am I now or will I ever be considered to be a wise person? Do I tick all the boxes? Do I have the energy, the capacity and the will to become wise? Do I even want to be wise?

Perhaps asking these questions of ourselves is the early stage of the getting of wisdom?

The person considered to be one of the great wise ones of the last century, Albert Einstein once quipped: “It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.”

“A lie told once remains a lie. A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth”.

• Self-knowledge

This gives rise to that most important question ever posed:

• Compassion

It’s my earnest hope that as our students, my colleagues and our parents and friends enjoy school life, we continue to learn and aspire to be wise, that we like that genius Albert Einstein:

• Ethics

“Stay with the questions much longer.”

• Benevolence

Dr Mark Merry Principal

“Quid est veritas?” What is truth?

• Understanding • Insight

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Yarra Community

Student Wellbeing – building resilience The Student Wellbeing Department has had a busy 2017 working with students, staff and parents across the School promoting and enhancing approaches and strategies to assist in building the resilience and mental wellbeing of all our students.

The variety is enormous, ranging from broad proactive intervention like social skills activities, parent information sessions, consultations, plays, presentations, guest speakers, surveys, workshops and a range of peer programs to more focused interventions with small group work, counselling, consultations and liaising with community organisations.

The Wellbeing room in the Student Services building was the busy home for many purposes including but not limited to: Year 12 Supportive Friends meetings; Year 11 Peer Support Leaders meetings; PRISM meetings open to students from Years 7–12; Yoga as well as Mind Body Flow classes held for students and staff; Peer Support workshops; Body Image Workshops; Supportive Friends workshops; International Students activities; and of course at other times a quiet reflective space available for mindfulness, meditation and small group activities.

A brief overview of the broad proactive intervention programs Student Wellbeing members were closely involved with:

Senior School Our Peer Support Prefects, Tess Lawrence and Charles Jacob, led an active Year 12 Supportive Friends team consisting of over 30 students. They helped enhance the camaraderie and support within their year level with a range of initiatives including a very successful Xmas in July and Kris Kringle for all the Year 12 students, tutors and coordinators. The cheery Christmas tree, decorations and lights lifted the spirits

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at a cold and wet time of year. Hot Cross buns at Easter, Hot Chocolate mornings, a Pyjama Day and a Movie Night were some of the other activities they were involved in.

All of our Year 11 students were involved in a program led by facilitators from Stride Foundation to develop skills in the area of Peer Support. Following the program 23 x Year 11 students volunteered to attend training to become Peer Support Leaders. These 23 leaders then participated in our Year 7/11 Peer Support program throughout Terms 1 to 3. This is a wonderful mentor-type program where each Year 11 Peer Support Leader is allocated to a specific Year 7 tutorial group.

They attend one Year 7 Dramatic Development class per week for three terms. Most of the leaders also participated in the Year 7 end of Semester 1 Activity day. It is lovely to see the growth and development in each leader during the year as well as strong connections encouraged between the Middle and Senior School students. A big thank you to all the Year 7 tutors and students who provided and shared a lovely Thank You breakfast to all our Year 11 Peer Support leaders in Term 4.

PRISM is a welcoming, student initiated discussion group. The focus of the group is around developing friendships and exploring the richness of diversity amongst our community particularly with developing understanding of the LGBT+ issues and how it impacts us day to day. Current issues and topics are discussed and explored together.

Paul Dillon was at the School for a day presenting engaging seminars and workshops on Teenagers, Alcohol and Drugs for all of our Senior School students Years 10–12. He was addressing research completed in the area of alcohol and drug issues.

Hugh Van Cuylenberg and Martin Hemphil from the Resilience Project worked with our Year 11 students. Hugh also presented to our Year 11 parent body. The VCE Plus teachers continued themes of the Resilience Project work with the Year 11 students throughout the year exploring the aspects of Emotional Literacy, Mindfulness, Gratitude and Empathy.

Sonya Karras from Whole New World worked with our Year 12 students. Her topics included Safe Partying, Schoolies & Looking after Yourselves and Your Mates.

Wayne Schwass and Paul Bergamo presented a Q&A style discussion on mental health to all of our Senior students during Mental Health Week in Term 4.

Middle School 2017 was the second year of the Year 8 Wellbeing Day. It was so successful in 2016 that we ran it again this year and it did not disappoint, the students had the opportunity to explore their wellbeing in an educative, informative and fun way. It was also an opportunity to put the books down but continue to learn about themselves from a wellbeing perspective.

The two-day program which ran in August was fun, entertaining, relaxing and

educative, students could choose from a number of different workshops throughout the two days and included such things as Yoga, relaxation techniques, science experiments, body confidence workshop, art and self-defence class and Bollywood dancing to name a few.

Feedback from students described the two days as “fun, exciting and interesting, relaxing, opportunity to be with different students, explore things that I may not have had the opportunity to, build relationships, learn something new, have a break from the study”.

It gave students an opportunity to have fun, build positive relationships, rejuvenate, and to increase their motivation levels in order to continue on with the academic year.

stress and increase resilience in primary school aged children. The program helps children to build their emotional resilience so that they are better equipped to deal with the day to day stresses that life brings them. The program encourages parental involvement and offers supporting strategies to implement at home.

More information regarding the program, as well as meditation audio can be found at www.peacefulkids.com.au As per previous years, the Stride Foundation M-Power and Revved Up programs were successfully run in the

Year 5 classrooms with their teachers.

M-Power is a girls’ group program which explores the relationships girls have with each other and how aggression may look and play out amongst girls. Issues explored include bullying, cliques and friendship groups. Revved Up is a boys’ group program that acknowledges that anger is a normal emotion experienced by everyone. The program looks at ways that boys can change angry energy into positive action by increasing assertion and problem solving skills.

Mrs Mara Vanderzeil Head of Student Wellbeing

Brainstorm Productions provided two performances for our Middle School students: Verbal Combat and The Hurting Game. Follow up activities and discussions were done in home room groups exploring, amongst other things, the impact of technology and the digital world on friendship, peer pressure, bullying, body image and our cyber footprint.

Primary School A very successful 8 week Peaceful Kids (Mindfulness & Anxiety reduction) Program was facilitated by Maria with a group of Middle primary girls. Peaceful Kids is a Mindfulness and Positive Psychology based program designed to lessen anxiety and

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Yarra Community

Community Links – helping others Yarra is a community that does not discriminate when it comes to helping others. This has proven to be true through this year’s wonderful participation from students across all year levels. Whether it be shaving our heads or walking for a cause for under-privileged children in Uganda, Yarra students have not backed away from a challenge and have willingly involved themselves in activities to positively impact the lives of others.

It has been a flurry of setting records at Yarra this year. For some events we raised record totals, and for some we had a record number of participants. We can’t mention all the great achievements this year but have chosen a selection to share with you.

Students from across the entire School involved themselves in Community Links activities throughout the year. Middle and Senior School commenced this year of giving with the Great Yarra Shave at the end of Term 1, where many students raised money in support of the Leukaemia Foundation. We raised our highest ever total of $20,000, which is an incredible effort!

The next major Community Links event was The Good Friday Appeal, where we saw 367 current students as well as Yarra Old Grammarians give up much of Good Friday to collect door to door to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital. Our School raised an amazing total of $41,000 which saw us win the Pied Pipers trophy again. It was our honour to present a cheque on behalf of the Pied Pipers at the live televised event on the evening of Good Friday.

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In Term 2, the Junior School community participated in a wonderful experiential learning experience lead by the Just One Day organisation. Students decided to experience what it was like to live without relying on electricity for just one day.

Students played old style games and had to walk the equivalent of one kilometre to collect a bucket of water to fill their drink bottles. Although it is an experience designed for just one day, the conversations and adjustments considered and implemented at home and school have been significant.

The Oxfam Walk Against Want and 40 Hour Famine were two events in which a large number of students involved themselves. For the aforementioned walk, a record number of participants got involved, which is an effort to be proud of.

The money raised for the 40 Hour Famine went towards assisting displaced refugees in Africa and the Middle East.

A new initiative launched by our School Captains, Finley and Keeley, was the AGSV Dawn to Dusk Walkathon that occurred in August. This event was the first of its kind, and was well-received by students, as they

got the opportunity to walk together with students from the other AGSV schools.

It is also worth reflecting on the multiple free dress days that were held throughout the year, including Pink Day and Blue Day. The gold coins donated by everyone on these days went towards the McGrath Foundation and men’s charity, White Owl respectively.

We collected and donated 180 shoeboxes to support Operation Christmas Child and as always our Junior School students made a significant contribution to the Anglicare Food Drive in the lead up to Christmas. A highlight of Term 4 was our Year 5 student who put on an impressive Christmas Crusade market experience with many great products and services available for purchase. These young entrepreneurs also selected a worthy organisation to donate all proceeds.

We hope that your involvement in Yarra’s Community Links activities will inspire you to continue assisting those in the wider community and beyond.

Olivia Di Giovine and Rickus Kriel Community Links Captains

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Junior School

From the Head of Junior School Our school continues to look for ways to see further improvement, be it in our philosophy, teaching methods, the way we cater for individual differences, resource supply or new ideas to motivate and engage the children in our classes.

This also helps staff to stay refreshed and on top of new approaches, even if we decide not to pursue them.

Our ELC works through a Quality Improvement Plan that aims to review all aspects of its operations regularly and our Centre is assessed regularly by a body called ACECQA (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority), who publicise their rankings on a National website. Our rating is currently classified as Exceeding the National Quality Standard in all seven assessed areas and is a credit to the staff who work in our Centre.

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Whilst our teaching programs target academic, creative and physical aspects it is also important to develop social skills in children relating to matters such as how we should treat others, our behaviour and language, our ability to work in teams, our acceptance of the differences we see in others and so on. These aspects are increasingly requiring a stronger emphasis in our schools.

Many children seem to give up easily these days. They find a task takes too long, it is too difficult, it is not interactive enough or they may simply not like the task. Whilst this can be understood from one point of view, it does not develop resilient, problem solving, persistence and perhaps creative thinkers. Allowing children to make their own fun can assist to develop these skills, even if it involves making mess and taking risks.

Children are also surrounded by an immediate electronic world that seems to focus on tragedy, sadness, poor examples of social skills and negativity more often than positive and uplifting items. If they are exposed to this negativity regularly, it is no wonder they respond in a negative manner at times. So how do we turn this around?

I would hope that our parents and staff can reduce exposure to this negative media and replace it with positive examples of how to respond to what we face. Instead of pointing out negatives about someone or some situation, look at the positives, look for what can be improved, and look at how to help. Our social service programs, positive education, personal development and Outdoor Education programs as well as general classroom discussions aim to teach children how to respond in more positive ways and how to tackle difficult problems.

Our parent community continues to be a positive ad supportive group. With several tragic events happening this year in Year 1, our parent group banded together and provided much needed support for their children, fellow parents and staff members.

This is a sign of a strong community and I particularly thank that year level for their understanding and support.

At the end of the year, we farewell Mrs Jutta Snyder who has taught Art at Yarra for 21 years. I have very much valued her input regarding creativity and the wonderful examples of Art that are always on display in our school. We wish her well for her retirement.

Mrs Nicole Rogers moves to a new and challenging position at Camberwell Girls’

Grammar School, after nine years of service as Curriculum Coordinator and Extension Programs teacher. There is no doubt that our Science, Maths, Technology and general program consistency have improved under Nicky’s guidance and I thank her for constant enthusiasm and never-give-up attitude.

Mrs Susie Bell leaves our ELC to pursue further study. Being one of our energetic ELC teachers, Susie has worked with both 3 and 4 year old children and in particular, developed our Outdoor Program at the Centre. We wish her well for the future.

Mr Chris Lawson Deputy Principal – Head of Junior School

Having fun at school is still important. As a primary teacher, I can say that the joy of seeing a smiling face, the sudden realisation of the workings of a machine, mastering a concept or simply just learning about new things is a wonderful thing to see. The struggles along the way, mistakes and frustrations are just a part of learning.

In fact, I often say to children that if they aren’t finding things difficult, they are not being challenged enough. We will continue to provide these challenges for our children as they move upwards through our Junior School and develop their own characters and independence.

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Junior School

Enhancing and enriching thinking Two thousand and seventeen has presented many new and exciting initiatives to challenge and extend the thinking and creativity of our Junior School students. The intention of the broad range of learning opportunities offered has been to encourage the learning of students of varying interests and abilities and to promote an environment of creativity and imagination.

This year began with the launch of our Junior School Makerspace, a lunchtime space for a growing team of inventors, engineers and designers to gather together to work on designing machines and inventions, as well as learn new skills and challenge thinking in a safe and vibrant

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environment. In this space, we witnessed the creation of new ideas and inventions come to life!

The G.A.T.E.ways programs have continued to be a highlight and opportunities for selected students to work in multi-age setting, investigating amazing new topics.

Throughout this year students participated in programs that were designed to expand their minds, encounter new places as well as explore characters and stories both strange and unbelievable! Those who participated have recounted rich learning experiences and an incredible depth of new knowledge and understanding.

A highlight of the program is the G.A.T.E.ways Challenge and this year we had a large number of teams committed to the preparation necessary to acquire the problem solving skills and attributes required to be competitive on the day.

In addition to our weekly extension sessions for students at all levels, the Junior School Levavi program launched a set of Enrichment days for all of our Junior School students to participate in. The first of these took place in second term and the focus was to be solving problems in maths.

We explored the world of maths and delved into interactive maths games and real world problems. It was wonderful to see so many students challenging their thinking and working both independently and collaboratively to explore complex mathematical problems.

“The room was packed with games! It was fun to do lots of challenges. I enjoyed making my name in the mirror.”

Matthew, Year 2 “My favourite challenge was making the triangle. It was hard, but worth it!”

Taylor, Year 2 “What I liked most about the day was the options of all of the activities we could do.

It was very interesting, engaging and hands on. I would definitely like to do it again.”

Joel, Year 6 Later in the year our students were provided with the opportunity to take part in the Junior School Coding and Robotics day.

This provided great excitement and engagement for our community, with a visit from Nao the humanoid robot, he was a huge hit with our Junior School community.

“We were amazed at how you could code Nao (Tony) to do most things need for playing the piano, as he only had three fingers.” Sithma Year, 6 “I liked how we could interact with Tony and he was so lifelike!” Belle, Year 6 In addition, our young learners were engaged in a broad range of workshops, exploring the Science and Maths linked to the working of robots and their coding.

There were opportunities to transfer new knowledge to real world situations and gain a global perspective on the importance of these technologies.

“I found the Robotics and Coding day lots of fun. We made things with Lego Technics, like catapults, a bike and a seesaw. It was so much fun.” Elliott Year, 3 “I loved learning the basics of coding and Lego was the perfect choice for starting to learn. The day was great and we all had fun.” Liam Year, 3 During the last term, an enthusiastic team of students travelled into Federation Square to participate in the ACMI animation experience. This was a unique opportunity, enabling students to learn about the skills required to make a professional animation production.

Students were required to employ their creative script writing ability, design characters and scenery, along with

constructing their own animation sequence.

It was an amazing day of learning for all.

The Senior Primary team has once again participated in the APSMO program, with Year 4 students beginning with the Maths Games initiative and the Year 5 and 6 teams taking on the Maths Olympiad extended problem solving challenges. The achievement of these teams was exceptional this year and this was recognised with a high number of awards made to students. It has been impressive to observe the development of the teams as the year has progressed, exhibiting new skills in problem solving, mathematical ability and working collaboratively.

Our largest team of ICAS Assessment participants was recorded this year, with students from Year 2 to 6 demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of complex problem solving scenarios. Not only were the number of participants large, the achievements of the team were outstanding across a wide range of learning areas.

The Junior School students are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm to participate and challenge their thinking.

For being willing to try new learning experiences and always strive to give their best.

Mrs Nicole Rogers Junior School Curriculum Coordinator

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Junior School

Learning to be global citizens The ELC is the go-to place for learning in a fun environment with friends and teachers who do not mind getting dirty and being covered in paint and mud.

With over 70 families enrolled at the Centre and numbers increasing each year, it is a fabulous place to begin the YVG educational journey.

The specific programs offered at the Centre for both three and four year old groups differ every year; however, returning families will see some similarities and familiar events occurring. This is done specifically as teachers know they offer significant experiences for education.

The children love the hands-on experiences of Seaweed Sammy’s marine life and Farmer Kevin’s visiting mobile farm. The older children look forward to their excursion to the Kew Traffic School; for

many this is often the first time on a bus.

They spend a whole morning riding bikes and simulating traffic signals to teach road safety awareness. The younger children are introduced to this concept at their Bike, Trike and Scooter day where they develop their stamina and ride the School grounds.

Our chicken hatching and rabbit rearing programs give the children the opportunity to take responsibility for young animals and observe their growth. Teachers learnt this year that overnight power outages can affect the number of eggs that successfully hatch!

Being based on the School campus gives the children unique access to a range of special events and resources that would not be possible at other settings. We try to make the most of the school community through visits to Senior School, calling in on Mummies and Daddies who are on staff and this year we have watched with interest the building of our new swimming pool, documenting the development through drawings and photographs. During Science Week we visited the VCE Chemistry students in their lab to make elephant toothpaste and how to make sultanas dance in a test-tube, an absolute highlight.

A specific focus in 2017 has been social justice programs. Our youngest children spent several weeks focused on Saving the Bilbies, initiating to raise money through a lemonade stall. This interest in caring for endangered animals led to fundraising for the Rhinos in Australia through their Ride

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for Rhino’s Day. As part of Book Week celebrations all the children dressed up in book character costume, donating a gold coin for the Smith Family Literacy Program.

Each project has empowered the children to be good global citizens and teachers have been keen to show them how they can have a positive impact on their world.

During the winter term break we made a structural change to our outdoor space.

To many the replacement of one our three sandpits with a flat, open area may not be immediately obvious. However, the opportunities for new and dynamic play and the varied uses it offers has been significant. The children were part of the consultation process. Teachers led them through discussions about the changes that would occur and sought their ideas on how they might use the area. They even spent a week assisting our grounds staff with preparations.

During the year the ELC staff have been led through a professional process of re-writing the Centre’s philosophy. This gave opportunity to collectively share what, how and why we do and provided a valuable process for reflection and evaluation.

The closing statement from the philosophy we believe truly reflects on what we aim to do at the ELC and encourage others to visit and see for themselves.

“At Yarra Valley Grammar we work hard to create an atmosphere where children and families feel comfortable, confident and embraced.” Yarra Valley Grammar Early Learning Centre Philosophy 2017 Mrs Nicky Callow Director of Early Learning

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Junior School

Music – opportunities and challenges It was a privilege for us to be the Junior School Music Captains of 2017. We were involved in a lot of opportunities such as, the Junior School Music Concert, Choral Concert, Junior School Orchestra, Junior School Training Orchestra, Junior School Band, Junior School Choir and the Junior School Quartet.

We were fortunate enough to be the hosts of the inaugural Junior School Music concert. This concert was a big hit and it will be repeated next year. The Choral concert involved the Year levels 3–12.

It was great inspiration for us as we could see the older levels sing. The Junior School Choir sang two songs called Into The Woods from the musical, Into the Woods and Hushabye Mountain from Mary Poppins.

Junior School Band has been a big highlight this year. It takes place at 8:00am each Tuesday in the Junior Music room. We play pieces from all different genres. We even play songs from Roger Schmidli who is Mrs Schmidli’ s husband. In the Junior School Orchestra we have learnt a variety of techniques and have learnt to work together as a team in the Yarra way.

It has been a massive honour for us to be the Junior School Music Captains for 2017.

We have had an amazing year and we hope to be Music Captains again in the future.

Harvey Hammerstein and Kami Dickins Music Captains

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Junior School

Athletics Carnival

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Middle School

From the Head of Middle School In 2013, four years ago, I attended a Middle School educational dinner where the guest speaker reflected on building respect, inspiring others and providing opportunities for leadership in a school environment. In many ways these concepts he spoke about are the essence of our Middle School.

As Middle School teachers and educators we all aspire to being a positive influence on our students, respecting them as individuals and helping them to respect others. And in our everyday actions we immerse students in an engaging learning environment and encourage them to take up the opportunities on offer. To have the chance to influence students, to inspire them to be the best person they can be and help them to undertake their studies with passion and integrity is one of the greatest rewards of the Middle School teaching profession.

As I complete my eighth year as Head of Middle School at Yarra Valley Grammar, I reflect on what has been an extremely busy, exciting and rewarding journey thus far. A journey that has exceeded my expectations. A journey where it has been a pleasure to be a part of such a vibrant learning community. I am often asked what sets Yarra Valley Grammar’s Middle School apart from other schools – what is our point of difference? The answer is the people that make up our Middle School and the relationships that are built within it.

Simply defined as the culture and Yarra Spirit. Culture in a school is about everyone’s attitude and the way we all interact. I am always impressed by the caring nature of the staff towards students and for their tireless efforts to challenge, teach and to set high expectations.

I very much appreciate the support of staff, students and parents – this supportive three way triangle of teachers, students and parents can never be underestimated for setting a positive culture in a school and is captured best in this reflection which is a favourite of mine.

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I dreamed I stood in a studio and watched two sculptors there.

The clay they used was a young child’s mind and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher; the tools she used were books and music and art.

One was a parent with a guiding hand and a gentle loving heart.

Day after day the teacher toiled with a touch that was deft and sure.

While the parent laboured by her side and polished and smoothed it over.

And when at last their task was done they were proud of what they wrought.

For the things they had moulded into the child could neither be sold or bought.

And each agreed they would have failed if they had worked alone.

For behind the parent stood the school and behind the teacher, the home.

Mrs Julie Hall Deputy Principal – Head of Middle School

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Middle School

Year 7 – new friends, new experiences Camp

Bowling day

In our third week of school we took a trip up to Marysville to experience our first Yarra camp! I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we were all nervous about camp. We didn’t really know many people, so going camping and having to be close to lots of people you hadn’t really met before, was very daunting. I now believe, however, that having camp early in the first term of Year 7 is a really good idea.

It was an outdoor educational camp, so we did lots of team building, outdoor activities such as rock climbing, canoeing, cooking and bush walking. This really bonded us together and we all came out of it so much closer than we went in. Each night, two Tutorials would take a trip up to Lake Mountain and spent the night in tents and cooked their own food. In the morning we got to go on a massive zip-line overlooking the mountain, which was amazing and the view was just stunning. We also got to play a game of laser tag, which involved getting into two teams and playing a variety of games like capturing the flag. My favourite part of the camp was the Monster Course.

For the Monster Course, each Tutorial was split into two teams and all of the teams ran around completing activities in order to complete the course. These included frisbee throwing, a low ropes course, rock climbing, charades and even a mud pit!

(Note to self: don’t wear a white shirt in a mud pit...it might come out the other side looking more orange than white).

Bowling day was a really awesome day for all of the Year 7s to have fun with the Year 11 Peer Support students. We had seen them only in Drama classes, so bowling day was a fun day for us all to get to know the Peer Support leaders a bit more while having some friendly competition! We began the day in Foundation Hall, playing games such as musical statues and even taking part in a Kahoot. We then took the bus to the bowling alley and I think I speak for all of us when I say that while scoring strikes, spares and a few straight into the gutter shots we made some awesome friends, and not just from our year level.

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Ancient Civilisations day Ancient Civilisations day was an exciting opportunity to put everything we learnt throughout our Humanities classes into practice. We all made a shields and performed Roman military drills in a competition against the other Tutorials.

We had a real feast for lunch and enjoyed spending the day learning about the fashion, food, music and warfare in ancient times.

7/8 project The Year 7/8 Project was held over the last week of Term 2. The theme was Conspiracy, Truth and Illusion, which made the week a really engaging and interesting time. We had a great start to the topic with some intriguing speeches, a magic show,

an array of documentaries and a film called Race to Witch Mountain about an aliens landing on Earth. But after this, the real fun began. We were put into groups with mixed Year 7 and 8s and were tasked with making a life size diorama on a topic of our choice. There were some amazing projects by all the groups including optic Illusions, The Illuminati, the truth behind the Lost City of Atlantis and many other amazing projects. It was great to get an opportunity to get creative and follow our interests.

Zoo Excursion Our excursion to the Zoo was in Term 3 and it was a fun and interesting day for all the Year 7s. We boarded the buses after Tutorial and headed to Melbourne Zoo. The focus of the day was to learn about endangered species from all over the world and about what things we can do to ensure they are still around for generations to come. These included animals such as; the Philippine crocodile, the Tasmanian devil, African Elephants and the Orangutan.

Throughout the day we created iMovies explaining different ways to save these species which we later showed in class.

Overall, it was a really fun day and we honestly learnt a heap.

It is too hard to pin point the best thing about Year 7! It has been a year of meeting new people, learning new things and having awesome experiences. I think I speak for all of the 2017 Year 7s in saying that we have loved every second of it.

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 21

Middle School

Testing, Testing ‘No test and no grade can quantify honour, and no success can justify dishonour.’

Mr Maynard, Honour Bright

‘To test, or not to test, that is the question.’

Hamlet, Wendy’s Tale

This year’s Middle School production was Testing, Testing. The production consisted of three short plays, each exploring a different aspect of testing and exams in schools. Firstly, Year 7 and 8 students take a light-hearted look at the pressure of being a high achiever and how the need to stay focused in a test can push one to the

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brink of lunacy in High Stakes; then Year 9 students confront a collision of loyalties in Honour Bright; and finally, the whole ensemble expose how success is defined in Wendy’s Tale.

The plays were full of recognisable scenarios that every student (and parent) could relate to, Alan Haehnel’s commentary on the pressure and expectations that come with testing showcased the talents of over seventy of our Middle School students.

Mr Nic Frame Middle School Drama Director

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 23

Middle School

Festival of Performing Arts This year’s Festival of Performing Arts saw all four Houses perform a series of three different performances throughout the day; singing anthems, dancing and acting to their allocated theme.

Annells – Russia Plummer – France Hughes – United Kingdom Arnott – China

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Congratulations to all Middle School students for their great team work and talent! And special mention to Mde Linnea Donnelly and Mr Chris Hart’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and the teachers’ Boot scootin performance that wowed the audience.

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 25

Middle School

Phoebe Li, Yr7 (Winner)

Star Portraits In its eighth year, the Star portrait competition was lucky to have two Stars this year who students had the opportunity to capture. Our two Stars are both retiring staff members in 2017 Madam Linnea Donnelly and Mr Ian Saynor who kindly took the time from their busy schedule to assist with the competition. Under the supervision of Ms McWaters, a number of lunchtime sittings were arranged and many students also worked on their portraits at home.

This year’s winning Star portrait chosen by Ian Saynor was completed by Pheobe Li in Year 7 and a Highly Commended award was given to Bailey Read also in Year 7.

This year’s winning star portrait chosen by Madam Linnea Donnelly was completed by Xavier Magree in Year 9 and a Highly Commended award was given to Sophie Yang also in Year 9.

Thank you to Ms Kristy McWaters for running the competition and for the many students who participated including Bailey Read, Cherie Liu, Ella Mutton, Emily Shi, Grace Niksic, Hunter Hopkins, Maggie Brewer, Megan Tran, Phoebe Li, Sophie Yang, Tiffany Reus, Tyler Joy, Xavier Magree, Zitian Lim.

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Cherie Liu, Yr 8

Xavier Magree, Yr9 (Winner)

Megan Tran, Yr7

Sophie Yang, Yr9 (Highly Commended)

Bailey Read, Yr 7 (Highly Commended)

Zitiam Lim, Yr9

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 27

Senior School

From the Head of Senior School What a great year it has been! The year commenced with two wonderful assemblies to commission the new School Leaders and welcome new staff and a week later as we recognised the academic achievement of the Unit 3 & 4 students from 2016, of which a number were members of the Year 12 class of 2017. Music camp, the resumption of Summer Sport and the House Swimming Carnival all took place in the first few weeks and the year was off and running. Students and staff settled quickly and assessment tasks, home learning and challenging lessons very much became the routine.

The annual Food Wine and Music concert was a great showcase of the extraordinary musical talent across the School. Not long after, the Community Links program was raising money in Term 1 with the Great Yarra Shave and the Good Friday Appeal both raising a record amount of money.

The Year 11 Peer Support program with the Year 7 students and the Year 12 Supportive Friends program commenced for the year. The House Swimming and Athletics tournaments were run and won and over the term break the Chinese exchange students headed to China for two weeks of cultural and language appreciation. Whilst over 50 Senior School students and staff enjoyed the significant sites and stories on the History Tour of Europe visiting France, Germany, Belgium and England.

Term 2 commenced with ANZAC commemorations and the School Captains representing Yarra at the Ringwood Clock Tower for the local dawn service. Winter Sport commenced in earnest for all teams 28 |

with some great wins, narrow losses and even the odd draw. The annual trip to Generations in Jazz in Mount Gambier proved to be a rewarding learning and musical undertaking for the musicians in attendance. The Mother’s Day breakfast and Pink Day raised well needed funds for the McGrath Foundation and the Year 11 Social proved a highlight at Potters with all guests enjoying each other’s company, the great spread and time on the dance floor.

The 2017 Senior Musical, Godspell received great acclaim across the School and local community. A large, bold and imposing set filled the stage and provided the ideal backdrop for the talented actors, singers and dancers who brought many biblical stories to life with great songs and music. The significant efforts of the cast and crew paid off with outstanding performances and delighted audiences.

The Semester 1 exams followed shortly thereafter which saw a change of pace and students across all year levels preparing

earnestly for their examinations and final assessments. The Year 12 Formal was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the end of a busy first half of the year. For the Year 10 students, their term concluded with a week of work experience where they gained much from their time in the workforce and with their many and varied employers and occupations. The UK Cricket tour proved a great success and worthwhile experience for many Senior School cricketers who enjoyed playing matches against schools ten times older than Yarra.

An early focus in Term 3 were subject and tertiary options for 2018 with great conversations being had and selections being made. The visit of students and staff from Johoku, our sister school in Hiroshima, Jazz in the Café and the end of the winter sport season, the Year 10 Social and the Year 11 Presentation Ball all took place in the first four weeks of the term and all proved to be successful events in a busy Senior School program.

Not long thereafter were three new Senior School initiatives. The inaugural Senior School House Music competition saw each House select a song of their choice and then perform it vocally and instrumentally for valuable House points. There was a great sense of competition as well as appreciation for the efforts of those in other Houses. The AGSV School Captains planned a combined AGSV fundraiser to raise money for orphans in Uganda. Our School Captains lead the Yarra Valley Grammar and AGSV charge with a good number of students walking the Trinity Playing fields for this non-sport AGSV activity. Also, the first of the year level chapel services took place with students sharing personal stories and experiences to provide everyday examples to the messages from scripture.

The Year 10 Driver Education Day, Elevate Education seminars, Sonja Karras presentations on being safe when out socially, the departure of the French exchange and the Combined AGSV

Athletics Sports were all great occasions for the Senior School ahead of the end of a busy Term 3.

Following the Unit 3 & 4 trial exams, Term 4 commenced with a special presentation on mental health and wellbeing from former AFL footballer, Wayne Schwass and healthcare professional Paul Bergamo where tips, strategies and approaches were provided. Great results for our A Grade (Year 12) debaters with both teams making it deep into the finals. Throughout the year a group of Year 10 students were involved in a co-curricular activity, Student Enterprise which aimed to raise money through various activities and events for a charity of their choice. They chose Sara’s Project, established by a former Yarra student, Elise Sharpe (YOG 2015) who tragically lost her mother to cancer. This charity aims to provide practical assistance to families dealing with cancer. This year’s Student Enterprise raised $3,700 for Sara’s project. A great effort.

Successful end of year celebrations for the Year 12 students took place ahead of the business end of the academic school year with exams in all subjects across each of the three year levels. Hard work, commitment, dedication and a keen desire to achieve the best possible result all underpinned the approach of students in Years 10, 11 and 12.

Following the exams, the 2018 Getting Started program commenced and the move into next year’s classes began all the great opportunities for involvement, learning and success that will again be part of Senior School life in 2018.

Thanks to all for your contribution in 2017 – it has been a wonderful year!

Mr Andrew Hocking Deputy Principal – Head of Senior School

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 29

Senior School

School Captains’ reflection – a tapestry of experiences Our six years of schooling – tapestries of productions, debates, sports matches, music, classes and everything in between – we’ve come to learn that Yarra is more than just a place of academia.

Yarra has provided the backdrop of our transition into adulthood, teaching us lessons that extend beyond the walls of the classroom, and ensuring that we step into the next chapter of our lives with confidence and integrity.

We certainly have mixed emotions as we leave the security of routine and regularity.

We’re beyond excited to enter the real world, and apply the lessons and ethos we’ve developed at Yarra to life beyond high school. On the other hand, when reflecting on the past six years, it is difficult not to feel a degree of sadness, as we move on from a place that has provided us with so many rich memories and lasting friendships.

Since 2012, from the Sydney Opera House to Lord’s Cricket Ground, the Eiffel Tower to the Great Wall, and everything in between, the Class of 2017 has travelled the world together. Through fire and flood, we’ve seen new facilities rise from the ashes and witnessed the School’s 50th anniversary in a sea of gold.

Yet what stays with us most are the more regular joys of schooling. The Year 7 voice breaks; the infectious energy of Arts

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Weeks; Reverend Joy’s vibrant homilies; House competitions, where everyone hoped that Arnott wouldn’t win, again; and the mad rushes to the Cafe at lunchtimes.

This year alone, despite the distant drums of VCE, we’ve enjoyed being able to drive to school, dress up for our Formal, receive our long-awaited Year 12 jumpers, and bond over Christmas in July.

“Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King Jr. 2017 also saw the growth of our School community and an abundance of extracurricular achievement amongst the cohort.

The PAC transformed into a dystopian, steampunk wonderland as the Senior School Production Godspell came to life.

The Debating program experienced unprecedented success in various competitions, securing its reputation state-wide as a force to be reckoned with.

Perhaps most notably, we witnessed the

AGSV unite in solidarity for the inaugural Dawn to Dusk Walkathon – utilising our combined force to raise money for underprivileged children in Uganda. Our cohort really came together on that chilly day in August; we had more Year 12s walking for charity than any other year level, a true feat given the ever-increasing workload everyone was shouldering during that time. The Walkathon truly showcased the immense good that we as a local community can enact in our world, and, led by our Year 12s, epitomised the beating heart of our school.

We were utterly privileged to be School Captains this year, and as a result we’ve been lucky enough to brush shoulders with numerous inspirational figures from all walks of life, and participate in events that have resonated with us deeply. From AFL players, to V8 Supercar drivers and even NASA scientists, we’ve heard stories of courage, triumph and innovation. We were also lucky enough to experience a Muslim Iftar dinner and discuss equality and progress with some of the young, passionate minds of today. In a world sometimes marred by bigotry and hindered

by hatred, we were reminded of the incomparable values of compassion and acceptance – lessons instilled in us here at Yarra since Day One. So at the end of our journey at Yarra, what have we learnt? We’ve learnt to take every opportunity that crosses our path and make the most of everything. We’ve learnt the value of servant leadership: showing the way rather than telling the way. We’ve learnt the importance of legacy: ensuring that we leave a mark that makes our School a better place than when we began.

Most importantly, we’ve learnt to savour our every moment here at Yarra, because it truly does disappear before you know it.

We’d like to offer enormous thanks to all our teachers and coordinators over the years, for guiding us through the most transformative period of our lives; with special thanks to Dr Merry, Mr Hocking, Ms Sowden and Mr Frazer, for their unparalleled support this year in particular.

Whilst the calculus and chemistry may not be retained, the influence you’ve had on us certainly will be. To our parents – thank you for your patience and trust in us, and for being so committed to our future, wellbeing and happiness.

Finally, to the entire Yarra Valley Grammar community, thank you for making the last six years the most special ones of our lives – we’ll forever be grateful for the way you’ve shaped us and inspired us to be truly confident to achieve.

Finley Griffett and Keeley Heymanson School Captains

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 31

Senior School

French exchange to Bordeaux The French Exchange 2017 was an unforgettable experience. Travelling to a whole new country was both a nerve-wracking and exciting journey that many of us had been looking forward to for three years and we were not disappointed.

Boarding the plane and knowing we were leaving Australia for three whole weeks was a thrill in itself and the train to Bordeaux was filled with beautiful scenery and eight nervous girls, as we pulled up to the station. Meeting the people we would be staying with created butterflies in our stomachs, but little did we know that those exact individuals would become our second family. Eating, sleeping and being part of a French family was a completely different experience for all of us, but attending school with our new French friends topped it all. The school building itself was a gorgeous olden-style design compared to our school’s modern one, both unique in their own ways. We were easily able to recognise the differences between the two schools, including how they did not have set classes and technology was replaced by pens and paper. Needless to say, attending English class was thoroughly entertaining and interesting for us as we were finally able to understand what the French teacher and class were talking about. Although most of our vocabulary

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consisted of variations in saying “I don’t understand”, our French speaking skills quickly developed over the course of the exchange and our three years of learning French had finally come to fruition.

Our visit to Bordeaux did not merely consist of attending school. Multiple excursions were organised to visit numerous monuments inside and outside of Bordeaux. A personal favourite was climbing La Dune Du Pilat and with it Arcachon, the dunes being absolutely stunning and Arcachon itself being a beautiful area to visit. However, it was not easy to pick a favourite as we also went to see St Emilion, le Miroir d’eau, and the Pey Berland, just to name a few. Trips like these gave us the opportunity to emerge ourselves into the history and culture of Bordeaux whilst bonding with the buddies that travelled with us. We quickly learned to be fond of bread, pastries and cheeses as we adapted to a French diet and probably ate more than we intended to.

Unfortunately, these meals came to an end as we spent our last night with our new families and bid them farewell at the train station which involved many tears and promises to keep in touch.

The train trip to Paris had a slow escalation of excitement as our dampened spirits about leaving our newly formed families were rekindled by realising we were arriving in Paris. Our first sighting of the

Eiffel Tour had us all out of our seats in excitement and we then watched the architecture that defines Paris speed past us. Over the course of the next three days we visited the famous spectacles of Paris including the Notre Dame, the Sacré Coeur, the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre and of course, the Eiffel Tour. These monuments had us staring in awe at the incredible details and architecture that was defined by each destination’s unique history.

Finishing off our stay in Paris, we took a cruise down La Seine and watched the Eiffel Tower light up the sky before making our way to a restaurant for dinner. It was at this point we all tried the renowned frog legs and snails that France was famous for.

Overall, our stay in Paris was short and sweet but it was the perfect way to end our wonderful exchange in France.

Our three weeks spent in this beautiful country have been filled with fond and irreplaceable memories that we will all cherish for many years to come. On behalf of all of the students involved, I would like to thank all of those who made this exchange possible including our beautiful sister school and especially Madame Douglas and Monsieur Marden for accompanying us and making this the amazing experience it was.

Chantelle Lappin Year 10

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 33

Senior School

China Tour adventures On 1 April, our group of 10 excited students and two teachers said goodbye to our parents and began our journey.

We didn’t really know the other students we were travelling with, but little did we know that we would make to most amazing memories with them over the next two weeks.

The lead up to our trip was filled with nerves, excitement, anticipation and exhaustion after our 5:00 wake-up, as we sat in our seats waiting to board the plane.

To Mr Harper’s excitement, the plane sitting in front of our gate was a brand new A380 Airbus. As the departure time came closer his excitement turned to dread as the Airbus pulled away to be replaced by a plane half the size. This was equally painful for all the students because we had to put up with all his whining. We arrived in Beijing late on the Saturday night and most of us slept on the ride to our hotel. It was going to be a big first day, so we settled in, and got the best night sleep that we could.

Over the first few days in Beijing, we travelled around with our tour guide Li and explored some of the most amazing places ever. These included the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, pearl market, Olympic stadium, and our highlight of the whole trip, The Great Wall of China. This was a sight among sites and this was the day where we all bonded and created stronger friendships. Even though it was quite a hike, at the top all the students gathered and got to know each other. The pearl market was also a highlight and it was a mission to buy as much as we could afford in the short period of time. Some of us bargained, and bargained until we got the prices that we wanted and left with bags and bags full of our purchases while others felt bad about not paying enough and were

tricked into paying too much. Beijing was an amazing city, even though it was highly polluted, there were buildings that towered over us, and at night the city lit up like Christmas tree.

At the end of our stay in Beijing we headed to the train station which was a constant struggle to stay in line against the constant flow of pushing and shoving locals. It was fair to say that it was very different to Ringwood Station! Aboard the train we took the time to get some homework done, rest and get ready for some more sightseeing. We left the station and got on a bus with our new guide, Michael. The drive to Pingyao felt shorter because of Michael’s constant stream of western jokes. On arrival at the walled city of Pingyao we all loaded into little golf buggies and headed towards the hotel. The difference between the old traditional buildings on the inside of the wall and the modern skyscrapers on the outside was amazing. As we walked through the door of the hotel we were greeted by the sight of a traditional looking courtyard with a water fountain and big neon sign that would soon become our tea and cards area. Being an historical city we spent the bulk of our time going to see all the old buildings and learning about their history. After dinner each night we were given free time on the main shopping street to explore and shop with whatever money we had left over after the pearl market.

Our final stay was Shanghai. It was Harp’s birthday the day we travelled to Shanghai and to celebrate we had a Korean BBQ for dinner. It was quite a feast and even though we ate as much as we could, unfortunately we had to leave lots of leftovers. Our time in Shanghai consisted of exploring the museums, viewing China from great heights, walking through the old streets and comparing them to the new ones. For dinner we enjoyed banquets of food and enjoyed some more free time to spend the last of our spending money. The city lit up at night, and with the tall skyscraper buildings, the lights floated around us.

We also spent a few days with our host buddies and experienced what life is like for our Chinese friends. It was very different to what life is like in Australia and their school days are much longer and they don’t have the same opportunities as us.

Even though we missed out on a school day with our buddies (due to exams being scheduled), each student experienced their own version of a life in China. On the last day most of us went to Disneyland in Shanghai and had an amazing time on all the rides.

The trip was one of a lifetime. We built on our language skills, experienced life in China, and dived deep into their history and culture. Friendships were made and will last us forever, as we laugh about our times of China and inside jokes in the corridors at school. Our memories and photos will remind us of the amazing time we had in another country as we experienced two weeks without our parents.

Thank you to Mr Harper and Ms Hogan for looking after us all so well and making our trip so much fun!

Dani King and Isaac Taylor Year 10

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www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 35

Senior School

History Tour – an incredible journey Over the Easter break, 47 students and six teachers took the trip of a lifetime to Europe. The History Tour was an unbelievable experience filled with amazing cities, incredible people and food that even the thought of still makes me hungry.

The adventure began with a gruelling 23 hour flight to Berlin with a stop-over in Qatar.

We reached Germany and began with a bus tour of the city. We saw many incredible palaces, monuments and places of renowned history. The next morning saw us take a tour of the Museum Island, a patch of land in the middle of Berlin housing five dazzling famous museums. In the Neu Museum we were treated to a guided tour of the Egyptian collection including the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti. The tour spiked a curiosity as to the lost world of Ancient Egypt, only to be further captured by the Pergamon Museum, the home of the Gates of Babylon, a huge blue gate that epitomised the grandeur of Ancient times and a reminder of the impressive architecture yet to come.

We continued the day with an impressive walking tour of Berlin where we took in all

the indescribable beauty of a city we had only just learnt to love, finishing with a raw reminder of the history of Berlin at the Typography of Terror museum where we explored the horrific history of the Nazi Regime. At a piece of the former Wall, some of Mr Hart’s former colleagues discussed their lives in former East Germany.

The next day we ventured to the Reichstag, an impressive building of old and new but we were delayed a little by the lack of passports required for entry (I believe still sitting in an unnamed Year 8 coordinator’s safe). However, the wait was surely worth it with spectacular views of a city we had grown to adore. We then ventured to one of the most moving, bleak and important places of our tour- the Nazi and later Soviet prison camp at Sachsenhausen.

The camp was explained to us as the model of all other German camps. It was the testing site of the extermination methods of the Nazis and instilled in every one of us the horror of war and put in front of us the physical product of an ideology we could only ever read about from textbooks. We finished our day and prepared to journey to the other side of the Second World War. London.

Watching the Grenadier Guards march through the square of Buckingham Palace donned with the famous Bearskin Caps was tourist heaven. A walk around Trafalgar Square, Westminster and Oxford Street was incredible. Standing beside a to-scale Lego replica of the Queen in Hamley’s was an experience for sure. Later the tour of Westminster Abbey, decorated with the memorials of the most well-known members of British History gave us scope

to truly admire the history of British civilisation. The London Eye was also a special experience, watching the sunset bathing Big Ben, the Thames and St James’ Park. The Tower of London was also an impressive visit. The Crown Jewels dazzled and amazed us. The collection included the famous Crown and Coronation garbs and the Royal punch bowl which I can only describe as a solid gold vat that could hold enough punch to quench the thirst of the entire British Empire. The British Museum also amazed us with its collection of iconic pieces such as the Rosetta stone, the Parthenon treasures and the Japanese Samurai Armour. The night finished with the Jack the Ripper tour, a freaky and nail biting excursion into the darker side of London’s past. We were all reminded that Jack the Ripper was never caught and although we knew he lived before the First World War, it really didn’t do anything to keep us from walking very briskly away from dark alleyways!

Mr Hart looked like he was about to have an apoplectic fit when we entered the entrance for the Harry Potter Studio tour.

The Tri-wizard Cup, the self-washing dishes of the Wesley’s and Platform 9 and ¾ were all fan highlights. A Butter beer rest stop was equally as popular as the gift shop where I think the entire wand collection was cleared out by the Yarra hoard.

From London we took the Euro Star into France and a bus into Belgium. The day there consisted of a fascinating visit to the Flanders Field Museum and a trip to the Belgian chocolate store where a very convincing tourist trap managed to sell as much chocolate as possible to our group of willing customers. The fun was humbled by the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate administered by visiting Canadians with whom we made good friends.

We re-entered France and travelled to Amiens where we conducted a memorial at the Australian Villers-Bretonneux War Cemetery. The gravity of Australia’s Baptism of Fire on the battlefield was one that brought an individual message to each of us. For some of us being able to see the graves or plaques of family members who perished in France truly changed our own relationship with the seemingly never ending fields of Amiens. The knowledge of the sacrifice of the ANZACs was never more strongly expressed than the Victoria School. The still functioning Primary School was built by the pennies collected by the children of Victoria after WW1. The sign Never Forget Australia still hangs high and

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boldly in the middle of the grounds. Such gratitude to Australia still expressed almost 100 years since the completion of the school was unbelievable and humbling.

A bus ride later we were in Caen. We visited the former Castle of William the Conquer as well as the Museum de Caen.

The next day we explored the D-Day landing sites, including Pointe du Hoc as well as the American War Cemetery. We ventured into the town of Bayeux home of the Bayeux Tapestry. Mr Lawrence was visibly giddy with excitement despite it being the 3rd or 4th time visiting the 70 metre long embroidery. All of our Year 9 Flashpoints expertise came into play in exploring the tale of William of Normandy and the Battle of Hastings triumphing over King Harold.

Our final bus trip to Paris was broken up by a trip to Claude Monet’s home and garden which was spectacular in its artistic beauty.

The colours of the spring flowers were only trumped by the red, white and blue flag flying beneath the Arc de Triomphe. The seemingly never ending stair cases welcomed us to an incredible view of Paris including the Champs Elysees where we later spent the day shopping much to Ms Pannach’ s delight.

Our tour continued with a visit to Sainte Chapelle, an incredible church covered in stained glass which filled the hall with incredible colour. After a photo outside

Notre Dame, we indulged in a cultural dinner in the Latin Quarter. With souvenir shopping completed, we headed to the Eiffel Tower. Cameras at the ready, we joined the hordes of tourists in capturing every inch of the Paris landscape bathed in a once in a lifetime blood red moon. The famous flashing lights were joined with the necessary oohs and aahs as we all tried our best to Snapchat what we could with limited Wi-Fi connection.

The next day we delved into the tunnels of the Paris Catacombs where human skulls eerily watched us explore the haunting tunnels of the city’s former mine network.

We went from the tunnels of Paris underground to climbing the hills of Sacre Coeur. The amazing artisan village was an interesting departure from the usual Paris surrounds. Revs students started having blinding flashbacks as we entered the Tennis Court of Versailles where we recreated the famous Tennis Court Oath.

Those not so familiar with the history of the revolutions of France were given a brief crash course whilst Mr Hart and the Revs students went around the room screaming “I know him, was it him or the other one who got their heads cut off, oh wait it was both”. Of course from there we visited the Palace of Versailles, a home covered in solid gold. A place that houses a personal church, a full Hamer Hall sized theatre and endless gold covered and sculpted rooms.

We had an hour to explore the 2,000 acres

of manicured gardens which meant a lot of running around with cameras in hand but none the less it was unforgettable.

The final day of the tour was spent in groups, Art, Revolutions or Napoleon with each bringing its own fascination and amazement. The Louvre was a mad rush to see and appreciate endless hallways of art with the Mona Lisa amazing us as expected. The enormity of each work simply was drowned out by the sheer quantity of incredible art that apparently takes 15 full days to see. What little we did see was amazing never the less and something all of us will remember.

We spent our last night on a cruise down the River Seine which so aptly rounded off our last day. With a bit of a hiccup in transport we made it to the airport and begrudgingly took the 24 hour flight home.

This tour was one of, if not the, most incredible journeys of our lives. We grew as friends and shared amazing fun, memories dinners and hilarity.

On behalf of all the students we cannot thank enough Ms Pannach, Ms Prosenak, Mr Marden, Mr Hart, Ms Armstrong and of course our tour leader, Mr Lawrence. Your endless planning and ability to adapt to all the changing situations whilst overseas amazes all of us and saved us endless amounts of stress and grief.

Alexander Readman Year 12 www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 37

From the Head of Department

Music – wonderful performances and music-making 2017 has been a busy year full of tremendous performances and wonderful music-making in the Yarra Valley Grammar Music Department.

From the Music Camp at Warburton, to the Food Wine and Music Concert, Generations in Jazz and the Victorian School Music festival to the Choral Concert and Symphonic Showcase, from South Street to the Presentation Evenings, there has never been a time when the students of the Music Department have not been busy!

One of the things of which I am most proud about our Music Department is the breadth of outstanding opportunities it offers our students; whether it be in strings or bands or choral or jazz, there are opportunities everywhere for our students to excel.

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Many schools are strong in one or two of these strands; few can offer excellence in all of them.

The Music staff are constantly aware that the standards our groups are able to achieve is largely the result of the dedication and hard work of the hundreds of Yarra students who choose to involve themselves in music ensembles – which, it should not be forgotten, are voluntary activities. The many hours of rehearsals before school, after school, during lunchtimes and across weekends are not easy to fit in to an already busy schedule of

academic, sporting, family and social activities, and we thank all students for their efforts and commitment throughout the year.

A critical factor in the success of the music program is the support we receive from parents. This support comes in many forms, including the financial commitments to lessons and instruments, attendance at concerts, and tolerance and encouragement of the many and varied sounds coming from your children’s rooms as they practice. Not the least the contribution of the parents is the many hours of unpaid taxi-work that allows our program to operate. We thank you all!

A particularly active group of parents around the Music Department are the ones that form the nucleus of Yarra Music. This marvellous group, which does so much to support the activities of the Music Department, again had a significant impact on the opportunities offered to our students in 2017. Yarra Music’s contribution this year included the purchase of a magnificent new set of four orchestral Timpani, financial support for the Yarra Music Year 7 scholarship and Concerto competition, and the organisation of some iconic annual events, including Food Wine & Music, Jazz in the Café, and the Music Awards night. This year sees the retirement of the indefatigable Mrs Ruth Collins from the role of President of Yarra Music after eight years in the position, as her time as a Yarra parent concludes. Ruth has had an enormous impact on music at Yarra during her time in the role, and the legacy of her leadership as an extremely strong Yarra

Music group and a wonderfully resourced Music Department. She will be missed.

Of course, the busy co-curricular music program is the public face of what the Music Department does, but that is over and above the core business of 400 students undertaking weekly music lessons, classes being taught from Kindergarten to Year 12, and hundreds of AMEB examinations being sat throughout the year. Staff movements throughout the year in the Music Department included the departure of our Administrator, Mrs Wilna Praekelt in Term 4, and the welcoming of her successor, Ms Samantha Moon. In Term 4 Ms Shelley Heath set off to explore the sub-continent on Long Service Leave, and we were fortunate to be able to work with Ms Eugenie TeychennĂŠ in her absence. Our student leaders, Eliza Turner and Blakely McLean Davies in the Senior School, and Carla Blackburn and Matthew Koo in the Middle School, have done an excellent job throughout the year, and have led their peers well. We have had an exceptionally large and talented group of Year 12 students involved with the music program this year and in thanking them for their contribution to Music at Yarra Valley Grammar, we wish them a lifetime of enjoyable music making.

As the year draws to a close, my thanks goes to the entire hard working team staff of the Music Department. The ongoing success of the YVG Music program is built on the talented and passionate team of staff we are lucky to have, and it is their enthusiasm, organisational skills and vision that enable our students to enjoy such wonderful opportunities in Music.

Mr Scott Templeton Director of Music

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 39

From the Head of Department

Drama – great opportunities and new challenges New challenges, different experiences, and wonderful performances have marked 2017 as a great year in the Drama Department.

Middle School students have explored a range of topics, all based on co-operation, creativity, and inclusion. Being a positive and constructive group member is not as easy as it seems and this was a focus point in all classes. The Year 7s explored storytelling in a range of styles; as individuals and in small groups. The students made trailers for Spy movies and experimented with scripts. Developing their work from the stimulus was the focus in Year 8 classes. Students used storyboarding and scripts to add tension and comedy to a range of performances.

Year 9 included two subjects each with a new focus and challenge. Students in Musical Theatre explored this genre in class workshops, honing their skills in Dancing, Singing, and Acting, working both as individuals and in small groups. The students performed a variety of pieces in their first class Showcase to an appreciative audience. The other subject, From Page to Stage, gave the students the opportunity to use scripts in groups and develop a performance taking the words off the page and onto the stage. They also worked as a whole class in one performance which challenged them to explore mood and how to change it. These four plays were performed to an audience early in Term 4.

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Senior classes saw students creating new works and performing many different pieces. The Year 10 students explored the style of non-naturalism and developed solo and ensemble work. They combined to create an ensemble performance piece that showcased their developing skills and interests. The students tackled all aspects of production, learning about symbolism, stagecraft and actor-audience relationships.

The Year 11 students continued to develop their expressive and performance skills in both ensemble and solo tasks. They spent a day at the Melbourne Festival watching an Indigenous performance at The Malthouse Theatre and playing the part of Groundlings at the pop-up Globe as they experienced Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the way it originally intended. The Year 11s joined with the Year 12s to take part in an expressive skills workshop run by Zeal Theatre, where they focused on the little but important details of characterisation.

The senior students also watched Zeal perform The Stones, a play highlighting how one action can change people’s lives forever.

The Year 12 students created an interesting ensemble performance based on the theme of Perspectives and using The Truman Show as a stimulus, the

students considered how phony idyllic settings can mask a system of surveillance and social control. They continued their performance work with their VCAA Solo performances.

The Senior School musical this year was Godspell; a truly challenging production on so many levels. The set involved a massive three tiered scaffold of platforms and steps; so high all the cast needed a safety induction before they could work on it.

The show included wonderful singing, strong synchronised dancing, comedy, and pathos. It played to large and appreciative audiences and the cast and crew worked extremely hard to create something very special.

Semester two was all about the Middle School production, Testing, Testing. This was a series of three plays exploring an aspect of school life in very different ways.

The students worked very well together, accepting the challenge of ensemble work and different roles with enthusiasm and commitment.

The Drama Department takes great pride in providing a place for our students to come and explore performance and production experiences. Thank you to you all the staff and the students who continue to support and work with us in creating lifelong memories.

Ms Jane Marshall Head of Drama

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From the Head of Department

Art Design and Technology highlights De Bortoli Print Award

2017 Top Arts Exhibition at NGV

Yarra Valley Grammar and De Bortoli Wines first established a relationship in 2002 with the Yarra Valley Print Award. This year the De Bortoli Print Award became a part of the Co-curricular program at the School.

Interested students in the Senior School were given the opportunity to respond to a real life brief from De Bortoli and using the medium of printmaking, create a wine label that would potentially be selected to go to print later in the year.

The Top Arts exhibition has been running for 23 years and presents outstanding work by students who have completed Art or Studio Art studies in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). In 2017, 47 Students across Victoria were selected in the Exhibition held at the National Gallery of Victoria.

The students travelled to Dixon’s Creek to visit De Bortoli Winery, and were given a quick tour of the property. Then the students were invited to the Cellar Door to discuss the De Bortoli range and view the many different label designs. The students received a brief to come up with a name, as well as design a wine label for a new pale, dry Rosé.

The following students are congratulated for completing their designs and submitting their work for the prize: Year 12 Hannah Rothery Year 11 Natalya Morris

Jack Wang Year 10 Alex Lou

Alise Anderson Congratulations go to this year’s winner, Alex Lou, whose design Leanne felt best suited the design brief.

Thank you to their teacher, Ms Kristy McWaters for all her time and effort in creating this fantastic opportunity for our Senior students.

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Yarra Valley Grammar had two students selected to be in the 2017 exhibition, an outstanding achievement and we are very proud of students Steven Song and Kanisha Farrell for their efforts.

Arts Week AND Artists in Residence Arts Week 2017 was another exciting and successful week full of activities for everyone to be involved in.

The week started with the Arts Week assembly where the students competed against the Staff in the first ever Arts Week Challenge. This was a wonderful success, with lots of laughter keeping everyone entertained.

This year our Artist in Residence, Ruskidd worked with our Year 9 student leaders to develop a mural for the Year 9 Locker area that incorporated the themes of the Year 9 program. Ruskidd works with the Melbourne Street tours at Blender Studios in Melbourne and had met some of the Year 9 Students during their city experience week. The finished artwork was installed in the Year 9 centre and is a wonderful reminder of the important experiences that occur throughout the Year 9 Program.

Throughout the week every lunch time was full of activities for the students to get involved including badge making, virtual reality, Master Chef, drama games, theatre make up, cupcake decorating and various music performances. Needless to say, it was an action packed week that was enjoyed by all.

VCE Graduate Art, Design and Technology Exhibition The Graduate Exhibition is always a highlight of the year and 2017 did not disappoint. The standard of work was really high and it’s a wonderful opportunity for the Year 12 students to celebrate all their hard work throughout the year. The 2017 Art, Design & Technology Endeavour Awards were also announced. An Endeavour Award is given to a student whose effort and commitment to achieving in a VCE Art, Design & Technology subject has been unfailing. Recipients of the Endeavour Awards have been highly committed throughout the year and have spent countless hours inside and outside of the classroom working on their folios and final works. This year it was an extremely hard decision for the Department to make, as there were so many students committed to achieving at a high standard and we commend them all for their efforts.

The following students were given an Art Design and Technology Endeavour Awards: • Hannah Rothery • Sam Kent • Audrey Bogemann Mrs Ngaire Thomson Head of Art Design & Technology

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 43

From the Head of Department

Hearing Unit – celebrating 45 years The Hearing Unit celebrated its 45th year this year as part of Yarra Valley Grammar. During Hearing Awareness Week in August we unveiled a new Honour Board for the Hearing Unit Citizenship award. This award was the brainchild of Ms Jenny Rolleston who was the Head of the Hearing Unit between 1991 and 2004. Jenny came back to unveil the board as part of the 45th celebrations. It was announced that Adem Goktepe had achieved the Citizenship award for 2017. guest speaker was Paula Zalcberg, counsellor to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This was part of our Wellness program.

With 23 students from Prep to Year 12, the Hearing Unit has had a very successful year. We welcomed three new families at the start of the year and said goodbye to our two Year 12s later in the year.

On the sporting front Ben Baulch of Year 4 went to the National competitions in Hobart to compete in the Cross Country Multi Class where he came 2nd.

A wonderful effort. Abbey Gartlan represented Victoria at the National Track and Field games in Sydney in Shot put multiclass. Abbey achieved a personal best and was placed in 8th position. Another wonderful effort. Joshua Randall of Year 10 achieved the Best and Fairest award for the Year 10 Football team.

Lachlan Baulch also of Year 4 was chosen earlier in the year to represent Victoria in the Power of Speech awards in Canberra where he won the Prime Minister’s Courage award.

At the end of Term 1 Jaya Palmer of Year 8 participated in the World’s Greatest Shave

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Other highlights for our students were Amara Crotty performing on stage with her Year 2 French class a French song.

Emily Baulch of Year 8 making the State Finals of the National History Challenge.

Nelson Vu of Year 10 being involved in the Refugee Tutoring Program at Mitcham Primary School. raising over $1,000 for cancer research.

Josh Randall, Year 10, Emily Baulch, Year 8 and Riley Gurry, Year 7 participated in the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

During the year the Hearing Unit had two Parent Information evenings which were very well attended. In March Mr Phil Callil, Director of IT Services addressed our parents about the School parent portal and Canvas online reporting. In August the

Our students have not only worked hard to achieve the best academic results they can, but they involved themselves in a wide range of extra-curricular activities across the School.

I extend my congratulations and thanks to the Hearing Unit staff for their continuing commitment to the students and families of the Hearing Unit.

Mr Ian Saynor Head of the Hearing Unit

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 45

From the Head of Department

Humanities – spectacular achievements In 2017, the Humanities Department revelled in exciting activities and saw spectacular student achievement.

The Year 7 Humanities students continued to learn about the history of the School this year and looked at exciting initiatives for the United Nations for the first time this year. At the annual Ancient Civilisations Day at the end of the year, they sported costumes from classical times and performed military exercises on the Patterson Oval. Garry Stone once again presented the budding archaeologists with his knowledge and fascinating traveling museum in Foundation Hall.

Year 8 Humanities started the year studying Medieval Europe and were treated to Medieval Day at Kryal Castle where in full costume, the students learnt about medieval weaponry, fortifications, archery and apothecary; however, the highlight for many was the award-winning jousting. At the end of the day, the Year 8s split into camps of Saxon and Norman warriors and recreated the Battle of Hastings, with the medieval walls looking over the slope near Ballarat becoming Senlac Hill. After completing work on Medieval Japan, Johoku High School exchange students made the link to modern day and assisted the Year 8s in exploring the ancient skill of calligraphy and origami. The National History Challenge challenged students to research and to present an aspect of History of their choice based on the theme

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of Making a Better World?. After every Year 8 student had presented his or her work, a record 19 projects were chosen to proceed into judging at Regionals. From that level, a Yarra record 10 projects went to States and an incredible five were selected to continue, with four winning in their categories at States and four going on to be finalists at Nationals.

The calibre of the National History Challenge was extremely high this year.

What makes this so extraordinary is that students in the special categories defeated students of senior levels at other year levels. Aijah Glenn was a National finalist and State award winner for the Indigenous category on her display of differing views and effects of colonisation. Jamie Nance, Lauren Dickins and Ben Stevenson were National finalists and State winners in the Democracy category for their model and display of the British suffragettes. Indianna Reynoldson-Ross’s excellent model and display on World War II officer Desmond

Doss and his heroic undertakings at Hacksaw Ridge saw her become a National finalist and winner of Year 8 overall at States. Thomas McIntosh was a Nationals finalist and received a State Commendation for placing in the top three at Year 8 for his essay on the Berlin Wall.

Carol Tao, Anya Cheng and Maddie Hood won the State category in the Museum category on Anne Frank. These exceptional results were due to great passion, effective research and the great preparedness of the Humanities team. The students were presented with awards and prizes on Friday, 20 October at CQ Functions in the City.

The Year 9s enjoyed the Humanities electives. In partnership with the Theatre and Art Departments, Civics and Citizenship Week began with a touching ANZAC Assembly by both Middle and a Senior School assemblies performed by Year 11 Drama students and the Chapel Wardens reading key World War I poetry with students dropping petals, representing the fallen. Civics and Citizenship Week explored the idea of being an active citizen with students visiting the Trades Hall, discovering the story behind the Separation Tree, learning about the trauma of the returning World War I veterans at Love and Sorrow at the Melbourne Museum, following the course of Australian democracy at the Old Treasury Building, amongst other activities, some run by knowledgeable Yarra Old Grammarians, Bronwyn Beech-Jones and Jeremy Doupe.

Year 10 War, Boom and Bust students went on to compete in The Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC essay competition.

Budding historians Sarah Heather, Zac Legge and Georgia Scott were selected from entries across the state for final judging in December.

More students competed at the Evatt Competition this year. Evatt is a Model United Nations Security Council diplomacy competition for students in Years 10 to 12, with more than 2,000 students competing each year. This year Finely Griffett and Alex Readman made it to Finals again, held at the Legislative Council at State Parliament.

They won the State title after a day’s worth of debate and negotiation in the chambers of the Victorian Legislative Council, meaning that they also secured a place at Nationals in Canberra in December, the culmination of tireless work over the course of the last few years.

VCE Humanities students participated in great academic activities again this year.

The Psychology classrooms were lively with many hands on learning activities with Year 11 students going to the Junior School to complete psychological research in the area of childhood development and also carrying out blind taste testings of potato chips and Tim Tams to better understand sensory perception. This year the Year 12 class visited the Epworth Sleep Clinic in East Melbourne to support their studies of sleep and consciousness, while there, students were able to see a sleep laboratory in action. Australian History students had noteworthy historian Dr Jacqualine Rankin attend class and provide academic lectures. Twentieth Century History students attended the Jewish Holocaust Centre, heard a powerful testimony from a survivor and then were debriefed by the grandson of a survivor at the Budapest Restaurant.

In addition, they listened to a riveting account of the Vietnam War by Colonel (Ret.) Philip Kearsley, AM. Unit 3 and 4 History: Revolutions students attended the lectures of Dr Michael Adcock, author of one of their revised text books, and Dr Brian Brennan.

The second YVG History Tour was a grand success and detailed in another area of this publication as is the new Model Citizens program.

Whilst one of the subjects offered in Humanities is History, we certainly are looking forward to the future for our Humanities students in 2018.

Mr Chris Hart Head of Humanities

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 47

From the Head of Department

Languages – a different vision of life “A different language is a different vision of life” These words uttered by famous film director, Federico Fellini were adopted as the theme for the Languages Festival in May. Throughout the year, our students have gained an insight into different cultures and perspectives as they have developed skills in class, participated in competitions, sampled cuisines, forged friendships with exchange buddies and travelled overseas. Many of these opportunities have proved unforgettable and life changing experiences.

Alliance Française Poetry Competition Félicitations to the state finalists who scored full marks for their poem recitation for the judges.

Year 7: Andy Huang, Kaz Skudutis Year 8: Jack Butcher, Will Davis, Thomas McIntosh, Sarah McNamara, Jamie Nance, Emily Shi and Zac Warton Year 10: Taylor Dykstra, Tuomas Makela, Max Sammann and Matthew Stevenson Year 11: Edward Fleming Year 12: Piper Blake, Keeley Heymanson and David MacPherson Special congratulations to James McIntosh who was awarded 3rd prize in the state!

VILTA Sayembara Lisan Finals Congratulations to Ben Adams (Year 11) who achieved first prize in the State for the Indonesian speaking competition.

Language Perfect World Championships More than 400,000 questions were answered by our students. Congratulations to Richard Wang and Yixin Deng who achieved Elite awards and answered more than 12,000 questions each!

Farewell to Madame/Bu Donnelly After 12 years of dedication to the teaching of both French and Indonesian, Linnea Donnelly is leaving us to travel the world at her leisure. Whether it be trekking through Malaysia or Bordeaux, organising the Sayembara Lisan and Indonesian Independence day competitions, providing oral practice, arranging excursions or guiding students from Year 7 to 12, Linnea has always shown amazing commitment and enthusiasm to her students and to the teaching of languages. We wish her all the very best for her retirement!

Ms Anne Douglas Head of Languages

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IT and Digital Learning report 2017 was a year of consolidation of the 2016 improvements to both Digital Learning and the Yarra Valley Grammar network infrastructure.

This was the final year of a three year Strategic Document for IT and Digital Learning. This plan sits under the 2015 – 2020 Teaching and Learning Strategic Plan.

Canvas Learning Management became central to assessment and evaluation in the Middle School and Senior School. In 2017, real time reporting was introduced. This enables parents to see academic results of their daughter and/or son as they are released by the teacher. Canvas access also includes access to the academic content studied in class as well as both homework requirements and formal assessment. A Transcript of Results with a final result that includes a summary of academic, pastoral and behavioural progress has replaced the Semester Report. We believe the move towards real time reporting is an important one that represents a paradigm shift in the cycle of school assessment and reporting with more immediate information available to both students and parents. The opportunities for students to respond to critical teacher feedback will also improve.

their Mathematics investigations. A Coding Club meeting is held weekly and a Coding and Robotics Day was held in Term 3 in the Junior School. In Years 7 and 8, Coding and Robotics Days were held for all students in Term 4. Next year, as part of a new curriculum approach in Year 8, coding and robotics will be catered for.

A new media team was formed in the Senior School under the direction of Mr Mark Schumann. This group has worked long hours enthusiastically after school to create digital content. Elsewhere, Drone Club meetings were held in the middle part of the year with a number of students involved with the planning of drone races.

Action Research projects by our teachers has become a feature of the Professional Learning program over the last two years.

The program for this year culminated recently with presentations by teacher teams to their peers with many topics featuring digital learning. Digital learning research will no doubt continue to be a focus in the 2018 program.

At the time of writing, the new Swim Centre is close to being operational from the IT point of view. Significant planning has been undertaken for the new Research Centre and Chapel from an IT, AV and digital learning perspective. This will be a state of the art flexible learning space and place of worship. Next year will also see the introduction of paperless permissions for excursions, sports and camps and a scheduled review of the learning device program in the Middle School. In the Junior School, there will be an extension of the class sets of iPads in preparation for the selection of a Learning Management System relevant to the Junior School.

This year marks the completion of the first year of a partnership with Interleave, our new IT Services provider. Sincere thanks are extended to the following Interleave staff for their professionalism and attention to detail in the myriad of service support provided to students, teachers and Administration staff.

Mr Philip Callil Director of IT and eLearning

A new Community Portal was launched at the start of the 2017 academic year and this portal has become be a one stop shop for students, their families, staff and the wider Yarra Valley Grammar community.

The Yarra Digital Learning tab has Canvas tutorials for parents and information on all things relating to both digital learning and IT at Yarra Valley Grammar. Music, Sport and Drama as well as links to all parts of the School are also located in the Community Portal.

In January 2017, the School undertook an ambitious project to replace 48 Interactive Whiteboards with mostly 84’ touch screen digital panels. This was delivered on time and on budget over 21 days. Our IT and Maintenance departments are thanked for working seamlessly with our AV Integrator to make this a successful project. The renewal of our fibre optic network was completed as was the completion of a network switching project with both resulting in a more robust network that holds us in good stead for the foreseeable future.

Coding in schools has begun to gather momentum nationally and internationally and Yarra has initiated several learning projects around this. In the Junior School, our Preps have been using BeeBots in

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 49

From the Head of Department

English – focus on reading “The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary.” J. K. Rowling Above is the mantra of an English teacher in any classroom, at any year level – it’s very helpful that the creator of Harry Potter is on our side!

With the above quote in mind, 2017 has seen some wonderful activities being undertaken in the English Department.

We’ve experimented with journal writing, slam poetry with our visiting poet Joel and Master Classes in Year 12 across the three Areas of Study. A group of our Middle School girls attended the Stellar Prize – Girls Write Up Festival and of course, we all loved the Great Debate, held for the last time in the PRC. We are very fortunate to have a breadth of options under the umbrella of English that

cater to a range of student interests and passions. Our EAL students enjoyed a day at ACMI listening to a presentation on their texts presented by a panel of experts, the Literature students immersed themselves in exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Year 10s discovered what it means to be a Script Writer from an actual Script Writer. Persuasive language skills were once again showcased by the Yarra Valley Grammar debaters under the excellent coaching of Ms Iva Roncevic, Debating Coordinator, culminating in teams making it through to the quarter finals and then the semi-finals of the Debating Association of Victoria competition. An outstanding effort by a very talented group of students.

The 2017 Yarra Valley Grammar English Department was made up of dynamic, enthusiastic and passionate teachers eager to create a love of Language & Literature in their classrooms. As a Department, we

have embraced the new Study Designs at Year 12 and thrown our energy into updating our texts at other year levels.

Looking ahead, 2018 will be another great year full of new characters, settings and adventures.

However, we will move forward without our much loved Head Librarian, Ms Liz Montanaro, who has departed to the shores of Port Phillip Bay and retirement. Liz, through her passion for the Year 7 and 8 Reading Program, has instilled the love of reading in countless Yarra students with her ability to choose just the right book to meet any request; student or staff alike.

Liz’s greatest legacy is undoubtedly Literature Week, which was one of the most eagerly awaited annual events on the Yarra calendar – she will be greatly missed by both students and her colleagues.

The New Year opens a new chapter on the journey for our English students; one that should be welcomed with enthusiasm as your knowledge and skills grow.

“You don’t just have a story – you’re a story in the making, and you never know what the next chapter’s going to be. That’s what makes it exciting.” Dan Millman Mrs Dawn Ross Head of English

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Full STEAM Ahead in Science Science is deeply interwoven with society, so with large changes in society, such as communication and technology, so have there been huge advances in our scientific understanding.

There have been significant changes in Science at Yarra Valley Grammar during the course of this year and these changes will continue to grow and develop over the coming years. The need to engage and involve students in their science journey has been high on our list of priorities.

STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics for guiding student enquiry, communication and critical thinking. The end results are students who take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, persist with problem solving, embrace collaboration, and work through the creative process.

All skills that current and prospective employers will value.

This year, we have continued with a number of programs but also introduced a variety of others to increase the engagement of students. These programs include activities such as making robotic hands and investigating parachutes in Year 7, designing earthquake proof buildings in Year 8, a Bioeyes genetics incursion and a Murder Mystery excursion at Year 10 and excursions to the Formula 1 race at Albert Park, V8 supercars at Sandown and laboratories at La Trobe University and GTAC for use of the equipment available for our VCE science students.

our Scientist in School, Professor Darren Kelly (Melbourne University) and Mr Stuart Elliot (Managing Director, Planet Innovation) speaking to our Year 7 students. Some of our Year 7 and 8 students were very lucky to be invited to listen to the Hartung lecture at the Melbourne Convention Centre, given by Professor Martyn Poliakoff (famous for his Periodic Table of Videos YouTube clips). In this lecture he spoke about his journey from childhood to academia. James Buckley (YOG 2014) presented to the whole school during our science week assembly on his pathway into Zoology and some of his latest adventures.

presentation of a number of experimental demonstrations on energy, with the almost compulsory number of explosions.

Science week this year was a jammedpacked event highlighted by our inaugural YVG Science Public lecture given by Professor David Jamieson (YOG 1975) on Special Relativity. The week included activities such as making lip balm, playing with oobleck, a spaghetti tower competition, trivia quizzes and a special visit by the ELC students to a Year 12 Chemistry class. The Year 8 science classes were fortunate enough to also be audience members of a Fizzics company’s

It has been a great year in the Science department and we have continued to enjoy our wonderful new space and explore new ways in which to teach science. We look forward to next year and a new batch of wide-eyed Year 7 students and continuing to grow and develop the minds of our young learners in this important subject.

It has been a very successful year for us in terms of the achievements of our students in various external competitions. We have some very talented individuals in our ranks and a high number of high distinctions and distinctions were achieved. Just some of the competitions we were involved with included a crystal growing competition, Science Talent Search, ICAS and Big Science competitions, ANCQ, Titration challenge and the Crest awards.

Congratulations to all of our students who performed extremely well in these activities.

Mr Todd Briscoe Head of Science

We have placed a greater emphasis this year on the various career pathways available to the science student. We find that many students are not sure of the direction they are headed in science apart from the fact that they enjoy it. To this end we have had a number of opportunities this year to invite guest speakers in to speak to the students about their pathway and careers. Some examples of this have been

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 51

From the Head of Department

Mathematics – varied learning experiences Students in all year levels have been exposed to varied learning experiences in mathematics throughout 2017.

In Years 7 to 10 the interactive Cambridge iPad resource was a major focus. Year 7 and 9 students devoted time to preparing for the NAPLAN numeracy tests and achieved strong results.

Year 7 students were visited by a Mathemagician in The Maths Show: A live performance like no other. This was an educational and entertaining incursion with lots of magical maths presented.

Year 8 students participated in a crossfaculty excursion to the MCG and the

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Queen Victoria Market, where they could apply their mathematical skills to practical situations.

Year 9 students stepped up their learning of mathematics and met lots of algebra and applied trigonometry.

A major learning focus for Year 10 students was combining the use of Computer Algebra Systems technology with learning by hand skills.

competition provides independent evaluations of students’ skills and knowledge in core learning areas. Groups of students participated in the Mathematics Challenge and Enrichment for Young Australians administered by the Australian Mathematics Trust. Again, these competitions enabled students to test and extend their mathematical skills in non-routine contexts.

2017 saw VCE mathematics students working purposefully in all their mathematical studies.

It has been a busy and successful year in Mathematics and students have demonstrated commitment to improving their learning of Mathematics in each class.

Students throughout the School, participated in the ICAS Mathematics competition run by UNSW Global. The

Mrs Jenny Merrett Head of Mathematics

Digital Technologies – a rewarding year 2017 was a rewarding year in Digital Technologies, as students challenged themselves with new technological and creative endeavours.

Through the use of industry-leading software, professional hardware and collaborative products, we have continued to simulate an industry experience at the School to develop creative and versatile skills vital for the future.

Year 7 and 8 Coding has become a skill imperative to understanding and adapting to our modern digital society. It is solving many of the world’s greatest problems and is seen as fundamental to many jobs in the future. In Term 4, Year 7 and 8 students experienced a taste of this during a series of Robotics Workshops. Parallels to autonomous vehicles were made and students came away with the confidence to continue their coding journey in future years.

Year 9 and 10 The elective program allowed students to explore their interests further through IT Fundamentals, Media, and App Design and Development at Year 9. Within these subjects, many important discussions were undertaken around the ethical use of technology and the implications for future media technologies, manipulation in advertising and animation, and the nature

of mobile platforms and data through programming.

At Year 10, students collaborated with their peers within Information Technology and Media. They explored hardware and networking concepts using Raspberry Pi computers, analysed the nature of artificial intelligence and designed environments for virtual reality devices. In Media, students produced video products in groups and explored the way meanings are created through audience reception within the moving image form.

the studio audience during the filming of the entertainment television show, Family Feud. Students discovered the artificial nature of these productions and the way the format of game shows were constructed to appeal to audiences.

VCE

Media Production Team

VCE Digital Technologies proved both challenging and productive, with students undertaking Computing, Informatics, and Creative and Digital Media. This year, we introduced Media at VCE, which allowed students to further explore the impact of media products in our society.

This is an important contemporary study, particularly considering the media-rich world our students live in and the significant competition for viewers and audience opinions.

The Media Production Team expanded this year and produced a variety of content for our School community. New videos were published weekly across display screens around the school every Friday lunchtime, showcasing the events, musical performances and upcoming opportunities available to students. Students shared their stories by recording Student Feature videos which were presented in tutorial each week. The team worked hard all year to help strengthen our fantastic community.

A highlight of the year was a visit to Network Ten where students took part in

Mr Mark Schumann Head of Digital Technologies

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From the Head of Department

Health, Outdoor and Physical Education – well balanced lifestyles It has been a rewarding year of learning and engagement for the Health, Outdoor and Physical Education (HOPE) Department in 2017. We have had a distinct focus on evolving the experiences students have at Yarra, to guide their engagement in healthy behaviours and life-long physical activity.

Across Physical Education subjects in our Middle School, students have had the opportunity to develop the practical skills required for a wide variety of sports.

Students have also been able to apply newly learnt tactics and strategies to find success in a range of team and individual based contexts. Our Physical Education classes have also undertaken noncompetitive incursions such as Cardio tennis, Swimming, Gymnastics and Dance that have allowed them to be active and build confidence in their fundamental movement skills.

We have seen the growth of our students not only from a practical sense in our classes but also from an interpersonal perspective whilst interacting with each other and the wider community. This was exhibited exceptionally throughout the Year 8 Personal Development and Year 9 Body, Mind and Spirit programs, where students engaged with all aspects of Melbourne.

The Year 8 Personal Development students excelled on their adventure to Queen Victoria Market where they began the development of a healthy meal for their

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families. Whilst the Year 9 cohort made the most of the varied foci of each of their Link@9 weeks in the city.

Yet again this year, the running of several health and wellbeing focused days enhanced the self-confidence of students at Yarra. Participants had the opportunity to engage in self-defense lessons, break dancing lessons, yoga, as well as several other offerings from a variety of departments. HOPE Week in late March was a highlight of the year. Students from all year levels were able to get involved in activities that they were familiar with, or attempt something new. A wide range of experiences were on offer during this week including a Zumba session, Bubble Soccer, a Basketball clinic with Melbourne United, AFL fitness testing, the Tour de Yarra cycling competition, as well as AFLW player, Lauren Brazzale coming to Yarra to run a clinic and cap off an action packed week. Overall, it was a fantastic week-long event that could not have been such a success without the support of all staff and the enthusiasm of our students.

There were changes to both theory and practical based subjects in Year 10, enabling us to modify and strengthen an already successful HOPE program and further enhance student understandings heading into VCE. Students in our VCE subjects of Health and Human Development, Physical Education, and Outdoor and Environmental Studies each had unique experiences that guided the culmination of their educational journeys in the HOPE department. Many of our VCE students had their learning fostered through practical and engaging activities that ranged from training program development, through to extended canoe journeys.

As another exciting year draws to a close, I thank all students and staff for their positive and energetic contribution to our program this year. We look forward to our students and staff building on their varied accomplishments going into 2018.

Mr Brendan Hodges Head of Health, Outdoor and Physical Education

www.yvg.vic.edu.au | LEVAVI 2017 | 55

Yarra Community

School Psalm Psalm 121 I look to the mountains; where will my help come from?

My help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake.

The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps.

The Lord will guard you; he is by your side to protect you.

The sun will not hurt you during the day, nor the moon during the night.

The Lord will protect you from all danger; he will keep you safe.

He will protect you as you come and go now and forever.

School Prayer O Lord of light and love, by the work of whose Spirit this School was founded, preserve it from all harm; prosper all its undertakings to advance Your Kingdom, guide its Board, inspire and rule the minds of those who teach and those who learn within it, and grant that it may ever send forth men and women steadfast and able to serve their day and generation with faithfulness and devotion; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

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2018 Calendar

TERM 1 (9 weeks) Tuesday 31 January

Commence Term 1

Saturday 17 February

Open Morning (Whole School)

Monday 12 March

Labour Day holiday

Saturday 24 March

Food Wine and Music Concert

Wednesday 28 March

End Term 1

TERM 2 (11 weeks) Monday 16 April

Commence Term 2

Wednesday 25 April

ANZAC day

Thu 17 – Sat 19 May

Senior School production

Friday 8 June

Staff Professional Development day

Monday 11 June

Queen’s Birthday holiday

Friday 29 June

End Term 2

TERM 3 (9 weeks) Monday 16 July

Commence Term 3

Saturday 28 July

Jazz in the cafe

Friday 17 August

Staff Professional Development day

Saturday 18 August

Open Morning (Whole School)

Wednesday 22 August

Choral concert

Friday 14 September

End Term 3

TERM 4 (10 WEEKS) Monday 8 October

Commence Term 4

Monday 5 November

Mid-term break

Tuesday 6 November

Melbourne Cup holiday

Wednesday 5 December

Final day Years 10 and 11

Thursday 6 December

Final day Years 7, 8 and 9

Friday 7 December

Final day Junior School

Yarra Valley Grammar Kalinda Road Ringwood Victoria 3134 Australia Telephone +61 3 9262 7700 Email marketing@yvg.vic.edu.au www.yvg.vic.edu.au ABN 44 004 584 552 CRICOS NO. 00356E