From the Principal

Our students’ NAPLAN results have arrived (and they were worth waiting for)!

I know many parents are keen to hear of our NAPLAN results and we are keen for them to arrive too! We are very proud of all our students’ results at Tintern and while standardised testing gives the School insight into group results and trends, and allows us to reflect on teaching practice and emphasis, tests such as the NAPLAN do not provide quality assessment of individual capacity or growth due to the variables inherent in the testing tool. As such, individual student variation from test to test is to be expected. Having said all of that, our results were impressive and represent solid, engaged learning.

This should be the last year that we wait for such an extended period for our School’s NAPLAN results. Next year Tintern Grammar will be one of a small number of independent schools accredited to complete our NAPLAN testing online as a pilot for 2018. Eventually all schools will be required to complete NAPLAN testing online. This year we have undertaken some sample testing and this has already been a very informative process, with our staff providing constructive feedback on the sample trial of the online systems.

The trial program this year has been undertaken without significant incident, but with some expected teething problems. It is clear that next year when the pilot is undertaken, the State Government will now be hyper-aware of any potential problems and provide appropriate support for pilot schools. As a result, I am certain that our decision to be a pilot school will mean that Tintern Grammar will have terrific, ground floor, preparation for the first online NAPLAN in 2018. This will be very good outcome for our students.

This year’s NAPLAN results have only very recently arrived and while our analysis is not complete, on our early readings we can draw the following very pleasing conclusions in two particular areas of our results:

Score results based on 5-year trend data (using scaled means results for boys and girls combined), with all results well above state means in all tests:

• Year 3 – well above trend in all tests; best results in the last 5 years
• Year 5 – On trend, only very slightly below being the best year in the past 5 years
• Year 7 –  Within trend trajectory of past 5 years well above State in all tests
• Year 9 – Within trend trajectory of past 5 years well above State in all tests

In scores, this means that this year’s results overall are our second best in the last 5 years, or on par with our second best, depending a little on which variations are weighted more in that judgement. This year’s results continue our trajectory of improvement in both NAPLAN, and particularly our VCE results, over the last 3 to 5 years.

Improvement over time:

Results for growth over time are the most significant measure of the NAPLAN, in my view. This is really a measure of our ‘value add’ over two years for each group and is not individual, but a balanced measure over 40 to 120 students in our various year levels. As all high-achieving schools with strong students find, when a cohort begins with high scores from the previous NAPLAN, simultaneously achieving high growth is difficult.

Broadly, our NAPLAN results in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 have been improving between successive NAPLAN testing at a very pleasing rate and we are much heartened again with this year’s growth on our analysis so far. While we are not yet able to compare to other schools, we are confident that our results will be better than the majority of our competitors and again be significantly better than that of state schools. Given the difficulty of achieving this with excellent previous testing scores, this is most impressive.

At Tintern, we look at student progress through a number of lenses. Testing is only one, and standardised testing is certainly a somewhat blunt instrument by which to gauge student progress. Most important to us at Tintern is that our emphasis is on enabling students who apply themselves to achieve their best; not only in all testing, but more importantly, in the real world long after they leave our school.

Factis non Verbis

Bradley Fry
Principal

Please view the Video Blog below from our Principal, Mr Bradley Fry.

Music Matters

Concerto Showcase  

Tintern Grammar’s biennial Concerto Showcase held on Thursday 18 July was a delightful feast of excellent music. Four of our most talented musicians performed a movement of a concerto accompanied by either the Tintern Grammar Chamber Orchestra or the Tintern Grammar Symphony Orchestra. This year’s soloists were flautist Holly Fryer (Year 10), pianists Alison Yang (Year 11) and Alan Wu (Year 12), and violinist Clarisse Liew (Year 8), who performed works by Mercadante, Beethoven, Saint-Saëns and De Bériot respectively.

These four soloists had just a few weeks to undertake several meticulous rehearsals with the school orchestras before performing in front of a live audience. Congratulations must go to them for their stylistic and musical performances which were greatly appreciated by the audience. As well as the soloists, the students involved in the orchestras must be congratulated and thanked for all their hard work in preparing these works in such a short time period.

I would like to thank all the music staff who were involved in this wonderful occasion, not only for organising the event but also for their dedicated work with the performers and for being a part of the orchestra. A particularly big thank you is extended to our Head of Strings, Mr Tim Veldman, for co-ordinating the whole event and conducting the orchestras. It was most certainly an impressive event and one that will remain in our memories for the rest of our lives.

by Corey Robinson, Year 12

Wind Symphony takes out a Gold Award at the Victorian School Music Festival

On the afternoon of Friday 19 August, the Tintern Grammar Wind Symphony participated in the Victorian School Music Festival held in Deakin Edge at Federation Square. The students played alongside five other schools including two bands from Hong Kong. Each band was required to play a piece from a restricted list and we chose the dreamy piece ‘Hypnotic Fireflies’. We also had to play a piece of our own choice and we finished our performance with ‘Sirocco’, a very lively work. After the performance, the Wind Symphony participated in a small workshop with one of the judges who complimented Tiana McAsey on her beautiful flute solo at the beginning of ‘Sirocco’. He said that, overall, we played really well in both pieces. The Wind Symphony did extremely well, receiving a Gold Award for its performance, one up on the Silver Award it received last year. The Wind Symphony looks forward to participating in the competition again next year, hopeful that it will receive another Gold or even a Platinum award! We would like to thank Mrs Clarke for taking us to this event and for preparing us so well during our rehearsals.

by Maya Watt, Year 11

Jazz Band Performs at the Victorian School Music Festival

The Tintern Grammar Jazz Band headed into the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) on Wednesday 24 August to perform at the Victorian School Music Festival. After a few uniform hiccups (thank you to the Uniform Shop for sponsoring our trip to the city!), we loaded the bus, beat the traffic into the city and arrived ahead of time. The venue was a great space for us to perform and, after a brief warm up, we played three works for two adjudicators. We played well and then had a fantastic tutorial with Ross Irwin. During this session, Ross worked specifically on articulation in order to produce tighter ensemble playing and more rhythmic integrity. He gave some fantastic advice for ensemble playing in general and we came away with lots to work on in future rehearsals. The Jazz Band was awarded a Bronze in this section. This was our debut performance at the festival and we are very proud of the way we performed. We particularly commend Maya Watt for her trombone sensitive solo in ‘Tomorrow is Always a Good Day’ by Paul Clark.

by Lisa Clarke, Jazz Band Conductor

Senior Woodwind Concert

The annual Woodwind Concert is always a delightful evening of music. On Thursday 25 August, some 28 students performed individually and in small ensembles on the clarinet, saxophone, flute, oboe and bassoon. The performance took place in Area C of the CM Wood Centre to a large and appreciative audience. These instrumental concerts are very important as they give each student an opportunity to share a solo piece with family, friends and teachers and are a way of measuring the students’ improvement year on year. On this occasion, the audience was treated to a couple of staff items and students were able to see the experts in action. We thank Mrs Lisa Clarke, Mrs Sarah Hillier, Mrs Mary Glen-Norman and Mr Rowan Kidd for attending and supporting the students.

by Anne Bortolussi, Acting Director of Music

Kelson Quartet Performance at the Sylvia Walton Oration and Awards Evening

On Friday 19 August, the Kelson String Quartet performed at the Sylvia Walton Oration and Awards evening hosted by the Victorian Committee for the Australian College of Educators. This evening involved a College dinner and the conferring of significant ACE Victoria Awards, including the Sir James Darling Award and the College Medal. The quartet played background music during pre-dinner drinks in the Visual Arts Gallery Space and their repertoire and performance were appreciated by all who attended. Thank you to the students, Gavin Choong, Tara McAsey, Siobhan Muirhead and Alison Yang, for giving their time on a blustery, cold Friday evening to support this significant event in the history of Tintern Grammar.

by Anne Bortolussi, Acting Director of Music

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Sport Matters

National Indoor Netball Championship Selection

Congratulations to Ashlea and Olivia Cross (9B) who have been selected in the Indoor State Victoria (ISV) State Netball Under 15’s Ladies Team (Panthers), to play in Melbourne in late November. Their selection is just reward for their hard work and effort during the training and selection process and we wish them well in the lead-up to and during the National Championships.

Year 8/9 Boys House Basketball

Year 8 & 9 Boys ventured to Knox Basketball stadium on Thursday for their annual House Basketball competition.

Each House chose two teams to compete in an A & B round robin competition and wins and losses for both divisions were added together at the end of the day.

Dann/Watt won the ‘A’ competition whilst Gordon/Grant won the ‘B’ competition. The trophy for the overall competition went to Dann/Watt on 28 points with Gordon/Grant and Mansfield/McKie sharing second place with 27 points. The result couldn’t have been any closer.

Congratulations to all boys for the sportsmanship, enthusiasm and support they displayed on the day.

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Community Matters

Tintern Grammar Fair – your chance to get involved

The Fair Committee is in progress making fun plans for a great community day next year, as part of our school’s 140 years celebrations. Our students have done a great job submitting logo designs which will be used on our letterheads and Fair communications over the next 6 months. See below for details of our lucky winner and to admire the many and varied designs our students created. We are so proud of their creativity, and thank them all for the clever contributions!

Now is the opportunity for our parents and guardians to get involved too!

Here are just a few ways you can help right now:

• Offering donations of goods or services
• Joining the Fair Committee as the Stage & Entertainment Coordinator
• Become a Stall Coordinator for your year level (see below)
• Sponsoring a specific stall
• Do you live on a main road? Could we please place a Fair Advertising Board in your front yard in the weeks leading up to the Fair next year?

If you can assist with any of these items, or even just to share your ideas, get in contact with the committee at Fair@tintern.vic.edu.au or call our Fair Convenor, Amanda McKenzie on 0419 313 279.

Stall allocations to year levels:

Fair Logo Competition

The Tintern Fair Committee are excited to announce the winner of our Fair Logo Competition is Holly White of Year 3, with the following design:

Thank you so much to all our other contributors who created such bright and colourful artwork for us to choose from:

Contributors were:

• Alex Khmelevskiy
• Georgia Norton
• Mellyn Sun
• Mia Jones
• Natasha Gillam
• Nicolani Susanto
• Oliver Huang
• Reese Stephens
• Sienna Dass
• Victoria McKenzie
• Yasmin Lobo

Anna Church and Viewbank Icon crowned Triequithon Champions

Anna Church (YG 2014) with her mount, Viewbank Icon have won the 2016 Racing Victoria Triequithon. This is the third annual Racing Victoria Off the Track Triequithon which was held at Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday 27 August. This unique event invites retired thoroughbred racehorses to compete in the Olympic discipline of Eventing between main races on the day. Ridden to perfection by Anna Church, Viewbank Icon led from start-to-finish with strong performances in the dressage, cross country and show jumping phases. Anna has participated in equestrian activities for most of her life and is currently in her 2^nd year at Monash studying Medicine.

Tintern Footy Tipping competition winners

Tintern Footy Tipping:

The home and away season has come to a close and so has our footy tipping competition. Thank you to everyone who participated in the competition and congratulations to our prize winners.

1^st Place
Jack Watts (alias Brad Fry) has won the competition and has kindly donated his $250 winnings to the School.

2^nd Place          
Julia Bacon (Justin and Nicola’s Mum)
Julianne Mann (Holly’s mum)
Natalie Martin (ELC Assistant)
Ching Huang (Sarah and Oliver’s Dad)

3^rd Place 
Christopher Wiseman (Sienna’s Dad)

4^th Place
Mark Lawson (Alana’s Dad)
Carl Paul (Aleish’s Dad)

5^th Place
Geoff Connor
James Pang (Adrian, Casper & Josie’s Dad)
Cameron Moir (Lachlan’s Dad)

The Prize Money for 2^nd – 5^th place is split equally between our 10 winners. Further congratulations to Andrew Basil Jones, current Year 12 student for his efforts in Footy Tipping in 2016. Unfortunately, as Andrew is a student and students are ineligible we hope that Andrew joins the competition again next year.

Father’s Day stall

A big thank you is extended to all volunteers who helped with the Father’s Day stall for both junior Schools. Special thanks to Lisa Robson and Haidee Wallace for their professional organising and planning of this special activity. All children were given the opportunity to purchase gifts for their Fathers and other special men in their lives. It is wonderful to see the girls and boys choose their special gifts with such love and care. The School Community is appreciative to the many volunteers who provide this opportunity on the stall or with the preparations.

Tintern and Southwood Music Banners for sale

You still have time to secure an old Tintern and Southwood Music Banners at a cost of $50 each. All funds raised will go to the Tintern Grammar Friends of Music who, in turn, support the ongoing work of the Music Departments across the school. Expressions of Interest (EOI) are called for the purchase of these items. EOI close on 16 September. Should EOI outnumber the banners available, a ballot draw of successful bidders will be held at the Friends of Music Meeting on 11 October and successful bidders will be contacted and published in ‘Aspectus’ and on the School portal. To lodge your EOI, please email the Community Relations Office communityrelations@tintern.vic.edu.au, giving your name and contact details, and nominating which banner you would like to purchase (Tintern or Southwood). All Expressions of Interest inquiries to 9845 7877.

Friends of Young Farmers Spring Celebration 2016

Our fourth Spring Celebration was another wonderful occasion at the Tintern Grammar Farm with a fine day without rain and the promise of all that Spring brings us in the air. With three sets of twin lambs born just before the Celebration began, and many more adorable bundles of wool romping through the fields, the hundreds of visitors delighted in being able to see and cuddle our beautiful sheep, both big and small!

Our Young Farmers were out in abundance and did a fabulous job guiding our visitors and chatting to them. Maya and Daisy, our Farm Captains, gave a terrific speech and summed up what they, and the other Young Farmer students, love about the Young Farmer program – the animals, the fresh outdoor life, but most of all the camaraderie of belonging to a “family” at the farm. Great job girls!   The mentoring that occurs across all age groups and year levels is a delight to behold in this program and one that is hardly seen to the same degree in this day and age. Students, both current and past, engage together for the benefit of the farm program sharing knowledge and plenty of laughter. It is wonderful to see! Throughout the afternoon the students carried lambs into our little petting area for children to be able to get up very close to, as well as bringing out our very unusual breeds of chickens for a cuddle too. Our huge rams were led on halters and behaved impeccably throughout the crowds. Ewes with baby lambs at foot nuzzled the visitors hoping for a pat or maybe they were just showing off their gorgeous babies! The visitors loved it!

The barbeque sizzling with sausages, the wonderful array of homemade cakes to be sampled and the marshmallows toasting on gum tree branches in the bonfire were all enjoyed by the crowds of families who attended. Great job Friends of Young Farmers helpers who cooked and served the 600 sausages, the drinks and the cakes.

The general consensus was how lucky we are to have this wonderful space within our school grounds, how mature, friendly and polite our students are, and how welcoming we are to our visitors. We couldn’t be happier with that response! It is gratifying to hear people noticing the values we have at Tintern Grammar by seeing them in our students. Academically we are a great school, but we offer something more, with polite, helpful, confident young people who are genuinely happy to assist others. In this day and age, what parent wouldn’t want their child to have these traits?

The Spring Celebration highlights the benefits of healthy living, the wonder of the birth of new life and the peace that can be found in the outdoors. We so enjoyed showing you all our beautiful farm and we encourage you to come to the Royal Melbourne Show this month to see our students and animals in action ! If you would like to join our group, please contact us – we would love to have you!

by Joy Ashfield, President
Friends of Young Farmers

Tintern Grammar Towels

Tintern Parent Group is proud to offer you personalised swimming towels from Sheridan. These high quality, quick dry towels will launder well and last for years.

Each towel comes embroidered with the school logo and school name.

Add your child’s full name or family name at no extra cost.

Bath Towel (69 x 140cm) – $65  Bath Sheet (91 x 167cm) –  $70

Orders must be placed via Trybooking before Monday 3 October 2016 for delivery mid Term 4.

Simply visit https://www.trybooking.com/MVDC

For more information, please contact Roshini Higgins at Roshini_higgins@bigpond.com or the Community Relations office at communityrelations@tintern.vic.edu.au

Entertainment book 2016/2017

There is still time to purchase the 2016/2017 Entertainment book. Digital memberships are available all year round but there are only 6 hard copy books available from the Tintern Parent Group. Payments can be made online or you can download the order form here For more information please refer to the community news on the Tintern portal or contact the Community Relations Office or you can click here to have a look at what is inside. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Community Committee dates

• Tintern Parent Group (TPG) – Next meeting: Thursday 8 September 7.30pm CM Wood Common Room President: Loraine Allender
• Friends of Music (FOM) – Next Meeting: Tuesday 11 October 7.00pm CM Wood Common room President: Tim Oldmeadow
• Friends of Young Farmers (FOYF) – Next meeting: Tuesday 4 October 7.30pm Kennedy Cottage, Community services. President: Joy Ashfield              
• Friends of Equestrian (FOE) – Next Meeting: Tuesday 13 September 7.30pm Kennedy Cottage, Community services. President: Gabby McCallum

Book Week

An important highlight during term three is Book Week. This year’s theme was Australia! Story Country. ELC –Year 6 students listened to each of the six short-listed Early Childhood books, discussed the themes in each book and voted on their favourite. The overall winner was Mr Huff, a story about the clouds and sunshine in each of our lives.

Our Book Week guest speaker was author/illustrator Adam Wallace who informed and entertained the students from ELC- Year 6 with his storytelling and illustration skills. On the day of our guest speaker ELC students and Prep-Year 6 girls dressed as their favourite character, author or book genre. The colourful and imaginative array of costumes and accessories from both teachers and students added to the festive and celebratory feel of Book Week.

“I enjoyed the presentation from Adam because he was very interactive and listened to our funny stories as well as sharing his own experiences. The illustrations he showed us how to draw were individual and creative. An inspiring speaker for Book Week 2016.” Georgia Norton 6A, Library and Technology Captain 2016

Regards,

by Karen Worland, Tintern Library Years 1-6,
Year 8 Sport, Senior Sport

Hooptime

On Wednesday August 17 boys and girls from Tintern competed in the Hoop Time Basketball competition at The Rings in Maroondah. The boys were placed in the All Star Competition and competed really well in all four matches.  It was really high quality basketball and it was really encouraging to see the improvement in each match.  We went down by a narrow two point margin to the eventual grand finalists and showed excellent sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the day.  Congratulations to Lorcan, Mark, James, Will, Krishnaa, Zack, Kasim, Max and Dan for representing the school so well.

The girls also were in the All Star Competition and they played extremely well in their pool matches. In the Grand Final we played against Eastwood, who started the game well and were up 6-0 at half time. The girls had plenty of shots but couldn’t get one in. After the half time break all of our shots suddenly went in and we played excellent basketball to win 19-6. Congratulations girls for winning the Grand Final. Special thanks goes to the coach, Rachel Quirk.

by Ashley Viney, Assistant Head of Sport Year 7 & 8
Junior/Middle School P.E and Science Teacher

AFL 9s Regional

On Thursday August 18 some year 6 girls competed in the AFL 9s regional competition at Pinks Reserve in Kilsyth. On a very windy day the girls competed hard during their three matches. We lost the first match 8-6, we lost the second match 10-1 and we won our final match 31-19. The girls played well in tough conditions and are to be commended on their efforts.

by Ashley Viney, Assistant Head of Sport Year 7 & 8
Junior/Middle School P.E and Science Teacher

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Year 4 Vesuvius Day

On the 24 August 79AD Mount Vesuvius erupted explosively, burying Pompeii under a crust of volcanic ash.

For the next 17 centuries the town remained lost, forgotten and preserved, sealed in a time capsule.

Excavations began in 1748. Once a thriving town, Pompeii is now one of the most famous and tragic towns of antiquity and remains a treasure trove of Roman civilisation.

Here are the photos from our ‘Tintern Explodes’ day. The girls all arrived at school with their crazy hair!!

It was a great science morning with lots of learning and fun.

by Linda Hudgell, Year 4 Teacher

Life Saving Knowledge

All the Junior School boys had a First Aid lesson this week from the St. John’s Ambulance Service. Our trainer was Ashleigh and she taught us the action plan known as DRSABCD. These letters remind you of what to do and in what order if somebody appears to be unconscious. D = Danger, R = Response, S = Send for help, A = check the Airway, B = check Breathing, C = CPR, D = Defibrillation.

We all practised the action plan on each other, pretending that one of us was unconscious. We pretended to phone for help and once we had checked airways and breathing, we then learnt how to put the person into the recovery position. It was an excellent experience.

Now our teacher feels very safe in our classroom because we could all save her if needed!

by Arya Yogesh-Kumar (and Mrs. Sparkes)

Seussical

All members of our Boys’ Junior School are eagerly awaiting the last night of the school term, when our performance of SEUSSICAL will finally be delivered.

Complementing our Dr Seuss theme across the whole of our Boys’ Junior School, “Seussical’ is a wonderfully energetic, fun and inspiring play, filled with Dr Seuss books and quotes put to music.

Our boys, under the expert and tireless direction of Jacquie Casey, have been wonderfully committed in learning the whole play. Our Prep to Year 2 boys have a number of special parts, and commence the production in a unique manner, and our Year 3-6 boys then perform the majority of the play..with the aim of every boy being on stage, and actively involved, for a long period of time being well met.

Most importantly, the confidence and enjoyment the boys gain from being involved is palpable…as Jacquie was walking to a rehearsal this morning with two Year 5 boys, one of them said ‘I was really nervous at the start, but now I’m really excited”.

That’s a significant example of a Positive Growth Mindset!!!

Seussical commences at 7.00pm in our CM Wood Centre on Thursday 15 September.

News from Boys Middle School

I’ve just returned from 2 days at the Melbourne Convention Centre where the Boys & Education – National Conference was held this year. Leaving school is always challenging in our field with the school timetable not stopping, my own classes needing to be covered and adolescent boys still being adolescent boys! Having said this, the conference was really good and very reassuring.

The sessions I attended ranged from the psychology of teenage boys, differentiating for boys and understanding the transition from boyhood into manhood. I also had the opportunity to catch up with fellow teachers from other schools around Melbourne as well as meet new people from schools all around Australia. It’s during these conversations that you can often pick up great little ideas of activities, processes, etc. to consider implementing for our boys in order to help make their experience through the Middle Years successful.

As parents of adolescent boys I can categorically say that according to the experts this stage of life is the trickiest for them and therefore for you and school. The changes that they are going through is immense both physically and emotionally. One keynote speaker Dr Arne Rubinstein talked about the necessity of a Rite of Passage for boys and having key stages for them to move through; similar to our Junior School, to Middle School and then to Senior College. These stages allow for them to feel satisfaction and fulfilment as they pass through each stage.

Dr Rubinstein also went on to talk about the boys transitioning from boyhood into manhood and how in many cultures it is around this age in which they celebrate the coming of a man with rituals or ceremonies. In our society it is important that we help to educate our boys on what it means to shift from being a boy to becoming a man. One of the challenges we face is to ensure we are clear to our boys what a ‘man’ is and that they are not misled by the images that are portrayed by media around muscle, good looks, money and fancy cars. However, more to help them understand that a man understands he’s part of a greater community and that it is not just about him, that he takes full responsibility for his actions, understands his emotions and looks to ensure a better place for the family and friends that surround him.

The comforting thing for me is that a lot of this information is tied up within our pastoral program within the Boys’ Middle School; from the personal development in Year 7 and Leadership training in Year 8, to the ‘Becoming a Man’ program our Year 9 boys are about to begin. This program has been developing over the last few years but has the boys learning cooking and table etiquette, manners, ironing, coffee making, basic car maintenance and tyre changing, lawn mower care, bike maintenance, etc.

It was great to hear information over the two days that reassured me that our boys are provided with a fantastic environment and community, both here at school and especially at home. Boys will have the tendency to make a mistake or two along the way, but it is our responsibility to guide and nurture them into becoming excellent young men.

Yr 9 Future’s Day

On Monday 22^nd August we held our Year 9 Future’s Day where we invited members from our community to come to school to talk to our Year 9 boys and girls around their chosen career and the pathways they took to get there.

The day started with a panel of 5 guests talking to all Year 9s about how the journey they have taken to get from High School to where they currently are. They spoke about the issues they faced at school trying to make decisions about the future, changing their mind when in university and then how opportunities present themselves through work including the opportunity to change direction completely sometimes. Following the panel our students then rotated through four sessions of choice from our 14 guests which included the fields of IT, engineering, police, nursing, education, sustainability, construction, business, entrepreneurialism and medicine. The feedback we received from students was absolutely brilliant regarding the ability to talk to other adults in small groups about areas of interest to them.

I would like to say a very big thank you once again to all of our guests who gave up their time on a Monday morning to come and present to our Year 9s. We are very thankful to have such a wonderful community.

House Showdown

On Friday 2^nd September our Middle School boys were involved in our annual House Showdown where they are to perform a 3 – 4 minute dance routine guided by a particular theme. This year’s theme was ‘The Best You’ where they needed to somehow tie this into their performance.

The event ran over 3 weeks where the Year 9s are first briefed on the task followed by the 7s and 8s. With minimal rehearsal sessions the pressure is on the boys to rally together and put on a respectable performance. In the end the actual performance, although judged on timing, choreography, etc. was not what we are really looking for when running this activity. It actually takes a large amount of co-operation, teamwork and leadership skills of many boys to make it successful. It was fantastic to see not just the Year 9 leaders stepping up, but also many Year 7 and 8 boys as well who either possess skill in dancing or similar, or were able to show real leadership among their peers.

In the end it was Dann House, led ably by their captain Brock Hayden, who won this year’s event. Their performance was not just fantastically done, it also ensured all boys were heavily involved and their timing, the pace of some of the steps, was really good.

This event pushes almost every boy out of their comfort zone by putting them up on stage in front of their peers and having them dance. What it does do though is really provide a challenge to all of them whilst also providing the opportunity for a number of them to show their developing leadership skills.

Father Son Bowling

On Monday 5^th September our boys helped continue the celebration of Fathers’ Day with our annual Father/Son (or significant male figure) bowling evening at Forest Hill AMF. It was a great night with over 65 people attending and a lot of fun that was had.

A big thank you to all the dads, uncles and/or significant male figures that were able to attend on the night as it is greatly appreciated, not just by us but by your boy as well. There were some impressive numbers in the bowling with the eventual winners being:

• Year 7: Rodney and Lachlan Bastin.
• Year 8: David and Jake Richardson.
• Year 9: Darcy and Shaun Pinder.

Special mention to Adrian Dalzotto who scored the highest individual score I have seen in the 5 or so years we have been running this event, a massive 184.

News from the Careers Department

Year 12 Information

Early Closing Dates for Some Courses at Monash and Melbourne Universities

Students have been emailed a list of courses with early closing dates from Monash and Melbourne Universities. For example, the Melbourne University closing date for students to add the following courses to their VTAC preference list AND submit the supplementary form is Wednesday 31 August at 5.00pm: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation), Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting).

Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS)

Information has also been emailed to students from VTAC relating to the SEAS application including documentation, tips for impact statements and tips for statements of support. Please note that all supporting documentation must be received at the VTAC office or submitted online by 5pm on Tuesday 4 October. It is also important to note that statements of support cannot be organised until the student has submitted their own ‘Personal Impact Statement’. An information brochure has been uploaded to the Careers page of the Portal at: http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/13332/

Connecting to VTAC for Families

A reminder that the Year 12 students have been encouraged to connect with VTAC in order to receive updates throughout the application, change of preference and offers process via the Blog, Twitter or Facebook. Families can also subscribe from the VTAC homepage at www.vtac.edu.au

Career Chats

Deakin University Visit for Years 10, 11 and 12 Students.

On Tuesday 6 September Ambassadors from the Deakin University Activation Program will be in the Careers Room from 1.00 – 1.30pm. They will be bringing virtual reality goggles to gain insights about the different campuses and students are encouraged to call in and discuss courses, application procedures including entry requirements and get any questions answered during this time.

CareerNews Number 13 – August 2016

The latest edition of CareerNews is now available and an index of the newsletter includes:

Reminders

1. Year 12
2. Monash University News
3. National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)
4. RMIT University News
5. University of Melbourne News
6. La Trobe University News
7. Swinburne News
8. Deakin Ignited Scholarships
9. Business and Law at Victoria University

All the editions of the CareerNews can be found on the Careers Portal page.

by Heather Ruckert – Year 10 Co-ordinator

Tournament of Minds

Tournament of Minds (TOM) is offered as a Co-curricular event at Tintern Grammar. TOM is an enriching and rewarding opportunity which stretches the mind, encourages creativity and involves commitment and team-work. Students prepare a Long-Term Challenge (this year’s team chose the Language Literature Challenge) and also complete a Spontaneous Challenge which tests the team’s efficiency under time restrictions. Teams use various performance skills such as comical accents, props, costumes, humour and even poetry to present their solution to the challenge. Our performance was at Mount Lilydale Mercy College on Saturday 20 August and all the team members (Lachlan Bastin, Alice Church, Milly Kenny, James Manson, Brayden Stokes, Ella Watts and Holly Whitfield) are to be congratulated for their efforts in working diligently on TOM, in what is already a very busy timetable.

by Anthea Watkins, Horizon Co-ordinator

The MFB Education Program

Year 6 had a visit from the Ringwood MFB as part of the fire in schools education program. As the firefighters walked in, we were all relieved that we could stop doing our maths and begin to take part in the program. The first thing they made clear was that they were on duty and if a call came through for truck 22, they had to go. So they gave the radio to Will and told him to let them know if he heard any mention of truck 22 and if so to let them know immediately. They began by asking us what we thought firemen do. We has lots of ideas. They told us that they put out fires, clean up chemical spills, save people from dangerous situations and heights as well as attend car accidents. They are part of the first response program and are fully trained in First Aid. They use things like defibrillators to save people’s lives, get people out of locked cars as well as using the Jaws of Life to cut victims from smashed vehicles. Of course they also save the odd old cat stuck in trees as well. After much discussion we were shown a video about what happens when firemen are called out to an emergency. It is really quite full on. Next we discussed what powers a fire which we learnt that it was heat, fuel and oxygen. We watched a follow up video on what causes a fire to reinforce our learning.

The overall experience was amazing and we all learnt a lot about fire and safety.

by Will Butterfield and Josh Apsey

Year 8 / 9 Boys House Basketball

Year 8 & 9 Boys ventured to Knox Basketball stadium on Thursday for their annual House Basketball competition.

Each House chose two teams to compete in an A & B round robin competition and wins and losses for both divisions were added together at the end of the day.

Dann/Watt won the ‘A’ competition whilst Gordon/Grant won the ‘B’ competition. The trophy for the overall competition went to Dann/Watt on 28 points with Gordon/Grant and Mansfield/McKie sharing second place with 27 points. The result couldn’t have been any closer.

Congratulations to all boys for the sportsmanship, enthusiasm and support they displayed on the day.

Year 8 & 9 Boys ventured to Knox Basketball stadium on Thursday for their annual House Basketball competition.

Each House chose two teams to compete in an A & B round robin competition and wins and losses for both divisions were added together at the end of the day.

Dann/Watt won the ‘A’ competition whilst Gordon/Grant won the ‘B’ competition. The trophy for the overall competition went to Dann/Watt on 28 points with Gordon/Grant and Mansfield/McKie sharing second place with 27 points. The result couldn’t have been any closer.

Congratulations to all boys for the sportsmanship, enthusiasm and support they displayed on the day.

National Indoor Netball Championship Selection

Congratulations to Ashlea and Olivia Cross (9B) who have been selected in the Indoor State Victoria (ISV) State Netball Under 15’s Ladies Team (Panthers), to play in Melbourne in late November. Their selection is just reward for their hard work and effort during the training and selection process and we wish them well in the lead-up to and during the National Championships.

Dads and Lads

Our Boys’ Junior School celebrated Fathers’ Day with the annual dads and lads Breakfast and sports mornings.

Stephen Biddulph, in his book “Raising Boys”, talks about the various stages through which boys develop. At age 6-14 he talks about “The Dad Stage”; “At the age of about 6, a boy discovers he is male. He will look around to see how to do “maleness”. His father becomes effectively the primary parent for interest and activity in a boy’s mind.”

We love having the opportunity for many of our dads and adult role models to be involved in our Junior School, and to do so in a  way that sees ‘dads and lads’ working together.

Boys were involved in hands on, class activities, an interactive Assembly, and then went outside for activities.

Thank you to the many dads who were able to join with us, Haidee Wallace, Katy Brumley, Melissa Millett and Deb for setting up and organising the food, and to Alliance for their terrific catering.

Our dads and lads breakfast is always a special occasion for us.

It is also important that our boys can recognise and then deal with their emotions…rather than masking them.

In Monday’s Year 3-6 assembly we spoke about why every day is children’s day!!!! (There were some very unique and original perspectives about why it’s great to be a child!!!) I then shared the Smiling Mind, and Mood Meter, apps with our boys…both are very valuable tools for boys, and indeed all children, when it comes to management of emotions…a key skill in the context of having a Positive Growth Mindset.

Curriculum Matters

Every Thursday our teaching staff come together for formal Professional Learning. This can take many forms: guest speakers who are experts in a particular field; workshops in particular teaching strategies; sessions aimed at understanding the different needs of our students better; or teacher-teams meet to review and plan curriculum and assessment.

This week a team of pioneering staff are meeting to hold their final reflection meeting as part of a year-long trial of our latest initiative in best-practice professional learning. The Professional Growth Pathway (PGP) Pilot program involves teachers working with a partner under the guidance of a coach, to devise a meaningful Practice Goal and a Knowledge Goal over the course of the school year linked to student outcomes.

The Practice Goal is one that centres on peer-observable classroom practices. A Knowledge goal relates to their knowledge of curriculum content and their own students, which the teacher uses to prepare and refine their teaching programs. The Practice Goal is not a new thing for our staff as for the last 3 years all teachers have worked with a peer in our Peer Partnership program towards a Practice Goal each year. The PGP, however, has piloted developing this program further to include a Knowledge Goal and to have a group of pairs working in collaboration with a coach to guide them. We have found that collaborative learning amongst peers is a powerful amplifier of good practice further enhances our excellent staff engagement, motivation and morale.

The final stage of this annual cycle of Reflection – Goal Setting – Professional Practice and Learning – Review and Feedback is taking place this week in Professional Learning time when each participant in the pilot will meet with their coach to formally reflect and evaluate on the steps they took towards their goals and look ahead to their next year’s goals.

The feedback from participating coaches and partners has been extremely positive and their enthusiastic support has allowed us to refine and develop our model to best suit our school environment and culture of continuous improvement as we move toward implementation of the program for all teachers in the school in 2018.

Much like the formal and informal assessment and reporting loops we use in classrooms with our students, and invite our parent’s participation through whole school surveys, forums or parent-teacher-student interviews, this cycle of learning helps us make learning more visible and therefore more able to form the basis of future learning. Setting up these loops and refining how they all work in tandem is what drives great learning for a students and teachers alike.

by Jason McManus, Vice Principal, Teaching and Learning

IB Visual Art Preview Show

The 2^nd Year International Baccalaureate Visual Arts Students will be presenting a preview show of their final works from 4.30 pm – 6pm on Friday 9^th September in the Visual Art & Design Gallery Space.

Each student has completed 11 final artworks over the past 2 years, created from a variety of media. The exhibition is an opportunity to celebrate their triumphs & creativity of the artwork

One aspect of the assessment criteria for the IB Visual Art course is for students to examine the way in which their artworks are made in order to connect with the viewer,  explaining how the arrangement of the work contributes to the audience’s ability to interpret and understand the intentions/ meanings of the work they have created. It is a remarkable collection of ingenuity and process and all are welcome to attend to discuss the works with the students and share the culmination of their art journey.

The UNSW ICAS Writing Competition 2016

Selected students from Years 7, 8 and 9 achieved outstanding results when they participated in the International Competition and Assessment for Schools (ICAS) Writing Competition run by the University of New South Wales. It is an annual competition entered by students from Australia and overseas. All students receive a certificate and an individual student report indicating which questions they answered correctly, their total score as well as their average compared with the rest of the students in the State. The student report is also useful for highlighting student strengths and weaknesses in skills, and comparing their progress with previous results. Further personal details regarding individual student performance can be obtained from http://www.eaa.unsw.edu.au. Select Get Student Results from the top left corner of the screen and then enter your TAP-ID and Password (PIN) which are found at the bottom of the letter accompanying the certificate.

The best results were as follows:

Year 7

DISTINCTION:

Joshua Choong

Oscar de Jong (English Medallion winner for the highest score)

Zoe Liew

Sarah Thompson

Year 8

DISTINCTIONS:

Ashleigh Dowling (English Medallion winner for the highest score)

Zoe Forbes (English Medallion winner for the highest score)

Amanda Samarasekara (English Medallion winner for the highest score)

NB These students achieved an identical score!

Year 9

HIGH DISTINCTION:

Kate Swain (English Medallion winner for the highest score)

DISTINCTIONS:

Sean Chisholm

Molly Fleming

Meaghan Hynson

Jasmin Liew

Nicolani Susanto

Kaitlyn Woodhill

Congratulations to all students who participated in this year’s Writing Competition.

by Chris Millgate-Smith, Head of English

Melbourne Writers Festival

Many Middle School students will have read Leigh Hobb’s Old Tom or Mr Chicken books as pre-schoolers or early readers. During the excursion on Wednesday 30 August, we were entertained by Leigh and other writers who shared their journey of drawing and writing with the audience. Under Leigh’s instruction we all drew Old Tom and Mr Chicken. He then went on to help students create a character of their own. Bernard Caleo and Nicki Greenberg also walked us through their process of creating a graphic story. The Festival is a wonderful opportunity for students to hear from others who have been successful in the areas of writing and publishing, with many hints and ideas being given for those with a passion in this area. It may be years before we see the full consequence of an opportunity such as this, but it is very exciting to imagine where a young inspired person attending the MWF in 2016 may be in their literary endeavours in a few years from now.

by Anthea Watkins, Horizon Co-ordinator

Anna Church and Viewbank Icon crowned Triequithon Champions

Anna Church (YG 2014)  has won and was awarded ‘champion’ of the Off Track Tri-equithon at Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday.  Congratulations Anna! Please click here to read more.

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Tintern Grammar Fair 2017

Tintern Grammar Fair – your chance to get involved

The Fair Committee is in progress making fun plans for a great community day next year, as part of our school’s 140 years celebrations.

Our students have done a great job submitting logo designs which will be used on our letterheads and Fair communications over the next 6 months. See below for details of our lucky winner and to admire the many and varied designs our students created. We are so proud of their creativity, and thank them all for the clever contributions!

Now is the opportunity for our parents and guardians to get involved too!

Here are just a few ways you can help right now:

• Offering donations of goods or services
• Joining the Fair Committee as the Stage & Entertainment Coordinator
• Become a Stall Coordinator for your year level (see below)
• Sponsoring a specific stall
• Do you live on a main road? Could we please place a Fair Advertising Board in your front yard in the weeks leading up to the Fair next year?

If you can assist with any of these items, or even just to share your ideas, get in contact with the committee at Fair@tintern.vic.edu.au or call our Fair Convenor, Amanda McKenzie on 0419 313 279.

Stall allocations to year levels:

Fair Logo Competition

The Tintern Fair Committee are excited to announce the winner of our Fair Logo Competition is:

Holly White of Year 3, with the following design:

Thank you so much to all our other contributors who created such bright and colourful artwork for us to choose from:

Contributors were:

• Alex Khmelevskiy
• Georgia Norton
• Mellyn Sun
• Mia Jones
• Natasha Gillam
• Nicolani Susanto
• Oliver Huang
• Reese Stephens
• Sienna Dass
• Victoria McKenzie
• Yasmin Lobo

First Aid

Students were fortunate to have an informative First Aid lesson recently with a presenter from the St John First Aid Schools Program. Each lesson was targeted to the student’s age and level of understanding. The younger girls learnt how to identify and avoid accidents or unsafe practices in the home. The older girls were taught the Drs. ABCD anagram for facing an emergency situation and how to perform CPR compressions. All students were taught the very important emergency number 000 and how to stay on the line during an emergency call. The sessions proved quite popular and below are some comments from the older girls.

First Aid was really fun and it taught us how to do CPR – Millie Year

There are steps to helping someone that we can remember by Dr ABCD – Sophia Year 4

Firs Aid means First Help – Coco Year 4

We learnt how to put people in the recovery position until an ambulance comes – Holly & Jessica Year 4

I found it useful and practical – Mayunie Year 5

It’s good to know how to help in an emergency. I feel more confident now – Jade Year 5

You can’t do CPR on someone who is breathing – Charlie Year 6

It was educational and useful – Sienna Year 6

It was fun and we learnt what CPR stands for – Molly Year 6

by Kathy Agius, Year 5 Teacher

News from Girls’ Middle School

As we near the end of Term 3, it’s hard to believe how quickly the term has passed and how many wonderful, interesting, challenging and creative have been packed in! The positive opportunities presented by our co-curricular music program is a constant and this was evident last week with the very dynamic and energetic Percussion and Brass concerts. Tonight I look forward to enjoying student performances at the Strings concert and next week we will be holding our ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition. There is truly some amazing and diverse musical opportunities for our students and their participation and enjoyment of these opportunities is impressive.

During our Middle School Assembly last week I was pleased to see a presentation on Emma Watson and her ‘HeForShe’ initiative from Year 8 students Lucy Bailey and Charlotte O’Callaghan. The presentation was engaging and certainly touched on some key issues related to equality. The video they shared can be viewed by clicking on the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbEfDv9XSlE  

Futures Day

On 22 August Year 9s were joined by parents and past alumni for our ‘Futures Day’. The day began with a presentation from a ‘panel’ of parents talking about their careers, the challenges and opportunities they’ve had and what they believe to be important skills, characteristics and qualities for students to develop. Our panel left us with some great ‘life advice’ and set the tone for a very interesting day. Following this, students were given the option to select 3 sessions from a possible 14 to go to and hear about the specifics of a profession. During these sessions students were able to find out more about an area of interest to them and engage in questions and discussion with our presenters. There was a variety of professions on show including health care, engineering, IT and emergency services. This day was an invaluable opportunity for our students to take part in to help them as they start to shape what their educational and career journeys may look like. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of our presenters and the time that they gave to the school. They spoke with great passion and worked with interest to inspire and encourage our students!

District Aths

On Thursday August 25 Tintern Grammar students participated in the Ringwood District Athletics Carnival. In cold and wet conditions at Bill Sewart Athletics Track, the boys and girls competed very well in a variety of track and field events. There were some outstanding results during the day with a number of students progressing to the Divisional Athletics Carnival in week 1 of Term 4.

Congratulations to:

Kye Bertram U/10 Boys Long Jump

Nick Reilly U/12&13 Boys Shot Put

Rachel Adam U/10 Girls Discus

Jessica Fettell U/10 Girls 1500m and Triple Jump

Natasha Gillam U/12&13 Girls 1500m

Overall Tintern finished in 9th position on the day. Thank you to Mrs Lumsden, Ms Dang and Fraser Kenny for your assistance throughout the day.

by Ashley Viney, Assistant Head of Sport Year 7 & 8
Junior/Middle School P.E and Science Teacher

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From the Head of Senior College

Term 3 Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

Over the last two weeks three evenings of student-parent-teacher conferences were scheduled for families of students across Years 7 – 12: Tuesday 23 August, Wednesday 24 August and Wednesday 31 August. My thanks go to the families who attended these interviews which are focussed on the crucial three-way working partnership between students, teachers and parents as well as providing opportunities for students to reflect, on their progress and set future goals. I am aware that a small number of staff were unable to attend their scheduled interviews due to illness; those families who had any subject interviews cancelled can expect the relevant staff member(s) to make contact within the final two weeks of Term 3.

Practice/”Mock” Examinations

A reminder to all Year 12 students and families and all Year 11 students who are undertaking a Year 12 subject and their families that it is crucial for students to attend the Practice/”Mock” examinations which are scheduled for the week commencing Monday 26 September – the second week of the Term 3 holidays. Please note that there are scheduled examinations on the public holiday prior to Grand Final Day – Friday 30 September. Students will have received the schedule for these practice examinations from the program co-ordinator – Mrs Brotchie our IB Co-ordinator and Mr Cho, our VCE/VET Co-ordinator and should advise them if any re-scheduling is required. The practice/mock examinations crucially enable students to experience first-hand the conditions, examination length and standard of questions that will occur in final examinations scheduled for roughly a month later. Feedback from subject teachers will be available in the first week of Term 4.

Celebration Evening

In the coming week, Year 12 families will be advised when tickets for Celebration Evening (scheduled for Monday 10 October at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University) will be specifically made available for them. The first release of tickets is strictly for Year 12 families. Families of other year level students will subsequently be informed of the date when tickets become available for them.

School Uniform

As of Thursday 1 September we are at that part of the school year when students have the option of either wearing their full Summer Uniform OR their full Winter Uniform. This is the case until the end of Term 3, after which full Summer Uniform must be worn through Term 4 – the exception being special event days when full Winter Uniform may be officially specified. Families are asked to assist the School by ensuring that the above uniform requirements are met.

With kind regards to all,

News from Year 10

On Thursday 25 August our Human Resources Manager Ms Sue-Anne Dias spoke to the Year 10 students and provided them with valuable insights from her extensive experience in recruitment. She has also made available her PowerPoint presentation and a comprehensive set of notes that cover the following information and these documents can be found at http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/13331/

• Behavioural Interview Techniques – the STAR Approach
• How to behave in a Behaviour-Based Interview including a selection of typical questions
• How do I prepare for a Behavioural Interview?

Monash University ENGenuITy – “The World Needs Girls in Engineering and IT”

Monash University is holding an event for girls interested in Maths, Science and Technology on Wednesday 28 September from 10.00am to 4.30pm. The day includes hands-on workshops and guest speakers who are themselves inspiring women. Further details and online registration at: http://eng.monash.edu.au/engenuity/

by Heather Ruckert, Year 10 Co-ordinator

News from Year 11

The Presentation Ball is now less than one week away with final practices occurring this week. The families of those students involved, as well as invited staff, are very much looking forward to this event which is a major highlight for the year for many of our Year 11 students.

Nominations for the 2017 Tintern School Leaders, International Student Leaders and House Captains were finalised last week has commenced and student who applied were required to write a statement detailing what their aims would be if they are successful in their application. Staff and students were able to read these applications which were posted on noticeboards in the Hawthorn room, prior to voting during Utility time on Monday 5 September.

Our 2017 School Leadership team, including our International Student Leaders, and our House Captains will be announced to our secondary students and staff in a special Assembly on the first day of Term 4, Tuesday 4 October. At Celebration Evening, Monday 10 October, these leadership positions will be announced to the School Community and the names of our School Captains and School Vice-Captains for 2017 will be revealed.

by Mr Nick Stefanac, Year 11 Co-ordinator

News from Year 12

Our Year 12 students are busily practising their Leaving Song which is coming together beautifully and will be performed to the Community and the whole secondary school as one of the highlights of Celebration Evening on Monday 10 October.

Over the last few weeks of Term 3 our Principal, Mr Brad Fry, has been hosting lunches for each Year 12 Pastoral Mentor group to enable Year 12 students the opportunity to reminisce over highlights not only of Year 12, their final year at Tintern Grammar, but also of their entire journey over previous years at our wonderful school.

All Year 12 families should recently have received information about the Yaer12 Valedictory Dinner which is scheduled for Tuesday 22 November at Leonda by the Yarra. Please assist the School by returning the forms as quickly as possible.

In the last two weeks of Term 4 there are a number of final SACs due for VCE students and similarly a number of Internal Assessments are due for our final year IB students. Across this time, and from now until the end of the final examinations it is crucial for our Year 12 students to focus on getting a good mixture of: recommended hours of sleep, enjoying a regular and healthy diet and lifestyle, and ensuring that all subject work is completed and thoroughly revised.

by Mrs Jen Tsai-Bove, Year 12 Co-ordinator

Key Dates Term 3 2016