From the Principal
Please watch the above video for a Christmas message from our Principal.
Music Matters
Choirs will rehearse first week of Term 1, 2016
Members of the Senior Chamber Choirs, Concert Choir and both Intermediate Choirs (Tintern & Southwood) should note that rehearsals will re-commence during the first week of Term 1, 2016.
Concert Choir: Tuesday 2 February, Kelson Room, 7.30am
Senior Girls Chamber Choir: Wednesday 3 February, Area C, 7.30am
Senior Boys Chamber Choir: Thursday 4 February, Room S112, 7.30am
Intermediate Choir members will be expected to attend at least one of these three rehearsals each week for three weeks, to prepare for the Cathedral Service on Sunday 21 February. After this performance, regular Intermediate Choir rehearsals will commence.
Many thanks to all students for all of your wonderful performances throughout 2015. Have a safe and happy Christmas. Don’t forget to pick up your instruments during the holidays and to keep practising from time to time – it will make your first lesson or rehearsal in 2016 so much more enjoyable!
Upcoming Events in 2016
Sunday 21 February, 2016
Tintern Grammar Annual Cathedral Service, involving members of all choirs and Chamber Orchestra.
2.30pm St Paul’s Cathedral
Sport Matters
Silver medal in Martinique
Congratulations to Alex Eadie and Talia Webb who won the silver medal for Australia at the Aerobics and Fitness world Championships in Martinique, French Caribbean.
Congratulations Rosie
Congratulations to Rosie Addison’s (Year 9) achievement at the Pacific School Games. She placed third in both the 100m and 200m backstroke – a really terrific achievement!
Australian All Schools Championships – Race Walk
Corey Dickson (Year 7) won the U/14 Australian All Schools 3,000m Race Walk in a time of 14.04 mins, breaking his personal best by 19 seconds. Congratulations Corey!
Community Matters
The Community Relations team and all the Community Groups would like to take this opportunity to wish all Tintern Schools families a happy and safe Christmas. It has been a pleasure to work with all Community Volunteers; whether you help in the classroom, belong to a community group or contribute to a Community event, your time is genuinely valued. All the Community Groups have experienced a successful year that is truly reflective of our families. We look forward to your ongoing support in 2016.
Please enjoy this slide show of photos of various volunteer activities and events throughout the year.
2015 Second hand Book Sale
Thank you to everyone who assisted and supported the Second Hand Book Sale; an activity such as this one cannot take place without the valuable assistance of parent volunteers. Special thanks are extended to Joy Ashfield who has again coordinated this volunteer activity. All books or orders not collected can now be collected at the beginning of Term 1 in 2016 unless other arrangements have been made.
Photo Albums for your children’s School photos
There is a limited number of Tintern Schools Photo albums left in both Navy and Burgundy colours, with the Tintern Schools logo on the front.
These albums are great for storing:
– The official school photos
– Certificates
– Naplan results
– ICAS results
– Sports and performer ribbons
– Artwork
– Programs from concerts, sports days and special assemblies
– Photos
– Newsletter clippings
– Your own scrapbook creations (as the pages are 30cm x 30cm standard scrapbook size)
In fact, if you think of it like a filing cabinet of memories, over the years it builds up into quite a treasure!
Orders can be made through the regular order form on the Tintern Portal (Community Section). Albums cost $70, which includes 10 insert pages
Please download an order form here and return to the Community Relations Office
FOYF End of year celebrations
A lovely informal BBQ was enjoyed by our fabulous FOYF team on Sunday afternoon at the Ashfields home as a final function for the year. We are so fortunate to have a group of like-minded current and past parents, who love both Tintern and our wonderful farm. Thanks for all your efforts over the past year and I’m sure 2016 will bring more prize winning sheep, more learning experiences for our students, and positive improvements in our farm and agricultural curriculum.
by Joy Ashfield
Parent End of Year lunch
A big thank you is extended to our Southwood Parents Club who provided our parents with a lovely end of year lunch between assemblies.
Year Level Parent Representatives
What are they? What do they do?
Now is the time to consider a role as Year level parent representative for next year.
Year level parent reps are a vital link between the school and parents at each Year level. Every year level or class should have at least one representative who will make themselves known to other parents across the year. The primary responsibility of the parent reps is to co-ordinate parent social activities throughout the year. The Year level parent rep should make every effort to meet all the parents at their Year level and should a new family arrive during the year, the Parent Rep is asked to make contact with the family, invite them to have coffee and meet other members of the year level. The parent and friend groups or the Community Relations Office may call upon the parent Reps to assist with sourcing volunteers for events or activities. We also encourage our parent reps to be available to answer any questions from our new incoming 2016 families. If this sounds like you please call or email Di Lacey in the Community Relations Office.
A huge thank you is extended to all our 2015 Parent reps and if you would like to continue in the role please contact Di Lacey in the Community relations office on 9845 7877 or email communityrelations@tintern.vic.edu.au.
Community Groups Recruiting for 2016
All community groups are now recruiting for 2016, if you are interested to be a part of Fair 2017 or our parent and friends groups please call the Community Relations office for more details.
Friends of Equestrian
The Friends of Equestrian welcomed their new Equestrian coordinator, Mrs Alison Bezaire at her first committee meeting last Wednesday. Mrs Bezaire formally takes on this extra role in 2016 and has already begun to generate further interest in Tintern Equestrian activities. If you would like to find out how to be a part of this dynamic friends group please contact the Community Relations office or email foe@tintern.vic.edu.au
Mango Fundraiser
Thank you to everyone who supported the 2015 Mango fundraiser and to the Southwood Parents Club for coordinating this community activity.
Fruit and Lemon Tart Fundraiser
Thank you to everyone who supported the 2015 Fruit and Lemon tart fundraiser and to the Friends of Music for coordinating this community activity.
Pre-Prep Christmas Concert Success!
The Pre-Prep students performed brilliantly last week to a packed house (about 100 people). It was marvellous to witness the fantastic progress that the children have made throughout the year. The show consisted of public speaking skills, singing with some solos, acting and actions for songs – it was a lot to remember and do! The background PowerPoint comprised of work produced by the children which was a lovely touch. A big thank you to Mrs Wagner for her hard work to produce the show, as well as the ELC staff who supported the rehearsals and performance so effectively.
Year 4 help the Yellingbo Helmeted Honeyeater
One of the many fundraising initiatives this semester originated in the Tintern Junior School Art Room.
Mrs Shearer and Year 4 created beautiful pen and ink botanical designs during art classes. These magnificent designs were used to make gift cards. The gift cards were on sale during the Junior School Art Exhibition and have been made available just in time for Christmas. All funds raised will go to the Friends of Yellingbo Helmeted Honeyeater. The charity was nominated during a student-led Leadership meeting in Term 3. To date in excess of $150 has been collected. Congratulations are extended to Mrs Shearer and the students.
Many thanks go to all those who supported this initiative.
by Sandi Gaskin, Year 3-6 Coordinator
Junior School girls visit Lilac on the farm!
The girls had a lovely visit to see the new lamb last week – her name is Lilac! She is very tall and a cross breed who will most likely be a milking ewe for a regional cheese maker. Her mum is only 12 months old and father unknown – Father Wall did not realise until a month ago that she was pregnant – so good that she had a smooth birth for a mum so young.
Georgia gives to Kids with Cancer!
Georgia Norton (Year 5) decided to cut 30cm off her hair to donate to children with cancer. Georgia was influenced by the Schools Brave Initiative ‘Be the Best We Can Be’ and she told us that she wanted to give to children who have no hair to help them feel happy and confident in themselves.
Georgia researched and found an organisation that creates wigs from donated hair to give to children who have experienced hair loss. Georgia decided to do this several months ago and she was waiting until after her dance concert to have her hair cut and do all the preparation required to send a pony tail of her hair to Variety – The Children’s Charity. Georgia’s empathy and commitment to helping and recognising others is evident through this initiative and so much admired by us all. Well done Georgia!
End of Year Concert and Year 6 Lion King Production
We began the evening with some delightful musical numbers. This set the tone for what proved to be a wonderful evening. Cooper Choir also recognised Father Taplin for his many years of service by singing ‘Blessing’.
Yet again we saw an outstanding demonstration of acting and musical performance for the Year 6 production. It reminded of just how talented our girls are. Many thanks go to the Year 5 band who played a crucial role in the production’s success. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of the many people who have been involved. It has been a fabulous team effort by the Year 6 girls, Mrs Wagner, Mrs Hudgell, and Ms Green, props by Mrs Shearer and make up by senior students Genevieve, Maddie, Lucy and Annie. Mrs Katrina Ryder, who made the costumes, also deserves a very special mention for the spectacular costumes which took months to make! They all deserve a huge thank you for a most entertaining show.
2015 Year 6 Awards
In 2015 our Year 6 girls have excelled in diverse ways. They have set themselves personal goals and worked hard to achieve them. Very importantly, they have shown support for others and respect for the need to work as a team. They have made us very proud of all their achievements.
Along with the Year 6 award for each student, some individual awards were presented to girls for recognition of outstanding contributions during their time in the Junior School. These special awards were presented to the following girls:
Alana Moor Award Alana Lawson, Holly Whitfield
Endeavour Sarah Thompson
Henshall Musician Award Sarah Chen, Gilda Ferrie
TOGA Dinali Fernando
Deakin Academic Award Amelia Kenny
Deakin Community Award Holly Whitfield
Pushing Boundaries for Girls in the 21st Century
At girls’ schools in the 21st Century, we believe in pushing boundaries to discover new possibilities. It’s all about innovation, which is key to our success as educators, as schools, and, perhaps most importantly, for our students as they move beyond Tintern into the real world.
As our global market place is constantly changing, we can no longer only educate tomorrow’s leaders and workforce for specific occupations. In order for our girls and young women to be successful, we must educate them to be more innovative and creative.
Being innovative is about looking beyond what we currently do well, identifying the great ideas of tomorrow, and putting them into practice.
One call that we regularly hear from both academia and business is that more women are needed in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and Mathematics. This was particularly highlighted when I attended a Girl schools conference in the United States, earlier in the year. But how best to encourage girls to consider careers in STEM?
Simply encouraging girls to take risks and be the best they can be in any subject, is a necessary step forward. For example, this year we launched our BRAVE theme for the first time where the letter B encouraged students to do their very best.
Creating an environment where it’s okay to take risks, will lead to trying out for a team, or putting up your hand in class when you’re not sure if you know the answer. We encourage them to be comfortable with a certain amount of discomfort; we think that this helps them learn new things.
So what programs can help this process?
First, experiential learning opportunities can help build confidence and self-esteem in girls as well as address gender inequality worldwide. An example is our interdisciplinary program where girls have the opportunity to explore and embrace STEM-related curricula and careers, and experience solving real-world problems. Two good cases are the Year 6’s excursion to CERES and study on water, when they discover the potential benefits to environmental sciences, and the Year 5 Camp at Narmbool where the girls spend two days learning about environmental matters.
Allied with this is learning to accommodate the concept of failure. Queensland academic, Rachael Sharman, suggests that parents can help their children by seeing failure as a necessary part of growing up. Research shows that high achievers “persist in the face of failure and develop creative problem-solving and emotional-coping strategies” and that, over time, “these strategies combine to create a seriously resilient person”. This is an absolute priority at Tintern.
Also crucial is the importance of appropriate role models who love science and maths, deflecting some of the media or popular culture messages that portray women as less capable of successfully studying these subjects than men.
In fact, simply encouraging our girls to take risks and be the best they can be in any subject leads many to consider these fields. This is the strategy here at Tintern. Our emphasis is girls learning, and if girls are interested and keen on a STEM subject then we’re going to make sure we support them, and we’re going to make sure that they have access to the best possible instruction, the best possible facilities and the best possible learning experience.
We’ve been doing so much, so well and for so long. The risk is that we can get stuck in our ways. How can we ensure that our past success moves us forward, planting our feet firmly in the 21st century in girls education? Prioritising STEM is a key stage in this process. My promise is that I will be working closely with our Mr Fry to ensure that this happens.
Prep-Year 2 Beach day
What a wonderful way to (almost) finish the school year. Our Prep-Year 2 boys, and many parents, joined together at Mothers Beach, Mornington, for our annual Beach day. The weather could not have been better, as the boys paddled, splashed, played beach cricket and spent time having fun together.
Thank you to the many parents who helped make the day a very special one for us all.
Year 3-6 Speech Night
Monday’s Year 3-6 Speech Night was another occasion during which our boys displayed their range of talents, and their ability to ‘Factis Non Verbis’ our Compass points. Our choir, featuring all Year 3-6 boys, performed wonderfully well, as it usually does, whilst class presentations highlighted the rich and varied curriculum in each class that matches the needs of boys. I spoke briefly about an article by Maggie Dent, parenting and resilience specialist, who emphasises the importance of the engagement and motivation of boys in schools. Please click on the link for more information – Boys, Boys, Boys Handout_Jan 2015_Maggie Dent I am confident that our Boys Junior School promotes a culture that does meet the needs of boys and assists them in their journey from fine young boys, into fine men.
Under the leadership of Brad Fry, and with the tireless efforts of Vice Principal Jason McManus, and working collaboratively with Anna Riddell, Head of Girls Junior School, 2016 promises to further strengthen our boys’ curriculum. Orchestra for our Year 3-6s will be a most positive experience, Religious Education will see regular discussions based on ethics, morality and a greater understanding of and tolerance for those with diverse backgrounds and cultures. Most importantly, we commence our year with an ongoing series of Professional development sessions with Lisa Keskinen, literacy teaching and learning programs. Every year offers change, excitement and engagement…2016 will be no exception.
Congratulations to the following boys who were the recipient of Individual Year 6 Awards.
The Deakin Shield: Lachlan Bastin
The LD Henshall Award: Seb Nagendran
The Sports Award: Harry O’Brien
The Foundation Award: Oscar De Jong
The Music Award: James Manson
The Southwood Parents Award: Raman Wensor
Prep – Year 2 Family Christmas Morning
There can be no better way to finish our year with our Prep-Year 2 boys cuddling up with a parent or guardian, singing Christmas Carols, watching a reflection of the year’s activities and then being surprised by a visit from Santa.
‘Twas a lovely morning…thank you to everyone involved.
Year 6 Transition Dinner
Our Year 6 Transition Dinner was a most fitting occasion in which to recognise and thank our Year 6 boys, and their families, for their involvement in our Junior School. Each boy spoke, accompanied by creative and detailed powerpoint, about his journey through his Southwood days, and then presented one of his peers with a ‘Certificate of Success’, highlighting an area in which that peers has shown positive values. A highlight of the night is certainly when the boys and parents exchange ‘letters of appreciation’.
I congratulate our Year 6 boys for their demeanour throughout not only this special evening, but the whole year.
Girls Middle School News
The 2015 Academic Year has come to a busy end as the last two weeks of term have been packed with activities for our Middle School Girls. No doubt a highlight for students in Years 7 and 8 was their involvement in the eYp (end of year program). Feedback from staff and students has been enormously positive and probably the most pleasing aspect to the week was the girls willingness to push themselves, develop new friendships with girls from other year levels and show their creativity and lateral thinking skills.
Our Year 8s have also taken part in ‘Days for Girls’, a wonderful initiative which has brought our community together, allowed students to live our school motto ‘Deeds not Words’ and have a positive impact on individuals and communities around the globe.
Our Year 9s have returned from their Summer Expeditions to the Mitchell River, Gippsland Lakes and Freycinet National Park. It has been fantastic to spend time with the girls in the outdoors and see how far they’ve come throughout their Middle School journey.
Today we have celebrated our Year 9s as they move out of Middle School and into the Senior College. At our combined Middle Schools Assembly not only did we reflect on a terrific year but we also recognised each Year 9 girl individually. Girls were given their new Senior College jumper which was received with great excitement! Congratulations to Yasmin Lobo and Tara McAsey who were recipients of the Endeavour Award and Elspeth Adamson Award respectively.
Congratulations must also go to the following girls from Year 8 who have been elected by their peers and teachers to lead our Middle School in 2016 – Leaders 2016
I wish all families a fantastic break. I hope that you have an opportunity to relax and spend time together as a family and I very much look forward to seeing the girls on day 1 of 2016!
Sea Kayaking
Last week, six of us left with Mr Cho, Ms Bortolussi and our guide Michael for the Gippsland lakes. After a short skills session and once we had stuffed everything into the kayaks, we hit the water for five days of sea kayaking. In total we Kayaked 51km through calm conditions and not so nice conditions. Each night we set up camp at a different campsite, settling into our sleeping bags early after a tiring day. Some of the hard parts were the rough paddling on Wednesday morning and the thousands of mosquitos and March flies. Some of the trips highlights were paddling out to see the sunrise at 5:15am, playing mafia by the campfire, the thousands of jellyfish, reaching the campsite at the end of each day and of course the showers at the end of the day.
by Rita, Helen, Annie Z, Emma, Zenith and Mae
White water rafting
As the Year 9s second semester drew to a close, and while most of the school was getting excited for the Christmas break, a group of 14 girls were busily preparing for what was to become their most intense week of the year.
We had chosen to participate in the White Water Rafting Summer Expedition, in which we would raft down the Mitchell River, navigating the rapids and rocks in order to get closer to home over five days. Our first day was spent adjusting to our new surroundings, emotions, and responsibilities. Whilst packing our dry bags for the first time we were gifted with beautiful warm weather, and a calm evening afterwards. During the preparation of our debut trangia dinner, we were introduced to our camp mascots – recently named Scout, Patrick, Squirt and Brian. These small plastic animals soon become a highlight of each night, being passed throughout the group depending on traits shown during the day. For example, Brian, the penguin awarded to the rafter that encountered the largest tragedy of the journey, was given to victims of wombats and capsisers alike.
Over the course of the week we traveled to campsites of varying cleanliness, accessibility, comfort and biomes. We encountered thistles, sand, wombats, snakes, cliffs, slugs, and an abundance of flies. Our group was introduced by Paul – our outdoor education rafting guide for the camp – to the idea of ‘river toileting’, which was to be mandatorily utilised for the entirety of the week. Thursday, our final full day camping, was cheerily decreed ‘family day’, as most meals were collaboratively prepared with Christmas spirit, resulting in delicious, on-the-go wraps, ‘woodfired’ pizzas and a festive, early Christmas dinner.
Ms Constable – or ‘Connie’, as her personalised camp tshirt proclaimed – had generously organised Christmas festivities for the duration of the camp, including the 12 meals of Christmas accompanied by an advent calendar, personalised gifts for each student, decorations for a tree, glow sticks for carols, mini bonbons and themed candles for a Christmas dinner. This was an amazing effort on her part, and was greatly appreciated by all, helping to lift spirits with an authentic ‘Bush Christmas’. We were introduced to the different aspects of rafting at the start of the expedition, including steering, navigating rapids, and conquering rocks and branches. However, even with all the knowledge we gathered through experience and teachers, we wouldn’t have made it home as unscathed as we did without the assistance of our two guides, aforementioned Paul and Jemma. All in all, this expedition was memorable because of many diverse experiences and challenges that we eventually all overcame with help from each other. We would like to thank Connie and Jonnie for their aid and positive words when we were feeling less than enthusiastic, for helping us persevere and become ‘strong, independent women’ – to quote Paul Nichol.
by Holly Fryer, Lauren Higgins and Annabelle McKenzie
Year 8 Performing Arts Evening
‘Move on up. Get on down’
The Performing Arts are also about working with others and exploring original ideas, new techniques and skills and exploring the world around us. Our Year 8 Performing Arts evening celebrated the imaginative and innovative ways that our Year 8 students generate expression through creativity. This evening was an inspiration and beautifully conceived by our talented musicians. A superb program ensured a variety of accomplished dance and drama performances were complimented by an Adagio Tango, a Federation Bells presentation, Simon Lan violin solo (accompanied by Ron Chen) – a Chinese inspired ‘Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto, a classical guitar solo of Ryan Hem’s ‘Tango Esta Noches’
The theme for Semester 2 was ‘Move On Up. Get On Down’. The evening was initiated by a full complement of the year level in a massed song ‘Moving on Up’ and culminated in an engaging presentation of ’Mana’ The Spirit of Polynesia’ where Haka, Poi Dances and a Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride performances swept the audience off its feet!
Under the refined leadership of Ms Anne Bortolussi together with Mr Rowan Kidd, Music at Year 8 has become an engaging and highly participatory subject.
With the effervescent Vince Di Mitrio, Dance students explored a variety of dance styles. Their use of body was expressed through time and space and the techniques and concepts of dance explored through a range of dance styles. The Year 8 Drama students also presented an Open Classroom exhibit where improvisational and skills-based activities were celebrated.
We would like to thank our Director of Music Alison Bezaire for her support during the evening, to our Year 8 Co-Coordinators Elizabeth Cutter and Brett Trollope and their respective staff for their supportive and caring spirit and respect for individual differences.
With such engaging, vigorous educational experience Tintern Grammar Performing Arts, as an artistic process, provides an arena to advance individual skills so as to create performances that are experiential as well as inspiring.
We look forward to sharing more Performing Arts experiences with our community with our Tintern Grammar Musical 2016 ‘Oklahoma’!
Days for Girls
Over this past semester our Year 8 girls have been investigating what life is like for girls in situations very different to our own, such as those who experience poverty, forced child labour, etc. They have been identifying what is ‘normal’ by our standards and what is ‘fair and not fair’ in terms of access to basic human rights. As part of this focus on December 1st we held our annual Year 8 social action day where the girls volunteered their time to support the charity ‘Days for Girls’. Days for girls is a not-for profit social justice project that helps girls regain dignity, health, and equality in educational outcomes through providing access to sustainable feminine hygiene products for girls across 77 developing countries.
There was overwhelming support from our Year 8 families who donated countless items to enable the project to happen. Then on 1 December the girls spent the entire day sewing, cutting out patterns, ironing and packing the kits. The girls were absolutely outstanding. Right from the word go the energy from the girls was high and they were determined to make a real difference through their efforts. They invested considerable effort into their packing, sewing, folding, ironing, and sorting and took a lot of pride in making sure we were producing a gift that we could be proud of giving to our sisters in need. They all worked tirelessly and could be heard encouraging each other when they were getting weary.
We were lucky enough to have state leader of Days for Girls Michelle Gates spend the first few hours of the day with us. She mentioned that she has worked with a lot of young women across Melbourne in her role, and that she was particularly impressed with the respectful and mature manner the girls spoke to her with, the friendliness that they displayed to each other, and their genuine understanding and compassion for others less fortunate. In particular, she said that we should be immensely proud of the calibre of young women we are producing here. I told her that we certainly were! Our kits are about to be shipped off to the Syrian refugees and to the South Sudanese refugees. By the end of the day, the girls were exhausted and elated that they could make such a practical difference to those in need.
by Liz Cutter, Year 8 Girls Level Co-ordinator
End of Year Program
On Wednesday to Friday of last week we trialled a new end of year program (EYP) for our Year 7 & 8 students. The EYP ran as a House competition where each House worked together through a series of challenges and activities to gain points towards the House cup. Each house was randomly allocated a 1970’s sitcom such as ‘Happy Days’, ‘The Partridge Family’ and ‘Gilligan’s Island’. They were then set the task of researching all they could about the sitcom, the values it displayed, the key life lessons that it taught, the fashions involved and how their show compares to the values expressed in our current day tv shows. Each House then had to create a performance that reflected key elements of the show, and an item that was pivotal in the show. The students absolutely excelled at this task. Those with musical talents worked on performing the theme songs, others stepped up into acting roles and gave stellar performances of the key characters from each show. We had a high level of creativity displayed through their models such as the partridge bus, a full sized juke box from Happy Days and a raft to help Gilligan escape.
Just to keep things interesting there was also some additional team building activities and physical challenges throughout the EYP to gain valuable house points and raise team spirits. There was also two philosophy lectures from Ms Anne Meredith on the ethics of space exploration and from Mr Brad Fry on the essence of leadership. The students then reflected on these lectures in their groups and competed with the other houses to answer some thought provoking questions. The students really embraced this program and connected well with the tasks which was reflected in the quality of their presentations. Congratulations to all Houses for your efforts and group work.
In particular congratulations to our winning Houses:
Girls – Mansfield/McKie
Boys – Gordon/Grant
Overall – Dann/Watt
Please click on the link below for examples of our end of year program projects.
http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/7324/
by Liz Cutter, Year 8 Girls Level Co-ordinator
Boys Middle School News
The end is here! It’s been a really great year by the boys; from our Year 9s stepping up to be the leaders of the campus to the Year 7s who found their feet in their first year of Middle School, as well as the Year 8s who have grown incredibly well to be ready to be our new leaders next year.
The last two weeks have seen our Year 9 boys involved in their Summer Expeditions which included two groups white water rafting the Mitta Mitta River as well a third group rock climbing Mount Arapiles.
The Year 7s and 8s were involved in a new End of Year Program that had them researching, re-enacting and studying some of the classic 1970s television programs as well as a couple of university type lectures and engineering challenges. It was a wonderfully successful program that brought out the creativity in our boys as well as having them work collaboratively in House teams.
On Monday our Year 7 boys were on excursion to Healesville Sanctuary, whilst the 8s were in the city on an Amazing Race adventure and the 9s were packing up from Summer Expeditions and then bike riding along the East Link trail.
On the last day our boys competed in the Southwood Ironman event in the morning which had the boys commando crawling under cargo nets, skim boarding along the cricket pitch, carrying old tyres, as well as many other physically challenging activities.
Following this we had our combined Middle Schools assembly that allowed us to formally congratulate our Year 9 boys as they move into Senior College as well as introduce our new leadership team for 2016. Please click on the link for the new leaders for 2016 – Leaders 2016. At the end of the day we met as a Prep – Year 9 group of boys to sing the school song as well as congratulate all boys, especially our Preps, Year 6s and Year 9s.
I would like to thank all boys in the Middle School for their efforts this year as well as all parents for your help throughout the year with your son and his schooling. The relationships between school and family is crucial and I certainly look forward to this continuing to grow in the coming years. All the very best for the coming holidays and festive season. Please stay safe during the break and I look forward to 2016 with the boys in the Middle School.
Year 9 Summer Expedition – Rafting
On 30 November, a group of Year 9 boys went on a rafting expedition to the Mitta Mitta River for a week. On the river, students experienced rafting down blood-rushing rapids, as well as amazing waterfalls. Although the temperature of the water was somewhat unwelcoming, the challenges, adventures and of course lunch breaks were all greatly enjoyed by the boys. We slept under tarps in groups that we chose within the rafting team, and many of us bonded not only within our tarp groups, but within the whole of our rafting group. The usual devastating wake-up time was about 6am and although we were all droopy and dopy and trying to snuggle back into our sleeping bags, all the boys were right into the activities that lay ahead, of course, after waking up that is. Some of the other side-activities the boys undertook were camouflage (a game where someone would attempt to spot people hiding) cooking magnificent feasts for dinner, lunch and breakfast, hiking up gigantic hills to get to our bus and of course enjoying some friendly banter. One of the definite highlights for the boys was one of the waterfalls we rafted down, approximately 2-3 metres high. Although some found it challenging, with the encouragement of the team, all the boys pulled through in the end. At the end of the camp, all we were well and truly done, and a little sad to be leaving, however excited by what lay ahead – a warm shower and a cosy bed.
by Harrison Webb, Year 9
Boys Year 9 Rock Climbing
At the conclusion of the long 5 hour drive to Mt Arapiles (near Horsham), the Year 9 boys were greeted by two unwelcome elements: ferocious winds that made it near impossible to pitch a tent, and swarms of flies which made it near impossible to do anything. Fortunately, both of these factors were negated after a violent electrical storm blew over, and conditions for the remainder of the week were close to ideal. A first night dinner without the use of coking facilities due to a Total Fire Ban was handled by all the boys with maturity and aplomb.
The week was certainly full of adventure. The boys learnt how to use their bodies and the rock climbing equipment provided to successfully scale several difficult challenges. It is fair to say that all students were taken out of their ‘comfort zone’ and all managed to reach climbing goals successfully. To see boys hanging on the end of a rope 50 metres above the ground, but perfectly safe and trusting of the safety mechanisms put in place was inspiring.
The skills of climbing and abseiling were developed during the week, as was the ability of the boys to co-operate with one another and staff in order to cook, clean and maintain a workable community for the week. The way the boys encouraged one another on many challenging activities demonstrated their use of compass values in real life situations.
Well done to all boys on the camp for their spirit, sense of adventure and most importantly, sense of fun. Our thanks to Dan and Freddy (Outdoor Education instructors) for their instruction, leadership and encouragement throughout the week.
Healesville Excursion
Two of the topics covered during Year 7 Science were Classification and Living Things. Year 7 students spent Monday 7 December at Healesville Sanctuary to compliment these units. A focus on endangered species and the environment drew attention to how we can all help reduce our impact on the environment and therefore minimise species extinction. Students attended an introductory session at the new Platypus Creek Arena, watched the Spirits of the Sky Bird Show, viewed the various animal enclosures then shared their ideas about minimising our impact on the environment. A very busy, productive and educational day was had by all.
by Anthea Watkins, Horizon Centre Co-ordinator
Year 8 Performing Arts Evening
‘Move on up. Get on down’
The Performing Arts are also about working with others and exploring original ideas, new techniques and skills and exploring the world around us. Our Year 8 Performing Arts evening celebrated the imaginative and innovative ways that our Year 8 students generate expression through creativity. This evening was an inspiration and beautifully conceived by our talented musicians. A superb program ensured a variety of accomplished dance and drama performances were complimented by an Adagio Tango, a Federation Bells presentation, Simon Lan violin solo (accompanied by Ron Chen) – a Chinese inspired ‘Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto, a classical guitar solo of Ryan Hem’s ‘Tango Esta Noches’
The theme for Semester 2 was ‘Move On Up. Get On Down’. The evening was initiated by a full complement of the year level in a massed song ‘Moving on Up’ and culminated in an engaging presentation of ’Mana’ The Spirit of Polynesia’ where Haka, Poi Dances and a Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride performances swept the audience off its feet!
Under the refined leadership of Ms Anne Bortolussi together with Mr Rowan Kidd, Music at Year 8 has become an engaging and highly participatory subject.
With the effervescent Vince Di Mitrio, Dance students explored a variety of dance styles. Their use of body was expressed through time and space and the techniques and concepts of dance explored through a range of dance styles. The Year 8 Drama students also presented an Open Classroom exhibit where improvisational and skills-based activities were celebrated.
We would like to thank our Director of Music Alison Bezaire for her support during the evening, to our Year 8 Co-Coordinators Elizabeth Cutter and Brett Trollope and their respective staff for their supportive and caring spirit and respect for individual differences.
With such engaging, vigorous educational experience Tintern Grammar Performing Arts, as an artistic process, provides an arena to advance individual skills so as to create performances that are experiential as well as inspiring.
We look forward to sharing more Performing Arts experiences with our community with our Tintern Grammar Musical 2016 ‘Oklahoma’!
Please see below for videos of the performances.
End of Year Program
If the Year 7 and 8 students had not heard of shows such as The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island or The Partridge Family, they certainly have since being part of the End of Year Program.
This inaugural program consisted of a combination of STEM activities, lectures, group projects sport activities and competition. Students had the opportunity to participate in construction, drama, public speaking, research and music activities. The days were packed full of activity attending lectures (‘Space Exploration’ – Anne Meredith; ‘Leadership The A, The B and The C – Brad Fry), the Chickpea Challenge, Balloon Towers and the Hanging Basket Challenge. These events took place between preparation for the House Sitcom Project; each House was assigned one of five different 1960-70s Sitcoms. The students researched their sitcom according to specified requirements, prepared a drama, construction and a song and performed this to the audience and judges on Friday afternoon. Overall this was a most successful three days of life-skills.
by Anthea Watkins, Horizon Centre Co-ordinator
Rock Climbing
Our journey of Tasmanian Rock Climbing began at 4am…well, that was the perfect situation.
We left for the airport at 4:30am…
A little over an hour later, we were running through the length of the Melbourne Airport, our gate having already closed. Panting and laughing, we finally boarded the plane and took off for Tasmania! Over the next four days, we enjoyed hiking, abseiling and tightly gripping onto cliff faces! With the help of our guide, Rod, we managed to master some of the difficult climbs and abseils. We even met some enthusiastic Tasmanians on one of our adventures! The hike to Wineglass Bay was incredible! We were humbled to see one of the best beaches in the world! We overcame many challenges and learnt new skills. At the end of the week, we left Tasmania feeling fulfilled after having created many funny memories that will last a lifetime.
Thank you to our supportive and encouraging teachers and guides, Mr Klan, Ms Ord, Rod and Al who made this trip so worthwhile! #tassie15 #veganmegan
by Daniella Cosentino, Yasmin Lobo and Ruby Wensor
Year 8 Boys Amazing Race in the City
On Monday 7 December the Year 8 boys went to the city to do an “Amazing Race”. In teams, we were sent instructions to go to a particular destination. We could either walk or take a tram. At the destination we had to answer a question, take a group selfie, a picture of the destination and text it back to the teacher. Instructions were then received for the next destination in our race around the city. My team found out it was better to answer the questions correctly than to do it quickly and risk messing up the answers and missing out on important points.
We took the train in and out of the city, which was good as it gave people the experience of being on a train and using public transport. It was hard to find seats as the Southwood boys took up the whole carriage! After arriving at Flinders Street station our race promptly started with the teachers telling us what to do on the first checkpoint and then we were on our own for the rest of the race!
Some of the places we went to were the City Square, Royal Arcade, Flinders Street Station and Tiffany & Co. We also made a gold coin donation to the Make-A-Wish Australia charity at the Gingerbread Village made by Epicure. In that village there is 500 kilograms of gingerbread and 360 kilograms of royal icing!
After the race finished we had lunch in the Melbourne Central food court and then we made our way back to school.
I think everyone thought the day was good as we went to places that most of us had never been before, and would probably would not have visited them otherwise.
by Mitchell Wooller, Year 8
Senior College news
Our current Year 10 and 11 students have completed their transition classes to assist their preparation for their new classes in 2016. Holiday homework is available via the Portal and staff have highlighted that this work is due in the first class next year. The English staff have also requested that novels and plays are read over the holiday period.
Refurbishments of the Anderson Centre are progressing well with the interior demolishing phase complete and now the new spaces are being created ready for the return of our Senior College students next year.
Farewell to Papa T
As the school year draws to a close, we must farewell our Chaplain, Father Taplin. Stewart Taplin commenced at Tintern in January 1994, accepting the position of School’s Chaplain and teacher of Outdoor Education. In his 22 years at Tintern he has taught Outdoor Education and Religion Studies across the secondary section of the school, including undertaking delivery of the VCE Units 3/4 Outdoor Education teaching program this year when the School was faced with a staffing dilemma.
Utilising his expertise in Outdoor Education, Stewart has been heavily involved in the camps program across the secondary school and in particular at Year 9 he has been committed annually to the three elements of the camps program: in February/March – pastoral Bush Walk Camps at Wilsons Promontory; in August – the Winter Activities camp week; and, in late November – the Summer Expeditions week.
Stewart has been a strong supporter of co-curricular activities across all sections of the school, showing an enormous commitment in attending as many Concert, Music, Art and House events as he physically possible.
In the same way, Stewart has provided chaplaincy across the entire School to students, staff and the wider Tintern Schools community. He has readily made himself available for counselling, baptisms, marriages and funerals and has been a confidante and source of strength to many in the community in times of need.
Stewart, or “Papa T”, as he has been affectionately known by the students over many years, is deeply admired by his peers and by all students. In his retirement, he will be greatly missed by all members of the community.
Please see the link from 1994, when Stewart first commenced at the school. Stewart Taplin 1994 commencement
French Exchange Students Cook Up French style!
The French Exchange students are settling in well to their new surroundings. They had their first group meeting and ‘debrief’ last Tuesday.
They had a ‘Gastronomie’ afternoon, cooking and eating together. This was followed by a tour of Bordeaux and time to shop together at the Marche de Noel (Christmas Market.)
There is a new set of photographs at the top of the portal French Exchange page, via:
http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/11 (click through to French)
by Anna Riddell, Trips and Tours Coordinator
German Exchange
Our students have all landed safely in Düsseldorf. This photo below was our first day in Erkelenz, a meeting with the Mayor.
by Katja Chitters, Head of Languages
Changes to Mathematics learning material for 2016
Parents will notice some changes on the booklist for 2016 relating to Mathematics, primarily attributed to the introduction in 2016 of the Senior Australian Curriculum and the flow-on effect to Middle School preparation.
Mathspace
The Tintern Mathematics department is delighted to announce the success of our e-learning trial of Mathspace in the Middle School. The feedback from students and teachers during the trial has been extremely positive.
Next year, the multi-award winning application Mathspace will be rolled out across Middle School Mathematics classrooms to replace Mathletics. Students will receive 24 hour access. The main features of this video tuition program are:
- Line-by-line working for each question
- Live feedback and assistance
- Handwriting recognition
- Adaptive learning- questions posed are adjusted in degree of complexity or skill depending on student responses (personalised curriculum).
Teachers and Educational Support are able to easily track the number of questions answered, whether hints were used, mastery of task and time taken.
Essential Mathematics Texts
Next year, a new text/digital/Hotmaths resource will be used throughout the school. In this Australian Curriculum resource, each worked example has an audio version to cater for different learning styles and assist students when at home attempting homework. Additionally at senior level, each question in the text has fully worked solutions for students to access. The Mathematics Faculty sees these features as significant support mechanisms to assist student learning.
by Mr Gary Collins, Head of Mathematics
Final Day of School
Tuesday 8 December was the final day for our Junior and Middle School students at Tintern Schools.
We started the morning with the Tintern Year 6 Graduation Breakfast, where we paid tribute to our Year 6 girls and heard a special speech from Moya Zhang (YG2014), the 2014 School Dux who received an ATAR of 99.95. She told the girls to make sure they study hard, but have a balanced approach to their studies – for Moya, music and sport were all a huge part of her life at Tintern.
Following the Breakfast was the Prep – Year 2 Family Christmas Morning. The boys all performed their Christmas Carols spectacularly well.
We then went to Tintern Junior School where all girls from ELC – Year 6 gathered to reflect on the year. It was also an opportunity for the girls to farewell Father Taplin and present him with a special card they had made.
The Tintern and Southwood Middle Schools Assembly was a very special occasion. All Year 9 students were presented with their Middle School Graduation Certificates, and we announced the winners of the Elspeth Adamson Awards, Jerry Masters Award and the Endeavour Awards. The Middle School leaders called Father Taplin to the stage to thank him for his significant contribution to the school and to share a special video they had prepared.
In the middle of the day, a number of parents gathered together at the special lunch hosted by the Southwoood Parents Club. It was a great opportunity for parents to catch up before the summer holiday.
We finished the day with a Southwood Prep – Year 9 Assembly where, as Mr Kenny said, we have farewelled ‘Papa T’ more times than John Farnham. The boys took the opportunity to present Father Taplin with his very own Southwood hoodie!
There were tears of happiness, lots of hugs and celebrating by the students for the end of a very successful school year. We look forward to seeing everyone back again in 2016.
Curriculum Matters
The end of the school year will see all of our students up to Year 11 receive their Semester Reports in which students and parents receive a summary of their progress to date, feedback on what they have done well and how they can further improve. The content of these reports is a critical element in the academic and overall development of every student as well as our parents’ understanding of it.
At the beginning of next year our secondary students will be guided to review their reports and set a few key goals based on the feedback of their teachers to help them develop towards self-regulating life-long learners.
As we did in first semester, we will not be producing and posting home hard copy reports. Instead, we will produce the same reports, in the same format, as pdf files to be viewed by families online via our Portal.
For families who like to keep a hard copy of their child’s report, these reports can be downloaded to family computers and printed if desired. These reports will be available to families on Friday December 11 at 3pm and an email will be sent that day to inform you when they are open.
You can also access all of a student’s reports from their time at Tintern Schools, archived online for your easy reference.
To view these reports, please log in to MyTintern and go to the ‘Parent Services’ tab, then select the ‘Absences, Finance and Reports’ section and login to the Synergetic System. A summary view can be can be found under the ‘Results’ tab and the full pdf version of the reports can be found in the Documents tab. Please be aware that the report screen will take about 20 secs to load once you log in. Copies of the current and past reports in PDF format can be found under the ‘Documents’ tab. If you have any issues with logging in to the portal or locating your reports please call the IT helpdesk on 9845 7883. An email with a help sheet detailing report access has been sent out to all families of Prep – Year 11 families.
We hope you find this process straightforward and the reports an informative summation of your child’s achievement and progress this semester as well as useful material to help guide future learning.
As another busy year of teaching and learning (at least in a school context) comes to an end, I hope you all have a refreshing summer break and wonderful holiday season with friends and family.
Merry Christmas!
2017 Scholarships Now Open
Tintern is pleased to offer scholarships for students entering the following year levels in 2017:
Applications will close on Friday 29 January 2016. Scholarship testing will be held on Saturday 6 February 2016 from 8.30am – 12pm.
Please note: Scholarships are open to all internal and external students. Scholarships are available to Australian residents only. All decisions regarding scholarships are final.
For more information, please contact the Admissions office on 9845 7878 or email admissions@tintern.vic.edu.au
Key Dates
Term Dates 2016
Please click the link below for term dates 2016.
http://www.tintern.vic.edu.au/community/events/tag/term-dates-2016/
Office Hours 2016
Please note that Administration will close on Friday 18 December. We will reopen on Monday 4 January 2016. Office hours will be 8.30am – 4.30pm until Monday 25 January 2016, when normal office hours (8am – 5pm) resume.