From the Principal

Great things outside the classrooms

Having just returned from the final night of “Oklahoma!”, I cannot tell you how impressed I was with our students’ work! I sat next to a woman who had performed in it as a student and I suspect that her view is worth far more than mine. She was full of praise for the acting and courage of the students in immersing themselves in their roles (although she did say the boys needed some training in the fighting scenes – something I must say I wasn’t displeased with!). Parents, staff and students have been unrelenting in their praise of Oklahoma and the sell outs were testament to this. After the very significant and impressive performance of “Cabaret” last year, it would have been easy for the directors, cast and crew to feel a real sense of pressure approaching this year’s production, but if so, they have managed it with aplomb!

While Tintern and Southwood Grammar’s dramatic ‘c/v’ goes back a long time indeed (and we can be justifiably proud of our track record in our thespian achievements) for the students in our Production, each year is one of one! The challenge for them, the engagement in the drama and the growth and development as actors and young men and women are all ‘one offs’, unaffected by our history in performing arts. The number of younger students, the number of boys involved (musicals traditionally find it difficult to engage young men) and the clear effort and energy of the production spoke volumes for the commitment of the students, along with the wise, expert and supportive guidance of the staff. It was an all-around winner, without doubt!

Swimming @ Tintern is clearly a growing force under the leadership of Ms Natalie Upjohn. In recent years, we have attracted a core group of strong squad swimmers right through the age groups, who have represented the School with distinction at EISM, Schools’ Championships, States and beyond. As a result, the global bar has been raised for the entire squad, with clear benefits for all our swimmers. In this final week of term, this has meant we have had numerous participants make selection for the EISM Champions Meet in swimming – quite literally, the best of the best! To make this meet is a great honour and that we have so many, as a relatively small school, is testament to the students’ effort, persistence and commitment and the oversight and support of Mr Jurey, Ms Upjohn and the staff.

While these co-curricular areas are clearly providing wonderful opportunities for our students, we will continue to look to grow both our sporting and other co-curricular offerings in the coming years.

These are but two examples of many, where our students are truly living out our School’s motto: Factis non verbis.

To finish, can I alert you to some changes to my (semi) regular vlog on this page? Up to this point, they have been largely editorials and I think if you have watched any/some/most of them, you are probably well and truly over me!

In the future, I will utilise the “Principal’s Vlog” to interview and provide insight into our Vice-Principals and Heads of Schools, the Heads of other significant areas of the School, other staff and students from a variety of sections of the School. I anticipate that these will be semi-regular, perhaps once or twice each term. I am very much looking forward to this and I think they will be a welcome change from the ‘veditorials’ to this point!

Factis non Verbis

Please click on the Video Blog below from our Principal, Mr Brad Fry.       

Sport Matters

Summer Sport 2016

Year 8, Year 9 and Senior students have been competing in a variety of EISM Summer Sports during this term.

Support for most sports has been excellent despite a number of interruptions caused by ‘heat outs’, camps and byes.

Thanks to all teams, coaches and managers for their effort and commitment throughout the season.

Our most successful teams were those who improved throughout the season, formed a strong bond amongst team members and enjoyed the opportunity to represent Tintern.

In total, six of our Year 9 and Senior teams managed to reach finals and we would like to acknowledge these teams. Our Year 9 Teams were:

• Year 9 Girls Softball – who won their Grand Final against Mt Scopus College
• Year 9 Girls ‘B’ Tennis – who won their Grand Final against Billanook College
• Year 9 Boys ‘A’ Tennis – who finished Runners Up to St Joseph’s College, and
• Year 9 Boys ‘B’ Tennis – who finished Runners Up to St Joseph’s College

Our Senior Teams to make finals were:

• Senior Girls Indoor Cricket – who finished Runners Up to Mt Lilydale, and
• Senior Boys Hockey – who also finished Runners Up to St Joseph’s College

Year 8 Girls Sport is conducted on Tuesday afternoons and as theirs is a round-robin competition with no finals, whoever finishes on top of the ladder wins the Premiership. Our Girls Soccer and ‘A’ Tennis teams finished the season undefeated and on top of the ladder. Congratulations to both teams on a wonderful season and for winning their Premiership.

Term 1, with EISM Summer Sport, House Athletics and EISM Swimming is always a busy term for sport. Our Senior and Middle School House Cross Countries will be held early next term and Winter Sport will start soon after. The EISM Athletics Squad will also start training at the beginning of term and compete on Tuesday 3rd May.

Keep supporting our sport program and above all have fun.

Music Matters

‘Oklahoma!’ Pit Orchestra brings music to life

As well as the amazing performances on stage last week in our production of ‘Oklahoma’, it was wonderful to see a number of student musicians performing in the orchestra pit and so ably supporting the stage performers. I think everyone will agree that the pit ensemble sounded very tight and well balanced, so we must congratulate the following students for their contribution to the success of the 2016 Tintern production:

Holly Fryer (Flute)

Erin Hynson (Guitar)

Clarisse Liew (Violin)

Tiana McAsey (Flute)

Charlotte Menagh (Clarinet)

Maya Watt (Trombone)

Alison Yang (Violin)

We were joined in the pit by three of Tintern’s ex-students and thank them for their wonderful contribution also:

Charlotte Black (Keyboard)

Chloe Eckley (Oboe)

Joshua Jones (Bass Guitar)

Alison Yang receives diploma at conferring ceremony

Year 11 student and current Tintern School Pianist, Alison Yang attended the University of Melbourne Australian Music Examinations Board Conferring Ceremony this week to receive her Associate Diploma on Violin. This is an outstanding attainment and we congratulate Alison on her achievement. Alison is pictured with her singing teacher, Ms Carole McKenzie, who teaches at Tintern and was presenting diplomas on behalf of the AMEB to singing students at the same ceremony.

Community Matters

As Term 1 draws to a close, the Community Relations team would like to wish the Tintern Grammar community a happy and safe holiday break. A big thank you is extended to all our volunteers who support and help in a variety of ways around our School and we look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.

Parent Representatives 

Hello fellow Tintern Grammar parents,

As a new parent in the Tintern Community I’ve been particularly keen on the opportunities to meet other parents and stay connected. I’ve volunteered to help organise representatives for each class/year level as I believe parent involvement in the classroom and school community is a critical piece to the overall sense of community we share. We’re still looking to find parent representatives for many classes.  Would you please consider signing up to represent your son or daughter’s class?  

Generally speaking, Parent Reps help by organising class or year level gatherings in order to provide opportunity to better get to know one another.  Now that Eastland is complete, there are many great places to meet for lunch, coffee or wine: https://www.eastland.com.au/eat/dinner  Alternatively we have Cafe Emjay in Ringwood East or Leaf and Vine in Ringwood North: http://www.leafandvine.com.au/

Parent representatives also help to keep parents informed of class/school gatherings (i.e. – Community Relations and/or your class teacher may contact you asking you help promote an event.)  Parent Representatives will be notified of upcoming school events through the Community Relations Office and are also encouraged to periodically check in with your classroom teacher to see if there are any upcoming classroom events to promote or assist with.

If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, please let me know.  I’m happy to help assist you. You can contact me on 0423 223 296 or jessicaladam@gmail.com

Friends of Music Jazz Night Saturday 14 May

FOM are busy planning for the annual Jazz Night which will be held on Saturday 14 May. Keep an eye out for tickets which are expected to go on sale early next term, but in the meantime keep the date free and start thinking about putting together a table of family and friends. The theme will be “Vintage Jazz”, so for those who want to get dressed-up the possibilities are endless. Jazz Night is a major social event on the school calendar for students, families and staff, as well as a major fundraiser to support our music students and staff, so make sure not to miss it. There will be plenty of fantastic entertainment from the New Melbourne Jazz Band as well as a number of talented students showing off their musical skills!  Friends of Music look forward to welcoming as many of our School and wider community as possible at the 2016 Jazz Night, so keep the date free and plan to come along. Allana Bettess

Southwood Parents Club Trivia Night Saturday 7 May

The SPC Invite all members of the Tintern Grammar Community to join with us for our annual TRIVIA NIGHT To be held in The Southwood Centre (or the CM Wood Centre if numbers grow!) on Saturday 7 May 2016 @ 7.30pm. At only $10 a head, this always entertaining night is a wonderful way to join together with other members of our school while having many laughs. Please email dquirk@tintern.vic.edu.au to confirm your place…either as an individual, or make a table of 6-12 people. We would love to share this wonderful evening with you. Loraine Allender

Friends of Equestrian (FOE)

Our wonderful Friends of Equestrian have been working tirelessly on their 16^th Interschool Horse Trials to be held on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April at the beautiful Wandin Park. The FOE are also very proud to announce that they are now an official qualifying event for the Australian Interschool Horse Trail Championships. Please share and like the Facebook event by clicking here. This prestigious event attracts nearly 300 competitors and around 500 plus families and spectators from all over Victoria. The FOE group invite you to come along and support the Tintern Grammar Equestrian teams and enjoy a day out at one of the Yarra Valley’s finest estates: Wandin Park, Victoria Rd. Wandin North (Melways Ref. 119 G7). Full canteen is available both days.

Entries are now open and will be received online through eventsecretary.org.au or click here to begin your entry.

If you or child is interested to find out more or you would like to be involved with this event please contact the event secretary, Mrs Sandra Garland on 0425 735 577 or email FOE@tintern.vic.edu.au

TTA & SPC coming together as one

The Tintern Association and the Southwood Parents Club have been working together this term to unite their groups as a single parent group. Committees have been working hard to preserve the individual qualities that make both groups unique and valued within our community .It is anticipated a new parent group will be formed following the Annual General Meeting of the Tintern Family Association Incorporated in late May.

The Tintern family association incorporated is the umbrella body which oversees all Tintern Grammar community groups. If you have any queries regarding the change or about our community groups please do not hesitate to contact Di Lacey in the Community Relations office on 9845 7893 or email dlacey@tintern.vic.edu.au

Year Groups 2001 & 1996 Reunions

A wonderful afternoon was shared on Saturday 19 March when our past students from year groups 2001 and 1996 came back to visit School and reconnect with each other. Thank you to the past student volunteers Lynne Franke, Doris Rose and Marlene Bevan who assisted with the displays and on the day. Thanks are also extended to our 12’s Gen Barclay, Rachael Merrit, Rory Shepherd, Heidi Ruckert, Sam Sharwood, Max Hutchinson and Isabella Cosentino who at this very busy time of the term volunteered to be tour guides. Many stories were swapped and memories retold.

Photo Albums; New and Old for your children’s School photos

The Tintern Association have a limited number of Navy and Maroon old style Photo Albums to offer at a reduced price of $60. These albums feature the old School name printed in gold on the front cover and come complete with 10 transparent 30cm x 30cm sheet inserts albums and are large enough to hold the school photos provided by SchoolPix. The Tintern Association are currently upgrading the album design to reflect the new Tintern Grammar name and logo and these will be available later in Term 2 to purchase.  Download an order form here  (Please include link) and forward to the Community Relations Office for processing.

Footy Tips

You are invited to join the Tintern Grammar Community footy tipping competition. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just follow the colours join up now!

Click on the following link, enter the password and then click ‘join’ to sign up and you’re ready to tip!

 http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/Tintern_Grammar_Community

Password required: tintern

Once you have signed up just look for the little red box “Tip now” and select your weekly tips.  Round 1 has started, but you can still join up.

You might like to check the reminder email box so you don’t forget over the term holidays.

The competition is free and open to our adult (18+ @ 24/3/2016) Tintern community including staff, parents and Alumni. Tintern Grammar students will not be permitted to enter.

And yes folks there are cash prizes!!

1st prize $250

2nd prize $120

3rd prize $60

4th Prize $40

5th prize $20

If you have any questions please email communityrelations@tintern.vic.edu.au and we’ll help you get started.

Good luck and start tipping!!

Community Committee dates

• The Tintern Association (TTA) – Next meeting: Thursday 21 April 7.30pm Kennedy Cottage, Community services  President: Amanda McKenzie
• Southwood Parents’ Club (SPC) – Next Meeting: Monday 18 April 7.30pm Southwood centre, Boys junior school President: Loraine Allender
• Friends of Music (FOM) – Next Meeting & AGM: Tuesday 19 April 7pm CM Wood Common room President: Tim Oldmeadow
• Friends of Young Farmers (FOYF) – Next meeting: Tuesday 10 May 7.30pm Kennedy Cottage, Community services. President: Joy Ashfield
• Friends of Equestrian (FOE) – Next meeting: Please contact the Community Relations office for next meeting details. President: Kevin Jones

Boys’ Junior School News

Term 1 2016 has again provided us with an opportunity to share in the academic and emotional development of our boys. We are so fortunate to be able to spend our days with our boys as they immerse themselves in our Junior School with energy, mateship and determination. This term has seen such a range of activities, from our spirited House Athletics and Grand Prix through to the calm and soothing Year 3 Strings performance. The best way for us in the Boys Junior School to reflect upon the term is via our Dr Seuss theme. In the spirit of his very first book, “And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street”, we are pleased to present…’And To Think That I saw It In Term One…”

Please click here to view the book.

Thank you to all of our boys and their families who have joined together to make Term 1 another memorable and enjoyable one…on behalf of the Junior School Staff, I wish you all a safe and reflective Easter

Junior Boys’ House Athletics

The Boys’ Junior School annual House Athletics event was again an exciting one. With all Prep-Year 6 boys competing in a  range of events, from traditional events such as the 100 and 200 metres, relays, Tunnel Ball and Field events, through to the Year 6s v Staff Tug Of war, and the Year 6-Prep Buddy race, it was an incredibly close Competition. Grant and Butterss Houses were neck and neck for most of the day, with the final few relay events seeing Butterss House reign supreme, and were crowned House Athletics Champions for 2016. Thank you and congratulations to all the boys for their spirited involvement on the day.

After Care News

This term in ASC we were so thrilled to have a visit from a trainee Seeing Eye Dog. We were all so tired after the heat that we cuddled down to relax on a Friday night with a movie, we enjoyed chatting to our friends at afternoon tea time and we had fun with all the planned and spontaneous table top activities.

Science in our boys’ Prep class

Prep boys have been enjoying some hands on science experiments relating to our weekly Letterland focus. During Clever Cat week we investigated how clouds carry rain. We squirted shaving cream onto a glass jar full of water. We then used pipettes to drop coloured rain onto the cream. The boys were amazed at how long it took the water to fall through the cream into the jar. We then had some fun creating clouds on our tables with the shaving cream, which caused much hilarity and cleaned the tables at the same time!

Golden Girl week saw the Prep boys growing gummy bears. Each of the boys worked through a Prep version of The Scientific Method, where we asked a question, thought about what might happen, tested our thinking, recorded what happened and then came to a conclusion.

Here are some of their ‘hypotheses’:

“I think it will melt and break down.” Harrison

“I think the head might come off!” Hamish

“I think the gummy bear is going to melt.” Edward

“I think the gummy bear will sink to the bottom.” Lucas

“I think the colour will come out.” James

“I think it will change colour.” Hugh

We left the gummy bears in water for 4 days and recorded their measurements each day. At the end of the week I asked the boys to tell me what they thought happened.

Here are some of their conclusions:

“The gummy bear went all squishy because he drank all the water.” Zac

“The colour came out and he turned into a big blob because he sucked up all the water.” Aemon

“The gummy bear got bigger and softer because the water went inside him.” Lennox

“The gummy bear got soggy because it sank to the bottom and sucked up all the water.” Ryan

“The gummy bear got bigger because it sucked in all the water.” Donovan

“The gummy bear sank to the bottom and it grew because it drank all the water.” Lewis

It was amazing to hear how many different words and phrases the boys used all describing the same outcome. As tempting as it was I did draw the line at letting the boys eat the water-logged gummy bears at the end of the week!

by Claire MacDonald, Junior Boys’ Prep teacher

After Care News

This term in ASC we were so thrilled to have a visit from a trainee Seeing Eye Dog. We were all so tired after the heat that we cuddled down to relax on a Friday night with a movie, we enjoyed chatting to our friends at afternoon tea time and we had fun with all the planned and spontaneous table top activities.

Oklahoma!

Tintern Grammar’s revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic, Oklahoma!  Reminded us all the reasons why musical theatre will always find an audience. As far as classic musicals go it doesn’t get any better than Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma. Revolutionary when it debuted in the early 40s for its use of dance to move the story forward, the show has lost none of its charm 60 years on. Yes, the songs are cheesy and the storylines are a little ‘old world’ but there is beauty in getting lost in the romanticism of a world where the hero wins, love is requited and there is a song and dance for every occasion.

Oklahoma also features some of the most memorable songs in the musical theatre repertoire, Oklahoma, Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’, I Can’t Say No, Out of My Dreams and People Will Say We’re in Love. Tintern’s decision to stage Oklahoma may initially seem to be rather uninspired yet given the integrity and sheer sophistication of delivery, it was in fact quite daring as it burst onto the stage with energy and life. The young cast under the direction of Vince Di Mitrio and musical director Alison Bezaire succeeded brilliantly in bringing the show to life, infusing it with an enthusiasm that is hard not to like. Under the command of Alison Bezaire, the orchestra filled the auditorium with melodic sounds with show goers slapping a thigh and clapping along to the signature song ‘Oklahoma!’ as the curtain fell and the cast took their well-deserved bows.

The 80 strong ensemble was well drilled and the staging ensured that although there appeared a sense of overcrowding – the community on stage was as vigorous as the vibrant audience community that dutifully and loyally gave such vibrant and enthusiastic applause night after night with sheer abandon. Oklahoma! was dominated by two impressive female leads, Cassie Jones (Laurey) and Rebecca Fitton (Ado Annie). Golden boy Ryan Tierney headed up the cast as the handsome and likeable Curly, determined to win the heart of sassy and stubborn Laurey, played perfectly by Cassie Jones. Both appear so at home in this role and the transparent rapport between the two leads have us believing they are truly in love. Their euphonious vocals are faultless and add to the joy of watching them. Ado Annie, (the gal who can’t say ‘No’), played by Rebecca Fitton, delivered a standout performance with freshness, naiveté and vigour. Jake Hill’s interpretation of Jud Fry was with a darkening menace. His control and timing of this complex character was edged in pathos, while Joshua Coulson freshness and verve (Will) and Michael D’Addazio’s superb comic antics (Ali) provided excellent support.

 Tintern’s Oklahoma! was awash with lace and denim and a hurricane flow of hay bales to set the scene. The staging and the set converted an old farmhouse into a smokehouse complete with windmill and fences.  Complemented by evocative lighting and a discerning colour palate this understated backdrop showcased how modern set design can be reinvented for an old fashioned script. The enormous set suggested enough hint of its location without any overuse of props allowing the cast to bring it to life as well as disguising the 26 stage-hands (backstage crew).

Oklahoma! among many other musicals of its era would not translate without the mid-western accents adopted by the cast. It does take a while to get used to the very strong drawl but overall, the cast sustained it’s outdoor mood, hilarity and smooth transitional scenes.

The camaraderie of the entire ensemble radiates from the stage welcoming the audience to come along for an escapist journey in another land.

Tintern Grammar has excelled itself once again.

by Patrizia Jakovljevic, Head of Performing Arts

Uniform Guidelines

It is has been very pleasing to see the vast improvement in uniform standards across the Senior College in Term 1 this year. As we approach the start of Term 2 and then the winter months, I take this opportunity to remind all Tintern Grammar students that they are expected to take pride in their personal appearance. When wearing the School uniform in public, it should adhere to the expected and approved standards, be worn appropriately and students should appear neat and tidy. Continued breaches of the School’s Uniform policy will result in detention. Following contact with parents/guardians, students may be sent home if their uniform or appearance is repeatedly deemed unsatisfactory.

All Students – General reminders

• The School uniform should not be mixed with casual or other clothing
• Apart from inter-school and recreational sports days or House Sports days, the School blazer is the outer garment to be worn to and from school. Failure to wear the School Blazer to/from school will result in a uniform detention
• Only current badges issued by the school may be worn with the uniform
• Students with pierced ears may wear only one small plain pair of metal studs or plastic plugs (one only in each lobe). Other than this, no visible jewellery may be worn by boys or girls
• Visible piercings other than the above are not permitted while wearing the School uniform
• Make-up, including mascara, is not to be worn
• Coloured nail polish is not to be worn
• Care with appearance is expected. The prescribed uniform should be well-presented. Well-pressed uniform, clean shoes and signs of obvious care are required
• The prescribed School jumper may be worn, but never as the outer garment to and from school
• Scarves, if worn in winter, must be plain navy blue. They may not be worn to any Assembly
• ELC and Prep students are permitted to wear a plain white skivvy during colder months. Any other additional undergarments should not be visible
• On rare occasions there may be a scheduled “free dress day” or an excursion where parents/guardians are advised that their son/daughter may wear casual clothes. On such days it is requested that parents pay particular attention to their child’s attire. Again the principle of taking pride in one’s appearance applies. Shorts/dresses or skirts that are too short or low slung are not acceptable and nor are any clothes that will expose a bare midriff or bare shoulders. Offensive t-shirts are not permissible. For safety, footwear must enclose the foot completely (i.e. no thongs, sandals or open-toed shoes)
• If a student is deemed to be dressed inappropriately they may not stay at school or attend any excursion as applicable. Instead, the relevant Head of School will ring to arrange for a parent or guardian to collect them from school

Term 2 Uniform dates reminder:

• In Term 2 until May 31 – either summer or winter uniform may be worn
• From June 1 until August 31 inclusive – winter uniform must be worn

Girls Uniform – Winter

• Blouse: all girls will wear the plain white, collared blouse with long sleeves
• Winter skirt/pinafore: girls up to Year 5 will wear the winter pinafore. Girls in Year 6 may choose to wear the winter skirt if preferred. Girls in Year 7-12 will wear the winter skirt. The skirt or pinafore will touch the kneecap in a normal stance when a student looks down at their feet. Students will be given a reasonable opportunity to address this if their dress is of an inappropriate length. This will be followed up by Year Level Co-ordinators
• Ties: Girls in Years 3 – 12 are to wear the relevant School tie (Year 3-11 tie or Year 12 tie). Ties must be worn with the top button done up and the tie worn against the button
• NOTE: It is expected that the ties for girls will change for 2017
• Tights/socks: girls in Prep – Year 6 may wear either long dark blue socks (worn up) or dark blue tights in winter. Girls in Years 7 – 12 will wear dark blue tights or full length dark blue hose with winter uniform. These may vary in weight and material in deference to the temperature but may not feature a pattern
• Hair: for both health and safety and presentation, reasons, all girls whose hair touches their shoulders in normal posture will wear their hair tied back with a hair tie in one or more of the School colours (navy blue, maroon, green or white)
• Extreme hairstyles and unnaturally coloured hair are not permitted

Boys – Winter Uniform

• Shorts/trousers: boys in Prep – Year 6 may wear either shorts or long trousers with the winter uniform with the appropriate socks. Boys in Years 7 – 12 will wear the long dark blue uniform trousers with the winter uniform
• Ties: Boys in Years 3 – 12 are to wear the relevant School tie (Years 3-11 school tie or Year 12 tie) with the winter uniform with the top button on their shirt done up and the tie worn against the button
• Shirts: All Years 7 – 12 boys will wear the uniform white, long-sleeved winter shirt with mitre. Shirts must be worn tucked in (NB: this will not be enforced when students are engaged in physical activities at recess or lunch times). Please note this instruction was inadvertently omitted from Section Handbooks. Boys in Prep – Year 6 boys may continue to wear the uniform short-sleeved shirt or can choose the regulation long-sleeved shirt; a reminder that Prep – Year 6 must still wear ties as part of winter uniform
• Hair: for both health and safety and presentation, reasons, all boys whose hair touches their shoulders in normal posture will wear their hair tied back with a hair tie in one or more of the School colours (navy blue, maroon, green or white)
• Extreme hairstyles and unnaturally coloured hair are not permitted
• Boys are required to be clean shaven

Sports Uniform reminders

• Sport: on inter-school sports and recreational sports days only (i.e. not Physical Education), students are expected to wear full correct sports uniform to and from school. Only on such days may the Sports Rugby top be worn to and from school. On House Sports days students are expected to wear full correct sports uniform to and from school to which they may add appropriate articles in House colours upon arrival at school
• Physical Education: students from Years 3 – 12 must change into their correct PE uniform at the start of practical PE classes and then change out of PE uniform for other classes. They are not allowed to stay in PE uniform throughout the day. The exception to this is when PE is timetabled for Period 1 or Period 4, when students may arrive at or leave school respectively, in PE uniform but must wear School uniform for the remainder of the day. When Junior School students have after-school sporting activities, they may travel home in sports uniform. Prep – Year 2 students are permitted to wear the correct PE uniform to school and remain in it all day when they have timetabled PE lessons
• Students must wear plain, unbranded white sport socks with their uniform. Students may choose between wearing anklet sock or mid-calf length socks

School Shoes ELC to Year 12

• All students (Years 3 – 12) must wear black lace-up school shoes or black t-bar shoes
• Students in ELC may wear sports shoes with a non-marking sole. They should be a neutral colour (not black) and have velcro fastening
• Students in Prep to Year 2 may wear black school shoes with Velcro fastening
• Students in Year 2 may also wear black lace up shoes
• Sports shoes must have non-marking soles

Parent Representatives

International Women’s Day Assembly in the Girls’ Junior School

Last week, we continued our celebration of International Women’s Day. We held a special Assembly where some Year 5 and 6 students each spoke about an inspirational woman who had made an impact on the world. The girls saw a powerful video featuring girls struggling to name examples of female inventors. There are indeed plenty of women inventors, historical and contemporary, to admire. After listing several, a young woman in the video says it best: “To know that there are women before me gives me motivation that I can invent something and maybe make a change in the world. That would be really cool.” Yes, it would!

All the Year 3-6 students then took part in our International Women’s Day Conference.  Each student came wearing a placard acknowledging a significant woman. Each student collected as many names of other women as they went around the room.  Finally, we finished our celebration with a special (and delicious!) morning tea (supplied by the school) to let our girls know that we think they are special too. Thank you to all the staff for their part in supporting this event, in particular to Kelli Green, Jan Wagner and Linda Hudgell who worked very hard to put this together.

Lunchtime Concert Success!

Annabelle Guscott, the Girls’ Junior School Music Captain, organised and compered the first lunchtime concert for the year on Wednesday. The Year 2 girls, who are learning violin, viola and cello in class under the direction of Mr Veldman and Mrs Mackie opened the concert. Their performance was wonderful especially considering they have only had 6 lessons. They were followed by the Junior Strings. This group rehearses before school and has members from Year 1, 2 and 3. Their pieces, Shark Attack and Tingalayo were very warmly received by the appreciative audience of family, friends and students.

A number of soloists then performed, many have only been learning a short time. Congratulations go to Natasha Gillam, Lucy Fairhurst, Molly Cussen, Lily Hoorn, Sienna Dass, Annabelle Guscott and Ella Callow-Sussex.

After School Care News

This term in ASC we were so thrilled to have a visit from a trainee Seeing Eye Dog. We were all so tired after the heat that we cuddled down to relax on a Friday night with a movie, we enjoyed chatting to our friends at afternoon tea time and we had fun with all the planned and spontaneous table top activities.

Special Friends Day (Prep-Year 2)

Our annual Prep-Year 2 Special Friends’ Day was indeed a very special event greatly enjoyed by all. After starting off in the classrooms observing the morning routine and looking at the childrens’ work, the Special Friends braved the inclement weather to enjoy a delightful mini concert in Colebrook Hall. The songs and xylophone pieces were performed with aplomb. The girls are thrilled with the books they then went on to make with their own visitor. There were rich discussions about favourite games and pastimes enjoyed across different generations. The girls loved presenting their guest with a morning tea treat they had prepared the day before. Our heartfelt thanks to the Special Friends for participating in all on offer with such good spirit and enthusiasm.

by Mary Whitcher, Prep-Year 2 Coordinator

House Netball Tournament

On the second last week of Term 1, Year 4 to 6 students took part in a Friendly House Netball Competition. For a whole week, students came out to the Junior Tennis Courts to play two 10 minute games in their houses in a round robin. The House Captains were ably assisted by netball players in their house to coach the players and Kelsey Paterson umpired most of the games.

This was a fun opportunity for girls across year levels to play one another and for me to promote the sport of Netball. Being the organiser of the event, I was able to support other students with a varying range of skills. I was even able to play a few games to substitute and fill in for the teams who are short on players.

It was great to see so many girls come out to enjoy a game of netball and for me to see just how many Tintern girls share my passion for netball. I saw many people particularly the Year 4 girls give their very best.

Congratulations to Cross House for winning the tournament and thank you to all of you who came to play.

by Grace Jenkin, Year 6

Easter – a special time!

The ELC children have been preparing for their Easter celebrations in 2 ways:

1.      Creating an Easter hat or bunny ears for their Easter parade

2.      Creating a gift for the residents of the Olivet Nursing Home

Through these two very different activities the children are learning about the traditions of Easter celebrations as well as the importance of thinking of other’s at this special time. The children have talked about what might make the residents at Olivet feel special during Easter and have drawn pictures of this and Easter celebrations for them.

Curriculum Matters

With a short first term, the pace has been frenetic with so many exciting learning opportunities in progress over the seven weeks for both students and staff.

This year, we have further heightened our ongoing focus on the idea of continuous improvement and look to maximise every opportunity for members of our community to learn and grow. This is happening across the school in co-curricular and academic areas, but I would like to focus on some of these more classroom-based opportunities in this edition.

For students, there has been a sharpened emphasis on the importance of taking every opportunity to improve. Staff at every level have been reinforcing by word and deed the importance of students optimising their progress by completing every piece of homework on time, ensuring that all learning activities are done to the best of their ability and ensuring that their best learning behaviours are consistently present. These messages have had a renewed urgency this year and by all reports the students have risen to the challenge across the board.

We have continued our development of opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning and set goals for future improvement. This has happened for a number of years in the secondary school when students formally reflect on their semester reports and set goals that they share with their pastoral mentor. This year we will be extending this initiative into Grade 6 in our Junior Schools.

Our secondary faculties have set goals for 2016 and are explicitly developing more opportunities for students to reflect and goal-set as a regular part of their learning. This is in keeping with our Learner Profile that lists reflection as a goal for our learners. This is also a target quality in the International Baccalaureate, one of our senior study pathways with a progressive and rigorous academic curriculum and philosophy, which also informs our teaching and learning across the school. When students reflect on their learning it deepens their understanding and furthers their progress.

A community of learners does not just include students, however. Our staff are all learners as they continue their life long quest for growth. Over recent years, Tintern Grammar has blazed a trail in cutting-edge teacher professional development with our Peer Partnership program. This involves staff working with a peer to set a goal using research-based classroom teaching practices and inviting their partner to observe them use it in class. They then meet to de-brief and discuss feedback after each session. In 2015, all secondary and primary staff were participating in this program after we had rolled it out in stages, learning from each stage and improving our processes based on staff feedback and input.

In 2015, we embarked on the next step by trialling an enhanced staff learning model that included a second annual learning goal. This goal is centred around staff Knowledge goals, to complement the existing Practice goal, which a staff member also works towards with a partner. This time they collaborate in a team with a dedicated Coach to help guide the goal setting, learning, feedback and reflection cycle. After a successful trial, a larger pilot is running in 2016 with the intention to roll it out for all primary and secondary teaching staff in 2017.

Essentially this program involves staff in annual collaborative, action-research projects, which align the school’s strategic aims in optimising student learning with staff-driven goals based on their own reflection and feedback. These initiatives have attracted interest in other leading schools across Australia and we have had a number of inquiries and visits from schools in Victoria and interstate to investigate our leading approach to staff learning.

For the staff and students engaged in these learning programs this term has been a busy but rewarding one as we all strive to find and take every learning opportunity. But for the next few weeks…have a well-earned break!

Year 6 boys collect donations for the Royal Childrens’ Hospital Appeal at Eastland

This week the Year 6 boys ventured to Eastland to collect money for the Royal Children’s Hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday. Even though standing at Eastland collecting money wasn’t the most exciting thing to do, we had no problem doing it as we all knew it was for a good cause. The class was split into four groups, two going each day. We felt that what we did was good for the community and gave ourselves a good sense of service. Lots of people donated, and we appreciated the contributions. Someone actually dropped in $20!

by Claire MacDonald, Junior Boys’ Prep teacher

Girls Middle School News

One of the highlights of the school year for Year 7 students and their pastoral teachers is the camp to Merricks. As the girls come to the end of their first term in secondary school it is great to have 4 days away to further develop friendships and get to know students in their year level. I happily spent a couple of days with the girls and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see students interact so positively with each other and with their teachers. Their willingness to try new experiences and ‘give everything a go’ as they stretched themselves, both physically and mentally, was impressive! The weather was fantastic with conditions perfect for snorkelling, horse riding, stand up paddle boarding and the campout. In the outdoors, whether on camp or playing in a sports team, students approach challenges so positively. It is equally important that this translates to the classroom and learning environment. It is important for our students to understand that we learn equally from our successes and our mistakes. With mistakes, we teach them to go back and try again, to consider the process and have another go; with success we look at what aided the result and how we can apply that learning to other parts of our life. 

As Term 1 comes to an end we have celebrated together many successes, most recently was the fantastic Musical Production ‘Oklahoma!’ Those of us lucky enough to see the production were impressed by the many talents on show throughout the performance. After months and months of practice, hard work, commitment and dedication put in by students and staff their efforts were rewarded with brilliant performances from our actors, singers, dancers, musicians, stage and backstage crew.

Our Year 9 Girls Tennis and Softball teams performed really well in the EISM Summer Finals, winning their grand finals!

In Term 2 there are many opportunities for girls to further ‘stretch’ themselves and take part in a number of House events. Year 7 girls will begin learning their routine for House Cheersports, the Middle School House Cross Country on Thursday 28 April promises to be a colourful event and we have been busy rehearsing for the House Music competition, involving all Year 7-12 students, which will be performed on Tuesday 17 May. These activities provide girls with the opportunity to further demonstrate team spirit, co-operation, a sense of pride and commitment. Additionally, students get the opportunity to work with other students from different sections of the school. Some students are more experienced in these areas than others but all students have the ability to contribute. House events are a collective effort and success comes about when all students ‘do their best’ and support each other to achieve a common goal. I’m certainly looking forward to watching students as they work together under the leadership of their House Captains.

I would like to congratulate Bre Turnbull on placing 2nd in the State for Under 14 Javelin on the weekend. She threw the javelin a massive 32.24m which was a personal best!

Erin Doupe has also had great success at the recent State Nippers Championships in Warnambool placing 5th in the beach sprints and winning the Under 14 Flags Competition!

Senior College News

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all Senior College students, their families and the Senior College staff a restful and reinvigorating Easter and Term holiday break, after what has been an unusually brief, but typically very busy and successful 1st term. So much has been “packed in” to a short span of time – Year Level Conferences; the wonderful School Musical that so many of our Senior College students performed in, or assisted with; House Athletics; EISM weekly sport and the Swimming Carnival; special events, such as Valentines Day; and, of course, the academic work that has to be covered in Term 1. Whist students may need some time to complete set work over the upcoming holidays it is important to remember that holidays do provide an opportunity for students and staff to “recharge their batteries”, thereby enabling a fresh start for Term 2. We look forward to welcoming all students back on Tuesday 12 April.

Uniform Guidelines

It is has been very pleasing to see the vast improvement in uniform standards across the Senior College in Term 1 this year. As we approach the start of Term 2 and then the winter months, I take this opportunity to remind all Tintern Grammar students that they are expected to take pride in their personal appearance. When wearing the School uniform in public, it should adhere to the expected and approved standards, be worn appropriately and students should appear neat and tidy. Continued breaches of the School’s Uniform policy will result in detention. Following contact with parents/guardians, students may be sent home if their uniform or appearance is repeatedly deemed unsatisfactory.

All Students – General reminders

• The School uniform should not be mixed with casual or other clothing
• Apart from inter-school and recreational sports days or House Sports days, the School blazer is the outer garment to be worn to and from school. Failure to wear the School Blazer to/from school will result in a uniform detention
• Only current badges issued by the school may be worn with the uniform
• Students with pierced ears may wear only one small plain pair of metal studs or plastic plugs (one only in each lobe). Other than this, no visible jewellery may be worn by boys or girls
• Visible piercings other than the above are not permitted while wearing the School uniform
• Make-up, including mascara, is not to be worn
• Coloured nail polish is not to be worn
• Care with appearance is expected. The prescribed uniform should be well-presented. Well-pressed uniform, clean shoes and signs of obvious care are required
• The prescribed School jumper may be worn, but never as the outer garment to and from school
• Scarves, if worn in winter, must be plain navy blue. They may not be worn to any Assembly
• ELC and Prep students are permitted to wear a plain white skivvy during colder months. Any other additional undergarments should not be visible
• On rare occasions there may be a scheduled “free dress day” or an excursion where parents/guardians are advised that their son/daughter may wear casual clothes. On such days it is requested that parents pay particular attention to their child’s attire. Again the principle of taking pride in one’s appearance applies. Shorts/dresses or skirts that are too short or low slung are not acceptable and nor are any clothes that will expose a bare midriff or bare shoulders. Offensive t-shirts are not permissible. For safety, footwear must enclose the foot completely (i.e. no thongs, sandals or open-toed shoes)
• If a student is deemed to be dressed inappropriately they may not stay at school or attend any excursion as applicable. Instead, the relevant Head of School will ring to arrange for a parent or guardian to collect them from school

Term 2 Uniform dates reminder:

• In Term 2 until May 31 – either summer or winter uniform may be worn
• From June 1 until August 31 inclusive – winter uniform must be worn

Girls Uniform – Winter

• Blouse: all girls will wear the plain white, collared blouse with long sleeves
• Winter skirt/pinafore: girls up to Year 5 will wear the winter pinafore. Girls in Year 6 may choose to wear the winter skirt if preferred. Girls in Year 7-12 will wear the winter skirt. The skirt or pinafore will touch the kneecap in a normal stance when a student looks down at their feet. Students will be given a reasonable opportunity to address this if their dress is of an inappropriate length. This will be followed up by Year Level Co-ordinators
• Ties: Girls in Years 3 – 12 are to wear the relevant School tie (Year 3-11 tie or Year 12 tie). Ties must be worn with the top button done up and the tie worn against the button
• NOTE: It is expected that the ties for girls will change for 2017
• Tights/socks: girls in Prep – Year 6 may wear either long dark blue socks (worn up) or dark blue tights in winter. Girls in Years 7 – 12 will wear dark blue tights or full length dark blue hose with winter uniform. These may vary in weight and material in deference to the temperature but may not feature a pattern
• Hair: for both health and safety and presentation, reasons, all girls whose hair touches their shoulders in normal posture will wear their hair tied back with a hair tie in one or more of the School colours (navy blue, maroon, green or white)
• Extreme hairstyles and unnaturally coloured hair are not permitted

Boys – Winter Uniform

• Shorts/trousers: boys in Prep – Year 6 may wear either shorts or long trousers with the winter uniform with the appropriate socks. Boys in Years 7 – 12 will wear the long dark blue uniform trousers with the winter uniform
• Ties: Boys in Years 3 – 12 are to wear the relevant School tie (Years 3-11 school tie or Year 12 tie) with the winter uniform with the top button on their shirt done up and the tie worn against the button
• Shirts: All Years 7 – 12 boys will wear the uniform white, long-sleeved winter shirt with mitre. Shirts must be worn tucked in (NB: this will not be enforced when students are engaged in physical activities at recess or lunch times). Please note this instruction was inadvertently omitted from Section Handbooks. Boys in Prep – Year 6 boys may continue to wear the uniform short-sleeved shirt or can choose the regulation long-sleeved shirt; a reminder that Prep – Year 6 must still wear ties as part of winter uniform
• Hair: for both health and safety and presentation, reasons, all boys whose hair touches their shoulders in normal posture will wear their hair tied back with a hair tie in one or more of the School colours (navy blue, maroon, green or white)
• Extreme hairstyles and unnaturally coloured hair are not permitted
• Boys are required to be clean shaven

Sports Uniform reminders

• Sport: on inter-school sports and recreational sports days only (i.e. not Physical Education), students are expected to wear full correct sports uniform to and from school. Only on such days may the Sports Rugby top be worn to and from school. On House Sports days students are expected to wear full correct sports uniform to and from school to which they may add appropriate articles in House colours upon arrival at school
• Physical Education: students from Years 3 – 12 must change into their correct PE uniform at the start of practical PE classes and then change out of PE uniform for other classes. They are not allowed to stay in PE uniform throughout the day. The exception to this is when PE is timetabled for Period 1 or Period 4, when students may arrive at or leave school respectively, in PE uniform but must wear School uniform for the remainder of the day. When Junior School students have after-school sporting activities, they may travel home in sports uniform. Prep – Year 2 students are permitted to wear the correct PE uniform to school and remain in it all day when they have timetabled PE lessons
• Students must wear plain, unbranded white sport socks with their uniform. Students may choose between wearing anklet sock or mid-calf length socks

School Shoes ELC to Year 12

• All students (Years 3 – 12) must wear black lace-up school shoes or black t-bar shoes
• Students in ELC may wear sports shoes with a non-marking sole. They should be a neutral colour (not black) and have velcro fastening
• Students in Prep to Year 2 may wear black school shoes with Velcro fastening
• Students in Year 2 may also wear black lace up shoes
• Sports shoes must have non-marking soles

Sporting Achievement

It is always a pleasure to report on student achievements and I am delighted to provide an update on the sporting achievements of one of our Senior College students, who is one of our three Sports Captains. Maddie Wright of Year 12 continues to have great success with her cricket. She has been named as the Vice-Captain of the Under 21 Victorian Indoor Cricket Team. The U21s will play in the open nationals to be held in Melbourne from 4 – 11 June. In addition, Maddie is still trialling for the U18 Indoor team which will compete at the Junior Nationals being held during the July holidays and depending upon performance in the U21 team may be up for selection in the Australian U22 team for the Trans-Tasman Championships in September.

Maddie has recently been named by Cricket Victoria as the February nominee for the Commonwealth Bank Future Star Award. She is up against stiff competition for the award with the majority of other nominees already having Cricket Victoria contracts. We wish Maddie good luck with this award nomination and also ongoing success at the “selection table”.

News from Year 12

The final two weeks of term have been very busy for Year 12 students. The VCE students have been busy studying for a number of SACs and the IB students have been preparing for their Extended Essay presentations and getting a number of their Internal Assessments underway.

It has been an exciting time for many of the Year 12 students as they have had opportunities to showcase their talents and leadership skills. Many of the lead and support roles in this year’s production ‘Oklahoma!’ were performed by Year 12 students. All of these students not only performed magnificently but were able to manage a demanding study schedule in between rehearsals and performances. A special mention goes to the very talented Ryan Tierney and Cassie Jones who were the stars of the show in their lead roles of ‘Curly’ and ‘Laurey’ respectively. The Year 12 House Captains have also been busy preparing, organising and leading their Houses for the House Music event that will take place in Term 2.

Careers and specifically Tertiary education has also been a focus for Year 12 students. Students have been making appointments to discuss their pathways with Careers counsellor, Mrs Heather Ruckert. In their Utility sessions they have been introduced to the careers websites and other useful links. There have also been a number of ‘Career Chats’ where students interested in specialised fields and processes to apply to Tertiary Institutions can come along and find out more information.

Jen Tsai Bove, Year 12 Co-ordinator

News from Year 11

The Mentor Group Leaders in Year 11 have been tasked with developing a project for Term 2 that incorporates elements of community service. They have approached the Heads of both Junior Schools putting forward the idea of running activity/game sessions with younger year levels. They have proposed a 5 week program where for one lunch time a week, a Mentor Group from Year 11 takes one of the year levels from 2 – 6 for a mixture of activities. These activities would include: team building/problem solving, dodge ball, hide and seek, cheerleading etc. Each Mentor Group is to be responsible for the running of one activity and a younger year level would be assigned to each activity. The activity sessions would only run through lunchtime once a week so no class time is missed, and they would create a wonderful link between the Junior Schools and our Senior College.

Our Year 11 Co-ordinator, Mr Nick Stefanac states “I’ve been impressed with the Mentor Group Leaders really running with this. They have worked with their Mentor Group to determine a project and discussed amongst themselves the best ideas. They have taken the initiative to organise this and have presented their ideas to the Year Level this week.”

News from Year 10

The Year 10s have had a busy end to the term and have worked through the challenges of meeting the many and varied demands on their time. It is hoped that the holidays will allow for some personal time with friends and families but also the opportunity to consolidate work from Term 1.

The holiday period may also be a time to consider their Community Service requirement as members of the Senior College. It is expected that each student will document 15 hours of Community Service before the end of Year 12 (excluding IB students who have their own specific Service requirements as art of their CAS component).

The value of Community Service is acknowledged by prospective employers and tertiary institutions. For example, the ‘Aspire’ Scholarship program at La Trobe University recognises community involvement when awarding conditional early offers at a lower ATAR.

Keys Please – Year 10 Presentation

The students enjoyed an interactive session on Thursday 17 March from a VicRoad’s presenter relating to the Graduated Licensing System. Each student received a set of ‘L Plates’. Valuable resources have also been created for parents that include tips and videos relating to the supervision of learner drivers.

Please refer to: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/driver-safety/young-and-new-drivers/lessons-from-the-road

I have also included some further information for parents on the Year 10 Portal page.

Upcoming Events – Elevate Education

All of our Year 10 students will be involved in two seminars called ‘Study Sensei’ and ‘Ace your Exams’ to assist them with their academic studies. An invitation to a parent seminar has been emailed so that the material covered at school can be followed up at home. Families can either reply via email or return the slip to the Anderson Centre by Friday 22 April.

Student Session 1: Study Sensei

Date:     Tuesday 26 April, Time   1.45 – 2.45pm

Key Focus

• Dynamic Reading – Reading text and extracting the key points.
• Note-Taking – Organising ideas from readings for effective learning.
• Conceptual Learning Skills – Breaking information into its relevant parts rather than relying on rote-learning.

Parent Session  Date: Wednesday 27 April, Time: 7.30 – 8.30pm, Venue: Tintern Theatre

Heather Ruckert, Year 10 Co-ordinator

News from the Careers Department

Careers in the Senior College

Senior College Morrisby Online Careers Testing 

A final reminder about the optional Morrisby online Careers testing opportunity and the application form can be found on the Portal by following the link: http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/11907/

TEST SESSION

Date:          Monday 11 April 2016 (This is the day before school starts for Term 2.)

Time:          Students should arrive at 12.45pm for a 1.00pm start and students can be collected at 4.00pm.

Location:  C25 and C26 in the Anderson Centre

Cost:            The cost will be $60.00 to cover the online testing, parent feedback session provided by a Consultant from Career Analysts and the processing of the report.

Additional Student Instruction: 

Students are asked to bring a drink and something to eat during the break.

PARENT FEEDBACK SESSION

Date:            Thursday 14 April 2016

Time:            7.30 – 8.30pm

Location:    Tintern Theatre

Please Note: This session is designed for parents/guardians ONLY. Students are not required to attend.

Senior College Career Chats – Applying Interstate

A useful starting point is The Australian Education Network of Australian Universities website which allows users to search for courses across Australia. It also has information about University rankings and, for example, you can search by state, University and course type. http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/

Our next Career Chat session will be on Wednesday 13 April from 1.00 – 1.30pm in the Careers Room when a representative from Bond University will attend Tintern to speak with students from Years 10, 11 and 12. Tintern Grammar is a collegiate school and that means our students can apply for the ‘Collegiate Scholarship’ which represents 50% of the tuition fees for a single or double degree with the exception of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. The criteria includes academic excellence, leadership skills and community involvement. There are also a range of other scholarships available at Bond University.

Updates to the Tintern Careers Portal Page 

The following information has been added to the Careers Portal page in the last couple of weeks with access for students and their families. Please refer to http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/7966

La Trobe University offers a series of seminars for students and parents/guardians to explore different courses and relevant information relating to life at University. Places are limited and students have been encouraged to register online as soon as possible for either Thursday 31 March or Thursday 7 July. Seminars include ‘Dietetics and Nutrition: Delve beneath the fads’, ‘Physics: Getting Interesting’, ‘Languages: Open the doors to the world’, ‘Paramedicine: Can you handle the pressure?’ and for parents/guardians sessions include ‘Parents campus tour’ or ‘Turn your degree into a career’. Please Note: Inside Monash Seminars continue until the 13 September. Registration is also online at http://www.monash.edu/inside-monash/#dates or link from the icon on the Careers page of the Portal.

Applying Interstate in Australia.

Students are encouraged to register with the ‘myfuture’ website and the occupational search tool is particularly useful.

Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT)

This site was introduced by the Australian Federal Government during 2015 and it aims to assist students to make more informed decisions about their tertiary studies by collating different survey data from the Universities. The strength of this website is that it allows comparisons to be made between Universities relating to the degree of student satisfaction relating to the following types of information:

• Quality of teaching during course
• Engagement with institution and sense of belonging
• Provision of learning resources
• Level of support received at their institution
• Skills acquired during their studies

Other data includes percentage of students in full time employment 4 months after completion of their course and median salary for graduates in full time employment. https://www.qilt.edu.au/

CareerNews Newsletter

Reminders

UMAT
Inside Monash University Seminars
VCE and Careers Expo

1. Open Days
2. How can I find out more about La Trobe University?
3. Do you want a job working with Animals?
4. Are you interested in Nursing and/or Midwifery?
5. Check out studying Science at RMIT
6. Do you want to check out William Angliss Institute in the City?
7. Good news from Box Hill Institute
8. Monash University (Berwick)
9. More Swinburne news

CareerNews Number 3 March 2016 can be found at http://portal.tintern.vic.edu.au/homepage/11088

by Heather Ruckert, Careers Consultant

Boys’ Middle School News

As the holidays approach and Term 1 nears the end, it’s important that the boys take an opportunity to have some downtime. I’ve read somewhere that the human brain can sometimes be compared to a washing machine as it tumbles and tosses all the information that it is endlessly presented with from every direction. This is certainly the case in today’s world with the busyness of our students during their school days due to normal classroom activities, the many wonderful co-curricular activities that are available to them, their normal social and other activities calendar, and of course the ‘always-on’ smartphone generation that they currently are. Kids of today are getting less and less time to unwind and this has shown to be detrimental to proper brain function and health. We all need time to unwind, reflect and sometimes just do nothing! Kids even more so. Sure there is benefits to them refreshing over Term 1 work from their subjects and being prepared and ready for Term 2, but at the same time they need to ensure that they have adequately recharged their mental batteries so that their brain is ready to perform at its optimum when needed. Some simple ideas to consider over the coming holidays might be going for a walk in the bush or along a beach (no phones), helping mum or dad to paint the house (if you dare) or going to either meditation or yoga classes with mum or dad; there are many ways that will help our boys unwind and recharge. Make sure you find some time to enjoy it with your boys as well.

Oklahoma

We have just completed the school production of Oklahoma and it was amazing. One of the best parts about it was the opportunity to be involved in something so huge, with so many kids, teachers and other people who helped make it possible. The rehearsals started at the start of term four last year and didn’t stop right until the show was running. For a while you didn’t know how it would turn out but when everything comes together on the big stage it’s the best feeling. As a middle school boy there are so many great people in the school that we never really get to meet, but in the production everyone is mixed so it’s great to meet so many new people that you really wouldn’t pay attention to otherwise. You also get to socialise with the girls which is another rare occurrence but definitely a good one. Overall getting to meet so many new people like the girls and senior college people is an amazing experience one that I’m looking forward to having again next year.

Article by Fintan McCrave, Year 8

Year 7 Term 1

The Year 7 boys have had an action-packed term, learning the new routines of secondary school and having many opportunities to experience new things. They have settled into attending four or five subjects each day and are now very familiar with their teachers and navigating around the school. Utility has focused on organisation and more recently on the Camp which is during the last week of Term 1. The Cathedral Service, Athletic Sports, a presentation from The Poverty Project group and swim trials have also been highlights in what has been a very full and fun term.

Year 9 Boys Camp

Year 9 Boys Wilson’s Prom Hike

For the first Year 9 camp this year we went to Wilson’s Promontory. We arrived at school in the dark at 6:30am and packed our packs with all our clothes, food and other items. A few of us thought we should pack a few unnecessary items and it wouldn’t add much weight, but the packs were heavy, much heavier than most of us anticipated. Once we were all packed we headed off to The Prom. We grabbed our packs and split off into one of four groups; two of the groups walked approximately 21km and the other two around 35km within 3 days.

As the walk begun the packs didn’t seem too heavy and the walk felt quite manageable. That thought soon changed after we hit some pretty big uphill climbs. The weight of the packs became extremely prominent once we walked about halfway and stopped for lunch. Taking our packs off for breaks was immensely relieving and allowed us to gather back our energy to take on the rest of the hike. The first day was, in my opinion, the hardest day. My shoulders were sore and my back was aching as I wasn’t used to carrying the packs yet. Once we hit the campsite, everyone felt was so excited to take off our packs and it was amazing how light we felt without them. Darkness soon overcame us and we started cooking using our small trangia stoves. Surprisingly, everyone did quite well and cooked delicious meals. It was so satisfying eating something that we had made after a long day walking in the heat. Everyone fell asleep quickly as we were all tired from the walk. By the second day, we’ve gotten used to the packs and soldiered on through the up hills, taking many breaks on the way. The second day was more or less the same than day 1 with plenty of big hills and many kilometres. We had so much motivation on the day 3 walk as well all a little burnt out and excited about heading home. We made it to the bus and relaxed on the way home. We even picked up some Maccas on the way which tasted amazing after trangia cooked food! The overall experience was outstanding and definitely a great opportunity to take.

by Ryan Hem, Year9

Boys’ Middle School Sporting Results

8/9 Tennis Grand Final

The Year 8/9 Tennis teams have had a very successful season. They were undefeated for the whole term and consequently made it to the Finals. Their team work and sportsmanship was very noticeable and their tennis skills very evident. It is particularly note-worthy that on each occasion the boys were competing against Year 9 students, whereas our teams included Year 8 and 9 students. The day of the Finals was a hot one, and we competed against St Joseph’s for both the A and B teams. The final score for both the A and B team was 3-1 in St Joseph’s favour. I would like to commend the boys on the efforts in every respect this season.

Jake Richardson – Jake recently competed at the Karate Victoria State Championships held at RMIT in Bundoora. He was in the 12/13 Years age group for Boys Kata and for Under 55kg Kumite. Kumite is where two opponents fight one another using techniques that they have learnt for two 2 minute rounds with the competitor claiming the most points winning the bout. It is in this that Jake came 3^rd and has subsequently been invited to join the Victorian Karate Squad fur Kumite. This is a fantastic effort by Jake who has been learning Karate for just over 4 years. We wish him all the best in his endeavours.

Corey Dickson – Corey travelled to Perth recently to compete in the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in the Under 15 3000m walk and the Under 18 5000m walk. It is an amazing effort for Corey to make it to this level and then to compete in two different age categories in such a challenging event. What was even more special was that Corey managed to finish 2^nd in the 3000m and 3^rd in the 5000m event. A phenomenal result and certainly a boy to keep an eye on as he continues to grow and develop his athletic ability. Well done Corey – bring on Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020 perhaps!

Mitchell Snowball – Mitchell recently competed in the Mountain Biking National Championships in the U15 category. Mitch is bottom age for this group and it is a very popular group. In a fantastic result he was able to finish 8^th in the Under 15 and should be extremely proud of his results.

Year 7 – 10 Mathematics: post-test student reflections

The Mathematics Department has introduced a new initiative for students to reflect on their performance after each topic test. The aim of this initiative is to enable student’s to look at ways in which they can improve their understanding, their revision program and to think about their effectiveness while sitting assessment under timed conditions. They will be asked to record their self-evaluation on the Reflection Sheet at the back of each test. Parents and students are required to sign this document and then the student is expected to return it to his/her Maths teacher as soon as possible.

The faculty feels this may enable greater parent awareness of student performance and encourage students to set goals to help improve their competency. Parents are advised to keep an eye out for this reflection form after tests have been corrected.

by Gary Collins, Head of Mathematics

Key Dates Term 2 2016