Discovery

Friday, 18 October 2019

Important Dates

Monday 21 October                             Year 3, 4, 5 & 7 Swimming Program

Tuesday 22 October                             Year 12 Valedictory Celebration

Wednesday 23 October                       Junior School Jump Rope for Heart

Monday 28 October                             Year 3-5 Swimming Program

Wednesday 30 October                       Year 12 Exams Commence

Wednesday 30 October                       2020 Casey Pathways Information Session

Monday 4 November                           Report Writing Day - No Students to Attend

Tuesday 5 November                           Melbourne Cup Day - Public Holiday

Monday 9 December                           Year 3-6 Service of Thanksgiving and Presentation of Awards Celebration Evening

Tuesday 10 December                         Senior School Thanksgiving and Presentation of Awards Celebration Evening

Wednesday 11 December                   Last Day Term 4

From the Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back to all of our wonderful students.

I hope that our Prep to Year 11 students had a wonderful holiday, with lots of rest and family time after a very busy Term 3. For our Year 12 students, I hope you had the opportunity to revise and prepare for your final term of schooling.

The Term 3 break was a great opportunity for our ATAR students to consolidate on their learning by spending time on Campus during the holidays to attend “connect lectures” and participate in additional study options.  Thank you to the staff that gave up their holiday time to assist the Year 12 students as well as mark exams and other assessments across all year levels.

At the end of last Term, we farewelled our Year 12 Casey Pathways students as well as Year 12 students choosing to take an unscored VCE pathway.  These students will return on Tuesday for the Valedictory Assembly where we will formally farewell the Class of 2019.  As with tradition, the whole school, including all staff, will form a guard of honour which will weave through the School, leading the Year 12s to the VCE Common Room for refreshments with their families and staff.

Over the holidays, I attended the biennial AHISA Conference for Heads of Independent Schools in Perth.  The conference theme was ‘Forging the Future’ and throughout the four days, we discussed topics such as the future of education and exams, the economy, the ATAR, university, future employment and jobs that would become redundant, as well as jobs that will be created within the next 20 years. It’s an exciting time to be in education and even more so that we will contribute to and help shape the future of education. 

There was also a lot happening on Campus throughout the holidays.  Our Prep students have returned to a fantastic new play area which includes a bower and two playhouses.  The newly planted vegetable gardens are growing well and our Casey Grammar chickens have taken up residency in the coup near the Science Centre.  I’d like to thank the PFC, Kate Hancox and all the volunteers who have supported and worked hard to provide these fantastic initiatives for our students.

Parents and guardians dropping students off will have also noticed the progress of the new Junior School Building.  Now that the structure of the building has been built, the next phase will be the electrical work and plastering of walls.  A time-lapse video has been recording since the demolition and I look forward to being able to release this to our community once the build is complete.

Mr Richard Baird MBA, B.Ed, ASAM, MACE, MACEL

Principal 

JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS

From the Head of Junior School

Welcome back to our fourth and final term for 2019. I trust all our students and their families enjoyed the break and were able to spend some quality time with friends and family, relaxing and having fun, before returning for what is already gathering momentum to be another busy term.

As I’m sure you are all aware, our new Year 3-6 building is becoming more of a reality each day. We are eagerly awaiting its completion and moving students into our new state of the art, contemporary learning building. Watch this space for updates!

Last week Reid House hosted our assembly. All our Reid students from Years 3-6 were involved in this assembly and it was a wonderful way to commence the term. The theme was paying it forward and being kind to others. These students performed a play, created a fabulous dance and their videos were a joy to watch. Congratulations to Miss Dascoli, our Reid Head of House and her talented Reid students.

Unfortunately Regional Athletics was cancelled yesterday due to the inclement weather and will now be held on Monday. Best of luck to our six competing students next week.

Our Award Assembly on Thursday was a chance to celebrate the successes of many of our P-6 students. I’d like to congratulate every student who received a class award. Special mention to the following students who received our first ever CGS Service awards. These were presented in recognition for their contribution to the community shown by these students by volunteering in their holidays to attend the “Mums supporting families in need” warehouse where they cleaned, sorted and packed donations for underprivileged families in our community.

Dusty Burns

Alanna Dawson

Mitchell Dawson

Anna Hancox

Murphy Hancox

Brianna Mioni

Aaliyah Thomas

Nereesa Weerasinghe

Davin Weerasinghe

Madyson Hogan

Jacob Maslen

Ashton Stevens

Cassandra Sutcliffe

Isabella Sutcliffe

Sincere thanks to our Trist Head of House, Miss Reale for organising this most worthy experience and to our wonderful staff who also attended.

Kirra Facey, a Matilda cast member, also received an award from the Monash Children’s Hospital for performing with our Matilda ensemble to brighten up the day for many patients. Well done Kirra!

Our prestigious Principal’s awards for upholding school values and treating others the way they like to be treated were presented to the following recipients:-

Prep         Natalie Hogan                                 

Year 1      Ranuk Rathnayake                                     

Year 2    Agam Bains

Year 3    Hunter Fountain                                                             

Year 4    Rishab Bawa                                                             

Year 5    Mitchell Dawson                                         

Year 6     Harpa McDonald                                       

Congratulations to each of these wonderful students.

Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to our Year 3 teachers, Miss Reale and Miss Testro, for running our first ever Year 3 Sleepover last week. These ladies organised a night of much fun and laughter for their students that included a Trivia competition, a delicious BBQ dinner, marshmallow toasting, a movie on the big screen in the PAC, an overnight stay in the PAC foyer and a delicious pancake breakfast. Our students had smiles on their faces from the minute they left their classrooms at 3:10pm until they were picked up by their parents the following morning by 9:00am. How very fortunate our students are to have such dedicated teachers. Thanks also to Miss Dascoli and Mrs Evans for attending and for staying the night and to Mr Bell and Mr Baird for coming and for cooking the delicious BBQ dinner. I’m have our Year 3 students slept well on Saturday night after sharing their memories with their families.

Mrs Melissa Roberton

Head of Junior School

Year 3 Sleepover

Last Friday, the Year 3 students had a very successful sleepover at school. After a long day at school, the Year 3 students made their way over to the playground for afternoon tea, where the sleepover began. We had a jam-packed schedule, including games, trivia, a camp fire and a movie. We had a great time and we are very proud of them all!

Miss Reale and Miss Testro

Year 3 Teachers 

The Year 3 students had a 1 night sleepover at the P.A.C. and we slept in the foyer. We had a barbecue dinner and played lots of games. 

Murphy - 3R

It was so much fun. We got to play many games like rock off, dodgeball and trivia. Then we had a yummy dinner. After dinner we had a campfire and toasted marshmallows then watched a movie.

Tyler - 3R

We got to watch the movie on the big screen in the PAC before bed. 

Meg - 3R

Year 3

Jump Rope for Heart

The Junior School annual Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is well underway. The students have been making great progress with their skills and tricks and it’s been great to see so many students skipping during recess and lunch. Well done to our fundraising students. Our online fundraisers alone have already raised over $900, which will go towards the Heart Foundation’s lifesaving work.

Blake – 1B: $233

Theekshana – 3T: $233

Ayaana – 3T: $223

Ruby – 1D: $174

Natalie – Prep C: $57

Our jump off day will be held during week 3, so there’s still plenty of time to sign up and start fundraising if you wish to do so. Simply visit www.heartfoundation.org.au/parents and follow the link to register your child.

Trist House supports Mums Supporting Families in Need

On the first Monday of the holidays, many students, parents and teachers gave up their time to volunteer at the Mums Supporting Families in Need warehouse. When we arrived, we had a tour of the warehouse and learnt about the amazing work the MSFIN do for the families in our community. After our tour and safety induction, it was time to get to work! Some of our tasks included cleaning and sorting toys, packing away winter clothes, sorting out and hanging summer clothes and sorting linen. The volunteers at MSFIN were extremely grateful for our help and I was very proud of the many Trist House students who volunteered their time, got out of their comfort zone and supported this wonderful community organisation. I would like to sincerely thank the students, parents, Miss Nolan, Mrs Willett, Ms Burns, Mr Medlyn and Mr Baird for their attendance. Your support is greatly appreciated. In the lead up to Christmas, we are still collecting donations on behalf of the MSFIN, so if you have any pre-loved items you no longer need, please drop them off at 3R. Stay tuned for the details of our next volunteer day in December!

SENIOR SCHOOL NEWS

From the Head of Senior School

Plans for our ‘new look’ Casey Grammar Awards Evening – a Celebration of 2019 - are well underway. The Celebration will be held on Tuesday 10 December. This is a compulsory school event for all Senior School students. Each student will be allocated a seat for the evening. Parents will be invited to book their seats via TryBooking later in the term. Please mark this date in your diary.

This term we have welcomed a new member of staff, Mrs Rachael McLeod. Mrs McLeod is teaching Ms Carolyn McAlister’s Music classes for the rest of Term 4. On the advice of her doctor’s, Ms McAlister is taking Term 4 to rest and recuperate from her ongoing illness. We are grateful to Mrs McLeod for stepping in and we look forward to seeing Mrs McAlister back at school at the start of 2020.

Last week was the SIS Debating Grand Final. Our Senior debating team consisting of Lily Hopp, Maneesha Casey, Robert Kuzek and Spoorthy Bhat came second by an agonising one point. This is an extraordinary achievement given this is the first year the students have participated in this competition. The team have learned a lot about debating over the season and will be fierce competitors into the future. Well done to Mr Willis and Mr Cozzio who have nurtured this talent.

On Friday night, an enthusiastic group of students, along with the Chaplain Mr McKenzie, participated in the annual Backpack Challenge. The students heard from young people who are refugees and, throughout the evening, they learned more about the experience of leaving the country of your birth and moving to a new city.

This week the SIS Book in a Day program concluded. Congratulations to Ms Mandy Horton and her small group of enthusiastic writers. They have achieved a great deal over the three days they have participated in the competition.

The countdown to the last day of Senior School is now on for the Class of 2019. This week concluded with a day of celebration for the Year 12s at Gumbya Park. Next Tuesday 22 October is another important event, the Valedictory Assembly which is being held at 9.00am in the Performing Arts Centre. Parents and special guests should arrive by 8.45 for the 9.00am start. Year 12 parents and guests are warmly invited to morning tea in the VCE Common Room at the conclusion of the assembly. Year 12 students will be dismissed from School at the conclusion of the morning tea so they can get ready for the Valedictory Dinner. The Valedictory Dinner will be held at the Frankston Arts Centre commencing at 7.00pm. Students need to arrive by 6.40pm.

Year 12 students have a week of Swot Vac before their examinations commence on Wednesday 30 October. During Swot Vac, students are encouraged to make appointments with their teachers for any individual assistance required. Students should use their swot vac honing their examination skills by completing lots of exam questions and exam papers, along with regularly revising the content of each of their studies. We wish our students all the best in their examinations and hope they are peaking at the right time to achieve their personal best. 

Mrs Fiona Williams

Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School

2019 ANCQ Results

This year a selected group of Casey Grammar students from Years 7 to 12 competed in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Australian National Chemistry Quiz (ANCQ). This Australian-based international competition challenges the best Chemistry students in 21 counties and Casey Grammar School achieved some fantastic results.

 

We would like to congratulate the following students for their outstanding achievement:

 High Distinction Excellence - Jack Witterick - Year 7.

 High Distinction - Jugal Anish & Ricky Quach -Year 7and Patrick Kleverlaan -Year 9.

Distinction - James Dawson & Tiyanie Fernando - Year 7,  Alastair McKearney Year 10 & Georgia Schlfhout - Year 10, Lilli Blommestein and Anmolpreet Singh - Year 11.

 Credit - Anabella Woo - Year 7, Hansanie Wimalaweera - Year 8, Ijaz Koya Year 9, Tanysha Hogan & Lilly Hopp - Year 10, Jatasvjot Kahlon,  Swetha Kumar, Rohan Pahwa & Janice Tee - Year 11 and Charli Steendam - Year 12.

The awarding of certificates of merit are described below:

Award of Excellence for outstanding performance (perfect score 30/30).

High Distinction - The top 10% participants in the country.

Distinction - The next 15% participants in the country (top 10% to 25%).

Credit - The next 15% participants in the country. (top 25% to 40%).

Participation - The remaining 60% in the country. 


Two Casey Grammar School students will share their big ideas at a national forum in Sydney.

Each year the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) opens a forum in which students in Year 10 present a 40-second video around the question: What problem do you want science to be able to solve in the future?

With over 180 applications Australia-wide, only 11 schools made the final cut and 22 students received the ANSTO Big Ideas Forum award. Casey Grammar School is proud to announce that two Year 10 students - Georgia Schlfhout and Tanysha Hogan have been selected to participate in the 2019 Big Ideas Forum in Sydney from November 14th to 18th. This event is free – flights, travel, accommodation and meals are covered by ANSTO.

The girls worked diligently with another Year 10 student - Elorenzo San Pedro, to pose the idea of using plants to extract valuable metals from contaminated soils (micromining) as well as using plants to clean up nuclear waste (phytoremediation) in the environment.

This is yet another highlight for Casey Grammar and a truly a remarkable achievement by our students. These talented Science students have undertaken a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) elective which has equipped them with critical thinking skills that has enabled them to develop such challenging questions.  

During the four-day forum Georgia and Tanysha will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with some of the world's best scientists and work on possible solutions, which they will then present to their peers. I'm sure both students would be able to and apply their understanding of the engineering design process to come up with the best possible solutions for their questions.

Mr Daniel Isgro

Head of Science

Year 9 City Experience

During the last week of 3rd term, our Year 9 City students participated in a variety of activities each day at different locations throughout the City. Their experiences helped develop valuable life skills, confidence and independence.

Mrs Christensen, Mrs Novello, Misss Burns, Mrs Moya

Year 9 Program Teachers


The City, What an Experience

Over the five days we spent in the city, we did heaps of activities. There were varying activities. We went from touring the city to ice skating. We had tours about how Melbourne’s infrastructure had changed to make the city for sustainable for the future. Ice skating was very cold but it was heaps of fun watching the same people fall over time and time again. I got the hang of it pretty quickly but it did hurt my feet after a while. We reached some pretty high heights as we went on the Melbourne Star and the Eureka Sky deck. We saw some pretty amazing sights and there were heaps of photos taken. We had a tour of Marvel Stadium where we got to go behind the scenes of a modern sporting stadium. We had fun experiences in escape rooms as well as Virtual Reality rooms. We saw a musical called ‘Come From Away’ which was about how 9/11 changed people’s lives for a few days. We had a visit to the Old Melbourne Gaol and re-enacted a court case. The boys were locked in a maximum security cell and when the lights turned off, you could hear the screams from miles away. We had the opportunity to experience new cuisine, but we decided on fast food anyway. Taking the train early in the morning made us pretty tired and going out for lunch with friends was great fun although we got sick of each other after a while. I visited new places that I had never seen before and there are quite a few places I would gladly go back to. We were all exhausted by the end of the week but we made great friendships along the way and we all had an unforgettable experience.

Dash Baumann - Year 9

City Experience

From the Head of Careers and Student Pathways

Looking to the future!

When considering future career options, students and their parents/guardians are encouraged to reflect on available data to identify growth areas from a job perspective.

For example, recent projections from the Department of Education show that most jobs in the next five years (2019 - 2023) will require a post-secondary qualification (TAFE/VET or University). Interestingly, the Department also predicted that of the top 10 fastest growing occupations, seven would require a TAFE or VET qualification, rather than a degree.

The Australian industries with the highest job growth in the next four years are:

·         Medical and healthcare services

·         Food and beverage service

·         Construction services

·         Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

·         Social assistance services

·         Public administration

·         Preschool and school education

·         Computer system design and related services

·         Adult, community and other education

·         Building and construction

The specific jobs that are expecting significant growth:

·         General Clerks

·         Truck Drivers

·         Software And Applications Programmers

·         Advertising, Public Relations And Sales Managers

·         General Practitioners And Resident Medical Officers

·         Aged And Disabled Carers

·         Registered Nurses

·         Child Carers

·         General Sales Assistants

·         Education Aides

While this data is useful as a tool to support informed career decision making, the labour market can change quickly! It is not advisable to base employment and training decisions solely on this type of information. Students should be encouraged to consider their strengths, interests and values to identify careers of interest.

Mrs Sarah Blytheman

Careers Counsellor

Source: Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business: National, State and Territory Skill Shortage Information

Student Wellbeing

Helping Children Complete Homework

For many parents, getting their kids to do their homework is a nightly struggle.

Fighting over it is a losing proposition for both of you. You will end up frustrated, angry, and exhausted and your child will have found yet another way to push your buttons. And, even worse, they will wind up hating school and hating learning.

Establishing a system so that your child comes to see that homework is just a regular part of home life is important. Some ideas that work are:

1.       Structure the Evening for Homework. There should be a structure and a schedule set up each night. Post it on the refrigerator or in some central location in the house. This should be a quiet time in your whole house to eliminate distractions.

2.       Start the Evening Homework Habit When Your Kids are Young. Help children understand that evening quiet and study time is a part of everyday home life.

3.       Use a Public Place for Homework. Many children need your presence to stay focused and disciplined. And they need to be away from the stuff in their rooms that can distract them.

4.       Give Breaks During Homework Time. Many kids get tired halfway through homework time and that’s when they start acting up. Allow a 5-minute break every half-hour so that they can get up, have a snack, and stretch their legs. But don’t allow electronics during the break—electronics are just too distracting.

5.       Help Your Child Get Started With Their Homework. Spend the first five minutes with them to get them over the first couple of hurdles.

6.       Help Your Child Manage Long-Term Assignments. If your child has a big, long-term project then you want to work with them to estimate how much time it’s going to take.

7.       Make Sunday Night a School Night. Structure the weekend so that Sunday night is a school night, not Friday.

8.       The Weekend Starts When Overdue Assignments Are Complete. If your child has overdue homework, their weekend shouldn’t start until those assignments are complete.

9.       Use Rewards for Schoolwork, Not Bribes. A reward is something that is given after an achievement. A bribe is something you give your child after negotiating with them over something that is already a responsibility. If you bribe your child to do his homework or to do anything else that is an expected responsibility, then your child will come to expect something extra just for behaving appropriately.

10.   Don’t Fight with Your Child Over Homework. Don’t get sucked into arguments with your child about homework. Make it very clear that if they don’t do their homework, then the next part of their night does not begin. 

Mr Alan Clarke

Psychologist

From the Chaplain

“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.”

Thomas Merton

Last Friday, students participating in the 40 Hour Famine Backpack Challenge spent the evening engaging in conversation with some Youth Advocates from the Southern Migrant Refugee Centre while creating some ‘Extra Love’ items for Backpacks for Vic Kids, learning more about the journeys of many seeking asylum in the Documentary Human Flow, and finishing off with a campfire and sharing about Family Connections.

The highlight was hearing the experiences of the SMRC Youth Advocates, who themselves are students from a local high school and refugees. Their stories spoke of the challenges and hardships with  grace and hope. They spoke of how the experiences had built inner strength and desire to bring awareness and change. As they shared stories, it was clear that, at the heart, there is a universal desire to discover joy despite the circumstance that we find ourselves.

We are all “One in the Spirit”. We all encompass the Image of God and in doing so are compelled to demonstrate a universal love to those who are our neighbour as well as those who come from afar.

A huge congratulations goes out to the participants of the 40 Hour Famine Backpack Challenge. As a community, we raised just over $3000 which will go towards providing 2 Child Safe Spaces in Refugee Camps in Syria. 

Mr Stuart McKenzie

School Chaplain

Backpack Challenge

Discovering Excellence - Jack Brewster

Year 7 student Jack Brewster flew to Darwin during the holidays to compete in the national athletics competition.

There was a field of eighteen Under 12 boys. Jack made the top 8 gaining himself a place in the final. During the finals, Jack jumped a personal best of 5.11 meters.This jump earned him 6th place and he was the highest placed Victorian in the long jump.

'I enjoyed Darwin very much. It was nice and hot with the temperature being 32 -34 degrees every day. My family and I went to various museums such as the military museum and the museum of Darwin.  I would like to thank Casey Grammar for all your support.' - Jack Brewster

Student Absences

Important reminder regarding student absences

If a student is going to be away from school for any reason, please notify the school ASAP via the Absentee Line 5991 0801 as well as your child's teacher.

If your child is going to be absent for an extended period during the school term, a letter must be written to Mr Richard Baird, highlighting the dates and reason for the student absence.