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New Scholarship Gives Young All-Rounders The Chance to Leap Ahead

Young girls who demonstrate academic ability and the potential to become future leaders by virtue of their aptitude in co-curricular areas such as music, sport or service are often called all-rounders.

MLC School is keen to assist them to fulfill their ambitions by fostering their growth and development. To this end, the school has introduced an all-rounder scholarship for girls to commence in Year 5.

The school believes that Year 5 is the time for girls to take a leap in terms of independence, responsibility and organisation – it is all about providing a platform for girls to step up to their full potential and become role models for the younger girls in the Junior school. This new scholarship provides more girls with the opportunity to access the School’s unique upper primary program to gain the confidence for a smooth transition to the Senior School.

Unlike so many other schools, Year 5 is the year of leadership at MLC School, it aims to fast-track the girls’ development so that Year 6 is focused on laying the important foundation stones for success in Year 7.

All students in Year 5 are allocated to a particular position of responsibility in the Junior School. As a consequence, their confidence in themselves and their learning blossoms, and they are ready to step forward into the next phase of their school lives.

Year 6 at MLC School is an immersive transition and readiness year focused on easing and preparing girls for Senior School. Wide ranging studies show there is often a decline in expected learning outcomes when students move into high school, such is the nature and impact of the change in routine and organisational skills required. Girls in Year 6 at MLC School move onto the Senior School campus and experience many of the activities associated with Senior School life, such as assemblies, Chapel, House events, clubs and committees, and lunchtime events; while still being cared for in smaller class settings with a single main teacher. As a consequence, the transition to high school for these girls is a natural progression and aims to ensure learning outcomes continue as expected.

Since its doors opened in 1886, MLC School has played an important role in revolutionising girls’ education in Australia, and its history bears all the hallmarks of the changes the school has led. In an early speech, one of the School’s visionary leaders, Rev Charles Stead, said that women were entitled to take their place: ‘as the co-equals of men, in every avenue of human activity’.

Challenging preconceptions of women’s roles and redefining expectations of what girls can and should achieve shapes the School’s educational philosophy today as much as it did in those early days, 135 years ago.

The school’s motto, Dare to be More, is not mere lip service, but a genuine attitude that continues to drive how the school approaches the teaching girls and young women. In turn, as each girl graduates, she is charged with taking forth that courageous attitude into the rest of her life.

If you would like to see your daughter step into her full potential at MLC School, the new Year 5 scholarship for all-rounders is now open for applications, with further details available here.

Character at the heart of St Andrew’s Cathedral School Education

In schools today, the development of strong character and a moral compass is more important than ever.

But it isn’t new. In 1947, the great Martin Luther King wrote about the purpose of education, stating: “Intelligence plus character – that is the true goal of education.” He said, perhaps “the most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals”.

At St Andrew’s Cathedral School (SACS), a major focus is to equip students with the positive character strengths required to navigate and flourish in an increasingly complex world. But how does a school approach such a challenging goal?

A select team of educators spent years designing a unique character development program as part of its student wellbeing strategy, which is now embedded into every class and subject in the school, starting from Kindergarten.

“The development of character is at the heart of our teaching and pastoral care, taught both explicitly and implicitly through habits and routines, role-modelling, service opportunities, leadership and relationships,” says the Head of Wellbeing and Character Mr Derek Champion. “In a co-educational environment, character education equips boys and girls to grow in wisdom and hope, so they can use their developing knowledge and expertise in ways that positively impact society.

“We aim to embed strong values through our Junior and Middle School years so that in some of those more difficult years of adolescence, our students will be able to make better decisions that direct their lives.”

A series of fun and engaging illustrations were created and launched this year in order to engage students at a deeper level with each of the 15 SACS Character Strengths. These are pictured on walls all around the school and create great conversation starters for students and staff.

The Junior School Wellbeing Coordinator Bronwyn Wake says the illustrations have prompted some great discussions among students. “Students in the Junior School do particularly love the Grateful image,” she says. “It is painted in the stairwell on the way up to the rooftop playground and many students point to all the things in the picture that they are grateful for as they walk past it going off to play. The Persistent image is another one they love. They can relate to the idea of having lots and lots of unsuccessful attempts before they succeed and we work hard to make persistence a normal part of the learning process. We encourage students to not give up, but rather to have a growth mindset and enthusiastically strive for excellence in all that they do.”

A teacher handbook, used in classroom discussions in both the primary and secondary school, explains in greater depth the meaning of each Character Strength and how to guide open conversations with students about growing in character.

“Character growth can develop out of positive conversations that challenge students to re-evaluate their assumptions about themselves, others and the world,” Mr Champion explains. “One area we openly discuss is the source of our Character Strengths, which is the Christian story that offers meaning, hope and life ‘to the full’.”

To find out more about the whole-person education that is offered at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, visit the website or book a school tour at https://www.sacs.nsw.edu.au/book-a-tour/

See the SACS Character Strengths roll-out video below or visit https://youtu.be/kSh7q_Caeb8

Meriden Cadets Receive Penultimate Award

Three Meriden cadets have been commended on their completion of the National Adventure Training Award, the penultimate award in the Cadets program.

WO2 Bruna Da Costa, WO2 Eduarda Da Costa and WO2 Lillian Havansky were presented with the coveted “boomerang and torch” badge after passing the rigorous five-day challenge with flying colours. The badge is the highest accolade that can be worn on a cadet’s uniform and the students are the first Meriden cadets to attempt and complete the challenge as part of the Trinity Grammar School Army Cadet Unit.

LT (AAC) Fiona Brennan, Meriden Coordinator of Cadets, said the School is proud of the girls who have completed another first for their unit.

“WO2 B Da Costa, WO2 E Da Costa and WO2 Havansky have opened a new door for Meriden cadets and shown how satisfying it can be to persevere through difficult challenges,” she said.

“The NATA is an institution among cadets and is known for bringing cadets face-to-face with the unexpected. The girls, who have shown that they are strong, responsible and self-reliant leaders within our cadet unit, continued to display these qualities in a challenging, unfamiliar environment.”

“Our cadets were commended by rank members on their decision-making, observation and leadership skills and for embodying the Australian Army Cadets program values of Courage, Initiative, Respect and Teamwork throughout the NATA,” LT Brennan said.

The National Adventure Training Award is known for its physically-demanding challenges and for providing opportunities for senior cadets to step into leadership roles in high-pressure situations. Meriden cadets undertook extensive training for the event and the girls completed a series of pre-selection tests to ensure they met satisfactory levels of personal skill and fitness before embarking on the Award.

The Award sees teams of cadets test the skills they have learnt through the program, including watermanship, bush navigation and survival skills, as well as physical and mental endurance.

They are mentored by active members of the Australian Defence Force as they walk cross country and undertake a series of complex tasks that test their logic, teamwork and initiative. Cadets are individually assessed on activities such as day and night navigation, casualty evacuation and field engineering, which examines their skill with knots and lashings. The field activities are designed to be the most physically demanding tasks in which cadets can participate.

The final milestone in the Cadets program looms for WO2 B Da Costa, WO2 E Da Costa and WO2 Havansky – the Chief of Army Cadet Team Challenge – during which they will walk more that seventy kilometres cross country and complete a range of difficult tasks.

For more information

Meriden

“Planting the Seed” for a Lifelong Love of the Outdoors at Xavier College

After a significant period of home-learning, Xavier College is committed to ensuring all students can engage closely and respectfully with natural environments and global cultures. It is more important than ever for students to immerse themselves in the world around them.

Expedition programs at the college aim to put meaningful purpose at the heart of learning. Over the first Semester of 2021, students braved the pristine Mornington Peninsula waters to swim with seals, journeyed along Anglesea’s rugged coastline, canoed along Warrandyte’s bending Birrarung (Yarra River) and much, much more. These day expeditions are centred around “growth” and “exploration” frameworks, aimed at fostering positive wellbeing and personal development. The program provides opportunities for students to engage with nature, challenge themselves and build relationships with their peers.

In the Junior Schools, students embrace Outdoor Education camps in country and rural Victoria where they participate in activities such as canoeing, bushwalking, high ropes courses and confidence building exercises. Many senior students travel overseas for activities associated with music, sport, service and global engagement. In recent years, Xavier College supported a Wind Ensemble tour in the UK, an Athletics tour in Europe, a Water Polo tour in the US and a World Challenge trip to Peru, as well as annual overseas Immersion trips to assist marginalised communities. Closer to home, students travel to Indigenous communities to learn more about the history and culture of our land, centring on Indigenous perspectives. In working to pursue critically a depth of learning, students are taught to first reflect on these experiences, then move to action. Border closures have unfortunately put a pause on a number of these opportunities, but students are looking towards many of these exciting trips in the future. In the meantime, various “retreats” and “gauntlet” getaways allow senior students to reflect in natural environments about their position in the world around them.

The college’s Outdoor Education also incorporates numerous on-campus projects to bring in the natural world while providing outdoor learning opportunities. Gardening projects are sprouting on the Junior and Senior campuses, and provide the context for climate change education.

To learn more about the Expeditions program, visit the Xavier College website: https://www.xavier.vic.edu.au/our-programs/our-expeditions

Barker Robotics on the World Stage

It has been an incredibly successful competition season for Barker College’s robotics students, with a string of titles being awarded to both the VEX and FIRST teams.

The VEX Robotics Competition is the largest Robotics Competition in the world, with more than 20,000 teams. This year, Barker had three teams qualify to VEX Worlds; two from the Middle School in the VEX Robotics Competition and one from the Junior School for the VEX IQ Challenge.

The final result saw Barker’s 4613W – HyperSphere – win the Middle School Technology B Division, the Overall Technology division, and be named semi-finalists for the Overall VEX Worlds Championship – an incredible achievement to place them in the top eight teams in the world.

Barker’s Senior FIRST Robotics Competition team, the Barker Redbacks, has placed 6th globally on raw competition scores. They were also awarded the Chairman’s award for the school’s ongoing outreach and support of the community including establishing robotics at Barker’s Indigenous campus, Darkinjung Barker, and the establishment and continuing to support of the Springbots, the first FRC team in South Africa. The team also won the Engineering Excellence award for the quality of the design, construction and engineering process of the robot.

Year 11 student, Suzanne Brian won nomination as a Dean’s List Award winner. She will now compete at FRC Championships level as a Dean’s List Finalist. This is now the fourth Dean’s List Finalist that the school has had recognised since 2015.

For more information

Barker College

Does Choosing a Strathcona Education for your Daughter Provide an Additional Advantage?

School is important, but which school is also important. What is the part of a school in student results? This is an important question, especially for parents investing considerable financial resources in sending their daughters to a school like Strathcona.

Each year it is very exciting to see the VCE results that Strathcona students achieve. With last year being so unusual with its (un)fair share of challenges there was more uncertainty about how the students would perform than usual. With conditions different to those we had been used to with lockdowns, modified study designs and assessment practices, there was the possibility that we would be surprised, and not in a good way. However, as you would be aware, our students did not fail to deliver.

What is the part of a school in student results? This is an important question, especially for parents investing considerable financial resources in sending their daughters to a school like Strathcona. It is a question I was challenged with by my neighbour soon after the results came through. When he asked how we went, I replied “we did very well”. With a cheeky grin he asked, “you or your students?” Tactfully I replied “that they were the students’ results, but it is very good for us that they did well.”

There is no question that our VCE results being ranked ninth in the state in terms of Study Scores by the newspapers helps the school’s reputation. However, principal Marise McConaghy and I wanted to explore the question of how Strathcona helps the students achieve what they do. We often call this ‘Value Add’. After all, our students come with many advantages over the average Victorian student. Does the School provide an additional advantage?

The VCE results come from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), the administrative body for the VCE, with a prediction of how each student will go in each subject. This prediction is made based on student performance on the GAT, the General Achievement Test, a three hour examination that every student undertaking a Unit 3/4 subject sits, usually in June, but in 2020 in October. This test assesses three areas that are statistically correlated with achievement in every subject: written communication; mathematics, science and technology; humanities, the arts and social sciences. The GAT serves several purposes including providing schools with an indication of how scores for each subject compared with the expectations given the students in the subject. These results do point to significant gains for many of our students, but the test is taken so close to the final examinations, indeed after some of the assessment has taken place. Are the student GAT scores higher than they would otherwise be if they had not already spent years of their schooling at Strathcona?

I dug deeper. Each student is tested on entry to the Strathcona Senior School using Edutest. This test provides percentile rankings against the broader population on verbal IQ and numerical IQ, achievement in reading comprehension and achievement in Mathematics. In Year 7 we also test students using PAT (Progressive Achievement Tests), which give percentile rankings in Reading, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Mathematics. Using these benchmarks, we find that Strathcona students are above average in terms of potential and achievement in Year 7. However, the distribution is much broader and the average much lower than that achieved in the ATAR, another percentile rank that correlates strongly with performance in numeracy and literacy. To make this statement more concrete, those of our Year 7 students who perform at or below the national and school average in Years 6 and 7 very often achieve ATARs in the 80s and 90s. Fifty-seven per cent of our students achieved an ATAR of over 90 in 2020. By contrast, only 12 per cent of these students achieved an Edutest ranking in the top 10 per cent of the population when in Year 6.

Strathcona does make a big difference for its students. This difference is revealed in the VCE statistics, but it is also evident in their broader successes. There are differences in resources, and focus. The rich, supportive community is so strong at Strathcona and not just about examination preparation but nurturing of human beings, learners, who are respected and empowered. It is a community of students, teachers and other staff, parents, and past students who band together to provide the unique experience that is a Strathcona education. It is not infallible, and it certainly requires the students to work hard. Some students for whatever reason take greater advantage of the opportunities available to them in their learning and reap the rewards.

I have heard many speakers in my life, and one whose words I will never forget is Reverend Tim Costello. On a visit to Strathcona perhaps a decade ago he told students and staff about how people often dream of what they would do if they won the lottery. “By being born in a place like Australia, you have already won the lottery. So, what are you going to do?” he challenged us. Most of us have been born into privilege and as parents we have done all we can to provide the best opportunities for our children. A very significant part of that work as parents is to send our daughters to Strathcona. Different students will benefit in different ways and take up different opportunities at school. Some will achieve amazing VCE results, some will perform on stage, on the sporting field or contribute wonderful service to the community. Some even manage all of the above.

We are thrilled with the achievements of our students and the contributions we have been able to make to their lives. We also look forward to the vast diversity of outstanding contributions, grand and humble, that they will go on to make in their lives and Strathcona are proud to play a part in making that happen.

Mr Ross Phillips

Senior Dean of Learning Futures

Join De Le Salle College for a Tour

When considering a school for your child, a College tour provides a unique opportunity to see the school in action and to experience the learning environment first hand.

Monthly tours are led by current students and members of our leadership team and include a presentation by our Principal, Peter Houlihan. Families have the opportunity to view both our Tiverton and Kinnoull Campus’ and hear about the wide range of opportunities available at De La Salle College.

De La Salle College continues to follow the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer and maintains best COVID-19 safety practices. To ensure everyone has an opportunity to experience De La Salle College, join us on a Virtual Tour of all three campuses or watch our four information videos which give you a deeper insight into our College and our community.

Join us for a College tour or visit www.delasalle.vic.edu.au to find out why the College is the right choice for your son.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Admission Team via email enrolment@delasalle.vic.edu.au

First in Engineering at Da Vinci Decathlon

Meriden’s Year 7 students have taken out the Engineering category at the 2021 Da Vinci Decathlon. The win puts the girls ahead of the best and brightest from more than eighty schools across New South Wales.

Heidi Bartlett, Vinudhi Silva and Keira Wakes made up the Year 7 Engineering dream team. They were tasked with designing and constructing a scale model of a mini-golf course that incorporated the concept of chance, with “chance” being the overarching theme of this year’s event.  The girls built their model using paper, cardboard, straws and plasticine and designed it to incorporate a system of tunnels hidden along a ramp, making the possibility of achieving a high score a matter of both chance and skill.

Dr Phoebe Poon, Coordinator of Learning Link – Gifted and Talented, said the girls’ performance speaks to their solid foundations in STEM disciplines and Lateral Learning principles.

“The Engineering task was particularly challenging as it required lateral thinking and collaborative problem-solving,” Dr Poon said.

“The outstanding success of our girls in Engineering can be attributed to their hard work and enthusiasm for innovation, together with the many hours they spent engaging with STEM technologies and concepts to develop important skills.”

To prepare for the decathlon’s Engineering component, the team practised building different types of models that were both functional and strong, deliberately limiting their access to resources to increase the level of challenge and experimentation.

Keira said, despite the broad nature of their preparation, the task they received on the day was a surprise. “We weren’t expecting to build a mini-golf course!” she said.

“The biggest challenge was figuring out a design that met the brief but we brainstormed together and then divides the tasks according to our strengths. When constructing the course, it was crucial that we balanced the weight of the ball with the strength of our ramp to stop the course from collapsing. To incorporate the chance element, we made the tubing the same size as the ball and ensured the ball rolled through the course smoothly,” Keira said.

Vinudhi and Heidi agreed that the collaborative nature of their group was one of the greatest assets and was also what made the Da Vinci Decathlon a fun, interesting event.

The renowned decathlon is open to students from Year 5 to Year 11 and tasks are designed to extend students’ higher-order thinking skills, problem-solving abilities and creativity. Teams complete across ten disciplines: Engineering, Mathematics and Chess, Code Breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, IDeation, Creative Producers, Cartography and Legacy.

Tennis Turns Eight at The McDonald College

The McDonald College has had a thriving Tennis stream for eight years.

Across the Junior and Senior schools, 30 students train each day on the courts at Sydney Olympic Park under the careful eye of Voyager Tennis Academy coaches. Sometimes they train twice a day.

Voyager’s co-founder Luke Bourgeois adheres to the view that talented tennis players should not give up their education to pursue their sporting dreams. Nor should they have to give up their sport to pursue their education. “In our partnership with The McDonald College they can excel at both,” he says. “It’s the 10,000 hours theory. You can have all the talent in the world but it won’t flourish without investing time on the court.”

Luke is careful about who he will admit into Voyager. The ultimate – but not the only – pathway for his students is the US College circuit.

He is the youngest of eight children and a graduate of St Aloysius College, he first picked up a racquet aged four and played his way up to being a national champion at the age of 17. He was mentored by Australian champion Tony Roche, and as he began doing well at international tournaments, he received offers from US Colleges.

He was advised to hit the professional circuit and so he knocked back offers from Harvard, among others. His career on the circuit flourished and in his 20s he settled in Florida. From his base in the US he managed wins over some of the biggest names in tennis, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and the Bryan brothers.

He travelled as part of Roger Federer’s team for three years but at 30 he was ready to come home and over time, he has come to the conclusion he should have gone the College route after all.

“It gives you four more years of nurturing, not to mention an academic back-up,” he says.

This is the advice he gives his students and so far he has a 100 per cent success rate of Voyager full time students securing a place in a US College if they want one.

“There are 18 so far, and counting” he says.

Big Plans in Store for Boarding at Xavier College

As Victoria navigates through lockdowns and changing restrictions, the Xavier College Boarding House has provided a greatly needed sense of certainty for its tight-knit community.

When the 2020 lockdown forced students to decide whether to return home or bunker down on campus, every Senior student who had the option to do so decided to stay. The cohort’s decision to remain together as one highlights the unique bonds shared across the intimate senior boarding group. Head of Boarding Alex Smith says that this is thanks largely to the smaller community of boarders: “One of our greatest strengths is having a small boarding community where the boys form fantastic relationships with each other,” says Alex.

The boarding community also shares a real sense of excitement and optimism for the future. Xavier College recently released the first part of its Master Plan, which outlines a new and exciting boarding house as part of large-scale plans for the Senior Campus.

The proposed state-of-the-art boarding facility will match the exceptional quality of experience and opportunity that boarding students receive at Xavier College. The Master Plan envisages contemporary accommodation for a diverse mix of regional and urban students who wish to optimise all that the College has to offer.

In the meantime, Frankie, the golden retriever pup, was a welcome addition to the Boarding House family in 2020. If students ever need a break from their studies, or just a change of scenery, Frankie is a willing companion on walks around the immaculate College grounds.

With students from Camberwell to Calgary and everywhere in-between, the Xavier College boarding community provides an excellent environment for the next generation of young boarders. As the College expands its popular boarding services, Years 7 to 12 will be available from 2023.

You can read more about the Master Plan here: https://www.xavier.vic.edu.au/strategy/masterplan