Principal’s Message Week 9 Term 3 2022

Welcome GHS Community,

Having had the honour of leading Geelong High School as Principal for the last ten years, it is quite challenging to reflect upon those years and encapsulate the significant things that have happened. As you would expect there have been highs and lows, successes, and failures. There have also been a lot of wonderful students and staff who have come and gone over that period (and one or two terrors). It is only with the benefit of hindsight over several years that one can more accurately determine what was achieved.

It is my hope that people will reflect on this decade in the history of Geelong High School as being a positive one. It has certainly been one where our character as a school community has been tested time and again, and that character has shone through. A couple of highlights for me include the rebuild and our battle with the global pandemic. Over a six-year period; the first two in planning and the next four in building, we undertook the most significant rebuild of the school in its 112 year history. The results are plainly visible with magnificent school buildings that give the school an imposing street presence befitting the oldest government secondary school in Geelong and one of the oldest in the state. Everyone who contributed to this rebuild should feel a great deal of pride that the high quality buildings are a fitting legacy for future generations. We plan to include some external lighting that will maintain that street presence at night, in the not-too-distant future.

For most of us the global pandemic has been the thing that has presented the most challenges and tested our innovation, our creativity and our patience. Six bouts of remote learning and numerous community lockdowns are not how we would choose to “prepare our students for life”. The remarkable thing is that our students are, by-and-large, well prepared for most things that life can throw at them, and one thing they did learn through the pandemic was the importance of perseverance.

I have enjoyed my 10 years here and now look forward to some leave then retirement; not entirely satisfied, there is always more one could do, but content at least that the school continues in its journey as a good school with aspirations for greatness. I would like to thank you, the wonderful parents and carers, for your support throughout my time here. My thanks to the School Council parent representatives who have so conscientiously represented the parent/carer community in the best interests of the school over the years; Geoff Wiffen and Fiona Chipperfield in particular as Council President in my time. I will miss the staff, I’ve made some very good friends here and have enormous admiration for the difficult work they do on a daily basis.

I would in particularly like to acknowledge the members of my leadership team over the ten year period. They’ve saved my bacon on more than one occasion! And, of course I will miss the students.

The students are why we are here, and the students are the best part of the job. I think we can be pretty confident that the future is in great hands, based on the quality of the students we have at Geelong High School.

Thank you once again,

Best wishes for the future and take care.

Glenn Davey

Year 8 Drama Excursion

Sandsong by Bangarra Dance Theatre

On Wednesday the 31^st of August, the Year 8 Drama students travelled to Melbourne to see a live performance of Sandsong by Bangarra Dance Theatre at the Melbourne Ats Centre.

Bangarra Dance Theatre

Bangarra Dance Theatre are a company of professional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers. They are one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies, sharing their culture with Communities and audiences across Australia and the world. Each of the dancers are professionally trained, dynamic artists with a proud Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background. Together, they represent the best of Australian talent. Bangarra have been making our indelible marks on the Australian theatre landscape for 32 years. Bangarra’s mission is to promote awareness and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Find out more here: Home | Bangarra

“... Irrespective of the colour of your skin, your connection to country or your interest in the performing arts, [Bangarra presents] the best kind of integrated contemporary performance on offer...”

AUSTRALIAN STAGE 2016

Sandsong

Under the vast Kimberley sky, the red pindan dust stretches across the desert homelands of the Walmajarri, where the ancient knowledge of People and of Country is preserved through Songlines that have endured for hundreds of generations.

At the heart of this land is the Living Water - Jila – that resides in desert waterholes across the region and is the basis of cultural beliefs and practices. SandSong tells the unique story of this Place and the survival of its People.

Between the 1920s and 1960s, Aboriginal people were removed off their Country and onto pastoral stations where they were forced into hard labour, usually for no wages and only minimal rations. Despite this displacement and cultural disruption, the Traditional People of the Western Desert have maintained unbroken connection to Land and Country - keeping songs, stories and kinship strong.

SandSong is a journey into ancient story systems framed against the backdrop of ever-changing government policy and of the survival of people determined to hold strong to their Culture.

SandSong is created by Bangarra Dance Theatre in consultation with Wangkatjungka/Walmajarri Elders from the Kimberley and Great Sandy Desert regions, drawing on the stories, knowledge, and memories of the past to create a new narrative for our Indigenous futures.

Find out more here: SandSong: Stories from the Great Sandy Desert | Bangarra

Student Responses:

“I was shocked, I thought we were going to watch a movie”

“10/10 that was the best thing I have ever seen”

“That felt like it went for 10 minutes, not 75”

“I am still talking about it after 3 days. I was so blown away”

Tessa Kirk

Performing Arts Teacher

On Thursday 1^st September, Geelong High School hosted the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Maths Games Day, where selected students from Years 7-10 participated in highly engaging problem solving tasks which required flexible thinking, collaboration and numeracy skills. We were fortunate to host the event for the Mathematics Association of Victoria and welcomed high-achieving students from North Geelong Secondary College who joined us for the day. The students from both schools collaborated with (and competed against) each other enthusiastically to solve a variety of strategy games designed by Andrew Lorimer-Derham, founder and creator of ThinkSquare and MirroGram. The most notable games were a near-impossible task to fit 12 pentominoes on a hundreds grid and an adaptation to the popular snakes and ladders game (with one group in such an intense battle for the win that they had to end with a draw). Students reflected on the day enthusiastically, describing it as fun, challenging, interesting, enjoyable, maths, strategic, cool, entertaining and exciting. Well done students!

Lauren Chapman (nee McClure) – Maths LAL/Learning Specialist and MLYNS Numeracy

On Monday 29^th August, a select group of Year 10 students made their way to the GMHBA stadium to participate in dynamic scientific experiments, using problem solving, statistical analysis and observation skills to learn about the science and mathematics of AFL and career pathways in sport. They received a private tour of the stadium where they witnessed the Geelong Cats warming up for their training session, before conducting a series of fitness tests similar to those conducted by the Geelong team. They were able to compare their results to Patrick Dangerfield’s results, and discussed the importance of accurate data collection and ways to analyse central tendencies. The students worked in teams to complete a series of problem solving tasks which investigated various aspects of the sport, such as the composition of footballs, equipment used by players to measure heart rate and important nutritional considerations for athletes.

It has been a busy few weeks in the Library during August and this early part of September.

We celebrated Science Week (August 12-20) with our ‘Glass’ display, followed by children’s Book Week (19-25 August) and just this week Indigenous Literacy Day (7 September).

We currently have a Year 10 Art installation in place (thank you to Mrs Veenstra and her Year 10 students).

We’ve had lots of students using the space at recess and lunchtimes and just this week enjoyed the visit of almost forty Year 8 students during Home Group for a ‘Fun Activity’.

There was much fun being had by students colouring Mandala stickers, folding Origami, playing Board Games, and many pages were read by those students who took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on some reading!

Last Friday we had several students join in on a Popup Fathers Day Card craft session, some wonderful conversations were had by those who chose to create a card!

With the school holiday approaching at a great rate of knots I would like to recommend that if you are having a staycation and are looking for some activities to enjoy in our region, please visit the Geelong Regional Library website to see what activities they have on offer for all the family: GRLC School Holiday Activities.

While you are there you can check out their incredible online magazine collection which is available to all Library members Libby magazines.

Membership is free of charge and you can apply online and then visit the Library branch closest to you.

We wish all members of the Geelong High School a fabulous September holiday and with quite a lot of sadness bid a fond farewell to Mr Davey who has always been incredibly supportive of the Library and the work we do with our students. Thank you for everything Mr Davey and all the very best for this new chapter in your life journey. And ‘GO CATS!’

VCAL students from GHS were recently involved in the Little Tracker project which is designed to help our school and the wider community gain a better understanding of the amount of rubbish around school and public area’s at times. Students Bryce Smith, Tyler Febey and Josh Wallace threw these trackers (with inbuilt GPS devices) into the Barwon River to simulate litter thrown into our waterways. They were photographed with the Minister for Water – Ms Harriet Shing MLC.

The focus in Visual Communication and Design this semester has been visual literacy. Students were asked to visualize a descriptive word using one point perspective. In this sample, you will find renderings and design elements used in our Year 9 and Year 10 classes.

Last week GHS students participated in the house rocket bottle challenge which was part of science week. Barwon House were the eventual winners. They had more luck than NASA!

Dear GHS Community,

We are pleased to announce that for all Year 7 and Year 9 students who sat NAPLAN in 2022 the results are available and have been mailed out to your homes. Well done to all students who took part and did their best.

Whilst the results don’t define anybody, they can be a useful tool for reflecting on areas that we might focus our learning on. More information can be found in the attached brochure.

FAQ Individual Student Report 2022

All the best,

Andrew McConchie – Assistant Principal

Isolated doesn’t even come close to describing the people of Greenland – who rely on dogsleds to get around in winter (mostly in the northern half) and boats to travel up and down the coast in summer. The island is almost entirely road free: 60km of paved roads exist within the towns themselves but there are no roads that interconnect them.