At our recent Parents & Friends AGM we elected our office bearers for 2022-23.
Anne Blamey will continue in the role of president.
Mel Telfer will continue as Secretary.
Mar-ray Simons has joined the committee with stalwarts Wendy and Allan Warren.
I welcome Mar-ray to the committee and thank sincerely our small band of hard-working parents.
Our dedicated team managed to raise over $2000 for the school at our recent election day BBQ and cake stall, which is a tremendous effort.
Silver Gulls Alumni AGM
Doug Mann was re-elected as president of the Silver Gulls; Rod McKenzie – Vice President; Jenn Colquhoun as Secretary/Treasurer; and Jennie Tonzing as Minute Secretary.
The membership of the Silver Gulls was enhanced as a result of the Open Day held here on Saturday 28th May. Approximately 60 alum of the school dropped in to have a look at our newly refurbished facilities and grounds. The oldest attendee was Judy Park (nee Payne) who is 96 years young and attended in 1938-39. Attendees were treated to student guided tours, a BBQ, afternoon tea and raffle put on by the Silver Gulls committee, parents and friends and senior students Emily Warren and Cole Malcolm.
Visit by former principals of Geelong High School
It was a pleasure to host two former principals of the school in Diane Joseph and David Whelan this week. Diane was principal from 1999 to 2006 and David Whelan from 2006 to 2011. Joining them was a former principal of Belmont HS, Allan White. The group dropped in to have a look at the transformation of the teaching and learning spaces that has occurred at the school since they were last here. Diane commented on the “sense of calm, purpose and focus clearly evident” across the school.
As we come up to the end of term, semester reports will be available at the end of next week. It is important that students reflect upon their achievements and areas for improvement leading into semester two.
Last Wednesday night saw triumphant return to live music at Geelong High School. The senior school musician night was a huge success where a number of acts played to a sold out Shenton Theatre. Solo performances from Kian Gonzales, Samarah Pearson, Harry Jones, Anthia Bond and Emily Cook wowed the audience with their vocal capabilities. A brand new GHS band known as Blue Mascara, led by Bianca Jans Van Vuuren performed a range of modern and classic down tempo rock and groove, whilst the Blues band led by Faith Grima tore the roof off with a number of classic blues tracks and a stirring rendition of Voodoo Child. RJ’s guitar solo in this number was truly incredible and provided one of the many highlights of the evening. These guys are well worth watching out for in the future. Finally established local rock heroes Violet closed the night with an epic set of originals. If you haven’t caught these guys yet at one of their local gigs, make sure you get there before they’re world famous! (23rd June @ the Barwon Club would be a good place to start). The Yr 12 VET Music Sound Production class provided expert technical assistance for the night including the live mixing and equipment management throughout the performance. Special thanks to Anthia Bond and Wanda Dohl who worked tirelessly to lead the organisation of the night, with some helpful assistance from our Director of Music Andrew Kypriotis. Students are already excited to begin working on their next performance!
Western Metro Cross Country was held at Brimbank Park yesterday in nearly all day rain. We lost a number of students due to illness and other clashes however those that went need to be congratulated on their efforts. We have 3 students who have qualified for the State Finals which will be held on Thursday 14th
July at the Yarra Valley racing club in Yarra Glenn. Best of luck to those students. Thanks to Mr Antonac for his help with the tent and other equipment on the day as this enabled the athletes to stay dry at least prior to their event.
On Monday the 6th of June, the Year 8 Drama class visited the Arts Centre Melbourne to take part in a Bunraku puppetry workshop. Bunraku is a traditional Japanese puppetry technique in which three puppeteers work together to bring a half life-size puppet to life. Students learnt how to operate a puppet using the Bunraku technique. Students were also able to craft and create their own puppets that they incorporated into a performance.
Geelong High School is supported by the First Call Funds subsidy through Melbourne Arts Centre. This subsidy program ensures that all Victorian students can benefit from participating in remarkable experiences at Arts Centre Melbourne.
A fantastic experience to all involved and a special thank you to Mr. Alex Stanford and Ms. Jodie Vagg for attending this event.
Each year, cast members involved in the annual school musical take part in an intensive two-day camp to prepare for their final performances in July. This year’s production will star 40 students in the 1950’s original Broadway version of Guys and Dolls.
For the second year running, Angus and Julie at Angahook Holiday Camp welcomed us onto their beautiful Airey’s Inlet property. Students got busy rehearsing which continued well into the evening before enjoying a dress up trivia night run by the senior students.
This camp is the schools only vertical style camp in which students from Year 7 through to Year 12 attend. This unique camp sees students work together and support each other all while learning the skills necessary to plan, rehearse and present a large-scale musical production.
Thank you to Mr. Ubaldino Mantelli and ex-students Merci Bolton, Hayden Walters and Imogen Perrett for your organisation and support during this camp.
Guys and Dolls tickets on sale now for the following dates:
Intermediate and Junior boys netball played in the interschool round robin recently. Both teams had a mix of boys who had played before in the interschool team last year and a few who were first timers. The boys played very well but were both stopped before the final by the Western Heights sports academy who now draw on students from lots of schools to field their teams.
The intermediate boys were a little undersized as Western Heights had a very tall shooter, who made it hard under the ring, however the Junior boys lost in the final seconds of the game when just before they had been leading by 2. They were very disappointed and I am sure they will use that to come back next year a little more experienced.
Best players for Intermediate boys were Ethan McCormack, Braiden Grundell and Connor McGlashan. Best players for the Junior team were Koby Olsen, Jack Skinner, Mason Bosely and Harper Dunn.
Thanks to the parents and grandparents on the day who showed up to support the boys.
As part of our commitment to the progress and success of all students, Geelong High School will be introducing a Hands on Learning Programme in 2022, focused on Year 9 students across Semester 2.
In the Hands on Learning Programme, students that are at risk of leaving school early work directly with artisan-teachers to undertake meaningful and real world projects within their school and local community. From gardening design and building projects,to cooking and community based activities, HoL focuses on building a sense of belonging, confidence and self belief in one’s capacity to learn. The Hands-on Learning method not only develops students’ teamwork, leadership skills, social acumen, attitudes, respect and will but has also been shown to increase school attendance, strengthen education pathways, and reduce local youth unemployment.
Since its inception at Frankston High School in 1999, the renowned program is now supported by Save the Children Australia and has expanded to over 100 schools across Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland and growing through the help and generosity of businesses and people like yourself.
At Geelong High School the program will be run on a Wednesday and will be delivered in a specific area of the school behind the Gym area and overlooking the botanical Gardens to the East near the cricket nets.
Currently, two artisan teachers have been employed, and Mr Butler and Mr Jackson are currently making community links and establishing the process for students who wish to apply to be part of the programme.
The selection process will involve House Leaders and Hands-on Learning teachers. Once the students have been selected , they will then go through a basic interview process where the Hands-on Leaning Teachers can get to know and understand the students and their needs. In 2022 only ten students will be able to participate, though there will be increasing flexibility around this as we move into the future. Selection into the programme is carefully considered however, so that students can make the most of the opportunity to re-engage positively with their schooling.
In all Hands on Learning Programmes the first challenge the group will face is the development of a space to make their own. In order to do this the group will reach out to the community for support, donations or even technical trade knowledge to help design and build a space to be proud of. If you would like more information about this, or have something to contribute, please contact Rohan.Butler@education.vic.gov.au . He would be happy to respond to your emails.
If you would like to know more about Hands on Learning you can visit their website as well at https://handsonlearning.org.au/ .
