Term 3, Week 2, 2023 20 July 2023

We have a carefully designed program to support students in these decisions which includes meeting with our Head of Careers and Pathways. In addition to this, our Subject Selection Evening took place last week and provided our Years 9 to 11 students and families an opportunity to talk with teachers, meet some universities and to hear from our Head of VCE and Dean of Learning Futures. Next week, we have the Learning Conferences for Senior School where the teachers can provide further insights into the curriculum, discuss academic demands and provide feedback and guidance about suggested pathways. And, on Thursday 3 August, we have our OSA Careers’ Evening. This is an important event for students as our past Strathcona students share their stories and insights about their own careers and pathways. Each of these events are designed to guide students and parents through the process of making informed decisions about subject selection. I would like to thank the staff who made our Subject Selection Evening a success and we hope that the students and families felt that it was of benefit and helped to inform their decision making.

And I thought I might share a snippet of my week. From my office, I have a view of Featherstone Hall and I enjoy watching the different events that take place in this space during the week as there is always something new and exciting occuring. At the moment, there is a lot of singing and dancing in preparation for the Junior School production of Frozen Jr. and earlier in the week our Preps had a billycart excursion where they explored the way objects move and learnt about the concept of push and pull.

We look forward to seeing our families joining us online for our Learning Conferences that are taking place over the next week. 

Tracy Herft

Deputy Principal

Classes for Term 3 have started off well with students working on Dance and Movement in PE, Chemistry in Science, the Industrial Revolution in Humanities and much more. French students also celebrated Bastille Day last week with a colourful patriotic display.

Last week on Thursday 13 July, we had many of the Year 9 students and their families attend the Subject and Pathway Expo to learn more about the subjects available to study when they transition back to Main School next year. The students that attended said that they found it very beneficial. Miss Keira Wills, Acting Dean of Learning Futures visited the Year 9’s on Monday this week to follow up and share more information about the application process. The Year 10 2024 Subject Selection portal is now open so students and their families can begin to finalise these choices over the coming weeks. 2024 Subject Selections close on Monday 7 August. 

Term 3 Envision has seen our fledgling business groups begin to develop their business ideas, enthusiastically delivering elevator pitches to staff for initial approval. Groups have considered how they will function together as successful teams, including their individual roles and agreed upon approaches for managing any conflicts that may arise. They have learnt how they might use AI technologies to assist them and are beginning to prepare their final pitches to secure their seed funding in the weeks to come. There are busy and exciting times ahead.

This week is Literature Festival Week and to celebrate we had Author, Lili Wilkinson visit TC on Tuesday morning to speak with the students and share her top tips for writing. Lili Wilkinson is an award-winning author of eighteen books for young people. Lili has a PhD from the University of Melbourne and is a passionate advocate for young people and has established the Inky Awards at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. To follow on, students can submit a creative piece for the School's micro fiction competition. Lilly spoke about how endings of a story are the hardest and she posed alternatives to the fairytale Cinderella.

The Term 3 Service project launched this week and we are calling on the Strathcona community to donate period products through our Dignity Drive that will take place during July and August. Our TC Service Leader, Saidie Schlicht, has prepared the donation boxes and these can be found at the entrance to TC. Each box is decorated in house colours so students can place the products in their house tub and each donation earns the house one point. By donating and collecting period products we will ensure women, girls and those who menstruate who are experiencing or at risk of domestic violence, homelessness or poverty have access to period products when they need them.  We accept all products in original packaging, including pads, tampons, reusable pads, period undies, menstrual cups and incontinence products. We hope that the community can get behind this great cause.

Finally, to celebrate the beginning of the Women’s World Cup students are encouraged to wear a ‘touch of green and gold’ on Friday 21 July to show their support. Students will be following the progress of The Matilda’s throughout the tournament in their PE lessons.

Megan Boyd 

Acting Head of Tay Creggan

A weekend jam packed with events, a highlight was undoubtedly the presence of guest performer, Xani. Not only did Xani captivate our students with her mesmerizing performance, but she also generously shared her expertise by teaching students a string part and vocal line for her song “Dreaming of You” which was a unique and empowering experience for our young musicians! Moreover, we were treated to a special moment when Xani invited Katherine Ma to "trade 4s" with her during her performance, inspiring our students with the true spirit of musical collaboration. 

Friday evening was filled with excitement as Freya and Sarah hosted an entertaining and engaging trivia session. On Saturday, students diligently rehearsed massed items for our upcoming Annual Music Concert along with sectionals and ensemble rehearsals. The hard work and dedication displayed by our students were matched only by the incredible support of our instrumental staff, who played a pivotal role in guiding our musicians. 

Saturday evening saw the tradition of dressing up in theme, taking us back to the fabulous era of Hairspray for a singalong. It was an absolute joy to witness our students' enthusiasm and creativity in their costumes and performances. 

The crescendo of the weekend came with a performance of the works in progress, which our students shared with their families and friends. This performance had some incredibly moving moments which you won't want to miss at the Annual Music Concert at the Hawthorn Town Hall of August 18th. Tickets will go on sale next Friday the 28th at 8am via the Boroondara website searching for “Strathcona Girls Grammar Annual Music Concert”.

Once again, I’d like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all the students, teachers, staff, and our guest performer, Xani, for making this Music Camp a resounding success.  

I look forward to welcoming you to the Hawthorn Town Hall in Week 6! 

Dean Gourley 
Director of Senior School Music

On Tuesday, acclaimed YA author, Lili Wilkinson, spoke to students in Years 7, 8 and 9. Lili’s work covers a range of genres, from romantic mysteries to examination of real-life issues, and dystopian fiction. Her latest work, A Hunger of Thorns, is a fantasy drawing on traditional fairy tales and magic. Lili discussed her work and her own development as a writer. Then she described how she planned and created her stories, characters and settings, asking the students to write down their responses to the prompts and questions that she uses in her own creative process. It was an engaging and thought-provoking presentation.

We had another guest speaker on Wednesday, past student Rebecca Alasdair (Schwarz) at lunchtime in the KE. She discussed the writing and publication of her first novel, Holding up the Sky. Rebecca talked about her journey as an author, from childhood stories to published novel. She then discussed the difference between traditional and independent publishing, including the advantages and disadvantages of each. It was a fascinating talk and the potential authors in the audience appreciated her sharing her experience.

The highlight of each year’s Literature Festival is always the Literature Trivia Quiz, held on Thursday. Literature, Information and Media Leader, Kate , was MC, Hannah Geary kept score and Tori Toth controlled the boisterous competitors. Teams of students and teachers competed in an uproarious display of literary knowledge and cunning gamesmanship. It was as raucous and unruly as ever, with teams competing for chocolates and the bonus prize of a book we found in the back room of the library. Congratulations to the winners who will be announced on Maple on Friday morning.

The week ends on Friday on a quieter note, with a Kaleidoscope group meeting, it’s time to wind down and get back to the business of discussing books in the Knowledge Exchange.

The Knowledge Exchange team would like to thank Ms Carolyn Joubran, Kate, Hannah and Tori, and all the other teachers and students who assisted, participated and competed in this year’s festival.

Ms Penny Roberts

Director of Library and Research

Cyber Safety Parent Webinar – Gaming and your Family   

Wednesday 26 July 7:30pm – 8:30pm (ONLINE) 

Please register by clicking on this link  **The recording will be available to watch on demand 24 - 48 hours after the live session by visiting the link above

Discover one of the major players in the online world … Gaming. Deep dive into what makes gaming so appealing to young people and the strategies game developers use to keep players hooked. Learn about the benefits of gaming and uncover the risks and harms of overuse. Demystify some of your biggest questions such; what is a server and why are there easter eggs in games?

Dance Curriculum Showcase 

Friday 4 August 9am – 10am Senior School Gym (Parents welcome)

All students in the Junior School will participate in a 2 week Dance Incursion in weeks 3 and 4. On the final day students will showcase the dances they have learnt in the Senior School Gym at 9am. All parents are welcome to attend this Dance Showcase. 

Book Week - Monday 28 August – Friday 1st September.

The theme of this year’s Book Week is READ, GROW, INSPIRE. We will be celebrating Book week in Week 8. On Monday 28 August we will have our annual Junior School Book Week Parade. Students will be able to dress as their favourite book character. Unfortunately, due to limited space, parents will not be able to attend the parade. We will ensure to take photos and share these with you via Maple.  

On Wednesday 30 August, the Junior School students will have a presentation session with special guest Felice Arena, author of Specky Magee, Epic Historic Adventures, The Besties, and many more. 

We have Church services at Strathcona at Christmas and Easter and we are a school in the Christian tradition auspices by the Baptist Church.  This service was centered around some of the teachings of Jesus. Between Christmas and Easter the message of Jesus is loud and clear. “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself.” Luke 10:27.

Be kind to everyone around us, is the message that we teach our students. Our guest speaker was Noddy Sharma from World Vision. Noddy’s wife Alison is an Old (not too old) Strathconian and Noddy has had great connections with Strathcona over the years. Our Faith Leader Alyssa McKnight interviewed Noddy which was fun. We heard that one way we can put love in action is to join the 40 hour famine this year. Times have changed and we encourage students to do this as a “phone famine”  or “furniture famine” rather than a “food famine”. Students have been saying that for them, the phone famine might the most difficult one. This can be done with friends or individually on any weekend that suits families and students.

To learn more about the program check out this great video. 

If students want to take part in this Strathcona has been registered on the 40 Hour Famine World Vision website. If we work as a team raising money, there is the potential for students to travel overseas to visit, see and support children in a third world country. Love in Action!

“The Door to happiness opens outwards” and we encourage students to think beyond themselves and find ways to “Love our neighbour” and be kind to ourselves, our friends and people in the wider world. 

Rev Janet Costello

School Chaplain

• New Climate Change Major offered in various degrees at La Trobe University
• Certificate IV in Cyber Security at Box Hill Institute
• Accounting Degrees in Victoria in 2023  
• Banking and Finance Degrees in Victoria in 2023
• Snapshot of Monash University in 2023
• Snapshot of Monash University – Peninsula Campus in 2023

Please click here for the full edition of Career News.

Xin Chen

Head of Careers and Partnerships