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Q News Term 2, 2024

26th June 2024

In this Issue:

Cover Page
Year 7 Camp reflections
Year 11 Geography fieldwork
School Sport Victoria (SSV) State Volleyball
Year 9 Waratah Bay Hike
3 in 6 2024 Blockbuster
Year 7 Hays Paddock Geography fieldwork
Year 7&8 VHAP English
Futsal
A note from Musicland
Junior Victorian Volleyball
Chaplaincy
HAPE

Year 7 Camp reflections

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By Elisa Catanzariti
Leader of Junior School

Earlier this term, the year 7 cohort attended the Year 7 Camp located at Anglesea Valley Lodge. This was a great opportunity for students to get to know their teachers and cohort better, develop leadership skills, work collaboratively and step outside of their comfort zone. Our Year 11 VET Sport and Rec students attended the camp as part of their assessment, helped facilitate activities and supported staff with keeping the students engaged. Students enjoyed the valuable experience and formed stronger connections. Below are some reflections from two year 7 students of their camp experience. A big thank you to all the staff that helped by attending the camp and immersing themselves in the experience for the benefit of our students.

I was in the first camp group, and I can say I doubt the second one was much better! All the activities left no one out and we never felt like there was nothing to do as we were allowed outside to do whatever we wanted whenever there wasn’t an activity or nighttime. The grounds were very big and easy to have a lot of fun on and year 11s held nightly activities that were very engaging and required your whole group to do. Overall, the day activities were fast paced and never boring as you never had to wait that long to do rock climbing, to have a go at archery, to challenge yourself on the low ropes, to canoe using teamwork and more! Again, the camp was great and can’t believe the second one could be much better than ours was.

Eddie O’Shaughnessy (7A)

On the second half of the week, Wednesday to Friday the classes 7C, 7D and 7E - which are the best classes - went to the camp. Everyone had fun getting to know each other more whether it was being in groups with people you haven’t met or just having conversations with each other. The activities that we got to do were canoeing, which was so fun, racing to the end and splashing each other with water. The bush walk was tiring for many but it was worth it when we saw the kangaroos around. Archery was inclusive, letting everyone get a turn, whether you were trying to get the furthest arrow or hitting the target. Everyone had a good go at trying the rock climbing and was patient while waiting for their turn. Low ropes was all about teamwork, trying to get the fastest time with your group around the obstacles or getting to help everyone get through the net. We also did teamwork games with our group and lastly the night activities, playing games including musical chairs, giant Jenga, puzzles and way more. They were organised by the year 11 VET students who were also our group leaders for the day activities. But even with the amount of amazing activities we did, we got free time to do whatever: some were just talking with their friends, some did volleyball, soccer or the favourite on our camp was table tennis which got pretty competitive but overall it was the best camp to meet each in our first year of high school.

Martha Faeth (7E)

Year 11 Geography fieldwork

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By Stephen Barrett

On Wednesday 22nd May, students from the Year 11 VCE Geography class went on a fieldtrip to investigate flooding risk in Boroondara. We focused our attention on the area surrounding Glenferrie Road which, although is far from any major rivers or streams, is at relatively higher risk of flash flooding. Indeed, major floods have occurred in and around Glenferrie Road on multiple occasions in the past 100 years. Students took measurements of road slope, drainage infrastructure, parks and other flood retarding infrastructure, as well as learning about the responses the local council has implemented to minimise damage. Most interestingly, we noted that some houses were actually built below street level, which greatly increases their likelihood of flood damage were a flash flood to occur. Finally, students interviewed local residents and were surprised to find that across the board, flood risk is not something that most homeowners had considered, despite living in a published flash flood zone. Overall, the students had a great day out and represented Kew High School very well.

School Sport Victoria (SSV) State Volleyball

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By Louise Bates

Congratulations to our Senior girls and boy and our Intermediate girls who made it through to the School Sport Victoria (SSV) State Volleyball Finals.

Our Inter girls competed extremely well, considering their team was decimated by injury and their Libero (backcourt specialist) had to play as a Middle Blocker. Despite this, they beat McKinnon in a close match to get into the Final. The final went down to the wire but unfortunately the girls fell short, coming second in the State behind Eltham Secondary College, who have a very experienced team.

The Senior Boys missed the final by the closest of margins after facing Carrum Downs, a team that play together in the State League competition. The boys have been galvanised by this experience and have hit the training court even harder, wanting to do their best to win the Victorian Schools Cup competition held in July, to prove that they, in fact, are the best team in the State.

The Senior Girls also finished the day in second place, losing a exciting close match to Maribyrnong College Sports Academy. Throughout this year, the girls have proved that they can mix it with the best schools in the state, and their team continues to grow and show improvement each time they take the court.

Well done to all our State Finalists!

Year 9 Waratah Bay Hike

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When it came to making the first dinner, we were supposed to be making chicken and rice. I was supposed to bring the chicken, and he was supposed to bring the rice and oil. I soon found out that my partner had forgot to bring the rice due to some miscommunication, so I used the wraps that I had brought for the emergency meal. He also couldn’t find the oil that he had packed so we just asked if we could use the teacher’s oil instead. We finalised with making a wrap containing only chicken with butter chicken sauce. Other than that, there were not many issues regarding the menu plan.

By the end of the camp, I was tired but happy, because I had challenged myself by accepting multiple leadership roles and therefore immersing myself in the camp in a way that would have been impossible if I hadn’t challenged myself the way I did.

Me and Samrina both took on the role of whip; the whip had to stay at the back of the group to make sure everyone was alright and accounted for. We played this role well as no one was hurt under our supervision and everyone was accounted for.

Willima Lewis Lyons & Arya Bhaskar

3 in 6 2024 Blockbuster

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By Danny Gesundheit

The annual 3in6 film competition was held on Monday 29^th April. The competition has been running since 2013 when it was as an external event. The school began to run it as an annual internal competition from 2014. This year, over 50 students from all year levels participated, with 13 films submitted at the end of the day. An incredible achievement. Students had the entire 6 hour school day to make a three-minute film with the two required clues. The clues this year were: DOPPELGANGER and friendship bracelet. Like previous years, the school verged on being a Hollywood studio lot, with many small production crews running around filming and then editing their films. Students worked independently of staff. They just had to make sure they submitted their films by the end of the day. The awards and screenings of the winning films were held at lunchtime on 5^th June. Room s104 was packed with students wanting to know who won. Awards were handed out and films were screened. Despite the specific awards, the real WINNERS were all the students who participated and made great films! Here’s to YOU!

The Awards:

Best special effects – year 9 UNTITLED – Benny Gorman, Charlotte Graham, Olivia Benne, Claire Jenkin, Declan Barrett
Best ensemble acting – year 9 UNTITLED – Griffin Murray-Johnston, Raph O’Shaughnessy, Gabi Aoun-Rodriguez, Oliver Tange and Patrick Sweeney
Best screenplay – year 11 UNTITLED– Oz McIntyre, Matilda Tyrell-Whyte, Fergus Whiting and Elizaveta Blagova
Best direction – year 12 UNTITLED– Max Harris, Jude Hampton, Sebastian Trapp, Shae Daly and Ferdi Faethe
Encouragement award – year 7 boys – THE MYSTERY MAN – Seth Bolwell, Percy Radmondetta, Lachlan Pranoto and Oscar Spinks
Year 8 girls – ONE LIFE CHANGING TUESDAY – Charli Lo and Quinn-Tessa Wintle
W. Griffith Award (Best EPIC film) – – year 8 AMERICA – Andre Conesa Anghel, Afo Baloyan , James Lane, Noah Hutchinson-Licht
Golden Q Palm D’or (best film) – year 10 BRACELET– Penelope Jeffery, Angela Zhao and Chisa Siew Adachi

Year 7 Hays Paddock Geography fieldwork

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By Caitlin Davey

In Term 2, Year 7 students went on an excursion to Hays Paddock to conduct geographical fieldwork to answer the research question: How will this landscape be maintained into the future? This was a great opportunity for students to put their geography skills into practice and to engage with their local environment. Students have since come up with some innovate ideas for how to protect Hays Paddock into the future.

Year 7&8 VHAP English

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By Dan Norton

Six students from Kew High School participated in the Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP) for English this term. The program focused on extending and developing students’ abilities in English. Students participated in online sessions each week throughout term 2. A sample of the students writing focusing on the ‘Dystopian World’ can be found below.

I stare up at the ceiling. The bland and grey tiles stare back down at me. I can only see a dry desert of tiles that seem to go on forever. I look down at my feet. The damp, stained carpet looks back up at me. Suddenly, a sound echoes through the vast empty area. It startles me. I walk towards the noise that seems to be coming from outside the window. I look out at the empty sky, no trees or grass in sight. A faint, artificial breeze pushes against my skin. I look down at the car, a vein of electricity surges through the air and hits the car from the sky. It comes to a halt. The car seems to descend rapidly, although it passes through the clouds and out of sight. I close the window and move towards the door. As it opens, I step out into the vast hallway. I run towards the elevator and cram myself in.
As the elevator slowly moves down, a snap is heard, and the elevator starts descending. It gains speed quickly and soon enough the people in the elevator start to panic. No more will my life go on. This is the end.
I see nothing. Not black or white, just nothing. Describing nothing is impossible, but that I what I see. But then colour drain through my eyes. I start to feel. I start to think. I start to see. I move my heavy body up to a standing position and feel it drop again. I feel weak and tired but still I am alive. I look around me, only just being able to move my head. A sea of bodies is presented to me. It feels strange. Why me? Why not them? Questions buzz through my mind and a feeling of overwhelmingness rushes through my veins. Then I realise, I had just dropped from a height of over ten thousand floors. I stand up rather quickly and abruptly. I don’t feel a weightiness in my body anymore. I open the doors. I step out. The breeze catches me off guard and drops me to my feet. I feel hurt and bruised. Soon enough, pain rushes to my body and stabs me like a needle. I stand up and my legs feel weak and floppy. I look out at the wasteland. Plastic is littered around this world. More and more rubbish pile up as rubbish rains from the sky. The government banning rubbish bins was the worst decision yet. They thought it would have been better having robots collect our rubbish, but they didn’t account for how slow the robots would be. I push through all the stacks of dirty rubbish. A small light in the distance is hardly noticeable but can be seen.
I shuffle towards this small building, lights illuminating the place. As I get closer, the building gets bigger until it fills up my vision. With my legs in immense pain, I push on. As the sun seems to set in the sky, I reach it. The towering building has lights scattered over the bland walls. I look towards the door and walk towards it.
A machine greets me at the door. “Hello Jacob,” the robotic voice echoes throughout the foyer. I grab the nametag he is holding. It has two words printed on it, Jacob and Worker. This world has turned into only a state of work. No time for joy and happiness. Only the depressing world of the workforce. And only one job, building robots. We have no last names. No sense of family. Overpopulation was an issue and so the government put an end to new life. They would just let humanity die out. I was one of the few last ones. I was taken away from my family at the age of 3. Now I don’t know who would have raised me. I feel alone in this world.
Laying in my bed, I think. I think about what happened this morning. The pile of bodies on the elevator floor. This wasn’t normal and this wasn’t uncommon. Many accounts of people being killed by a falling elevator were all over the news. With over 1 trillion people in the world all living in the same tall buildings, its bound to happen. I just can’t believe I had survived it. Suddenly, a blaring siren struck me by surprise. An alarm, but why? A panicked voice that could barely be made out shouted on the intercom. It says something that makes me panic as well. I run to closet in my room and get the hazmat suit out. Someone bad was about to happen. A huge sound like a shotgun ring through my ears. A huge mushroom cloud appears through the window. I brace.
My vision goes blurry, and my lungs start to feel pain. I see nothing, again. I don’t know what to do. This is bad.
Thanks,
Seth Bolwell

Futsal

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By Sam Gleeson

142 students from Year 7 to 12 represented Kew High School at the State Futsal Titles this term. With the girls playing at Victoria University and the boys at Monash University, we entered 16 teams – more than ever before.

The following teams qualified for the National Futsal Titles in Brisbane in November by winning their respective competitions:

YEAR 11 BOYS: Under 19 Champions (defeated Beacon Hills College in the Grand Final)

YEAR 10 BOYS: Under 16 Champions (defeated Kew High in the Grand Final)

YEAR 9 BOYS: Under 15 Champions (defeated Haileybury in the Grand Final)

Special mention also must go to:

YEAR 10 BOYS B-TEAM: Under 16 Runners Up

YEAR 8 GIRLS: Under 15 Girls Runners Up (lost to Southern Cross Grammar in the Grand Final)

YEAR 8 BOYS: lost semi-final to Haileybury

YEAR 7 GIRLS: lost semi-final to Southern Cross Grammar

YEAR 7 BOYS: lost semi-final to St Monica’s.

Huge thanks to past students Sam, Marcus, Bilal, Ayub, Ollie, Jett and Sophie who coached teams along with current students Vasili, Matt, Gio, Andrew, Samir, George, Jack and Jo. And of course, thanks to our students. They give up their lunchtimes to train and essentially coach themselves prior to match days. We have excellent representatives and could not be prouder of their achievements.

Next term, our focus shifts to the Kew Premier League as Year 9-12 students vie for the Sayid Cup.

A note from Musicland

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By Judy Bartosy
Director of Music

Musicland has been busy this term with many performances and other events. The Senior Jazz Band, under the direction of Adrian Jackson, performed at our annual Chaplaincy dinner playing many favourite jazz standards including You Know I’m No Good and My Girl (featuring the Music Captains as guest vocalists). A capacity audience watched Kew’s Got Talent in the library. A variety of performers, from a variety of year levels, put together acts that were very entertaining and well rehearsed.. Our Music Camp in May was very productive as students and their teachers immersed themselves in all day workshops and performance preparation. It was a most enjoyable and productive week.

The Mid Year Winter concert in the theatre featured our ensembles. It was a very impressive showcase of students’ talents and the work that they have done for the semester in their music lessons and group rehearsals.

Next term The Senior Stage Band and The Intermediate Concert Band will be participating in the Victorian Schools Music Festival. We will be presenting our Jazz and Swing Night and playing for the school production of Urine Town among other performances. Check the Newsfeed for details.

Junior Victorian Volleyball

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By Louise Bates

Congratulations to all our students who participated in the Junior Victorian Volleyball Schools Cup earlier this week. We had 9 teams participating in this competition and all our teams showed enormous growth throughout the competition as they competed against the best school teams in the state.
A special congratulations to our Year 7 and 8 girls’ teams who are our GOLD medal champions!

Chaplaincy

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By Rosemary Carter
School Chaplain

Term 2 has been a fantastic 10 weeks; there have been a wide variety of programs for students to take part in. These programs have included the ANZAC day services and the Chaplaincy Dinner.

The Year 7 Peer Support Program came to a close for another year at the end of term 1. Over Semester 1 the 26 peer support leaders have worked hard to help integrate the year 7 students into high school life. The program finished with an exciting fun at the park including a colour run. The students ran laps of the oval while the Peer Support leaders covered them in coloured powder.

Chaplaincy Fundraising Dinner

Thank you to everyone who supported the dinner held on Friday 31st May 2024. 65 people attended the dinner which has raised over $6500. This goes towards the costs of employing the school chaplain. The dinner was held in the School VCE centre – an excellent location for a night of fun and celebration. On the night we were entertained by the Kew High School Jazz Band, and served by students and SRC leaders. The dinner was generously supported by the local businesses in Kew who donated thousands of dollars worth of prizes for the auction and raffle. Thank you again to everyone who helped make the dinner a huge Special thanks to the Chaplaincy Committee and Staff, and Melinda Edwards who helped cook the soup and desserts for the evening. The Dinner definitely is a wonderful evening full of music, food and community. Watch out for the event next year.

KHS remembers the ANZACS
As the chaplain I had the privilege this year to work with the student leaders to organise the Anzac Day Commemorations. On Wednesday 24^th April the Captains lead the school Anzac service which was attended by the staff, students and Kew MP Jess Wilson.

If you would like to find out more about school chaplaincy or are willing to become involved with the chaplaincy committee or as a volunteer in the Secondhand Uniform and Book Shop, please contact the school chaplain.

Rosemary.Carter@kew.vic.edu.au

HAPE

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By Anne Wallace

VET Sport and Recreation – Bushwalking camp

During the VET Sport and Recreation Bushwalking camp out the back of Anglesea, students took charge of planning their meals and navigating between various campsites and activities, fostering teamwork through challenges and teambuilding initiatives. They enjoyed adventures such as canoeing and bike rides, while honing their navigation skills in the wilderness. Evenings were highlighted by campfires led by the students themselves, creating a memorable and enriching outdoor experience.

Year 10 Physical Education – Ice Skating Excursion to O’Brien Icehouse

In the Year 10 Physical Education course, students embarked on an excursion to Docklands for Ice Skating at O’Brien Icehouse, navigating the journey via public transport. This excursion fostered new friendships and resilience as students supported each other in learning to recover from falls and persist through the cold! Additional memorable excursions throughout the semester included visits to Bounce, Tenpin bowling, croquet and mini golf, each offering unique opportunities for physical activity and skill development. These outings encouraged students to reflect on various dimensions of health and wellbeing, promoting responsibility and community engagement beyond the classroom.