FROM THE PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT 2

SCHOOL CAPTAINS 3

ALICE PUNG VISIT 4

DEBATING 5

2014: YEAR 10&11 ENROLMENTS

5

HISTORY EXCURSION 6

SEM 1 EXAM TIMETABLE 7

CAN YOU DIG IT? 8

YEAR 10 HISTORY OF WESTERN MEDICINE

9

CAREERS NEWS 10

ICENTRE NEWS 11

BASEBALL 12

Inside this issue:

Volume 3, Issue 5 Week 6, Term 2 2013

Location: 225 Hoppers Lane, Werribee, VIC 3030 Postal Address: PO Box 531, Werribee, VIC 3030 Tel: 8734 2800 Email: suzanne.cory.hs@edumail.vic.gov.au www.suzannecoryhs.vic.edu.au

Office Hours: Monday – Friday 8:15am - 4:30pm

Last week Year 9 students sat the NAPLAN tests and Year ll Students undertook a trial GAT. This has signalled that the school is now entering a period of preparing and sup-porting all students through the semester 1 exam period. This support consists of in-class revision, advice about approaches to study, a designated Study Day on May 28, the exam period, and the GAT. The exam timetable for all year levels is included in this Newsletter on page 7. Further information regarding arrival, dismissal and supervision times on exam days will be provided in a notice for parents which students will bring

home this week. I know as parents you continue to support your daughters and sons through this period by ensuring their increased study commitments are balanced with appropriate levels of relaxation, which include social and family activities, as well as physical exercise. I have provided some information below about the NAPLAN and the GAT, which may be helpful to you as you discuss the tests and their achievements with your children. NAPLAN The NAPLAN tests were held over 3 days last week. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and has been imple-mented since 2008. NAPLAN is designed to test the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling and numeracy. NAPLAN is made up of tests in the

four areas of:

Reading

Writing

Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)

Numeracy NAPLAN is administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). The ACARA website states that the NAPLAN tests broadly reflect aspects of literacy and numeracy taught in all states and territories. The NAPLAN results, therefore, provide students, parents and teach-ers with valuable information on progress of individual students, student learning needs and student cohort trends. For teachers and schools, NAPLAN can be a source of data for evaluation of curriculum and teaching strategies. The critics of NAPLAN most frequently refer to the way in which NAPLAN data is presented. NAPLAN data represents one piece of information, taken from a specific test on a particular occasion. Much of the media attention on the published NAPLAN data fails to take account of context or progress made by individual students, groups of students or school approaches to improvement. Crude use of NAPLAN data can result in false characterization of school performance. This is not to say there is not a valuable place for such high stakes testing. Given the level of public resourcing of education, it is not unreasonable for government to seek to evaluate the effectiveness of our education systems. Most comparable jurisdictions do this. What is of interest is that a number of the best performing systems in the world are able to monitor system quality and improvement through testing and measurement regimes which are not used to publicly rate or rank individual schools and recognize the danger of doing so through a single measure.

What is Going On at Suzanne Cory High School

Dates to Remember May 28 Study Day May 29 – 31 Year 9 and 10 Exams May 31 – Jun 7 VCE Exams Jun 12 Year 11 GAT (10:00am-1:15pm) June 24 – 30 Canberra Camp June 28 Sem 1 Reports distributed July 15 Term 3 commences

2

Principal’s Report continued NAPLAN is important and should be treated seriously for the data benefits and how these can assist to further student learning and allow teachers to reflect on curriculum design and implementation. For teachers, NAPLAN provides additional standards-based feedback which informs professional decision-making. For our students, the participation in NAPLAN adds to their experi-ence in assessment and builds confidence and test-taking stamina. These are valuable skills and characteristics for future academ-ic success.

For these reasons teachers in English and Mathematics provided a modest NAPLAN preparation program for our Year 9 students. Students were provided in classes with samples to work through, correct and discuss in both these curriculum areas. I spoke to Year 9 students at assembly this week about the importance of NAPLAN, and of being prepared, having the required equipment and being punctual for the NAPLAN testing. I was pleased to observe almost 100% of our Year 9 students participating in the tests and approaching the tests seriously. An excellent and balanced article discussing NAPLAN was published in the Age newspaper on Thursday 16 May. http://www.theage.com.au/comment/righting-some-wrong-thinking-on-naplan-20130515-2jmns.html GAT The General Achievement Test (GAT) is required to be undertaken by any student enrolled in a VCE Unit 3 or 4 Study. The GAT, a three hour test, examines skills and knowledge in written communication, maths, science and technology as well as the arts and humanities areas. The GAT is very important and it is in the interest of students that they take the GAT seriously. The GAT is used as a check that internal (school) assessments are valid. This is part of what is known as the process of statistical moderation. As the GAT is univer-sal and externally assessed, it has a high level of consistency. This may not always be the case for school-based assessments, par-ticularly where there can be significant variations in assessments between schools. The GAT, therefore, improves the fairness of the internal assessment by enabling an external check against school assessments. This reduces any prospect of unfairness which may result from different standards being applied, consciously or otherwise, in different schools. The GAT also performs this moderation function for externally assessed examinations where the GAT performance is used to moderate in cases where there are significant discrepancies between internal and external assessment scores for the whole cohort. Finally, the GAT performance is used to assist in developing what is called the Derived Examination Score (DES). A student who experiences illness or personal hardship which may affect their performance in the examinations may apply for a DES. The DES never lowers students grades but can increase them.

For some students the GAT is their first prolonged examination experience under VCAA rules and regulations and administered by independent staff trained and approved by the VCAA. This is important practice for final examinations. For these reasons we take the GAT seriously and have planned some preparation and practice time for students prior to the GAT. Professor Cory honoured Professor Suzanne Cory delivered the inaugural Dr Lawrie Shears Public Lecture on April 30. Dr Shears, now retired, has had a long and distinguished career as an educator and educational administrator. Dr Shears was Director-General of Education Victo-ria from 1969-1984 and is regarded as a person who exercised a significant influence on public education in Victoria throughout his career. The state government, through DEECD, decided to establish an annual lecture and teacher scholarship named in honour of Dr Shears. Prominent Victorians, who have made significant contributions to education, will be invited to present an annual pub-lic address on a topic related to their special interest in education. The choice of Professor Cory as the inaugural lecturer reflects the esteem in which Professor Cory is held in both the educational and scientific communities and also the work she has led through the Australian Academy of Sciences in science education. Professor Cory used the address to reinforce the need to recognise and support a strong innovative education system because of the social and economic benefits for Australia. She spoke of the contribution and relationship of education to a healthy, tolerant and just society, made reference to the recent and rapid global social, political and economic changes, and the need for Austral-ia‟s education system to respond if we are to maintain or improve our economic position. Whilst acknowledging the importance of educational breadth, Professor Cory made a strong case for a reinvigoration of the study of Maths and Sciences through a signif-icant change in teacher practice and curriculum design. She argued for an approach which enables students to learn in a more “hands on” manner and one in which students are encouraged and enabled to pose bigger questions and follow interests at greater depth. Peter Starford | Principal

3

The Graeme Clark Oration Dinner The Graeme Clark Oration is the initiative of the ICT for Life Sciences Fo-rum. The forum was established in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008 to connect the community of researchers active at the intersection between biology, computing and engineering. Much as Professor Clark brought together a multi-disciplinary team to build the world‟s first multi-channel cochlear im-plant, the Forum brings together researchers across disciplines to network, share knowledge and ideas and inform the community about the exciting

developments and innovations they are helping to create.

The Graeme Clark Oration was established to honour the significant achievements of Graeme Clark by holding an annual public science lecture which informs and excites the community where biology, computing and en-gineering are coming together by a leading figure that has been, or re-

mains, active in the field.

Geoffrey Lamb, the Gates Foundation‟s President of Global Policy and Advocacy, was the 2013 Graeme Clark Orator. He reviewed the extraor-dinary successes of the past half century in reducing mortality and disease. He showed how investments in health have been critical for economic growth and the reduction of global poverty – and have helped bring the goal of

an end to absolute global poverty within generational sight.

This year Mr Trajanovski and 2 students, Amy Blake, 11D and Frank Du, 11F were invited to attend Mr Lamb‟s oration followed by dinner at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Professor Suzanne Cory was also in attend-

ance. Professor Cory is pictured here with Amy and Frank.

Mr Trajanovski | Science Teacher

School Captains At the beginning of Term 2, 2013 School Captains were announced. They are Eilyssa Carlos and Saurya Shrestha, both of 11H. Our school captains were part of a talented field of short-listed nominees: Kelvin Quach 11C, Sanjiv Raveendiran 11D, Vivian Ngu-yen 11F, and Rachael Fricker 11H. We ex-tend our congratulations to these very wor-thy candidates and wish them well in the future. All should feel proud of their achievements. The process of selection consisted of:

short listing by a Panel based on a written response

a speech to the student body at both assemblies

student vote based on the speeches

interview by a Panel Congratulations to Eilyssa and Saurya. We look forward to your contribution as our School Captains.

House Captains and Home Group Captains Appointment processes for 2013 are currently underway.

We extend our best wishes to all nominees.

4

Alice Pung Visit

And a letter from Alice Pung to the school: Dear Cindy, Thank you so much for teaching my book as a text to Year 9s again this year and for inviting me back to talk to the students-it is always such a delight to come back to students who remind me of my own high schooling-diverse school, western suburbs, high achievers with a sense of humour! Thank you also for the beautiful school anniversary pin, it is very special and I will wear it with pride. I am so grateful for your support and kindness every year! Best wishes, Alice Pung

The author Alice Pung visited and talked to the Year 9 cohort on Tues-day, April 30th. With her sense of humor, quirky stories and entertaining speech, the Year 9s couldn‟t help but love her and listen to what she had to say. We gained an insight into the stories behind her book, Unpol-ished Gem, which we had recently finished studying. Prior to the speech, we did not know if she had rekindled her relationship with a man men-tioned at the end of the book, or how much of the text was reality and how much was slightly exaggerated. Alice did more than answer our questions; she connected with us as an audience, and made us feel like friends rather than strangers. We as a Year 9 cohort were extremely honoured and fortunate to have been able to have met and talked to the Unpolished Gem author, Alice Pung.

Kristine Carlos, Cottrell, 9A

Alice Pung's presentation was interesting as well as humorous. She used self deprecating hu-mour when describing what people used to say about her and her heritage. At times she would have a more serious de-meanour when talking about issues such as family or Pol Pot. Her speech was fluent and she avoided "ums" and her way of talking was conversational, so it seemed like she was talking directly to us. Sajiya Rifai, Blackwood, 9E

Alice Pung‟s speech was very relata-ble, because being an Asian myself, I can relate to this very easily. Alice‟s speech was very casual and I felt like we were having an informal chat. She spoke in an understandable pace. During her speech it was easy to re-late to because my mother and father were similar to that while raising me through my childhood. Alice‟s speech then got serious when she was speak-ing about Pol Pot. During that seg-ment, I felt sorry for the dead. But I also felt some hatred towards him, because he killed innocent people, just for a “revolution”. David Nguyen, Blackwood, 9E

5

2014: Year 10 and 11 Enrolments

A limited number of Year 10 and Year 11 places for 2014 entry may become available towards the end of the 2013 calendar year. Application for Year 10 and Year 11 enrolment to Suzanne Cory High School will be according to the following process. 1. Academic Ability Assessment Test – for all applicants An Academic Ability Assessment Test will be conducted on behalf of the School by Edutest and is used as the main determinant of offers for entry into Year 10 or Year 11. The Academic Ability Assessment Test will be held at Suzanne Cory High School on Saturday 3rdAugust 2013. Applications are currently open and are made online only by following the link below. Applications are not made directly through the school. Closing date for applications is Friday 26th July 2013. The link is https://www.edutest.com.au/edutest/Schol2Entry1.asp?ScholRecID=643 2. Written Responses – required by selected applicants only Following the Academic Ability Assessment Test, selected applicants will be invited to complete a Written Response by the school. This will outline the reasons for seeking entry to Suzanne Cory High School as well as a record of academic and personal achieve-ment. Copies of 2012 Semester 2 and 2013 Semester 1 reports and relevant certificates will be required. The 5% rule and Prin-cipal's Discretionary Category are not applicable for Year 10 and Year 11 entry. Responses provided will be used to short-list applicants for interview. 3. Interview – for short-listed applicants only All short-listed applicants will be interviewed at the school. Following the interviews all short-listed applicants will be ranked and positions are offered by the School according to this rank order. All interested students seeking entry in to Year 10 or Year 11 at Suzanne Cory High School in 2014 are invited to apply by the due date. Closing date for applications is Friday 26th July 2013. Entry to Suzanne Cory High School can ONLY be made through the above link to Edutest and is not made by direct application to the school. For further information please contact the school on 8734 2800.

Debating Update Students at Suzanne Cory High School have continued in their enthusiastic support for debating and public speaking, with a number of teams and individuals experiencing success. Last week‟s round of interschool debating saw both Year 11 teams win their rounds with both Matthew Lagamba and Abiramy Selvanathan being awarded best speakers. As this is the third year that Year 11 students have participated in debat-ing, it is encouraging to see that their years of gaining experience are beginning to translate to regular success at this level. Both the Year 9 and 10 teams have worked hard and have given some solid performances. Raiyana Ahmed was judged best speaker in her team‟s efforts. Although neither team won their round, the benefits of debating are becoming apparent to them. We recently sent five students, Kristine Carlos 9A, Becky Su 9G, Tasfia Alam 9A, Zein Alhamdani 9A and Devika Nair 9E, to represent Suzanne Cory High School in the Junior Public Speaking Competition. They had to deliver a five minute prepared speech and a two minute prepared speech. All of our students performed well with Kristine and Zein progressing to the semi-finals.

Whilst individual and team accolades are certainly welcomed, encouraged and celebrated, they should not overshad-ow the value of debating and public speaking. Students who involve themselves in these activities have the opportuni-ty to build their confidence when speaking in front of others. They learn to work closely in a small group of people and discover the benefits of teamwork and collaboration. They also learn valuable skills in using logic and reason, and applying structure to their arguments which benefits them whenever a written response is required in any subject they undertake. Mr Cummins | Debating Coordinator

6

Holocaust Centre excursion-Student Reflections

At the Jewish Holocaust Centre on 26 April 2013, Year 9 students lis-tened to survivors tell their stories. Below are some students‟ reflections: Cindy Zhang 9C: “The survivor‟s speech was very touching, and really connected with my emotions. His story really made me try to picture what it was like for the people who survived the Holocaust. His journey of sur-vival really made me reflect on how hard it was for him to get freedom and how I shouldn‟t take it for granted.” Sumedha Sethupathy 9C: “The story made me feel sad and disappoint-ed. [However] it makes me feel honoured to live in such a wonderful country as this.” Sabrina Wong 9C: “This speech made me feel shocked at what George had to go through, risking his life for survival. This speech made me real-ise the inhumane treatment against Jews.” Joey Chen 9C: “I felt that the speech was so inspirational. The events that George had to go through were so terrible. It reminded me that there are still some places in the world where people are not equally treated.” Brian Yan 9C: “The speech made me emotional because if I was in his position I wouldn‟t last very long. I also got to hear an inside story of how the Nazis treated Jews.” Hiruni Seneviratne 9G “The speech made me feel sympathetic for Irma. I was glad that I didn‟t experience the atrocities she went through.” Raiyana Ahmed 9G: “I felt thankful that there isn‟t a war/genocide hap-pening in Australia. I felt very grateful for being able to live a safe life with my family in Australia with no discrimination towards me.” Nick Ziino 9G: “The speech made by the survivor was heartbreaking. The death and horror for me can only be imagined, but the destruction and death for the survivor is like a tape that forever is replayed and can never be thrown away.”

Found SCHS Blazer and Samsung iPhone on Frankston line train in March 2013 Please contact Chelsea Police Station on 9772 1344.

LOST PROPERTY Just a reminder to students that we have a number of items that require collection :

Suzanne Cory HS jumpers, sports jackets (small-X large), scarves and

plain black scarves

A collection of calculators and spectacles

Various books all un-named

Easy identification and return can be assisted by having all your student items clearly named. All these items can be collected from the General office

7

Semester 1 2013: Exam Timetable

8

Can you dig it? Students in the Year 9 Co-curricular group „Can you dig it?‟ spent their session on the 6th of May beginning to set up a herb and veggie garden. Thankfully the weather was kind to us and students were able to get stuck into the task at hand. The veggie patch is our first step towards learning how to grow and maintain our own garden. We would like to thank

Garden Beds Online (www.onlinegardenbeds.com.au) for their generous discount on our new raised beds and Werribee Sand Soil and Minimix for their donation of soil. The group is aiming to continue to build and develop the garden spaces around the school, one area at a time. We look forward to keeping you updated with our progress.

Miss Ladd

We request parental support in ensuring all students are aware of the school‟s expectations regarding the wearing of the sports uniform. Students are required to be in full school uniform at all times. This includes on days when stu-dents have a PE class. On these days students are required to come to school wearing their normal uniform and then change into their sport uniform prior to the PE class.

The exceptions are:

Year 9 may wear sports uniform all day (including to and from school) on Tuesdays of week A only

Year 10 may wear sports uniform all day (including to and from school) on Thursdays of week A only

Year 11 students should wear full school uniform at all times except for PE practical classes

Students may wear sports uniform all day (including to and from school) when they are on a full day sports ex-cursion.

Students may leave school in sports uniform on days when they have PE during the last period. Mr McDowell | Sports Co-ordinator

Sport Uniform Expectations

9

Year 10 History of Western Medicine Year 10 History of Western Medicine students recently undertook a creative task dramatising a part of the Scottish corpse scandal, which occurred in the late 1820s. Students needed to demonstrate the historical accuracy of their script using annotations in footnotes. There was such high demand for cadavers for dissection by Edinburgh‟s medical students that two men, Burke and Hare, started murdering people and selling their bodies. Vi Ha of 10E wrote one of many outstanding scripts submit-ted by students. Other particularly exemplary pieces were written by Luke Mannix 10E, Nina Wang 10C, Louella Jarillas 10H and Malavika Jayakumar 10H. Ms Habgood Humanities Teacher

SETTING: (May 1828 in Edinburgh) Burke‟s and Hare‟s lodge is located in the Old Town in a subdivided unit. Their lodge on the first floor faces directly towards the main street. With garbage and waste lining the walkways and the once paved road now destroyed, the area resembles a ghet-to. Homeless children and women wade their way through waste in tattered clothing, begging for a place to stay overnight or any scraps of food people could spare. Men in ragged shirts and holey pants hobble around in drunken stupor, drinking alcohol to fill their empty stomachs. ACTION: Window from a unit opens and woman empties a chamber pot. SPECCH: “Gardy loo!” CAMERA ANGLE: Long shot showing the horrid state of the entire street. Mary Haldane: ACTION: MH walks aimlessly with a jerky gait towards the intersection where the lodge is located. Her gown is faded and tat-tered and her face is etched with signs of hardship. She begs those who pass by for spare change. She looks up at the sky. The sun has nearly faded. SPEECH: She sighs. “There‟s nowhere to sleep tonight. Again.” ACTION: She limps towards and settles down beside garbage bags. She closes her eyes. CAMERA ANGLE: Medium shot to show only the upper part of her body. BURKE: ACTION: Shakes MH awake gently by the shoulder. She wakes up startled. He pretends to be a gentleman. Has a sympathetic expression. SPEECH: “I couldn‟t help but notice that you don‟t have lodging tonight. No lady should have to endure sleeping outside during this bitter winter.” ACTION: Gives her his hand to help her up. SPEECH: “I own a lodge nearby. A warm room for tonight and a drink with me free of charge. Do you accept?”

CAMERA ANGLE: Camera pointed upwards at Burke as if from HM‟s perspective. MH: ACTION: Has a surprised expression but gladly accepts his offer. Smile broadly, showing her only tooth. SPEECH: “I would gladly accept, sir.” CAMERA ANGLE: From Burke‟s perspective. MH, BURKE AND HARE: ACTION: MH follows Burke towards his lodge. Inside, he provides MH with a meal and they drink together. They sit on wooden benches in the stable. SOUND/ MUSIC: MH‟S and Burke‟s laughter gradually rises as they become drunk. CAMERA ANGLE: Long shot to capture both characters and background (stable) ACTION: Without MH‟s knowledge, Hare is lurking in the shadows behind the door waiting. SOUND/MUSIC: Suspenseful music. Dark and ominous. MH: ACTION: Loses consciousness from alcohol. She falls asleep on straw. SOUND/MUSIC: The sound of MH mumbling incoherently in her sleep. CAMERA ANGLE: From the perspective of Burke and Hare. MH, BURKE and HARE: ACTION: Hare jumps out from the shadows. Burke and Hare look at each other slyly. Both smirk at the same time. Burke claps one hand over her mouth and the other hand pinches her nose. Hare lies across her body. SOUND/MUSIC: The sound of MH grunting and fighting half consciously SPEECH: Hare says, “Hush old woman. How can a thing like her make so much noise?” BURKE AND HARE: ACTION: Once there is no chance that MH will survive, they both release her. They stand up silently and leave the stable. Howev-er, MH‟s body continues to twitch and make strangled noises. SOUND/MUSIC: Rumbling noise from her stomach. Then silence. CAMERA ANGLE: (Dolly shot) Camera moves backwards, retreating from the scene at the stable.

10

Careers News The Royal Military College (RMC) in Duntroon in the ACT is one of the world's truly outstanding military training institutions. Every course at RMC focuses on bringing out the best qualities in students and equipping them with the confidence and skills to make decisions, think quickly, and motivate others in any situation. Defence Force Recruiting would like to take this opportunity to invite students and their families to an RMC Information Night at the Defence Force Recruiting Centre in Melbourne. The evening will provide attendees with an overview of life at RMC, details about the lifestyle and training RMC has to offer, and also an expla-nation of the recruitment process.

Date: Thursday 30 May 2013; Time: 6.00pm – 7.00pm Location: 501 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Meeting Place: Level 14 Reception area

There are limited positions available for this session so reservations are essential. Please email your RSVP to CPTVIC@dfr.com.au

RMIT Experience Days RMIT University will be hosting a range of 'Experience Days' in the upcoming July holidays. These events are designed to give students in Years 10, 11 and 12 an insight into life on campus, an opportunity to engage in hands on workshops and explore dif-ferent aspects of art, design, science, community studies and engineering, to name a few. The events will run during Monday 1 July – Friday 5 July, the first week of the Victorian School Holidays.

Experience Accounting and Finance Day- Monday 1 July City Campus Experience Fashion and Textiles Day- Monday 1 July City Campus Experience Community Justice Day-Tuesday 2 July City Campus Experience Electrical and Computing Engineering Day-Tuesday 2 July City Campus Experience Media Day-Tuesday 2 July City Campus Experience Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Day- Wednesday 3 July Bundoora * Experience Health and Medical Sciences Day -Wednesday 3 July Bundoora* Experience Advertising, Marketing and PR Day -Thursday 4 July City Campus Experience Environment Day-Thursday 4 July City Campus Experience Art and Design Day- Friday 5 July City Campus Experience Computing and IT Day -Friday 5 July City Campus

*Bus service available between the City and Bundoora campuses Visit www.rmit.edu.au/experiencedays to find out more about each event and/or to register!

Monash University The following At Monash Seminars are coming up in May and June and are an ideal way of Years 10 & 11 students finding out more about courses and career options:

Education and Nursing – Tuesday May 21st at Berwick Campus Biomedical Science, Radiography, and Nutrition and Dietetics -29TH May at Clayton Campus Engineering Information Evening – Thursday May 30th at Clayton Campus

Registration is essential. Seminars commence at 6.30pm and finish at 8.00pm. For more information go to www.monash.edu.au/seminars

General Careers Week Last week we had a range of guest speakers come to speak to our Year 10 classes. These speakers presented information on a diverse range of courses and careers from industrial chemistry, robotics and mechatronics, industrial design, communication design, television production, sport and exercise science. All Year 10 students also visited the local Careers Expo at Werribee Race-course. These activities build on work done in Tutorial classes to help students explore their interests and understanding of tertiary options and pathways. I would encourage students to extend their investigation by attending some of the careers/course related activities held over the next few months at universities etc. Details of these activities are updated in this newsletter, displayed on the Careers Noticeboard and on the Careers & Pathways area of eWorkspace. Further information on university Open Days will be in the next newsletter.

Work Experience

Just a reminder that the Work Experience Program for Year 10 students will run from July 1st to 5th, 2013. Although work expe-

rience is not compulsory, we strongly encourage students to take part as it is another way for them to explore career options ,

build skills and develop confidence. Students seeking to undertake work experience outside these dates should seek approval

from Ms Clarke. All work experience paperwork must be completed and provided at least 2 weeks before the work experi-

ence placement. This allows adequate time for paperwork to be processed and sent to the employer and compulsory OH&S

training to be completed by the student.

Joanne Clarke | Careers, Pathways and Awards Officer

11

iCentre News

On the 29th of April the Year 10 drama class were lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch the Melbourne Theatre Compa-ny‟s live performance, „Beached‟. We made our own way to Federation Square where we met to revise and discuss the elements of drama and some background regarding the themes of the play. This crisp early morning‟s discussion was to refresh our memo-ries on theatrical techniques, as we were to analyse the performance when we returned to school. After lunch, we walked to Southbank Theatre where the professional performance was showing. Full of humorous colourful language, satire and “shocking fat stories”, intense confrontations and unexpected romance, „Beached‟ was a highly entertaining performance that we thorough ly enjoyed.

Ebony Biden, Kororoit, 10H

Year 10 Drama

Premiers’ Reading Challenge 2013: Ambassador visit by author Michael Pryor Michael Pryor, author of young adult fiction was a special guest at the Year 9 & 10 Assembly last week. He has published more than twenty-five fantasy books and over forty short stories, from literary fiction to science fiction to slapstick

humour. Michael's most recent books include The Laws of Magic series and The Extraordinaires series for older readers, as well as 10 Futures,

a collection of interlinked stories imagining what our next 100 years might be like. All Michael Pryor‟s books, which are on the Premiers‟ Challenge Reading List for Years 9 & 10, are currently available to borrow from the iCentre. To celebrate the ambassador visit, our first Premiers Reading Challenge student awards will be signed copies of Michael Pryor‟s books. These will be awarded to students who demonstrate an exceptional effort to main-tain their reading lists by the end of Library and Information Week 20th – 24th May. iCentre volunteers Luke Mannix 10E and Jacqueline Burke-Rankins 9F and many other Year 9 & 10 students are making excellent progress in the Premiers‟ Reading Challenge 2013. Luke, Jaqueline and the Year 11 school captains‟ help with the Premiers‟ Reading Challenge ambassador visit was much appreciated. More information about the Premiers‟ Reading Challenge can be found at: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/prc/ More information about Michael Pryor and „narrative transport‟ can be found at: http://www.michaelpryor.com.au/

Fiona Starford | iCentre Manager

12

All material printed in this newsletter is correct at the time of printing. Any errors are unintentional

© Suzanne Cory High School, 2013

Please consider the environment when printing this document.

Western Metropolitan Baseball On the 29th and 30th of April, the senior and intermediate baseball teams participated in the second round Western Metropolitan tournaments. The boys had been training hard since Term 4 of last year, and their respective performances stamped Suzanne Cory High School firmly on the baseball map. Captained by seasoned ballplayer Kenny Pellosis, the senior team came tantalisingly close to winning the western district and proceeding through to the state finals. After three impressive victories in the pool rounds, the team came up against a highly

trained Keilor Downs outfit in the final which possessed the element opposing teams dread: an outstanding pitcher, and fought hard to a 4-2 loss. The boys played exceptionally well in all four of their games, surviving some great opposing plays, including a brilliantly executed suicide squeeze. Kritik, Josh, Pratik and Danila demonstrated sensational fielding as every fly ball in the out-field was caught, ground balls rapidly scooped up and fired back, and infield plays backed up. Alert fielding from Narlon, Nico, Kristian and Sankeerth around the bases led to several additional outs and discouraged opposing runners. On the mound, south-paw Kenny and righthander Sam pushed their pitch counts high into the 80s as they frustrated hitters with their speed and accura-cy. Hayden put in a tremendous effort to catch the three pool games, and with Kenny behind the plate for the final, the opposi-tion‟s ability to score runs was severely curtailed. The boys were disciplined at the plate, waiting carefully for the right pitch to hit and frequently getting walked. Kenny smacked two of what were probably the biggest hits the ballpark had ever seen, including a blast in the final which sailed far over the outfielders‟ heads, and Narlon, Pratik and Saurya contributed some powerful hits. The team was complimented by both the um-pires and the opposing coach in the final for their impeccable behavior as well as the skills and athleticism they put on show. Please stop by and see our WMR Runners Up pennant outside the office! The unbeaten run of the intermediate baseball team, in-cluding a 24-2 victory over Williamstown High, was final-ly ended at four when they came up against the giant sluggers of Belmont Secondary College in the pool decid-er. Highlights of the day included Rudi‟s 100% on base percentage and going 8 for 8 in steals, and inside-the-park home runs from Ravee and the captain, Rhys. This is the hardest working sports team at S.C.H.S. and it has been wonderful to see the close camaraderie develop between the players. Thank you to Kenny P. and Mr Katilius for their great work in coaching the team. I would like to extend my thanks to the tournament conveners, Oberon and Belmont, for organising well run and enjoyable days characterised by a great spirit of friendliness and sportsmanship. We look forward to continuing our growing dominance in baseball next year! Miss Fenby | Baseball Teams’ Manager

Story/Prose & Poetry Sections

11-14 years ... First Prize $80, Second Prize $40 15-18 years ... First Prize $100, Second Prize $50 Closing date: June 30th 2013 For enquiries contact Margaret Campbell Phone: 9741 3577 e-mail: margaret_c@optusnet.com.au http://www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/residents/culture/library/youth/imagination_creation_western_u