Happiness is…

SUMMER

2015

We have so much to be grateful for. To be at this beautiful school with these amazing people is a joy that all associated with Huntingtower in any way will understand. The very trees take note of the energy, the love and the joy that pervades this environment. Each student’s smile, each joyous greeting and every kind word heard contributes to the uplifting atmosphere. When we leave judgement behind and spend our time looking for what is good and grand and noble, we not only enrich all those with whom we come in contact, but we enrich ourselves immeasurably. Thank you for the part you have played in making our school so warm and welcoming.

This year has seen the school involved in a major building project. When complete, the new Middle School will be a jewel in our crown; a jewel to be added to so many others, like the JC Bruce VCE Centre, the Music Centre and the Huntingtower Sports and Aquatic Centre. Thank you to everyone for your patience while construction has disrupted traffic flow and parking. I am also grateful to the teachers and students for their flexibility in adapting to numerous different classrooms while the new ones are being prepared. While the construction has taken a little longer than we would all have liked, I know that ‘patience must have its perfect work’1 and when we finally move in, it will all have been worth the wait.

Looking at the smiling faces seen in this HT News reminds us about what is really important. The choice to be happy, to be kind and do to others as you would have them do to you

becomes the power that enables you to achieve anything in your life; to achieve whatever it is that you choose. In these pages you see students achieving amazing things from Premier’s Awards and History prizes to medals in the world cycling competition and national aerobics, Karate and Taekwondo competitions. All these achievements are of no value if the children are not happy, kind, generous and grateful. Reading the words from one of our school captains suggests the values that we feel our students are developing through our community service activities and international experiences.

Enjoy the pages of this HT News and I hope you catch a glimpse of the vibrant, dynamic and joyous school that is Huntingtower.

Thank you for being a part of our journey.

Sholto BowenPrincipal

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From the Principal

ABOVE: Lachlan McNeary, Tahlia Harper, Danielle Growse, Ebony Marrison, Cassie Bentley and the Gratitude Tree.

BELOW: Sholto Bowen with Cristine Joy Palista and Daiza Cuyaman, visiting teachers from the Pinnacle View Acadame in the Philippines.

A Pinnacle View of Huntingtower

I love the Love-atmosphere in Huntingtower. The students are seen as unlimited with impeccable natures. I know this helps them

feel that a strong sense of love is revolving around them.

Feeling overwhelmed by the big differences of the educational system in this school and the Philippine schools, I ended up labelling my country as a poor and uncompetitive nation in terms of education. As I aligned my thoughts to the value of the school which is ‘always be kind’, I realised that my thoughts about my country weren’t kind. As Mr. Bowen once said ‘A negative label is a dangerous thing to carry’. I found myself embracing my country. Thank you, Huntingtower, for the beautiful reminder to guard our thoughts.

Cristine Joy (CJ) Palista

Having the opportunity to stay at Huntingtower is amazing. It’s so beautiful to know and have witnessed that everybody, students and staff, are valued and

seen as unlimited and that they have the capacity to be better each day.

I also love that the school values the importance of giving back to the community. It always brings joy to the soul when we see people, especially young ones, initiate and actively participate in activities which bless mankind. We may never know how, but for sure, these activities will create ripples which can reach even the remotest place in the world.

For me, these are the best things on earth - to know and accept that each one is unlimited and capable of so many things and having a purpose which is above and beyond self.

Thank you so much for the awesome experience and to everyone who has helped us during our stay in Huntingtower!

Daiza Cuyaman

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2015 a year

of smiles

ABOVE: Teacher Sarah Bishop at Bushrangers Bay with Year 8 students. Front (L – R): Kaja Clayton, Isabella Ozdilian, Matthew Dimotakis, Nathan Charrett, Derek Zhuang, Youseph Dib, Andre Garrett and Selena Yeh. Back (L – R): Anna Thompson, Vicky Tan, Harry Du, Andrew Wang and Jessie Yin.

1: Lunchtime larks with Kevin Jiang and Anuj Bungla.

2: Kaja Clayton and Briana Raso at Pt Leo.

3: Smiles from Coby Williams

4: Circus Skills smiles from Thomas Bateman, Hunter Slattery, Miller Synman, Noah Gucciardo, Ethan Paterson and (front) Jason Huang.

5: More Circus smiles from Matthew Dimotakis and teacher Jacqui Pavey.

6: James Liang and Amy Yu in Canberra.

7: ‘Rye smiles’ from Blair Stevenson, Abbi Rowland, Adam Wilson and Sophie Paras.

8: Red Cross volunteers Tamsin Plotnek and Lara Christensen.

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Adele BrowneAdele Browne, an enthusiastic advocate of Huntingtower,

passed on earlier this year. She was a person of great wisdom and integrity who could be relied upon to always take a stand for the highest sense of right.

Few people had such a selfless outlook to life as Adele. She was in the Practice of Christian Science for over 35 years, right up to the week before she died. Over those years she offered spiritual counselling to literally hundreds of people, many of whom looked on her as a strong constant in their lives. She was loved by so many because of the love she gave so many.

As a Christian Science Practitioner, Adele’s work for the School Board was invaluable as was her role as a support to teachers, parents and students. She served as the Principal’s Secretary for many years and two of her children (Leigh Gassner and Sally Singline) were students, as were her grandchildren Claire, James, Jonathan, Kerry, Emily and Elise.

Adele belonged to a generation who were unstinting in their service to others. Along with her church, Huntingtower was the beneficiary of her outreach. She saw Huntingtower not only as an academic institution but a beacon of principle and purpose. She truly loved the school.

Adele was a special person. She blessed so many with her loving presence, constancy, openness, wisdom, candour, and fabulous sense of humour. She taught us all how to be ‘in life’ and savour each day. Adele’s selflessness is undoubtedly part of the rich legacy she leaves.

June DrijverJune Drijver, past student, much-loved teacher, Head of the

Junior School, House Parent and keen supporter of Huntingtower during the 1950s and 60s, has passed on.

June was an intelligent, dynamic and vivacious presence at Huntingtower, particularly during its early days at the Mount Waverley campus. Her warmth and enthusiasm enabled her to take on a number of roles at Huntingtower and excel at all of them. Students remember her as a marvellous Junior School teacher at the former Malvern campus, when June herself must have been very young. Later, June’s love and passion for the Arts guided many students to study Art to Year 12 and she ably took on the role of Head of Junior School at Mt Waverley after Mrs Mather retired.

Still in her teens, June married Rob in the early 1950s. June’s aptitude for design and marketing and Rob’s skills in carpentry led them to work together to produce home-wares which were sold through June’s mother’s shop in Armidale and other stores such as Georges.

June and Rob were appointed as Boarding House supervisors in 1967. During the 11 years they were in the Boarding House there were more than 60 students from all over Australia and New Zealand. June and Rob were excellent house parents and were able to create a remarkable family atmosphere amongst the boarders. Their daughter, Sally, remembers that time with much fondness. Rob, a multi-skilled and generous man, bought a speed boat, and boarders have many happy memories of weekend camps at Wilsons Promontory and being driven up river on the boat at Lake Glenmaggie in Gippsland.

June, Rob and Sally moved to Canberra in the 1970s and opened a new shop ‘Flair’, which grew very quickly. June was contracted by the Australian Government to upgrade and decorate Australian embassies around the world. It was a job she loved, entailing the recording of embassies’ paintings and antiques and the designing and decorating of the Ambassadors’ residences.

After 35 years in Canberra, June and Rob moved to the small country town of Young in NSW. June opened a small gift and jewellery business and Rob ran an adjacent garden and bonsai accessory store. June continued running this business until her 80th birthday. She continued the research for a book about early Tasmanian convicts and settlers which another Huntingtower teacher, Ann Gunn, had begun and enjoyed gardening and some free time attending art workshops, polo competitions and picnic race days. She had four grandchildren and she adored the time she spent with her five great-grandchildren.

At June’s Memorial Service, two of her grand-daughters defined three great lessons that their Nan, June, taught them. It is probable that many Huntingtower students would agree with them:

i. You absolutely can and should achieve your aspirations

ii. There is great value to be found in a strong sense of family and caring

iii. Trust in a power higher than oneself and be assured that life is eternal.

With Gratitude

BELOW: 1965: Miss Penny, June Drijver, Huntingtower Principal Ben Mather and Rob Drijver.

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Stuart Walkerden, IT guru, Mathematics, Science and Biology teacher extraordinaire has retired after 34 years. Stuart began his teaching career at Huntingtower in 1982 but his association with the school stretches back to 1955 when Huntingtower had only just completed its move from Malvern to Mt Waverley. Stuart was enrolled as a Grade 1 pupil. He went on to complete all his schooling at Huntingtower and graduated in Year 12 in 1967.

As a student and keen Thomson House supporter, Stuart’s proudest memory was being awarded the U13 Athletics Championship. He also remembers Mr Mather’s earnest advice to the boys to always be gentlemen and Mr Warrell’s excursions to plays, art galleries and, on occasions, even the ballet. Caps were compulsory for boys; gloves and hats were the rule for the girls. It

was no secret that arguments were always ‘settled’ behind the old sports store at 4pm! On trains, boys travelled in the second last compartment; the girls travelled in the last carriage. The two school buses were affectionately named Clarabelle and Clarence. ‘Clarence’ was, of course, for the boys, and ‘Clarabelle’ was for the girls.

On graduating from Huntingtower, Stuart completed a degree in Agriculture at Melbourne University. He went on to work for the Department of Agriculture and for four years taught Agriculture at Dookie College. In 1982, Huntingtower’s then Principal, Shirley Paine, employed Stuart as a Middle School Mathematics and Science teacher. Over the past 34 years, Stuart taught a range of subjects. He has loved teaching, especially students in Year 7, because of their innate and irrepressible enthusiasm, and VCE students: ‘By the end of a student’s secondary schooling, teachers know everyone well and the intellectual challenge involved in teaching older students is very enjoyable’.

Stuart is very proud of his students’ superb VCE results and of introducing

IT as a subject at Huntingtower. He was also responsible for the introduction of the use of calculators to the Mathematics syllabus. However, his fondest memories are of exploring the beautiful arid landscapes on the annual Year 11 trip to Broken Hill. Although he was ill-prepared for his first trip and ready to give up on Day 1 (it was extremely hot, he and the students were struggling and some were in tears), he was amazed at the transformation and sense of achievement everyone experienced by night time: ‘All of us learned about the importance of not giving in, of being able to endure and meet challenges, and of the importance of working as a team.’ The added bonus of being able to lie back at night and watch the stars come out over the desert was worth the effort and especially memorable for all involved.

Stuart and his wife, Sue (Class of ’71), have three children, all of whom attended Huntingtower: Gabriel (Class of ’95), James (Class of ’98) and Rachel (Class of ’03). For many years, Sue was a familiar sight assisting in Huntingtower’s Early Learning Centre and she also put in hours of sterling work to help organise the drama department’s substantial collection of props. Stuart and Sue’s grandchildren, Josh, Will and Elizabeth Younger now attend the Huntingtower Junior School, so the fine family tradition continues.

Stuart’s retirement plans sound wonderful. Next year, he and Sue head off around Australia with their caravan. Their son James lives in Queensland with his partner, Meagan, and son, Jye, so further trips to the Far North are on the agenda. Plans are also afoot to visit some of the many exciting destinations on their ‘bucket list’. The Huntingtower community extends its gratitude to Stuart for all that he has done and wishes both Stuart and Sue every happiness in their new adventures.

Huntingtower Honours: Stuart Walkerden

ABOVE: Stuart Walkerden with his final VCE IT class.

BELOW: Happy days in 1994: Stuart Walkerden with Amy and Jennifer Timoshanko, Campbell Lyneham and Renay Boake.

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ABOVE: The Huntingtower Dawn Service Choir.

1: Honoured guest and speaker, Warrant Officer Class Two Albert (Ta) Finnsson (Class of ’97), addresses the audience at the Dawn Service. In 1998, WO2 Finnsson joined the General Reserves while completing his first year at university. In 1999, he transferred to the Australian Regular Army and was posted to the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment.

Ta has had operational experience in Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and the Queensland floods. He is the recipient of the Soldiers’ Medallion and the Force Commander’s Commendation. In 2006, the then Governor General, Major-General Michael Jeffrey, presented Ta with the Royal Australian Regiment Foundation’s Hassett Award for exemplary leadership during operations in Afghanistan in 2005.

2: Didgeridoo player Finn Hall (Year 8) greets the dawn.

3: Junior School representatives, Mia Watkins and Hugh Perry, School Captains Sarina Aba-Bulgu and Philip Chen with David Weil, President of the Huntingtower School Board and Anna Burke, Federal Member for Chisholm and Former Speaker of the House of Representatives.

4: Brothers Ta and Vahua Finnsson (’97) with Helen Aden, their very proud mother.

5: Noel Davies, Sholto Bowen, Ta Finnsson, Jen Geddes-Davies and Vahua Finnsson.

6: Ta Finnsson and Finn Hall.

ANZACCentenary Dawn Service They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.

Robert Laurence Binyon

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ABOVE: The Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Daniel Andrews, MP, presents Claudia Barnes with her Top All-Round High Achiever Award.

2: Sholto Bowen and Daniel Borbely congratulate Philip Chen on his Premier’s VCE Award for Drama.

3: Jayne Dickson congratulates Lana Yang on her Premier’s VCE Award for Food and Technology.

4: Carla Varani (Year 10) won second prize in the state-wide Urban Features competition and a cheque for $300! Well done!

5: Well done, Georgia Noutso, who won the Victorian division of the Australian History Competition for 2015.

6a /6b: – Congratulations Kelly Liang and Bridie Teekens on winning the Fitness Team gold medal in the National Federation of International Sport Aerobics and Fitness Championships in Brisbane. Kelly also came 5th in her singles routine.

7: Lara Polster won the silver medal in her black belt weight category at the Victorian Taekwondo championships held in August, and last year in October she won the gold medal at the Australian Taekwondo championships in Adelaide in her then red belt weight category.

BELOW: Silver medallist Conor Rowley (far left) with his partners in the team-sprint on the podium at the Junior Track World Championships in Kazakhstan. Conor also came 7th in the sprint, where he raced against a previous world champion, and he came 11th out of 35 in a specially organised event. Conor is one of the youngest in his age group, so he has some great cycling events ahead of him!

Academic excellence

Sport Superstars

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Sound the trumpets!

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Words contain power. The power to uplift or suppress, unify or divide, bring peace or cause conflict.

During my first shift at my

part time job, a customer asked me ‘Where are you from?’ I told her I was Australian. She shook her head as if I had misunderstood her, and said ‘No, where are you really from? What are you?’ Although shocked, I said ‘Ethiopia’. That same shift, another customer walked up. When I began speaking to him, he looked taken aback. He exclaimed, with surprise, ‘You speak English so well’. I was stunned, but replied ‘So can you’. The first customer had implied that I couldn’t be Australian, and the second suggested that I shouldn’t be fluent in English - both due to my skin colour. I encountered these exact situations every single week for the two years I spent working there.

Your thoughts are your raw speech - uncensored and unlimited. Those customers may have been curious as to the country my skin colour represented, or surprised when my accent was similar to theirs, but that does not

The Huntingtower String Orchestra has recorded the selection of enjoyable and popular works which were played in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein as part of the orchestra’s winning performance in the Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival in Vienna in July 2014.

If you would like to order a CD ($10) please contact Lynley Bramble (BH: 9807 8888 or AH 9803 7701 or lbramble@huntingtower.vic.edu.au )

mean they should express those thoughts out loud. Before they spoke, did they consider if they were being constructive, or destructive? Were they aware of the impact that their words could have on me? Let me tell you, every time I heard those questions, those comments, it felt undermining and abrasive, as though each customer had a preconceived notion of who I was - by purely judging a book by its cover.

When we are with friends, we are usually less cautious than when we are interacting with strangers. Those thoughts that you wouldn’t dare vocalise around strangers or co-workers, you might freely say around friends. When you take language to a public forum - being active online or in the media - your language is necessarily more restricted. This is known as political correctness. Whilst political correctness may be seen as cultural oppression, it is a necessary element of today’s society. Freedom of speech is important, but caution is needed when such speech actively harms another individual or groups of individuals.

Using our instincts and thoughtfulness as a guide we can always utilise the power of words for good. There is a whole world of words in the English language from which you can choose. Choose the right ones.

Sarina Aba-Bulgu

Words Matter

SOON TO BE RELEASED!

ABOVE: Luke Rodrigo plays U12 ‘state grade’ baseball for Waverley and this year played for the Yarra Ranges in the National Little League competition in Lismore, NSW. His nickname is ‘Jazzy’ because of the way he holds his hands when he slides home when scoring a run.

BELOW: In September, Imandi Seneviratne represented Australia at the Commonwealth Karate Championships held in New Delhi, India. She won the Gold Medal for the U14 Kata event ahead of 18 other competitors from India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Imandi has represented Australia for four consecutive years and has won Gold at the Youth World Cup 2013 (Corfu, Greece), and Bronze and Silver at the Oceania Karate Championships in 2012 (Sydney) and 2014 (Fiji) respectively. Imandi is the current National Champion in the 12 to 13 Years Kata category. Congratulations, Imandi!

Sport Superstars

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1: The Wedding Party episode: Polly (Tahlia Harper), Mrs Lloyd (Stefanie Giagoudakis), Mr Lloyd (Daniel Bil), Manuel (Daniel Gates), the Major (Stuart McLeod), Sybil (Georgia Thompson), Miss Peignoir (Danielle Gorr), Basil (Daniel Nieborski), Miss Tibbs (Carina Armstrong) and Alan (Philip Chen).

2: Miss Peignoir (Danielle Gorr) flirts with Basil (Daniel Nieborski) while the Major (Stuart McLeod) looks on.

3: Basil (Daniel Nieborski), Mrs Lloyd (Stefanie Giagoudakis) and Sybil (Georgia Thompson) .

4: Manuel (Daniel Gates) asleep on the job, much to the irritation of Basil (Daniel Nieborski) and the amusement of Jean (Carina Armstrong), Polly (Tahlia Harper) and Alan (Philip Chen) .

5: Manuel (Philip Chen) and Basil (Stuart McLeod) find themselves in an awkward situation ‘taking care’ of their guest, Mr Leeman (Daniel Bil).

What do a dead man in a kitchen, an elderly woman in a cupboard, a waiter from Barcelona, musty sausages and the worst hotel in Britain have in common? Fawlty Towers, of course!

The fabulous Senior School production consisted of three classic Fawlty episodes, played by ten actors, all with a different role every time. Basil became Manuel, Polly became Sybil and a policeman transformed into a French femme fatale. Who became what was half the fun; a fawltless (?) script and some slapstick comedy at its very best made for a great night out!

Fawlty TowersA Touch of Class.

The Wedding.

The Kipper and the Corpse.

ABOVE: A Touch of Class: Lord Melbury (Stuart McLeod) arrives, much to the delight of Basil (Daniel Gates) and the bemusement of Sybil (Carina Armstrong).

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In order to give the current Year 9 students a chance to find out about the exciting array of options available to them in Year 10, teachers set up market stalls to ‘sell’ their subject. The displays were excellent and the students were intrigued by all that was on offer. Many stalls ran out of course overviews and pamphlets – and the buzz of excitement in the room was indicative of the enthusiasm our students have towards their learning.

Year 12 Biology students loved the opportunity to do some practical work at the Melbourne University laboratories.

Pi (π) Day is celebrated in the 3rd month (March) on the 14th day (3.14). The Mathematics Department celebrated with a savoury and sweet pie sale (raising funds for Simunye), a baking competition and a competition to see who could recite pi (π) by memory to the greatest number of decimal places. Julie Buntz (Head of Mathematics)

7: Henry Lai won the pi (π) competition , managing a remarkable 75 decimal places.

8: Judge Amanda Vincent

9: Leah Felsbourg and Bridie Teekens.

BELOW: Piles of πs!

4: Erin Hall and Philippa Albrecht.

5: Dhiraz Samarasinghe, Connick Cheung, Norman Zhou and Richard Cong.

6: Alex Carlin, Adam Wilson and Laura Wilson.

1: Jodie Goddard’s Art Film elective is called ‘Deep and Meaningful’.

2: Mel Beal enjoys a sample from Jayne Dickson and Claire Cassidy’s elective: ‘Café Culture’.

3: Michael Mazzaferri tempts the masses with ‘Mobile Gaming and App Development’ as well as a new elective, ‘Robotics and Software Development’.

Sell it like it is Making it real Pi (π) Day

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In April and early May, severe earthquakes struck Nepal. Maths teacher James Bahn acted quickly to mobilise the Huntingtower community to raise funds for UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake Children’s Appeal. Over $5000 was raised – a fantastic effort!

3: James Barker, Sarina Aba-Bulgu, Nicko Grimm and Krish Ravindrababu.

4: Bridie Teekins, Vish Ravindrababu and Chavelle Liu.

5: Ben Gough, Ashleigh Morley and Elinya Dyer.

6: Vivan Zhang, Luca Mercuri, Gaby Kitchingman and Mia Worcester.

ABOVE: Bake, Bring and Buy for Nepal: Teacher James Bahn with James England and Sophie Barker.

1: Counting the cash: Melanie Fernando, Angel Phillips, Vicky Tan, Kaja Clayton, Sarah Morley, Aimee Pieterse, Jessie Yin and Hashini Thilakaratne.

2: Lachlan McNeary and Arjun Karthik.

UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake Children’s Appeal

On the road for Red Cross

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Joining hands around the world

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In collaboration with students from Principia College (Missouri), our HT students worked extremely hard during their visit to South Africa. They ran classes and activities for young children, helped build a new crèche at Tshepang and turned an old building into two functioning classrooms. They put up metres of fencing around vegetable gardens and buildings and helped feed and make friends with the babies and small children at the Princess Alice Adoption Home.

It was wonderful to see our students creating bonds with people they might never meet again – and you can tell from the photographs that their feelings of friendship and love towards the children they met were well and truly reciprocated.

6: Singing in the rain: Robin Clarke and Adam Soames.

7: Back: Nick Green, Rebecca Amsha, Claire Cassidy, Jody Goddard, Eitan Sifris, James Bahn, Mel Beal and Daniel Borbely. Front: Sue Storey, Sally-Ann Wilson and Carla Smith.

8: Leigh Parsons, Nick Hamer, Peter Rees, Stuart Walkerden and Rodney Jones.

9: Jacqui Pavey, Alex Neal, Amanda Vincent, Phil Amos, Carla Smith, Katherine McCann, Jane Barker and Sandra Tiepermann.

1: Patrick Holyoake and Alan Tong.

2: Stephanie Ferrier.

3: Carlyna Field and Barak Chen.

4: Jordan Haley.

5: Caley Manzie and two friends.

B factor 2

Simunye 2015

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Laughs all round when talented HT staff performed in a gala concert to raise funds for Bruce House charities: the School of St Jude, Hedgehog Rescue in New Zealand and a newly developing HT sister school in the Philippines.

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Be Careful

What You

Wish for...

GROUP PHOTO: ‘All together now’ (back row): Sabrina Del Balso, Lisa Hawkes, Phoebe Chen, Arvin Banerjee, Emma Carroll, Anmarie Joubert, Alexandra Maria Paras and Madhu Iyer. Middle: Angela Frentiu, Tia Yiannoudes, Jenna Pletsias, Steph Barrow and Alexander Lunt. Front: Callum De Vos, Jack Wu, Ella Plotnek and Helen Lin.

1: Alexander Lunt.

2: Phoebe Chen, Lisa Hawkes and Alexandra-Maria Paras.

3: Jack Wu and Angela Frentiu.

4: Emma Carroll and Arvin Bannerjee.

5: Callum De Vos and Tia Yiannoudes.

6: Callum De Bos and Helen Lim.

7: Phoebe Chen, Alexandra-Maria Paras, Ella Plotnek, Madhu Iyer and Jenna Pletsias.

8: Ella Plotnek and Sabrina Del Balso.

9: Steph Barrow and Callum De Vos.

10: Anmarie Joubert.

Directed by Adam Somes, Be Careful What You Wish For was a wonderful Middle School production. The play comprises four different folk and fairy tales focussing on what happens if your wishes come true. The play confronts its characters with testing, funny and reflective moments. There was ‘something for everyone’ and audiences delighted in the production’s colour and charm.

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1: Youseph Dib juggles his way to the top in the Year 7 Circus Skills unit.

2: Hoop-la: Lucy Liu, Imandi Seneviratne, Tia Yiannoudes, Tiana Jo, Kaja Clayton and Yehara Perera.

3: Miming the moment: Chris Campbell, Jason Xu, Marc Sakellaridis and Blair Burns.

4: Snowboarders Harry Costabile, Narayan Matthews and Enis Besirevic.

5: Year 9 students Hannah Lindsay, Samantha Gates, Caprice Rozario, Hannah White, Mihika Kpadia and Shelby Jamieson at the Falls Creek Ski Camp.

6: Getting to know you at the Year 8 Religious Buffet: Barak Chen, Georgia Thompson, Peter Thompson, Adhithi Subramanian, Rajpreeth Gaddam, Sunaramurthy Ganapathy, Adam Somes and Nicholas Maclean .

7: Angela Gale and Adam Somes with Jenna Pletsias and Tammy Cohen. Tammy is holding Shabbat candles decorated with a Star of David, a gift to all the guests on the ‘Jewish’ table.

8: Buddhist monk Hojen Futen, speaking with Wendy Verhagen, Jane Barker, Dmitri Maksoutov, Sarah Ridjalski and Vivian Zhang.

9: Making plans at City Cite: Elise Rodrigo.

Step right up. Celebrate. Discover.

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Integrated Studies in the Middle School

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Sparkles, joy, colour and magic – there was lots of fun to be had at ‘Peter Pan’. Set in Never Land, it’s a story with wonderful characters: the boy who never grows up, Wendy and the Darling family, the Lost

Boys, Mermaids, Indians and the infamous Captain Hook. Mums, dads, grandparents, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends... everyone was enthralled.

The Junior School’s production of Peter Pan Jr.

1: Hugh Perry (Michael), Abby Poon (Mrs Darling), Aiden Fyfield (John), Laura Armstrong (Wendy) and James Cookson (Mr Darling).

2: Gemma McCann (Nana).

3: Peter Pan and Tinkerbell (Alice Freeman) (centre) with fairies Rachel Hawkes, Abbey Russell and Isabella Rosa.

4: Seth Matthews (Smee) and Isambard Knox-Johnson (Captain Hook).

5: Tharushi Amararatne (Tiger Lily) and Wendy.

6: Particularly Perfect Pirates.

ABOVE: Karina Thompson as Peter Pan.

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Books Light Up Our World7: Intriguingly Interesting

Indians (Year 3).

8: Marvellous Mermaids.

9: Emma Davies (Chief Tiger Bamboo) with Indian Dancers Mia Watkins, Tharushi Amararatne, Phoebe Clark and Meaghan Charrett.

10: Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

11: ‘Never Smile at a Crocodile’: the Pre Preps.

12: Peter Pan’s Preps are Pirates!1: Marcus Poon and Benjamin Hardcastle.

2: Preps and ‘pets’ and pyjamas!.

3: Joshua Hunter and Josh Younger.

4: Nicholas Tsirigotis (front) with Josie Marriott, Mikali Chandler, Jana Miridis and Lianna Mefsut.

There was a lot to celebrate during Book Week. Visiting authors gave talks about their books, and on one special day students came to school in their PJs with a favourite book and a torch. There were lots of great activities and the younger students loved having stories read to them by the Year 6 class.

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The main purpose of this Middle and Senior School Geography trip was to learn more about geography, but it was also a really fun trip! New Zealand’s scenery is amazing - the sea is picturesque, the lush countryside and rolling hills are breathtaking, the Kauri trees in the forest are majestic and tall.

One of the highlights was Hobbiton, the very place where parts of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and the Hobbit films were shot. It looked just like it does in the movies, with colourful hobbit holes and vivid props. We even got to visit the Green Dragon Pub for a complimentary drink of ginger beer.

One of our tour guides said: ‘New Zealand is the land of homecoming.

Once you come you will return’. All of us on this Geography trip definitely want to go back again!

Phoebe Chen

Aotearoaland of the long white cloud

17,000 islands, one thousand kings

welcome to Indonesia

ABOVE: Miles of smiles against a beautiful Auckland backdrop.

1: Angela Frentiu, Chantel Raja, Alicia Boles and Natalie Kouvelis.

2: Brianna Newbond and Claire Campbell.

3: Enis Besirevic, Charles Trickey, Alicia Boles and Natalie Kouvelis.

4: Joshua Smart, Tanner Stevenson, Danielle Growse and Cassie Bentley.

5: Marcus Ozga and Matty Serelis on the recent Indonesian language trip.

6: Left (from front to back): Elise Rodrigo, Sally Moloney, Samantha Gates, Louise Chau, a friend from Jakarta and Tristan Zuccala. Right: More Indonesian friends with Laeticia Garrett, Mun Joon Teo, Leah Felsbourg and Sinead de Souza.

7: Back: Louise Chau, Elise Rodrigo, Laeticia Garrett, Leah Felsbourg, Mun Joon Teo, Tristan Zuccala and Kingsley Bishop. Front: Sinead de Souza, Sally Moloney and Samantha Gates.

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Outward bound

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Congratulations to all students who received prizes at the Sayembara Lisan Award Night at Melbourne University earlier this year. Sayembara Lisan is a wonderful opportunity for students to use their Indonesian language in an environment other than the classroom. They also have a lot of fun.

These students are commended on coming top of the state in their year level:

a: Cerys Morgan (Year 2)b: Serafina Arabi (Year 4)c: Tharushi Amararatne (Year 6)d: Jacqueline Tang (Year 8)e: Stefan Sakellaridis (Year 10)f: Matty Serelis (Year 11)

1: The overall winners of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition were the Noga Quartet from Israel and France, and our students (Abbi Rowland, Kiara Kim, Simon Song, Jerome Han) are with the members of the quartet, as well as the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AM, and three students from Ballarat Grammar. It was very exciting to be one of only two schools represented.

2: Well done Mia Rowland, who was placed 3rd in the Drumtek Up and Coming Australian Drummer of the year - Intermediate Category

3: Congratulations to Mathew Mo, Eddie Chen, Satomi Goh-Maejima, Marcus Loh-Ekstrand, Jerome Han, Simon Song, Richard Cong, Kiara Kim, Jade Tsai and Jasmine Tsai who have achieved their Associate Diploma or Certificate of Performance.

4: The String Orchestra with the Patronus Quartet: Anne-Marie Johnson (Class of ’08), Courtney Cleary, Merewyn Bramble (Class of 2000) and Paul Ghica at the Concert/Masterclass held in June.

Sayembara Lisan

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Musical maestros

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full of praise for her fine teaching skills and colleagues have really enjoyed working with her because of her bright personality, friendliness and good humour.

In 2016, Victoria is looking forward to taking up her new Legal Studies teaching position at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar. This will be a ‘homecoming’ for Victoria, as she is a former student of IGG and has taught there in the past. One lovely aspect of her new job is that she will be reunited with her first Year 7 Mentor Group, but this time, they will be in Year 12! Everyone at Huntingtower wishes Victoria happiness and success in all that she does.

Katherine McCann

Katherine McCann is a fine teacher of History and English. Students have loved her classes; she is well-prepared, interesting and thorough in all she does. Katherine herself has really enjoyed working with both staff and students at Huntingtower – she is most appreciative of the support, warmth and encouragement she has had from the staff, and she has found the students to be hard-working, kind and fun to teach.

Julie Buntz

Julie Buntz speaks fondly of her past three years as Head of Mathematics at Huntingtower. She is thrilled with the increase in the number of students studying Mathematics at VCE level, particularly the increased interest that girls are now showing in studying the higher levels of the subject. Julie is heartened to hear students discussing Mathematics with enthusiasm and interest. Her slogan ‘Maths is fun; Maths is for everyone’ has become a popular catch-cry for students at all levels, and she loves the fact that students are enthusiastically taking up many mathematical challenges. Julie speaks proudly of her ‘Mathematics team’: ‘They are a group of dedicated and passionate teachers who always have the interests of their students at heart.’

This year, Julie completed her Masters of Education Degree. She received a High Distinction for her thesis in Gifted Education, which was a wonderful result for all her hard work. In 2016, Julie will do some overseas travel and commence her PhD, with a similar focus on Gifted Education. The Huntingtower community wishes her every success with her research, but will miss Julie’s dedication, intelligence, sense of concern for others, friendliness and warmth.

Victoria Ferry

Whilst Victoria Ferry has only taught at Huntingtower for a year, she has been welcomed warmly into the school community. Her Units 1 – 4 Business Management students are

Thanks and good wishes

Robyn Bos

Robyn Bos, Assistant to the Business Manager, has retired after 17 years at Huntingtower. She has been responsible for a wide range of work including enrolments, fees and booklists. Robyn is dependably cheerful, reliable, knowledgeable and generous. We will all miss her.

Robyn and her late husband Hans’ connections at Huntingtower began in the late 80s; their three children (Michael, Class of ’95, Adam, Class of ’97 and Lisa, Class of ’98) were all Huntingtower students. In 1998, the year after Hans passed on, the then Principal, John Callaway, telephoned Robyn to see if she would be interested in working at Huntingtower. She recalls: ‘The previous two years had been very challenging; John’s offer came at just the right time. I was ready to learn new skills and meet new people.’

Robyn remembers her time at Huntingtower with much fondness: ‘The school office is a great place. Both of the Business Managers I’ve worked for, Rob Kitchingman and Geoff Self, are kind, easy to work with and have hearts of gold. My office partner, Merilyn Hart, has been a wonderful friend, as have all my office colleagues. I have many happy memories of a workplace filled with affectionate, hard-working and generous people.

In retirement Robyn hopes to travel, get fitter, do some courses at the University of the Third Age, catch up with friends and take up volunteer work. It sounds wonderful, and everyone at Huntingtower wishes Robyn much joy and fulfilment in her new life.

ABOVE LEFT: Robyn Bos.

ABOVE RIGHT: Head of Mathematics Julie Buntz with her Year 11 class of Maths Whiz Kids!

BELOW: Victoria Ferry with her Year 11 Business Management class.

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In 2016, Katherine will move back to Adelaide to be closer to her family. Eventually she hopes to teach in Europe or Asia. We will all miss her, but wish her every happiness in her new life.

Chris Newman

Head of Rayner House and Head of Commerce Chris Newman joined the Huntingtower staff in 2009. Over the past six years he taught Business Management, History, Geography, International Studies and Global Politics.

On top of Chris’s list of Huntingtower highlights are three trips he took with Year 11 students to Broken Hill. He loved working with trip leaders Peter Chambers and Jules Adler, both of whom he described as inspirational. He also enjoyed the two and a half happy years he spent as a Boarding House supervisor: ‘Phil and Jenny Grimm are wonderful people and they do a fabulous job in instilling a real sense of camaraderie amongst the Boarding House team. Chris enjoyed working with Mel Beal and Jody Goddard to develop

a new Year 12 Program and working with Jan Savage to coach the Volleyball Team to multiple premierships. He also worked very hard to help develop the Year 12 ‘schoolies’ trip to Vietnam.

Chris was appointed as the inaugural Head of Rayner House in 2011 and as the Head of Commerce in 2015. As Head of Rayner House, Chris has done an impressive job in raising the profile of the new house; Rayner students now have a very real sense of identity and enthusiastically support their house at every opportunity.

Chris has recently taken up a three year appointment as Head of Economics and Business at the Beijing campus of the London-based Dulwich College. It will be an exciting time for both Chris and his partner, Li Jian Wong, as they also have a New Year’s Eve wedding at Hepburn Springs to plan.

Chris is always kind, enthusiastic and reliable; he is a natural teacher who developed a very good rapport with students. His sense of professionalism, initiative and enthusiasm and his celebration of students’ individual qualities were much appreciated. Chris’s dedication, positive attitude and good sense of humour will be missed by everyone at Huntingtower. We wish him and Li Jian every happiness.

Carla Smith

Science teacher Carla Smith has loved being at Huntingtower for the past four years. She found the ‘whole Huntingtower package’ to be very rewarding - the wonderful staff and students, the great sense of community and the wide variety of great activities such as camps and sport and activities like Flash Dance, Aerobics, the B Factor and Dansation.

Carla has taught a range of subjects: Years 7 – 10 Science, Years 11 and 12

Biology, Year 9 Integrated Studies and Sport across the year levels. She has a warm, enthusiastic and bubbly personality and she is a diligent and very popular teacher – students enjoyed being in her classes and found her to be a caring and helpful mentor.

Next year will be one full of excitement for Carla and her husband, Cameron; they are expecting their first child in March. All of us at Huntingtower wish them both much joy and happiness and look forward to seeing Carla back with us again in 2017.

Ryan Thomson

Legal Studies and Business Management teacher, Ryan Thomson, has loved his time at Huntingtower. Highlights have been many. He relished the challenge of teaching his Year 12 classes, and everyone on staff appreciated his spontaneously warm and friendly manner. Living in at the Boarding House was memorable; Ryan valued the opportunity to get to know the younger students in a more relaxed setting. He found them to be lots of fun, diligent and enthusiastic and he enjoyed being able to take on the role of a mentor with them. Ryan is also extremely grateful for the support he received from other teachers throughout the year.

2016 is bound to be a wonderful year for Ryan. He is taking up a new and exciting position teaching Business Management at Trinity Grammar. All at Huntingtower wish him every happiness and success.

ABOVE LEFT: Big smiles for the camera - Kathleen McCann and students.

BELOW LEFT: Head of Raynor House Chris Newman with house captains Naomi Tang-Yamaoka and Julian Kitchingman.

ABOVE RIGHT: Carla Smith with her Year 12 Biology class.

BELOW RIGHT: Ryan Thomson with Pietra Vieira, Jordan Hailey and Dmitri Maksoutov.

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2015 is just about over. By the time you read this, the HOSA Choir will have performed its inaugural concert as part of the Camerata. A big thank you is extended to Jacob Davey for organising and training the choristers. It has been a wonderful way of getting together and creating beautiful harmonies. Hopefully this will become a regular activity.

Thanks also to everyone who helped make the HOSA Sports Day such a success. Special thanks go to Mel Beale and Jan Savage for going above and beyond their teaching duties to ensure HOSA and Huntingtower had competitive teams. Congratulations to the HOSA participants for winning on the day.

The HT Grads and HOSA volunteers will also have sold a million hamburgers and sausage sandwiches at the Huntingtower Fete. It’s always a great way to catch up with loads of people – and we help raise funds for the school.

I’ll take this opportunity to thank all HOSA Committee members for their hard work and support this year. It’s been fantastic to have a new group of young and enthusiastic people on board.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and see you all again in 2016.

Peter ThompsonPresident

Message from HOSA President, Peter Thompson

ABOVE: Yvette Vo (’06) at her wedding to Dario Biskupovic on Valentine’s Day this year with bridesmaids Lauren Payne and Alison Cole and groomsmen Mark Thimm and Sebastian Stuto.

1: Melbourne University student Bareetu Aba-Bulgu (’13) was presented with the award for African Student of the Year for Victoria by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Andrew Crisp.

2: Barry Collins (’72) who completed the Australia Ultra Marathon 48 Hour National Championships in Caboolture, Queensland, running an amazing 323.6km in 48 hours. He broke the Australian Men’s 60 and Over Road record.

Together againBELOW: The Class of ’78 Lynn Bruce, Jane Walsh, Libby Kitchingman and David Weil met up for the first time in many years.

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13: The Men’s Hockey Team (back row): Lucas Worcester, Anthony Bowen, Michael Keating, Will Sylivris, Martin Crellin, Max

Leonard, Cameron Clapp, Matthew Robson, Jack Holyoake, Joshua

Godino, Alastair Cramer and Craig Paton. Front row: So Imamura, Roger Zou, Ben Armstrong (GK), Andrew Turton, Elliot Kitchingman and Jason D’Rozario.

14: The Men’s Soccer Team (back row): Jason D’Rozario,

Lucas Smycz, Robin Brown, Wilson Blick, Jon Liberis , Simon Cuthbert, Alex

Zych, Ash Davies and Arjun Murthy; (front row) Jaymes Makris, Ivan Kyriakov, Nick Noutso, Jacob Smycz, Pat Makris and Asanka Ratnayake.

ABOVE: The Women’s Hockey Team: Sarah Robinson, Joanna Clapp, Fleur Paton, Jade Girvan, Bareetu Aba-Bulgu, Maggie Slavtcheva, Stephanie Song, Jenny Grimm, Emma Lynch, Clare Higgins, Jan Savage, Sharm Thuraisingam and Iris Liang.

1: Simon Bourke and Ruby Anstee accept the Callaway Cup on behalf of the victorious HOSA and HT Grads teams.

2: Table Tennis stars: Russell Jones, Joseph Hong, Jacob Davey, Barry Vo, Kieran House and Marcus Puah.

3: Netball know-how: Kathryn Fox, Genna Verbeek, Mel Beal, Sally Fyfield, Carlé Rooks, Monique Astorino; (front) Naomi Maclean, Millie Busby and Belinda Drummond.

4: Asanka Ratnayake, Simon Cuthbert and Noel Davies.

5: Julian and Elliot Kitchingman.

6: Asanka Ratnayake and Lionel Wirth (with his son, Owen).

7: Nada Breik, Meuni Dassanayake, Ruby Pritchard, Aparna Attawar and Stephanie Song.

8: Ruby Anstee, Clare Higgins, Jess Brien, Ebony Ross and Teruni Jayawickrama.

9: Aydin Desem, Hannah Grimm and Genna Papadopoulos.

10: Meuni Dassanayake, Maggie Slavtcheva, Hannah Grimm, Ganna Papadopoulos and Ebony Ross.

11: Cam McAdam and Oscar McKechnie.

12: Basketball stars Kristian Wright and Johnny Wang.

Send them victorious, happy and glorious

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HOSA&HT Grads Sports Day

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Jane Barker and Richard Cai (Year 10) were awarded prizes for the Best Action Photograph .

i: Hockey heroes So Imamura, Caley Manzie and Matt Robson (J Barker).

ii: Adam Wilson goes for goal (R Cai).

TOP SHOTS

BELOW: Led by Jacob Davey (’10), the HOSA Chamber Choir gives its inaugural performance.

HOSANNA!

Private Maxwell CrellinBELOW: Max Crellin (’12) has joined the armed forces. He is about to march out of the Singleton Army Base in NSW to join the 7th Battalion at the RAAF Base Edinburgh in Adelaide.

A: Oboe soloist Jess Foot (Class of 2001), and violin soloist Markiyan Melnychenko (’06) with Stuart Walkerden (’67) at the Camerata Concert held in Stuart’s honour.

B: ‘Reckon we can anvil it?’ Stuart Walkerden and Noel Davies in the Anvil Chorus from Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’ at Camerata.

C: James Younger, Elizabeth Younger (Pre Prep), Rachel Walkerden (’03), Gabriel Younger (’95) with Joshua Younger (Year 2), Stuart Walkerden (’67), Sue Walkerden (’72) and Sandra Amiento at the Camerata Concert given in recognition of Stuart’s service to Huntingtower.

Camerata Celebrates

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Get Social with HT Grads

@ht_grads HTGRADS facebook.com/htgrads

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In 1927, a group of Christian Scientists established Huntingtower with the purpose of helping its students reach their unlimited potential. Huntingtower continues to be based firmly on the principles of Christian Science. Generations of students have passed through the school, their success measured in fine academic results and fulfilling lives. The school’s needs have traditionally been met by the generous support of benefactors, supplemented with government financial assistance. In order to ensure Huntingtower’s progress and lessen its reliance on government funding, the founders of the school set up different ways for supporters to help the school financially.

You may like to consider any of the following:

• Grants, bequests or donations to the Huntingtower Foundation (A Foundation set up by Trust Deed to preserve and maintain the school’s financial independence)

• Tax Deductible donations to the Property and Building Fund (A fund set up to assist the school in adding new facilities)

• Grants or donations to the Mather Foundation (named after Mr. J.B. Mather, Principal 1949-1972, and set up as a restricted endowment. Whilst the assets cannot be used, the income from the assets contributes towards the running of the school and to student bursaries).

For more information on any of these or to register a bequest via a will or codicil please contact:

Business Manager, Huntingtower School, 77 Waimarie Drive, Mt Waverley 3149, Australia

Phone: (03)9807 8888, e: admin@huntingtower.vic.edu.au

Preserving our independence

Dates to remember

Credits:

Editor and Art Director: Jan Tyquin

Design: Redfish Bluefish Creative

Photography: Phil Amos, Jane Barker, Myfanwy Bramble, Rodney Jones, Carla Neville, Sandra Tiepermann, Jan Tyquin

Printed by: Alpha Printing Co. Pty Ltd

Huntingtower School Association A.B.N. 23 004 231 654

If you know of someone who would like to receive the Huntingtower News, please ask them to contact the school on 9807 8888 or email Jan Tyquin at jtyquin@huntingtower.vic.edu.au

FRONT COVER PHOTOS: Good friends + great times = happiness!

• November27:JuniorSchool Speech Night

• December3:SeniorSchool Speech Night

• February2,2016:Commencement Day

BACK COVER PHOTO: Teacher Robin Clarke with her Year 7 class of perfect P Plate Poets