Alba Newsletter – August 2021

Dear Parents and Guardians

Amid the gloom of another lockdown and all that it brings with it, it is good to have some things to celebrate or be grateful for, so let’s start with some of those.

VCE Premier’s Award

Congratulations to Year 12 student, Cindy Le, who has been awarded a prestigious VCE Premier’s Award for her achievement in Further Mathematics. Cindy studied Further Maths as an acceleration subject during Year 11 and achieved a perfect study score of 50. It is extremely difficult to attain such a score, and, even then, the Premier’s Awards are only given to a select few of the very top achievers in each subject. It is a wonderful recognition of Cindy’s mathematical ability, as well as her dedication to and perseverance with her studies.

 

Congratulations also to Mr Steven Vo, Cindy’s Further Maths teacher, for his commitment to ensuring that each of his students has the opportunity and the skills and knowledge to excel in Mathematics. It is a well deserved recognition of his skill as a teacher.

 

 

 

Mathematics Games Day

Each year, our school participates in the Maths Games Day, and even online learning didn’t prevent that this year. A team of 8 Year 7 students, led and coached by Ms Fatima Azmitia, represented St Albans SC in the competition between approximately 70 government and non-government schools. We are really delighted to say that the Year 7 team came tenth overall which is a fabulous result. They were one of two government schools from across Melbourne in the top ten.

Ms Fatima said of the team, ‘They were punctual, attentive, resourceful, collaborative and tenacious,’ and she was very proud to work with such a great group of students.

Congratulations to:

Chantelle Duong (7C)

Stephanie Truong (7C)

Abhi Farmah (7C)

Tanvi Mangalath (7C)

Andy Nguyen (7C)

Matthew Nguyen (7C) 

Japvir Singh (7C)           

Angela Vu (7C)               

Special mention to Julien Kanwar and Angelina Huynh for offering to be emergencies on the day.

 

Welcome  

We are pleased to welcome Karen De Amyand to the staff as a Teacher Assistant working in the Individual Needs team. Karen has been doing some casual work with us over the last few months, and we look forward to her continuing in her role supporting students and staff.

We also warmly welcome Omega Raimundo as a Science and Maths teacher. Omega starts with classes next week, replacing Clara Campbell, and it is great to have her as part of the staff team. We hope both Karen and Omega enjoy their time at St Albans SC. Very best wishes to Clara and her family, too, for the birth of their second baby in a few weeks.

 

New Garden

After several years in the planning and construction, our new garden and passive recreation area between the gymnasium and Nindethana is now open. It is a shame that there are very few here to enjoy it right now, but, on the bright side, it will be lovely for students to have something new to come back to.

The space is designed with lots of seating and shade, and also encompasses an outdoor performance and event space – perfect for our bands and special celebration days.

Here are some photos you might enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interact Club Activity during 2021

Interact is Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting. 

Throughout 2021, there has been a great deal of activity by our St Albans Secondary College Interact Club.

They participated in the activities run by the VCAL class on IDAHOBIT day, for which they designed, produced and handed out stickers in support of this event.  They have run meetings in support of many local and international causes and offered hot chocolate to participants during their recruitment drive earlier in the year.  There are currently almost 50 members of the St Albans Secondary branch of Interact and there is a strong executive team lead by May Nguyen as the President.

During term 3, the club is planning an Asian Awareness project which they have promoted and organised as part of the celebration of cultural diversity at the school.  This is an initiative specifically for this year which will involve lunchtime activities and fundraising by selling packages of Asian inspired goods. It has been planned to align with the Moon Festival, although the timing will depend on Covid safety guidelines.

There is also a scholarship program linked to our Interact Club. The executive team ran a process of applications and interviews to determine the successful candidate for 2021 and the recipient this year was Maybel Verma of Year 9. Congratulations to Maybel. As a result of her selection, Mabel will run a project within the Interact Club which is a book drive as outlined below.

The book drive is in support of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation and for this we will be seeking book donations which can include new or second hand children’s books:

• Picture books – new titles, classic titles, favourite authors, award winners
• Early readers – popular series, cardboard books
• Fiction – new titles, popular authors, classics
• Non-fiction – current and relevant to Indigenous culture

The number of books we can donate is limited and only books in excellent condition and suitable for children up to 16 years of age are required.  There will be more information about this project once we have more certainty that we can go ahead with it.

During Term 4 the club would like to run a food drive to support a local charity and there will be more about this in future newsletters.

We would like to express the thanks of the school and the Rotary Club to the outgoing executive consisting of the following Year 12 students:

President: May Nguyen

Vice President: Lisa Pham

Secretary: Tiffani Tran

Project Coordinator: Jessica Taing

Treasurer: Thanazal Jawz

Creative Director: Stephanie Tran
Public Relations: Christina Nguyen and Julia Nguyen

and welcome the incoming executive of:

President: Tracey Nguyen

Vice President: Isra Siddique

Secretary: Kathleen Phan

Project Coordinator: Deedee Colussi

Treasurer: Eddie Nguyen

Public Relations: Vianna Tran

Congratulations to all the members of our Interact Club, it is wonderful to see such enthusiasm for such a range of projects and causes led by students.

 

Year 8 Night

Thank you to the many parents and students who attended our Virtual Year 8 parent night. At this evening we provided a brief overview of the subject selection process for Year 9. For more information on each subject and subject selection process please refer to the subject selection handbook and notices on Compass. Coordinators are also available to assist families and students making subject selections.

 

Alpine School

We currently have a small group of students studying at the School for Student Leadership 400 kilometres away in the snow fields of Dinner Plains. The School for Student Leadership is a Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) initiative offering a unique residential education experience for Year nine students. The curriculum focuses on personal development and team learning projects sourced from students’ home regions. These students applied for this program earlier in the year and will remain on site away from COVID and the lockdowns of Melbourne for the duration of the term away. When they return to St Albans they will implement a community project that they developed at the Alpine School. St Albans Secondary College has been part of this initiative for many years and we wish our team all the best. We will provide your more updates as they become available.

 

Wellbeing Support

Being in lockdown is not easy, so please reach out to the school if we can provide support or assistance. The school has partnerships with a range of agencies that may be able to help you. To request support please call the school and ask for someone from the Wellbeing Team to give you a call. Alternatively, you can email us. For our contact details and some ways to support your wellbeing please refer to the attached Student and Parents Guide to Online Learning.

 

Progress Reports

In Term 3, progress reports for different year levels are released at different times. Last week reports for Year 11 VCE Unit 2 and Year 11 VCAL were published on Compass.

Year 7 to 1o progress reports will be available at the end of new week on Friday 27 August.

At this stage Year 12 progress reports will be available at the end of Term 3. This date is dependent on any changes made by VCAA due to online learning.

As always, please contact your child’s Year Level Coordinator if you have any questions about reports, or things you would like to discuss.

 

And finally …..

As always, we are ready to provide any additional support you, your child or family may need to get through this lockdown. Please get in touch and we will do whatever we can to help.  We know that many of our students are finding it difficult to stay motivated; yet the vast majority are doing so well to stay connected with their classes, peers and teachers. Each one of them deserves congratulations for this effort.

This term sees us Remote Learning again and the Junior Sub School Team is here to support all Year 7 and Year 8 students and their parents with the learning being completed at home.  Please contact us at any time for advice or if your child is experiencing any difficulties accessing the work. Please contact us via email junior@stalbans.vic.edu.au.

Weekly Challenges

Starting from Week 5 – we will have an online inter-class competition. Week 6 is a KAHOOT Trivia Challenge. Get your classmates to visit us on daily in the Google Meet at 12.45 – 1.15pm code is available on the Compass post. so drop in visit us at lunch at participate in the games (Bring your lunch!).
Look forward to seeing you all there!! 

Safety Online

“Digital Thumbprint” will be presented to students of Year 7 and 8 in September.  The students will be involved in some workshops, teaching the advantages of a positive on- line presence.

Through a series of fun activities these workshops bring to life the vital information students need to become discerning internet users. Concepts covered include information security, on line business models and terms and conditions.

Year 8 Information Evening Online

We held our Parent Information evening for Year 8 students on Tuesday 10 August and this was to inform parents and students on Subject Selection processes for Year 9 Courses. Information will be sent out via Compass. The evening was attended very well, and it was lovely to see families engaging with us online. Students will now choose their subjects and submit their forms via a Google Form online.

Suggestions from your Coordinators

Sometimes we need a break from the screen and our schoolwork. Here are some suggestions from your coordinators for after school hours or on the weekend.

• Mr Moore suggests ride your bike around the block, help cook dinner for the family or do some gardening outside.
• Mr Winduss suggests going for a run and walk the dog after school
• Ms Honeycombe suggests baking with your family like cakes or pancakes or a nice healthy meal. Do some yoga or meditation activities.

Remember if you need any assistance from your co-ordinator, please email them. We are here to assist you any time.

With Term 3 now well under way, Year 9 and 10 students have completed their course counseling assignments for the year, and made their subject selections in line with their pathways for 2022. Year 9s have selected a wide range of subjects to study in Year 10 next year, and many of them are now well on the way to establishing a clear route into their chosen field of study in the years to come. Year 10 students also spend a great deal of time thinking about their options for next year. Thank you to all parents who attended our online information evenings, contacted Year Level Coordinators to discuss course selections, and asked questions about the VCE and vocational pathways available to students next year.

Progress reports will be made available on Compass in Week 7 for parents to view. Year Level Coordinators are in the process of speaking with students and their families about current learning progress and offering support to those who need it.

A reminder of the supports that are in place for students during remote learning:

Year Level Coordinators are doing class visits each week to check in with staff and students, address any concerns and catch up with those they coordinate.

Students are also encouraged to email their Year Level Coordinator or the Middle Sub School team if they need any support, or just want to say hi. 

The sub school can also be reached by emailing: middle@stalbanssc.vic.edu.au

We hope the last few weeks of term go well for you all. Thank you again for your support and commitment to online learning this term.

Term 3 didn’t go as planned for our senior students.

Our Year 11 and 12 students came back to school Term 3, but only lasted for about a couple of weeks. Once again, our students have adapted really well to the change and should be commended for it.

All student studying a Unit 3/4 subject and a VET will be able to apply for CED (Consideration of Educational Disadvantage). There will be documentations sent to the school for students to fill in.

We are still waiting on information from the Education department to see when the GAT (General Achievement Test) will be held as it has been postponed again. A new date has not been set yet.

Some SACs (School Assessed Coursework) and ATs (Assessment Tasks) are being done remotely by teachers. To help with the authentication process, students will need to complete a declaration form from VCAA (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority) when they return to school. The declaration states:

‘I declare that all resource materials and assistance used have been acknowledged and that all unacknowledged work is my own’.

The results from the Mid-year exams for Year 12 are on the Progress reports for Term 3. These reports are now available for families and students to have a look at.

Just reminding families that there is another exam period for all Year 12 students who are completing VCE for an ATAR.   The timing of these Unit 3/4 Practice Exams will hopefully take place the second week of the September holidays from Monday 27 September until Friday 1 October.    

As stated previously, all the assessment that is taking place is to enable us to best prepare our students for their final exams. It is important that students and families are aware that marks may change due to statistical moderation, the GAT and individual student ranking. 

We have booked ‘Equal ED’ who will be running workshops for our 12 VCE students in September. These workshops might need to be done remotely.

ABCN Focus has finally commenced again this year. It is a leadership program for girls. Twelve Year 11 girls have been selected and they will be working with a mentor from NBN. Again this is all going to be done remotely.

Year 11 students have selected their subjects and courses for 2022.

I just want to remind families that students still need to meet the ‘Promotion Policy’ from Year 11 into Year 12, regardless of the choices that students make. Please have a look at the ‘Senior Sub School handbook’ that was given to families during Term 1 as it explains the policy.

Coordinators will also be contacting families if their child is at risk of not meeting the Promotion Policy.

We are running weekly assemblies remotely with our senior students to touch basis with them to see how they are going.

Again, we would like to thank parents who contact us when their child is absent for any reason. This is of great assistance to the Year Level Coordinators, as we call home regularly if there are any unexplained absences. The Case Management process continues to monitor closely the attendance, achievement and individual needs of all our students. Please contact us on senior@stalbanssc.vic.edu.au if you have any queries or concerns about your child. 

Year 12 VCAL

Wear it Purple Day

On 27 August 2021 12.40pm there will be an online event for staff and students.  Year 12 VCAL and the Wellbeing team have organised activities to celebrate Wear it Purple Day and support those who are struggling to be accepted in our community because of their sexual and gender orientation. Wear it Purple Day began in 2010, after a worldwide answer to the many news stories of bullying and harassment, and the negative impacts that it had on the LGBTQIA+ teenagers. Wear it Purple Day is a yearly awareness and visibility campaign, giving everyone a chance to celebrate the spirit of LGBTQIA+ youth. Due to COVID restrictions, the event will be held online at lunch time where students and teachers can free to participate in a fun and educational quiz to test their knowledge or learn new information about Wear it Purple Day. Furthermore, winners of the quiz will be getting some awesome prizes at the end of the event! Wear something purple to support our LGBTQIA+ community.

Real Talk – The Smith Family

As lockdown continues we are taking our onsite Real talk session on line, so students don’t miss the opportunity to learn about the career journeys from a range of employees in different fields. This will occur on September 8, 9.00am to 12.30pm onsite via Zoom or online.

The Career Mentoring and Employability Skills sessions will be offered as a digital session. The career mentoring sessions involves a number of industry volunteers. Students will have the opportunity to hear from eight different career mentors who will share their career journeys, education pathway and outline of their current job role. Students will have the opportunity to ask each mentor questions to learn more about their experiences in the world of work. Paired with this would be an employability skills session, where students will learn about the STAR technique used when applying for jobs. Students will learn how it applies to resumes and cover letters as well as job interviews.

MyRoad – Beacon Foundation

As Year 12 prepare for the world of further education and work. We are trying to expose them to as many

WHY MYROAD?

Many young people in Australia have limited exposure to the world of work before they leave secondary school at SASC we want to give our students the most current and honest experiences to help with their decision making for future pathways.

My Road is aimed at providing students with the opportunity to engage with and learn from those already in the workforce.

After the two-hour session occurring online on September 13, 8.30am to 10.30am

 Students should walk away with:

• New ways to think about what kind of future job or career would be right for them.
• A better understanding of how their existing tech skills will help them when they enter the workforce.
• Increased skills to maintain positive relationships at work.
• An understanding of the importance of resilience.
• Feeling more confident
• Feeling more work-ready

 

Young Leaders of the West Schools Podcast

As our Year 12 VCAL students are continuing to complete their Complex Issues projects in a very different environment. We are excited to be part of Young Leaders of the West Schools Podcast Challenge.  

Proudly supported by IPC Health, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and MAKING MEDIA AUSTRALIA, the Young Leaders of the West Schools Podcast Challenge is a unique modern media project that will have our students producing professional podcast content that is designed to educate our community about GAMBLING HARM – a massive social issue that negatively impacts many individuals of all ages and genders, their families, and communities in the west of Melbourne, and across Australia.    

STUDENT CHALLENGE

As part of this challenge, we will be asked to produce and promote a one-hour podcast that will educate our community about GAMBLING HARM. Each school’s podcast will be recorded live and broadcast, across its neighbourhood and the world, on global radio station LIVE FM (www.livefm.online) during Gambling Harm Awareness Week in October this year.

An exciting aspect of this project is that the school podcast with the greatest reach (i.e., the most live, podcast and video listeners/viewers) will win a professional podcast kit for its school.  More information will follow to help us reach as many people as we can to increase our chance of winning the Pod cast equipment.

Another great thing about this project is that no podcast production experience is necessary for students who will be taking part. IPC Health will provide schools with access to experts in the field of GAMBLING HARM for student interviews and MAKING MEDIA AUSTRALIA and the Young Leaders of the West will provide technical support and guidance in the production and promotion of school podcasts.  

Please visit the link for more information YLOTWSPC Planning Brief

 

Year 11 VCAL

CHASE Projects

Students are continuing to work on their CHASE projects and learning project planning skills along the way. These skills will be transferable to the work place. Planning, teamwork communication and decision making are all skills being addressed and developed as students work towards presenting their particular health issue to the school community. Student are having to plan two projects one that can be delivered onsite and another that can be delivered online depending on what Covid restrictions allow.  

Financial Literacy – The Smith Family

Year 11 will complete an online financial literacy course over 5 days starting August 30.

This course is based on MoneyMinded, an adult financial education program. The focus of this financial literacy course is not investment or wealth creation but rather the essentials of money management and the delivery of tools and techniques that will enable participants to achieve their financial goals. This financial literacy course consisting of five two hour sessions. The content of this course also allows participants to undertake the six units required for the qualification FNS10115 Certificate I in Financial Services.

 These units are:

• FNSFLT201 Develop and use a personal budget
• FNSFLT202 Develop and use a savings plan
• FNSFLT203 Develop understanding of debt and consumer credit
• FNSFLT204 Develop understanding of superannuation
• FNSFLT205 Develop understanding of the Australian financial system and markets
• FNSFLT206 Develop understanding of taxation

Frida 27 August is Wear it Purple Day

Wear it Purple Day is an annual LGBTIQA+ awareness day especially for young people, based in Australia. 

A yearly awareness and visibility campaign, it’s a chance for the whole community – LGBTQIA+ folks and straight allies – to celebrate the spirit of LGBTQIA+ youth.

It’s a day of fundraising, events, fun, LOTS OF PURPLE, and building each other up. Especially queer young people.

Wear it Purple began in 2010, after a global response to news stories of bullying and harassment and its impact on LGBTQIA+ teenagers, including a number who took their own life. The community came together in response – first with overwhelming grief, then by acting with a day of support, education, and fundraising.

If you would like to support this cause, I invite you to either send a photo of you wearing purple to the Instagram Page @sasc_student_wellbeing and it will be posted to our Instagram page on Friday 27 August. (if you do not have Instagram but still wish for your photo to go up on Instagram, please send it through to jessica.brogan@education.vic.gov.au

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This article is the third in a series designed to help you make the most of Compass’s functions. Knowing how to use Compass will make it easier for you to do things such as consenting to excursions, paying for different school activities, and checking on your child’s academic progress through assessment marks and progress reports.

The last article focused on understanding the Compass interface – that is, what it looks like once you log in. This article shows you where to go if you need a new student card.

If your child has lost their student card, had it stolen, or broken it and needs a new one, this must be ordered through Compass. Please note that our front office staff are unable to create a new one for you. Please be aware that Compass will also charge a fee to replace this card.

1. To access this feature, please log into Compass.
2. Go to the small cog that indicates ‘Tools’ in the top right-hand corner of your home page.
3. Click on this to see the dropdown menu below.
4. Go to the entry ‘My CompassIdentity Card’ and follow the instructions to order a new Compass card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you all know, MAC is at a bit of a standstill as is the rest of Melbourne. This year’s MAC team was one rehearsal out from the first performance and the PAC lies empty with all the sets, costumes, lights, sounds and instruments. It is our hope that we can return to school on September 3 and put in two days of rehearsal to get the show back on track and perform it to staff and students. Regrettably, it seems that performing live to the families will not be possible this year. However, we hope to make a high quality recording which will be available to purchase for a small fee.

We are very proud of this year’s group, as they have shown such perseverance, resilience, support for each other and of course talent! It is a beautiful show and Shakespeare’s story comes alive with this cast. The musicians have also done an amazing job to bring many well-known tunes to life and they are an accomplished ensemble. We have several backstage students who have provided the pillars of this show. So many are in year 12 and have shown real talent and skill in the area. The team are professional and although I do not like to single out students, I would like to recognize the work of Iris Wen as our efficient and organized stage manager, Calvin Pham and John Pham who are expert lighting operators, Jennifer Kn and Natalie Nguyen who have demonstrated fine technical and problem solving skills in managing the mic plot. We are very lucky to have so many year 12s involved in all aspects of this production and we hope they get a product after all their hard work. Let us keep this year’s ‘dream’ alive!

Janet McKenzie – Director

Last month the House Team ran a colouring in competition to supports NAIDOC week 2021. NAIDOC week is our chance to celebrate and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, history and achievements. House points were awarded for both participation and place winners. Thank you to everyone who participated and sent in entries.

This term, three year nine students, Elizabeth Tran, Tyrese Tanoa and Cindy Vu, are attending the School for Student Leadership program at the Alpine School Campus in Dinner Plain. They have written the following article to share their experience with our school community.

The School for Student Leadership Program by Elizabeth, Tyrese and Cindy

Our experience while living at the Alpine School has been full of new opportunities, which we would not have received while studying at St Albans. We are living with 40 students from all around Victoria and we share a room with someone who comes from a different area to us. This means that the SASC students are paired with students from country schools.

The classes do not just focus on academic subjects but also on topics about identity and self with themes like racism, sexism and why people have stereotypes discussed during classes. We have learnt about a variety of ways to improve our mental health and wellbeing, as well as how to mingle better with other people and different leadership styles. Another key part of the program is skiing. Skiing is a big thing here and we all participate in cross-country and downhill skiing during the week.

The schedule is quite compact, with strict guidelines. We go to sleep at 9:30pm and wake up at 6:30am. There are a total of 3 classes, morning, afternoon and night and in between these classes we have mealtimes, DEARR (drop everything and read and reflect) for 30 minutes as well as a large slot of free time for anything from laundry to showers. The most challenging thing upon arrival was adjusting to these times, as they are so different to back home.

Finally, to any year 8 students that are considering signing up for the program next year, please do it, you will not regret it, we promise.

Elizabeth, Cindy & Tyrese

 

Due to the lockdowns, we are currently experiencing, the Alumni Sessions had to cancel or postponed. We are hopeful we’ll run these sessions later in the term, and alumni order will be restored.

Our Year 7s and 8s can look forward to a coding demonstration and a talk about women in STEM by the wonderful Jacqui Musiov ’10. Alumni are also in the process of lining up guests to speak with our MYLNS students about the importance of literacy and numeracy skills in the workplace.  We ran one of these sessions in Term 1, which proved popular with the students. 

Members from our alumni community were invited to participate in the Year 10 Speed Careering Day that was to be held on the 17, hopefully this is another popular event that we can run later in the term, which is now fast approaching. The alumni involved expressed how much they had enjoyed the day when they were students, and they were keen to offer our current students a similar experience.

I’d like to share with you a picture that I made for the Alumni Program social pages this week.  It is designed to reflect how the Alumni Program can bring together former and current students, and for all of you to understand the exchange that takes place.  Of course, the ‘You’ isn’t you if you are a student, you are most definitely the student – for the time being!