Edition 1, Term 4 2021
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From the Principal
The holidays brought with them disruptive behaviour from both people and the elements. Amidst civil discomfort, COVID-19’s grip has tightened on us in Victoria. It was also a moment of some concern when the earth started shaking due to an earthquake that occurred and disrupted our normally docile environment. It actually occurred very close to our Licola Outdoor Education property, though no one was present at Licola at the time. It seemed to be a little bit of a metaphor for the challenging times that we are in. An earthquake’s very nature is disruptive, and physically and emotionally we are challenged by the change in the status quo that major events, and a pandemic, bring.
There is no doubt that the ongoing challenges of the COVID environment have continued to disrupt. We are keenly aware that there are families whose financial security has been disrupted. The education of our students – our most important function, of course, alongside their care has also been disrupted. What has not changed is the commitment from the school to do our best to be able to look after everybody involved. Like last year we have continued to run and improve our online education for our students. Like last year, we have also continued to support our staff employment wherever possible.
As we move into Term 4 and into the last weeks of our Year 12s onsite, we do so with a fairly messy background of re-entry for various year levels across the school. There are also restrictions that will continue to be in place around matters such as parent access to the site, the lack of sport, an inability to meet in large groups and a need for us to be able to ensure that all about classrooms and learning spaces are well ventilated. As you would expect, we have been preparing the school during the holiday break for exactly these new measures and, including outdoor classrooms, have lots of spaces that we are committed to ensuring are appropriate for a COVID normal operation. My sincere thanks go to our maintenance and grounds teams who have worked very hard to ensure we will be well placed.
Adrian Farrer
Principal
From the Junior School
Welcome back to school everyone.
While it won’t be the traditional start to Term 4, as we look to return to the classroom in a couple of weeks, the boys will return with mixed feelings. On the one hand we have the countdown for our Year 6 boys who will soon move on from the Junior School. There will be some excitement for the events that we hope to get up and running to celebrate the end of one journey, and then there’s the commencement of another. While the Year 6s begin their transition to the Senior School, there’s the ELC students who will orientate towards Prep. Every other year level starts to anticipate the excitement of what’s to come in their following year. There will also be a little sadness as we bid farewell to a select few.
This year we have postponed the Junior School Art Exhibition to Week 7, Tuesday 16 November and it will be held online given the current circumstances. It is often considered a favourite calendar item, and while it won’t be held in person, I do hope parents take the opportunity to go online and receive a burst of creativity and colour and see some joy brought to the community.
This can be a term where everyone starts to feel the cumulative effects of the year, particularly given the disruptions that we have all experienced. Many find themselves a little tired and certainly ready for the Christmas school holiday break. I want to continue to thank our dedicated staff in advance for the long hours of preparation needed to make this term special and successful for the boys and their families.
When boys do return to school, they are required to wear their summer uniform to and from school. Please remember that all boys must wear a broad-brimmed hat during playtime throughout Term 4. However, before you put the winter uniform away for the season, I would like to remind our Year 6 parents that the boys need their winter uniform (Best Dress) for different activities throughout Term 4 such as the Year 6 Graduation Dinner and the Junior School Presentation Night. All boys from Years 3 to 6 will wear their winter uniform on the evening of Thursday 2 December for the Years 3-6 Presentation Night unless otherwise advised by the school.
Staff announcements for Term 4
We welcome Mrs Sarah Cuskelly who has been appointed as the Personal Assistant to the Head of Junior School. Mrs Cuskelly will be working alongside Mrs Simankowicz in the Junior School office so please make her feel welcome the next time you visit.
Enjoy the term everyone!
Grant Nalder
Head of Junior School
From the Senior School
Welcome to Term 4. I hope that all students and families had an opportunity to relax over the holiday period.
GAT
After several delays, the General Achievement Test (GAT) took place on Tuesday 5 October. When students arrived to complete the GAT, there certainly was a sense of excitement about being back on campus. We congratulate our students on how positive they have remained throughout this extended lockdown period and we look forward to assisting our Year 12 students to complete their year in a very positive way.
We look forward to welcoming our remaining students to campus as restrictions are eased in the coming weeks.
Mental Health Week
Mental Health Week runs from the 9 – 17 October. Trinity is running a program for students and parents to promote positive mental health. Students will be hearing from guest speakers and organisations such as Headspace during the week. There will also be a range of activities run for students to enhance their wellbeing. For parents, there will be a special Partnering with Parents event on Thursday 14 October at 7.00pm. Nic Newling who is an outspoken advocate for suicide prevention and mental health will be sharing his personal story with Trinity Grammar School, Kew parents. You can read more about Nic via his website http://www.nicnewling.com/ and access the event HERE.
Susan Hill
Deputy Principal, Head of Senior School
Enhanced Learning
Competitions and Announcements
During Term 3, many of our students participated in numerous virtual academic competitions and challenges. Below are a number of reports and student achievements from mathematics and coding competitions, as well as information about the latest issue of The Trinity Inquirer, a student-led magazine.
Congratulations to all students involved, both for their perseverance and outstanding results.
Extension and enrichment programs for all subjects offered at Trinity Grammar School, Kew can be found on MyTGS here.
More competitions can also be found at Opportunitree, a website offering many co-curricular opportunities, created by Larry Pang (Year 12).
Students interested in participating in any competition or who have any questions regarding competitions, can email me here.
International Maths Olympiad (IMO)
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical competition for pre-university students. More than 100 countries, representing over 90% of the world’s population, send teams of up to six students.
The content ranges from extremely difficult algebra and pre-calculus problems to problems on branches of mathematics not conventionally covered at school and often not at university level either.
After months of rigorous training to compete in this year’s IMO, the Australian team placed 18th in the competition, and gold medallist Hadyn Tang (Year 12 Co-Captain of Academics) was Australia’s highest ranked IMO competitor, coming in at 24th out of 619 competitors.
Congratulations to Hadyn on his exceptional achievement in this most prestigious event. Hadyn is now Australia’s second-most successful IMO contestant with two ‘golds’ and two ‘silvers’ across five years of competing.
He is an outstanding young mathematician and a great role model for all students. Well done, Hadyn!
Australian Mathematical Olympiad Committee (AMOC) Senior Contest
The 2021 AMOC Senior Contest took place on 17 August, bringing together some of the finest young problem-solvers from around the country in this invitation-only competition organised by the Australian Maths Trust (AMT).
This contest is a major part of the Australian Maths Trust’s Olympiad program. It is used to identify talented students who may be invited to the AMOC’s School of Excellence in December, which is an important step in the pathway to representing Australia at such international events as the International Mathematical Olympiad.
This year, three students from Trinity Grammar School, Kew were invited to participate in the AMOC Senior Contest – Enda Han (Year 11), Eason Yang (Year 8) and Matthew Lo (Year 8). Congratulations Eason Yang on achieving a Perfect Score and a Gold Award and to Enda Han for achieving a Silver Award.
We look forward to seeing them qualify to represent Australia in future international events.
Mathematical Challenge for Young Australians (MCYA) – Challenge Stage
The Mathematical Challenge for Young Australians (MCYA) – Challenge Stage is run by the Australian Maths Trust (AMT) and is a problem-solving challenge conducted over three to four consecutive weeks.
Students from the Year 7 and 8 Mathematics enrichment classes participated in this challenge.
They were required to complete a problem set of six questions of which each had several parts and required creative and analytical thinking.
Congratulations to the students listed below for achieving High Distinctions and Distinctions in this most challenging problem-solving competition.
Year 7 and 8 MCYA Challenge Results
High Distinction
Jack Lauder – 7, Hayden Randle – 7, James Sonnemann – 7, Uwaez Aguss – 8, Thomas Chan – 8, Liam Chuen - 8, Leo Guo – 8, John Hargrove – 8, Oliver Li – 8, Matthew Lo – 8, William McDougall – 8, Chris Qiu – 8, Sam Shaw – 8, Benjamin Silva – 8, Kevin Wang – 8, Caleb Wong – 8, Eason Yang – 8
Distinction
Yida Fang – 7, Jerry Hao – 7, Sean Lee – 7, Timothy Ma – 7, Anthony Papaleo – 7, Alex Twigg – 7, Colin Zhou – 7, Anagha Bhan – 8, Samuel Cassidy – 8, Bill Chen – 8, Jacob Lai – 8, Aaron Lam – 8, Alexander Lee – 8, Leo Min – 8, Yuxiang Peng – 8, Benjamin Rosenberg – 8, Aadi Sarode – 8, Kieran Soesanto – 8, Benjamin Wall – 8, Austin Wells – 8, Lachlan Williams – 8, Michael Wu – 8, Jason Xu – 8, Zac Yong – 8, Bryan Zheng – 8
Year 7-10 Virtual State-wide MAV Maths Games Days
This year, two teams participated at each of the Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 Virtual State-wide Maths Games days run by the Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV).
All students involved had a great day working collaboratively in their teams to solve problems creatively and under timed conditions.
A list of all participants, results and highlights of the day are shown below.
Congratulations to all teams for achieving a place in the top-10 schools and for achieving a Gold Award at Year 8, two Silver Awards at Years 9 and 10 and a Bronze Award at Year 9.
Year 7, 26 Schools, 38 Teams
Trinity Team B (5th place) Jerry Chao, Jack Lauder, Timothy Ma, Hayden Randle.
Trinity Team A (8th place) Joshua Solomon, Ahilan Sudheshan, Christopher Kim, Adtharsh Nishakar
Year 8, 23 Schools, 42 Teams
Trinity Team B (1st place) Matthew Lo, Oliver Li, Yuxiang Peng, Caleb Wong
Trinity Team A (8th place) Alexander Lee, Sam Shaw, Eason Yang, Jay Zhao
Year 9, 18 Schools, 25 Teams
Trinity Team B (2nd place) Suhan Piratheepan , Edward Peng , Isaac Tian , Eric Liang
Trinity Team A (6th place) Samhith Kodali, Evan Liu, Alexander Chieng, Andrew Zhang
Year 10, 10 Schools, 19 Teams
Trinity Team A (2nd place) Michael Fan , Daniel Marcou, William Johnson, Rahul Doloi
Andrew Liu, Alastair Murphy, Jacob Zhang, Dulnith Samaraweera
The Trinity Inquirer Issue 5 2021 is out now!
The Editors of The Trinity Inquirer are proud to present the fifth issue of this student-led publication. In this issue, take a look back on National Science Week, enter the metaphysical realm of literature, and read about why every now and then, you should stop and smell the roses. You can also read about VCE Literature, Trinity’s Academic Society of Astronomy, available online courses and upcoming competitions, solve a Hashiwokakero logic puzzle and discover an online resource to learn more about historical events and figures, view artworks in great detail and even take a virtual holiday.
The Trinity Inquirer - Issue 5 can now be viewed and downloaded here.
As this is the last issue of The Trinity Inquirer for 2021, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all those involved in its production, and in particular the 2021 Year 12 Co-Captains of Academics and Chief Editors of The Trinity Inquirer, James Liu and Hadyn Tang, for their outstanding work and leadership!
It has been a pleasure working with them and witnessing the production of yet another high calibre and informative magazine, which encourages students to become inquirers and pursue their learning beyond the school curriculum.
We wish James and Hadyn every success in their future endeavours.
Angela Kotsiras
Extension and Enrichment Programs Coordinator
From the Music School
Music News
Music students have successfully resumed online classroom/instrumental lessons and various sectional ensemble rehearsals. Many students have also already recorded their parts for virtual performances to be incorporated in end of year events – well done!
I encourage all students and parents to remember that listening to music/playing an instrument and singing are wonderful ways to relieve stress, to focus the mind on a creative task, and to engage and stimulate the whole brain. We certainly miss rehearsing and performing together, but hopefully these activities will resume in the near future.
AMEB exams will now take the form of video repertoire (for those enrolled who wish to pursue the exam).
Good wishes to all for the final term of music making!
2021 Suzuki Graduates
Congratulations to the following boys who have completed their Suzuki graduation on Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano.
Candidates make a recording of set repertoire with either pre-recorded piano accompaniment in the case of the strings, or a live performance with pianist. All performances must be from memory. The emphasis is on improving the quality of the playing, not merely the repertoire level. Auditors report on various aspects of the performance most notably quality of tone, resonant intonation, musicianship, and confidence in performance.
Note that some boys have achieved more than one level, and in the case of one boy, multiple levels on two instruments. We congratulate all the boys, their families, and teachers, and extend our encouragement to those who will graduate next year.
Violin
Level 1 – Gavotte from the opera, Rosine RH318, Gossec
Ethan Peng, Year 3
Matthew Chen, Year 3
Laurence Lee, Year 3
Jeremy Lee, Year 3
Yi Yan Lee, Year 2
David Wang, Year 3
Connor Tang, Year 2
Kevin Sun, Year 2
Level 2 – Minuet in G from 6 Minuets, No 2, WoO 10, Beethoven
Eddie Joyce, Year 5
David Wang, Year 3
Level 3 – Bourree from the Suite No. 3 in C Major, JS Bach
Joshua Wang, Year 6
Level 4 – Concerto in A minor Op. 3, No 6, RV356, first movement, Anotnio Vivaldi
Heli Chueng, Year 4
Hugo Lie, Year 10
Neil Luo, Year 6
Joshua Wang, Year 6
Level 6 – ‘La Folia’, Op. 5 No. 12, Corelli-Suzuki
Horus Cheung, Year 6
Edwin Hui, Year 6
Level 8 – from the 12 Sonata Accademiche, Op. 2 (No 8), in E minor (complete), Veracini
Angus Wong, Year 10
Viola
Level 1 – Gavotte from the opera, Rosine RH318, Gossec
Michael Wu, Year 8
Level 2 – Gavotte, (complete) attributed to Lully (based on the Rondeau in D minor, Marais, arranged by W. Burmester)
Michael Wu, Year 8
Cello
Level 1 – Minuet No. 2, BVW Anh. 116, Bach
Daniel Chao, Year 3
Jayden Li, Year 3
Evan Ngiam, Year 3
Piano
Level 3 - Sonatina op. 36, no.3, 1st movement, Clementi
Michael Kokkinos, Year 6
Level 4 – Minuets & Gigue from Partita in B flat, BWV 825, Bach
James Tsui, Year 8
Michael Wu, Year 8
Level 5 – Sonatina in F, Anh. 5, No 2 (complete), Beethoven
James Tsui, Year 8
Michael Wu, Year 8
Level 6 – Sonata in C, K545 (complete), Mozart
James Tsui, Year 8
Michael Wu, Year 8
Level 7 – Sonata in A, K331 (complete), Mozart
James Tsui, Year 8
Michael Wu, Year 8
Moirsheen Kelly-Keesing
Suzuki Program Convenor
Suzuki Violin Teacher
Online Recital Series
Kudos to performers!
A variety of online instrumental recitals took place in the final weeks of Term 3.
Congratulations to the following students who performed.
Reece Harrison, Alex Chieng, Connor Strobl, Daniel King, Dante Calcagno, Darcy Stewart, Dean Gallace, Felix Cantale, Leo Cantale, James Viero, Justin Zhu, Kashi Cooper, Kelven Zhang, Liam Chuen, Matthew Grollo, Henry Smith, Tom Ruljancich, Tommy Jones, Hugo Evans, Jackson Murray, Kian Tahghighi Zafarzadeh, Ewan Brown, Max Huyton, Aaron Antonopoulos, Sebastian Edwards, Charlie Hunter-Scott, Harry Johnson, Robinson Zhang, David Chong, Dulnith Samaraweera, Andrew Zhang, Kevin Nimalraj, Lewis Finney, Miles Cerny, Harley Chan, Patrick Chan, Kosta Dokolas, Hunter Gatt, Lucas Guo, Nikhil Hendehewa, Zac Hincksman, Felix Huang, Ruibin Huang, Sean Kim, Justin Liu, Wilson Liu, Joshua Loftes, Timothy Ma, Jonathan Markopoulos, Joshua Michael, Anderson Northwood, Rian Raiden, Frank Roodenburg, Reuben Southern, Aarush Vaddadi, Oliver Wilkie, Ethan Wong, Benjamin Yang-Gaillard.
We applaud their ongoing hard work, practice and passion. Sincere thanks to all performers and their appreciative audience (some of whom tuned in from overseas!).
Thank you to our Instrumental Heads of Department and staff who organised said events, at which extended families were able to share in the excitement of live performance.
One parent wrote:
‘A note of congratulations on a successful clarinet recital; it was wonderful to see the fruition of the boys’ continued practice! We enjoyed the evening and thought it a wonderful way to celebrate music, the arts and the boys’ resilience. And despite what lockdown has thrown at us, a positive of this new online world is that Jonathon’s grandmother, who lives in NSW, was able to watch the performance too (she was very impressed!). So well done and thank you for all the effort you put into keeping the boys connected to “normal” routines.’
Above are a few photos from the night.
VCE Music String Masterclass
On Sunday 22 August, George Koutrouzas (VCE Viola student of Therese McCoppin) attended an online masterclass in preparation for Unit 4 Music Performance studies. He performed Like Crazy – Aaron Minsky and received valuable feedback.
Here is George’s reflection on the event:
‘Participating in the VCE String Masterclass with Elizabeth Sellars provided me with a fantastic opportunity to broaden my knowledge of my musical item and to learn new methods of practice. This masterclass allowed me to delve deeper into the musical characteristics and language of my repertoire and helped me to hone in on key focal points such as dynamics and phrasing. Her input helped me to analyse the pieces performed by the three other participants. I found Elizabeth to be very engaging and encouraging and she provided valuable insight on how to approach and sharpen our individual style of performance. What I found particularly helpful was her advice on thinking of dynamics as a representation of the character of the piece, rather than just viewing dynamics as an expression of volume. I am also very grateful to have been part of a group of participants, as listening to Elizabeth’s feedback of the other performers transferred into invaluable insight of my own repertoire and playing style.’
Michelle Stanic
Director of Music
Technology Reminders
Now, more than ever before, we are reliant on technology to enable us to stay connected to each other, to continue with work, and for our entertainment. It’s vitally important that students keep their school computers up to date (by restarting them daily and installing updates when prompted).
In the event of any problems, families are encouraged to contact the Tech Centre as soon as possible and make use of the extensive warranty and capped repair insurance. Over 80% of repairs are carried out at no cost to families, but if an insurance repair is required then the cost is always capped at $100.
The Tech Centre can be contacted by email via techcentre@trinity.vic.edu.au or by phone on 03 9854 3697. To book a computer in for repair, please visit the Covid information hub and click on IT support details.
Ben Ryder
Director of Innovative Learning
Community Engagement
In Term 4 we usually find ourselves planning for numerous celebratory events that mark the end of the school year and acknowledge the hard work and achievements of so many. Certainly, the hard work and achievements are evident but, unfortunately, however, we will need to find other ways of giving ourselves a much-needed pat on the back.
Although we aren’t currently able to mingle in person, the community spirit is still very much a part of our weekly interactions and aspirations as we make our way through the COVID roadmap. There are plans underway for the Oaks Day Lunch to go ahead at Leonda in November and the Year 12 Valedictory in December. See below for those and other date details.
In some good news for those families in need of bigger size uniforms for their growing children, the Uniform Shop will be running a ‘Click and Collect’ service beginning next week. Keep a lookout for more information via Trinity Connect.
Also, don’t forget to make use of the remaining Deliveroo vouchers. See the link below.
Thank you for your continued support of the school and the TGS community.
Deliveroo
Further to the support received from Deliveroo and the Parents’ Association, we have some additional $15 Deliveroo vouchers available through TryBooking. These are limited in number and will expire 30 October 2021. They can be accessed HERE. We have been so pleased to hear that these vouchers have brought a sense of joy and community to so many during these periods.
Hand sanitiser
Thank you to the Trinity family who donated thousands of bottles of hand sanitiser to the school. These bottles will be available from the Uniform Shop as part of our ‘Click and Collect’ arrangements. We would love to see Trinity families benefit from this generous donation. More information will be sent in the coming days.
Long-serving staff farewells
As you may be aware, we have three long-serving staff leaving us for retirement at the end of the year: Ms Kate Hall (Assistant Principal – Daily Administration), Ms Michelle Stanic (Director of Music) and Mr Rohan Brown.
In this online era, we have created a “Kudoboard” for each staff member. This is a digital message board where you can say farewell/thank you to these staff by adding a note, photo or video. The links are below. Please note current students will also have an opportunity to create a post on a separate board.
Ms Kate Hall https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/oiTQ31Th
Ms Michelle Stanic https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/kV8wU4pA
Mr Rohan Brown https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/HHNsh6AX
Volunteers
Yesterday, an automated email from our contractor/volunteer management provider was sent to all our valued volunteers (and contractors) regarding the COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination Directions. This was a system error and the automated email contained incorrect information. Thank you to the volunteers who brought the matter to our attention.
As a result of the error, many of our registered volunteers uploaded their vaccination certificates. Thank you for doing so. Please be assured that your health information will be stored securely and managed in accordance with privacy laws.
We sincerely apologise for any confusion or inconvenience caused.
Lucy Cohen
Director of Community Engagement
Important Dates**
Wednesday October 6
Onsite Learning for VCE Units 3/4
Saturday October 9
Year 12 Hospitality at William Angliss
Monday October 11
Year 12 Hospitality at William Angliss
Wednesday October 13
Languages (CCAFL) Written Examinations commence
Thursday October 14
Senior School Class Representatives’ Meeting (online)
Saturday October 16
Year 12 Hospitality at William Angliss
Monday October 18
Onsite Learning for Preps (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday)
Year 12 (2022) Leadership School Captain Interviews
Year 12 Hospitality at William Angliss
Tuesday 19 October
Junior School Class Representative Meeting, 9.00am
Details to be advised
Tuesday 26 October
Parents’ Association Meeting, 7.00pm
Details to be advised
Save the date – Friday 26 November
Oaks Day Luncheon – please note change of date
Leonda on the Yarra
More details to come
Monday 6 December
Year 12 Valedictory Evening – please note change of date
Melbourne Cricket Ground
More details to come
**Dates are subject to change following Government announcements on COVID-19 lockdown protocols.