Edition 2, Term 2 – 2019
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EDITORIAL
Happy Mother’s Day!
We hope you enjoy this heartfelt speech which was delivered by School Vice-Captain, Dan McNab at last Thursday’s Headmaster’s Assembly.
As a proud boys’ school, we honour all of the incredible women in our community.
Rev’d Matt Campbell
Senior Chaplain and Director of Wellbeing and Pastoral Care
Headmaster’s Assembly – Thursday 16 May 2019: Transcript of speech delivered by Dan McNab, School Vice-Captain
This coming Sunday, I’m sure many of you will be planning on going out for breakfast or lunch, having a home-cooked meal with family or spending the day with your mothers and grandmothers. Sunday is Mother’s Day – a day to recognise and think about all things great about our mums and thank them for being there for us. In preparation for Mother’s Day I had a think about my relationship with my mum and given I’m turning 18 this year, about my last Mother’s Day as a child. It’s not often you stop and think about this relationship, in fact, I think it’s probably the first time I ever have. My mum has always been there for me; a rock whom I can lean on when things are good, and bad. She knows what to say when I’m upset and she definitely knows how to keep me on my toes when I’m talking myself up too much. My mum is one of my best friends and has the same sense of humour as me; at times there are jokes between us two that even my friends don’t understand. And let’s be honest, she’s already working miracles in dealing with my younger brother Roy…
I’m sure you’re sitting there listening to this and wondering why on earth I’m saying all these things about my mum – someone who I’m sure you don’t even know. The reason for all of this is because I can imagine all of you in this room would have a similar relationship with your mum. I can imagine that your mum is also the person you lean on when you’re having a tough time; I can imagine that she’s the one who keeps you in check when you’re getting ahead of yourself, and I’m sure there are things you’ve laughed about with your mum that no one else would get. Our mums are irreplaceable, and the relationship that mothers have with their sons is one of the most unique things on this earth.
Earlier in the week, I was watching Kevin Durant’s MVP acceptance speech from 2014. Durant, a supremely talented basketballer who will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time, gave a nine-minute speech, in which he thanked his team, teammates, and spoke about how and when his love for basketball developed. After seven minutes of thanking everyone, he stopped and said: ‘…and now my mum’. With tears streaming down his face and a tremor in his voice, he then spent the next two minutes thanking his mum for all the sacrifices that she made, all the nights she went hungry and the resilient life that she led as a 21-year-old single mother with two young children. The most touching moment of the speech was at the end when he said to his mum: ‘You are the real MVP.’
No mention of the lifetime of saving he achieves from his sponsorship deals, no mention of how good of a player he is, but two minutes crying about his mum. Now I know I can’t put myself in Kevin Durant’s position nor can I compare my very fortunate upbringing to the poor and miserable conditions that Durant and his family had to put up with. Yet the message somehow resonated with me. The sacrifices that my mum makes every day to make me a better person, the nights that she stays up to keep working to make sure that I can go to this school and lead the life I live. Regardless of whether you live in Kew, Melbourne or Oklahoma City, USA, regardless of whether you are a 6’11” basketballer balling out in the NBA or a Year 8 just trying to get their Maths homework done – where would we be without our mums?
This Sunday I’ll be going to lunch with my mum and grandma to celebrate everything amazing about these women in my life. I’ll be laughing and smiling hearing good stories as we progress through the generations. Either mum or grandma will probably tell me for the hundredth time about how my dad almost missed my birth because he went for a walk and just made it back in time.
But for some this Sunday may not be as happy. Unfortunately, there are boys whose mothers and grandmothers are no longer with us. Sunday is a day for us to recognise the role that all women play in our lives, whether they are aunts or grandmothers, mothers or sisters, cousins or girlfriends, teachers or family friends. Thank them for everything they do in making our lives better and, in many ways, acting as mothers.
I hope Sunday will be as special for you as it will for me, but don’t wait for one Sunday every year to tell your Mum you love her. Go home, and give your mum a hug, say I love you and thank her for everything she does, because each day should be Mother’s Day. Let’s never forget how important they are to us. Enjoy lunch on Sunday, but don’t wait until this time next year to be the next time you tell your mum you love her; let her know she is the real MVP.
JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS
National Tour of Billy Elliot
Congratulations to James Sonnemann in Year 5 who was recently been cast in the national tour of Billy Elliot – The Musical. James will be playing the character of Michael. We wish him all the very best with the role.
SENIOR SCHOOL NEWS
House Athletics
The annual House Athletic Sports were held last Tuesday in brilliant sunshine at Duncan Mackinnon Reserve, Murrumbeena. As well as the usual athletics events, there was a ‘TrinAthlon’ event where every boy ran 100m, completed a long Jump and threw a Vortex.
It was a terrific day. Thank you to Diana Salvitti, Senior Head of House, the Heads of House and the Captains of Houses for organising the event.
The overall results are as follows:
- Roberts
- Cowen
- Arnold
- Sutton
- Kent Hughes
- Merritt
- Henty
- Hindley
Triple Colours
Congratulations to the following five boys who were presented with Triple Colours at last Thursday’s Headmaster’s Assembly.
- St John Barter-Waters
- Matthew Hatzikostas
- Dougal Konstantopoulos
- Harris Plowman
- Douglas Warren
The following boys were also acknowledged for their Leadership in the School as Prefect or School Officers.
Officers: Ben Abrahams, Anthony Apos, Sam Baldwin, Thomas Bugno, Louis Davidson, Sithum Devendra, Isaac Holberton, Matthew Kiernan, Luke Milner, Peter Roberts, Ben Simpson, Darcy Storey, James Watson
Prefects: Ben Cook, Nethum Devendra, Oliver Gow, David Greig, Ned Grimsey, Sean Larkin, Thomas McKie, Joshua McLeod, Sam Pilkington, Nicholas Pizzey, Tom Stewart, Nicholas Torrance, Hao Xu
Generations in Jazz
The Stage Band and Big Band competed in the Generations in Jazz festival held in Mt Gambier last weekend. Over 5500 students participated in this event, the largest student jazz festival in Australia.
Tenor saxophonist Nethum Devendra was selected to be in the Superband in acknowledgement of his performance. Well done to all the boys who participated, and to Mr Jamie Ransome, Head of Brass, Woodwind and Bands.
German Year 7 Film Event
Last week, our Year 7 German classes combined for a special activity under the guidance of Dr Ben Nickl from The University of Sydney. The students were divided into four groups and were asked to pick a scene from the film Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom), which they then scripted, rehearsed and performed in front of their classmates. The students showed great courage by performing in another language and were very supportive of one another. All students received a small reward in the form of a baked German pretzel for their enthusiastic participation.
Maria Hohlweg
German Teacher
Careers Newsletter
Please click here to access the most recent careers newsletter.
Information Night for European Hockey Tour 2020
Proposed Dates: 29 March – 14 April 2020
Destinations: England, Belgium and The Netherlands
The tour is open to players in Years 9-12 (2020), and will culminate in the World Field Hockey Culminating in the WFHC Field Hockey Tournament in Hoorn over the Easter weekend.
An Information Evening will be held on Wednesday 19 June 2019 at 7.00pm in the Arnold Hall Lecture Theatre
Chess Victoria Tournament at Marcellin
Last Monday, Lachlan Chen, Andrew Liu, Tim Le, Aaron Zhang, Suhanayan Piratheepan, Samhith Kodali, Said Al Wardi, Yazid Al Wardi and Alexander Groves represented Trinity in the Chess Victoria Zonals.
The tournament took place at Marcellin College, and our boys were pitted against some very tough competitors. Each of our players completed seven matches, and was paired against an opponent on the same amount of wins. This made getting a high score very difficult.
The Trinity teams represented themselves admirably. Special mentions to Lachlan Chen scoring 6 out of 7 (fourth highest score on the day), and Andrew Liu and Tim Le who both scored 5 points.
Congratulations to the boys from Team 1 who managed to qualify for the State Finals.
Michael Burke
Maths Teacher
Debating
Round 3 in the inter-school debating competition was held on Monday 13 May. Our boys debated topics such as ‘That we should ban private cars’ and ‘That we should increase the minimum wage’. Best Speaker prizes were awarded to: Alvin Doan, Max Yakubowski, Finn Horan, Tom Denovan, Stephan Mack, James Liu, Haydn Tang, Arthur Bradley, Simon Patterson and Olek Beavis. Congratulations to these boys!
Good luck to our debaters for Round 4 which will be held at Camberwell Boys’ Grammar School on Monday 24 June.
Registration for the Junior Secondary Debating competition for boys in Years 7 and 8 will be held on Monday 20 May at lunchtime in Room CE4. No previous debating experience required – just a commitment and eagerness to learn!
The competition will be held at Trinity Grammar School in Term 3 on the following nights:
- Thursday 22 August
- Thursday 29 August
- Thursday 5 September
- Thursday 12 September
Rima Khallouf
Head of Debating
MUSIC NEWS
Congratulations to Angus Wong (Year 8 violin student of Moirsheen Kelly-Keesing), who has been invited to perform at the East Tennessee State University Suzuki Institute Honours Recital in June. Angus has also been awarded a scholarship to attend a musicianship program with Rebecca Lile Paluzzi and Mr Toshio Takahashi, both highly esteemed Suzuki educators.
Music Scholars’ Concert
Congratulations to the students who performed at the Music Scholars’ Concert last Wednesday night. It was a wonderful concert much appreciated by the audience. Thank you to all the accompanists who supported the students on the night.
Term 2 Music Recitals
Students are warmly invited to perform in Term 2 recitals to be held on Tuesday 21 May, Thursday 30 May or Tuesday 11 June. This is an excellent opportunity for students to refine their performance prior to VCE recitals or Round 2 AMEB examinations. Siegfried Franke will be available to accompany students at the recital and rehearse with performers during lunchtime that day. Interested participants should contact Therese McCoppin to register their interest.
May Concert
The Trinity Grammar School May Concert will be held on Tuesday 28 May at 7.00pm in the MLC Assembly Hall, MLC, Barkers Road, Kew. The Symphony Orchestra, Senior Strings, Trinity Strings, Suzuki Strings, Senior and Middle School Choirs, Mitre Band, and Symphonic Wind will all perform. Parents, siblings, family and friends are all warmly invited to attend. No tickets are required.
Music Tour to Italy – 2020
A Music Tour to Italy is proposed for the Term 3 holidays in 2020; students currently in Years 7 – 10 are invited to express their interest. All students will form a choir and from this group instrumental ensembles will be formed – rehearsals will commence in 2020. The students will engage in performances and workshops, and visit some of the world’s most beautiful and historic locations. An information night will be held in the Music School in Term 3, 2019. Please contact the Music School to express interest in joining what will be an experience to last a lifetime!
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Thank you
Thank you to our Trinity Shop Volunteer Coordinators, Carolyn Crouch, Juli Moran, Kylie Oliver and Susan Lane, who facilitate the opening of the Trinity Shop for our parent community throughout the year. Special thanks also to the volunteers who worked on Saturday 4 May at the special POP UP sale: Juli Moran, Carolyn Crouch, Susan Lane, Georgina McKay, Gabrielle Baron, Kate Curnow and Jane King. This service was put in place at very short notice to enable our parents to update the boys’ wardrobes for the House Athletics Carnival.
The Trinity Shop enables parents to purchase secondhand uniform items at heavily discounted prices. Proceeds from the sales are used for special projects within the School for the benefit of the boys.
I encourage all parents to get involved with the Trinity Shop by volunteering, donating items or by just making purchases.
Phil De Young
Headmaster
Junior School Mother’s Day Breakfast
The Junior School Mother’s Day Breakfast was held on Friday morning, with 230 mothers and sons in attendance. The room looked absolutely gorgeous, and the entertainment gave the event so much energy and hilarity. We are very grateful to the Junior School Class Rep Coordinators, Sarah Makris and Melissa Gallace, for organising such a special breakfast for our mothers and their sons.
Kathy Hines
Acting Director of Development & Community Relations
Harambee Candles
Harambee candles are still able to be purchased from Hudson House and the Junior and Senior School offices or via TryBooking.
Cost: $35.00 each
RSVP: trybooking.com/BCJHO
Trinity Shop
Donations (washed and pressed) for the Trinity Shop may be dropped off at Reception during business hours.
We always appreciate new volunteers and training will be provided. Should you wish to assist, please contact our parent roster volunteer, Susan Lane.
We will next open on:
Thursday 23 May: 2.00pm – 4.00pm
- Pricing: Juli Moran, Debbie Browning, Janice Bland and Jenny Bennett
- Sales: Deborah Hunt, Dianne Distefano, Vesna Xenitellis
Thursday 6 June: 2.00pm – 4.00pm
- Pricing: Carolyn Crouch, Sushil Bedi, Kate Curnow
- Sales: Robyn Walker, Annette DalSasso, Louise Ross
Thursday 20 June: 2.00pm – 4.00pm
- Pricing: Juli Moran, Jane King, Catriona Wells
- Sales: Libby Stobie, Elizabeth Trott, Kate Jennings, Susan Lane
Trinity Café
Thank you to all parents who have signed up for Café duty. There are still many opportunities to assist, so please consider helping out if you can.
To sign up for Term 2 please click here. Duty runs from 9.30am through to 1.30pm (approx.). Please contact Carol-Ann for more information.
Upcoming Events
Saturday 18 May, 7.00pm
Trinity Ball
Venue: The Glasshouse, Olympic Boulevard Melbourne
Wednesday 22 May, 9.00am
Year 7 Grandparents and Special Friends Morning
Venue: South Room, Centre for the Arts
RSVP:trybooking.com/BCOSX
Wednesday 29 May, 7.00am
Truth and Reconciliation Breakfast
Venue: South Room, Centre for the Arts
Cost: Adult Breakfast: $35, Student Breakfast: $20
RSVP: trybooking.com/BCLOD
Thursday 30 May, 7.45pm
Year 7B and 7D Mothers’ Dinner
Venue: Hellenic Republic, Kew
Cost: $67 per person
RSVP:trybooking.com/BCMYQ
Saturday 1 June 7.00pm
Year 4 Parents’ Night Out
Venue: Holla Food & Drink, 284 Victoria St Richmond
Cost: $42.00
RSVP: trybooking.com/BBZTM by Friday 24 May