Edition 5, Term 2 2021
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From the Principal
In this edition of Trinity News, I have decided to ‘step aside’ and let one of our fine young people, School Vice-Captain Ethan Orr, provide the message. Writing in this week’s ‘Roxeth’, which goes to our Senior School students, Ethan focused on welcoming our younger students back to school. He gave some wise tips for all students – and I think their families – hence, I have deferred to him.
‘A big welcome back to the boys in Years 7 to 10! It was really strange to be at an empty school and, whilst the shorter cafeteria queues were welcomed, it wasn’t the same without you.
Coming back to school can be challenging, particularly when you’ve spent the equivalent amount of time learning from home as you will get off during the Term 2 school holidays. Just a few weeks ago, I came home exhausted after my first day back from our seven-day stint at home, so I can imagine you may need a couple of days to adjust to school life. When you’re having those rough days, try not to lose track of the fact we are undergoing schooling during a significant world event. During this time, we have been expected to make significant changes to our way of life at short notice. Each of you takes these setbacks in your stride, but they can take a toll. With this in mind, as well as the upcoming exams, I’m going to talk about the need to look after yourself as well as your mates.
Balancing good physical and mental health is very difficult and while these tips admittedly don’t solve everything, they can be a common solution. The need to manage this is particularly important during high stress periods, as may be the case for some of you this coming week. These tips include:
- Exercising
- Getting a good night’s sleep
- Socialising
- Eating well
- Partaking in an activity that makes you happy. That activity for me is mountain biking (although I’m not yet up to scratch to be able to ride with Year 10s Kobe and Sam), but can be as simple as playing your favourite playlist or a video game.
Now that we’re back at school, it’s inherently easier to be more physically and socially active and I know that I’m no longer tempted by the forbidden foods that parents ‘hide’ in the pantry. However, with the commute and classes starting at 8:15 again, it is difficult to get a good night’s sleep and find time to do the things you enjoy. So, during the week, get on the front foot in managing this, ensure that you monitor your need for sleep, exercise and time off and adjust accordingly. Your needs are different to those of your mates, so don’t feel guilty about taking more or less time to keep yourself performing at your best. Now, of course, you do need to put in the work to achieve good marks, but find a balance that is sustainable for you.
I wish you all the best of luck over the coming weeks! And a special lot of good luck to all Year 8s on their Learning Journeys program – embrace all it has to offer and have fun!’
Adrian Farrer
Principal
From the ELC
ELC GRATEFULNESS IN TIMES OF COVID
Unfortunately, COVID is, after more than a year, still among us and disrupting our lives. we feel a great sense of gratitude here at the ELC that our doors remained open during this latest lockdown, allowing our children to continue to learn in the best way they know how, through play and interaction with peers and educators. Normality in routine and structure helps our students make sense of our world and the global happenings.
Two weeks of learning together onsite at the ELC with wonderous collaboration and connection with children and families enabled us to provide rich learning experiences for all our children.
We are grateful.
Naomi Wright
Director of the Early Learning Centre
From the Junior School
Thank you to all families for the contributions you have made to your boys’ learning by assisting their teachers to follow the Distance Learning Programs (DLP). There is no doubt that lockdown 4.0 has been challenging for everyone, especially our boys!
All staff have enjoyed looking through different Seesaw tasks the students submitted and we all particularly enjoyed looking at the entries that were submitted during our RESPECT Day. Here students were set a variety of tasks by Ms MacLean, Mr Savill and Mr Knight and their responses show that their understanding of RESPECT is at a very high level.
I would like to thank all the staff and boys who have continued to learn and work hard during the DLP. In 2020 and 2021, we have experienced how special schools are when they are fully functioning. Although they are very different places when they are not! We teach to connect and build relationships with our students and to see them flourish and grow – learning from a distance really makes this challenging.
It is great to see all the boys and staff back and may 2021 be smooth sailing from here.
Jon Knight
PYP Coordinator
Announcement
Ray Drake has been appointed as the Enhanced Learning Coordinator in the Junior School. This position was vacated by Mrs Miller who resigned at the beginning of Term 2. With Mr Drake taking on this position of responsibility, I am extremely happy to announce that Lucy Truesdale has agreed to take over from Mr Drake and see out the year with the class.
Grant Nalder
Head of the Junior School
Senior School News
2021 Australian Geography Competition
It has been another excellent year for the Trinity students who competed in the Australian Geography Competition, with Trinity finishing joint first in Victoria.
Out of the 293 students who completed the competition, there were 52 High Distinctions, 67 Distinctions and 42 Credits.
Four of our Year 7 boys were in the top 1% in Australia – Ben Brooks, Jack Lauder, Hayden Randle and Alex Twigg. Hayden was also joint highest scorer in Victoria. Two Year 7 boys were in the top 3% in the country – Vihaan Vaddadi and Daniel Xiang.
In Year 8, there was one student in the top 1% in Australia – Nikhil Hendehewa. Six other Year 8 boys – Samuel Cassidy, Bill Chen, Niklas du Toit, Nicholas Semmler, Samuel Shaw and Caleb Wong were in the top 3% in Australia.
In Year 9, there were three students in the top 3% in Australia – Jeff Dai, Evan Liu and Daniel Riccioni.
The Year 11 and 12 category in the competition is also the most difficult. To achieve a high score in this category is particularly impressive. We had three students achieve scores in the top 1% in Australia. Well done to Jonty Fewster, Callum McAuley and Tyson Roberts!
Congratulations to all of these boys on a fantastic achievement.
Paul McAuley
Head of Geography
Learning Journeys Year 8
Today (Wednesday 16 June) we commenced the Learning Journeys Program for 8A, 8B, 8C and 8D. Next week will be 8E, 8F, 8G and 8H. The Victorian lockdown has meant that we have had to move the program to Bulleen and Kew, rather than go to Camp Toolangi. The activities will span three days rather than four days as was planned but many of the same activities can still run at Bulleen. The Year 8 boys are looking forward to the three days, which will complement the Personal Development program at school. In advance, we would like to thank the Old Boys who are helping out, as well as the Form Teachers and Heads of Year. The Year 9 boys will participate in Learning Journeys 9.0 early in Term 3 as they missed out on Learning Journeys last year.
Rohan Brown
Examinations
Examinations for Years 9, 10 and 11 are progressing well. The VCAA GAT (General Achievement Test) for all Year 12 and Year 11 boys studying a Unit 3/4 subject, has been postponed until a date to be determined.
Congratulations
Luke Teal (Year 11) has made the Victorian Metropolitan U17 AFL squad for 2021.
House Update
To close out Semester Two, the current House positions are:
total | position | |
Arnold | 157 | 1 |
Roberts | 154 | 2 |
Hindley | 148 | 3 |
Merritt | 148 | 3 |
Henty | 142 | 5 |
Sutton | 141 | 6 |
Kent Hughes | 140 | 7 |
Cowen | 138 | 8 |
And congratulations to the following students who were House Champions in Swimming and Athletics:
House Swimming Year Level Champions (2021)
Year 7 – Darcy Stewart (Sutton)
Year 8 – Bryan Zheng (Roberts)
Year 9 – Patrick Bian (Kent Hughes)
Year 10 – Mitch Stewart (Sutton)
Year 11 – Noah Rindt (Arnold)
Year 12 – Aidan Butler (Kent Hughes) and Logan Bishop (Hindley)
House Athletics Age Group Champions (2021)
U13 – Joe Sammartino (Henty)
U14 – Will Katic (Merritt)
U15 – Edward Peng (Roberts)
U16 – Alex Johnston (Sutton)
U17 – Givash Pillay (Sutton)
Open – Tom Walker (Merritt)
Susan Hill
Deputy Principal and Head of the Senior School
Music News
From the Music School
Music not only feeds a student’s creative mind, but also helps to maintain a sense of normality, whilst socially distancing during lockdown. For this reason, we are grateful to our instrumental music teachers for their outstanding commitment to providing engaging online lessons. Students continued to learn during the recent lockdown and online music lessons and sectional rehearsals provided many benefits such as the comfort of learning from home, connecting with their instrumental teachers and having parents within ear shot of their lessons.
In the meantime, if you have four minutes to spare, click on the link for an idea worth sharing:
https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain
Michelle Stanic
Director of Music
Student Services
Lost Property
With the end of Term 2 fast approaching, there is quite a large amount of lost property being held in Student Services. As storage space is at a premium, unfortunately we cannot hold on to all items indefinitely. Many families have already received emails notifying them of items to be collected – please remind your son/s to do so prior to the start of the holidays to avoid having these items donated to the Trinity Uniform Shop.
If your son is missing any lunchboxes, water bottles, school books, diaries, sports bags or shoes, please encourage them to visit the Lost Property areas in both the Gym and the Senior School.
We also have quite a collection of casual clothes (tracksuit pants, hoodies etc) that have been left behind at the Bulleen Playing Fields.
Please email Michelle Gregory at GregoryM@trinity.vic.edu.au if there is a particular item you are looking for.
Could we also please remind families of the importance of naming EVERYTHING as this makes it so much easier to return found items to their rightful owner.
Michelle Gregory
Student Services Coordinator
Chaplain’s Chat
Compassion for our Neighbour
There has been a lot of talk about compassion in recent times: three-year-old Tharnicaa, the Australian-born youngest daughter of a Tamil asylum seeker family in immigration dentition on Christmas Island, arrived in Perth after being medically evacuated with a suspected blood infection. She had been extremely sick for 10 days before her evacuation with her mum. Tharnicaa and her older sister Kopika were both born in Australia. Their parents, Priya and Nadesalingam, came to Australia separately by boat in 2012 and 2013.
Karen Andrews is the Minister for Home Affairs and she had this to say, ‘We are very strong as a government and our policy in relation to our border protection. Quite frankly, I am not going to have people dying trying to come to Australia by sea on my watch. I’m not going to open the gates to the people smugglers.’
Now it must be challenging figuring out borders and foreign policy, but where is the compassion for our neighbour? Jesus says: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ This is a hard principal that may be very Christian, but I believe it is an idea that transcends Christianity.
Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’
The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’
Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’
Jesus makes his challenge clear: who is our neighbour? Anyone. What are we to do? Love and have mercy on them. We might not always know what to do or how to help in any given situation, but we can always pray about it, listen to our neighbour and ask them what they need.
There is good news: the family is going to be allowed to remain in Australia for now, because of the public pressure on the Government to let them stay.
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please send a message through Trinity Connect or email me at halej@trinity.vic.edu.au
Have a great week.
Rev’d James Hale
Assistant Chaplain
Community Engagement
The return of students to campus on Friday was a welcome announcement for many and brought back the energy to our buildings that stand meaningless without them. And although there are still many restrictions that guide our daily activities, it is a relief that there is some degree of normalcy to the school day once again.
Most significantly for the parent auxiliary groups was the need to reschedule the Year 12 Formal. We are grateful to those parents who have had to book and rebook many vendors to ensure a wonderful night for the students involved.
This year, Friends of Kayaking celebrate 50 years of Kayaking at Trinity and are planning a dinner to commemorate this significant anniversary at the Studley Park Boathouse on Saturday 14 August. Booking details will be communicated at a later time.
Planning for the Past Staff Lunch is also underway and, COVID pending, this will take place on Thursday 1 July at 12.00pm at the school. We were unable to host this event in 2020 and so it will be lovely to see some familiar faces from times past at this event. You can now book on Trybooking HERE.
Lucy Cohen
Director of Community Engagement
TRINITY TLC COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP
As we navigate through the recent lockdown and related restrictions, it is more important than ever to look out for each other. We are so grateful for your support which has enabled us to provide the school with a constant supply of meals and lunchbox items for distribution to members of our community whenever some TLC is in order.
Thank you so much for your amazing response to our recent Trinity Connect email. We were humbled by the willingness of volunteers who promptly filled the roster for the remainder of the term and by the generosity of cash donations.
What are the cash donations used for? Through your kindness we have recently been able to purchase the following:
- Meals for a family with specific dietary requirements;
- Supermarket vouchers for inclusion in care packages when appropriate; and
- Fruit and snack boxes as an alternative way of providing some TLC. We’d like to give a big shout out to Leaf Hawthorn for their generous support in helping us to make this happen.
If you would like to make a donation please click here.
The roster for Term 3 is now available. If you’re in a position to do so, please click here to join the roster to prepare a meal/lunchbox item on a date which suits you. The notes section of the roster contains some guidelines to provide assistance.
It’s totally up to you what to cook; however, if you’re looking for some inspiration, we can suggest winter warmers such as soups, pies, quiches, casseroles, curries and pasta dishes. If the meal is popular in your family and it freezes well, it will be a perfect TLC meal.
Are you aware of someone who needs some TLC? Please get in touch with Liz Acabado, Community Relations Coordinator () or your son’s Head of School, Head of Year or Form Teacher.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us via email pa@trinity.vic.edu.au if you have any questions.
We are so grateful for all contributions. Thank You.
TLC Community Support Group Committee
Alice Noonan and Angela Gill
Co-Convenors
Heidi Pfeffer and Lisa Williams
Committee
Important Dates
Thursday June 17
Year 11 Examinations conclude
Year 10 Gear Packing
Trinity Uniform Shop 2:00pm- 4:00pm
Friday June 18
Year 11 Unit 2 Classes commence
Years 9-10 Examinations conclude
Year 10 A-D Outdoor Expeditions commence
Year 8A-8D Amended Learning Journeys program concludes
Years 3, 4, and 6 Sport, Bulleen
Monday June 21
Early Finish Senior School – Professional Learning (no Sport, Music or Co-curricular Activities), 2.45pm
Year 10 E-H Work Experience commences
JS Musical Rehearsals, 3.30pm
Tuesday June 22
Arnold House Breakfast and Chapel, 7.15am (Students ONLY)
Trinity Grammar Information Session Prep-Year 12, 9.30am Online
Wednesday June 23
Year 8E-8H Amended Learning Journeys program commences
JS Music Camp commences
Year 12 Souvlaki Lunch
Thursday June 24
JS Music Camp concludes
Friday June 25
Term 2 concludes
Year 8E-8H Amended Learning Journeys program concludes
Year 10 E-H Work Experience concludes
Boarder Exeat 3.30pm
Year 10 A-D Outdoor Expeditions conclude
Saturday 24 July
Year 12 Formal – change of date, San Remo Ballroom