Newsletter Edition 4, Term 4 2022
MENU: From the Principal | From the Junior School | From the Senior School | Music | Chaplain’s Chat | Community Engagement
From the Principal
Congratulations to the Trinity community, led by the Parents’ Association and the Community Engagement team, for the resounding success of the Founders’ Day Fair on Sunday. We evaded unwelcome weather and enjoyed gathering as a community. The effort that went into organising the day was tremendous, and the varied offerings enabled people of all ages to enjoy themselves and benefit from each other’s company. Our ‘volunteer army’ included students, staff, alumni, families and past parents. Whether it was food, fun or fundraising, the various elements came together to ensure a very friendly day of community. I sincerely thank everyone involved.
Student Leadership – 2023
I am pleased to advise you that the following students have been selected as the key School leaders for 2023:
School Captain: Michael Fan
School Vice-Captain: Jack Carey
School Vice-Captain: Henri du Toit
School Vice-Captain: Will Johnson
School Vice-Captain: Ben Noonan
After voting by students and staff, it was an impressive field that assembled to be interviewed by two panels of senior staff members. All were very high calibre candidates and those chosen will undoubtedly lead well on behalf of them all. The processes to determine the next raft of leadership positions, and Junior School positions, are currently underway.
Staff Leadership Appointments – 2023
We will have a few additions to our school’s Senior Leadership Team next year. Responding to the key platforms of the Strategic Plan, we will introduce newly imagined roles in the area of Wellbeing and Leadership, and we have also appointed a new Director of Teaching and Learning. Please find an introduction to our latest appointments below.
Stephanie Walton – Director of Teaching and Learning
We welcome Stephanie who will join us in 2023 from Melbourne Girls Grammar School where she is the Director of Teaching and Learning Years 7 to 12. Stephanie has a Master of Education – Leadership and Organisation and a Master of Teaching in Humanities and Psychology, and brings exceptional knowledge of pedagogy given her work as a Course Coordinator in the Master of Teaching program at Melbourne Graduate School of Education.
Catherine Brandon – Director of Wellbeing
We are very pleased to have Catherine joining us in this reimagined role encompassing both student and staff wellbeing programs across the School. Currently the Director of the Genazzano Institute, Catherine is a specialist in the design of wellbeing programs. As an experienced and qualified psychologist, she has a Master of Educational Psychology, is an Endorsed Specialist in Educational & Developmental Psychology and is a Psychology Supervisor (AHPRA), and a Fellow of the College of Educational & Developmental Psychologists (APS). Catherine is also an author in the wellbeing area with her own book Introduction to Sports Psychology and co-author of Thinking Skills for Peak Performance: Unleash Your Potential along with other books and numerous published articles.
Lauren Borschmann – Director of Leadership
Into this, the other reimagined role at Senior Leadership, we welcome Lauren who is currently the Dean of Middle Years at Xavier College. Aligned with the new strategic plan, Lauren will work to audit and align our existing student leadership programs, develop staff leadership and continue the work of advancing and fostering leadership culture across the School. Lauren has attained a Masters in Instructional Leadership and will bring her research driven approach to this role combined with her experience across all dimensions of school leadership gleaned from her work in her current and previous roles in education.
Adrian Farrer
Principal
From the Junior School
The end of Term 4 is always an exciting time in any school environment, with summer holidays just around the corner, Christmas looming, and the calendar filled with myriad events. The past few weeks have been no exception with boys from ELC to Year 6 involved in events such as House Cross Country, Interschool Debating, Leadership Elections, Year 6 Graduation and Interschool Water Polo.
Our Year 4 and 5 boys also enjoyed their second camping experiences for the year with the Year 5 students taking a step back in time to the 1850s, spending four days at school in Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. Our Year 4s were pushed out of their comfort zone heading to Warrnambool where they experienced the history of the shipwreck coast.
These experiences have resulted, but ultimately the result is not our major focus. We always remind our boys to give of their best, work hard, support each other, accept advice and continue to challenge themselves.
We look forward to the continued challenges that Term 4 holds as our young people take part in Orientation Day and begin to think about the next steps they will take in their learning journeys.
We would also like to remind all families of our up-and-coming 3-6 Presentation Night on Thursday 1 December as well as our P-2 Presentation morning on Tuesday 6 December. We look forward to seeing you there.
Samara Madden
Deputy Head of Junior School
2022 BEBRAS Computational Thinking Challenge Round 2
The Bebras is an international competition which was started in 2004 by Professor Valentina Dagiene from the University of Vilnius. ‘Bebras’ is Lithuanian for beaver. This refers to their collaborative nature and strong work ethic.
Students can participate individually or in teams of up to four and to engage in computational thinking which involves integrating strategies such as organising data logically; breaking down problems into parts; interpreting patterns and models; and designing and implementing algorithms.
Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding achievements in the second round of this international competition.
High Distinction
Connor | Tang | 3T |
Joseph | Chen | 3T |
Ivan | Chen | 4M |
Evan | Ngiam | 4L |
Zhenchong | Liu | 4L |
Ethan | Peng | 5W |
Joshua | Segal | 5W |
Oneth | Kankanamalage | 6F |
Harvey | Li | 6M |
Kevin | Wang | 6H |
Zac | Hincksman | 6G |
Joshua | Loftes | 6G |
Xavier | Lu | 6M |
Winston | Zhou | 8G |
Distinction
Joshua | Michael | 3T |
Jack | Kearney | 3T |
Max | Jian | 5A |
Christopher | Yim | 5A |
Andy | Xu | 5M |
David | Ma | 5M |
Jay | Shi | 6F |
Scott | Jin | 6H |
Patrick | Lai | 6F |
Aric | Tang | 6F |
Jacob | Wang | 6M |
Thomas | Bai | 7F |
Marc | Chen | 7G |
Luca | Hartnett | 7G |
Nathan | Lai | 7G |
Mike | Xu | 7G |
Noah | Bonhoefer | 8H |
Benjamin | Brookes | 8H |
Jack | Lauder | 8F |
Neel | Liu | 8G |
Jack | Mulley | 8G |
Jerry | Shi | 8F |
Kosta | Siamidis | 8H |
Mrs Angela Kotsiras
Academic Extension and Enrichment Programs Coordinator
From the Senior School
Founders’ Day 11 November
All Year 7 students attended the Founders’ Day Service at Holy Trinity Kew on Friday 11 November, which was led by Reverend Robert Newton. Students had the opportunity to learn about the history of Trinity and to reflect on the opportunities that are now available to them because of a meeting held in 1902.
Social Media
Recent media reports brought to light an incident of inappropriate material shared on social media platform, TikTok. As part of our ongoing education and support for our students, we will continue to provide presentations and workshops covering topics such as consent, healthy respectful relationships, gender equality, positive masculinity and respect for women; some of these sessions are held in conjunction with Ruyton students as part of the Coordinate Program.
With the support of these programs, we strive to create a culture that fosters young men who always engage with integrity and respect, which can be further reinforced in your ongoing discussions with your son.
Change of Date: A reminder that the Professional Learning Day scheduled for November 18 has been moved to Friday 25 November.
Uniform: A reminder that students are required to wear the correct socks (grey) and shoes (black leather).
Examinations update: With the conclusion of the VCAA examinations, we now wish our Years 9-11 students all the best for their upcoming examinations. If your son is unable to sit their scheduled examination due to illness, please contact the Head Of Year directly.
Presentation Night: The formal conclusion to the school year will occur on Wednesday 7 December at 7pm in the McIntyre Gym. Parents of award winners will be invited to attend in person and the event will be livestreamed. We look forward to this event returning once again to an external venue in 2023.
Susan Hill
Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School
The Teaching Journey
Over the last two weeks on Wednesday morning, we have run the ‘Teaching Journey’. The boys from Year 7 and 8 have been working hard with their tutors from Year 8 on subjects such as English, Science and Mathematics. The ‘Teaching Journey’ is a great opportunity for some peer-to-peer teaching whilst also expanding social horizons. Below are some student reflections.
‘The Teaching Journey provided me with a great opportunity to help others, by helping them with what they were struggling with in school. It was a great experience because I was able to contribute to the community by helping others.’ – Anthony Papaleo, Year 8 Tutor
‘I didn’t know what to expect when signing up to the Teaching Journey, the promise of a free breakfast was a motivating factor. However, I absolutely loved learning from a fellow student and having them explain things in a way I understand, and I was able to ask questions I would not normally ask in class.’ – Year 7 Tutee
‘It is a very interesting and helpful experience to learn with the Year 8s. I learned a lot during learning activity. Also the food and drink was great. I really recommend people having a hard time learning and also want morning tea to try it out.’ – Leo Lu, Year 7 Tutee
Melissa Stansfield
Head of Year 8E-H
Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad (AIMO)
The Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad is an open exam designed to stretch talented Y7-10 students. The AIMO is also used as one of the competitions to determine which students are selected to a number of invitation-only events, including other mathematics competitions, enrichment classes and training schools.
Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding achievements in this most challenging competition:
High Distinction
Thomas Chan (Y9)
Eason Yang (Y9)
Owen Scott-Murphy (Y10)
Distinction
Matthew Lo
Chris Qiu
Mrs Angela Kotsiras
Academic Extension and Enrichment Programs Coordinator
F1 in Schools State Finals: 8 – 10 November, Victoria University
Three Trinity teams competed at the impressive Wyndham Tech S.T.E.A.M ‘School of the Future’ fitted out with state-of-the-art technology, including an amazing range of robotics such as roaming social humanoids and Boston Dynamics robotic dog. Congratulations to all teams.
Year 9 team Aurora (Peter Cai, Connor Strobl, James Tsui, Andreas Wiggett, Jay Zhao) who were crowned Victorian Champions in the Junior Professional Class. They were also awarded Knockout Champions, Grand Prix Race, Fastest Lap Professional Class at 1.095 seconds over 20 metres, Best Engineering CAD, Best Team Portfolio and Best Managed Enterprise.
Year 8 team Xenon (Ryan Cen, Oliver Everingham, Christopher Kim, Kyan Wang, Daniel Xiang) placed second in the Development Class, also awarded Best Managed Enterprise and Fastest Lap Development Class at 1.125 seconds.
Year 7 Team Beryllium (Jake Alexander, Noah Gurvitch, Philip Liu, Noah Ross, Silas Williams) race car achieved 1.193 seconds over 20 metres.
Teams Aurora and Xenon have been invited to represent Victoria at the National Finals in Penrith NSW in March 2023.
Peter Clinton
Teacher in Charge of F1 in Schools
Art
Visual Art & Design Exhibition
The Year 11 students in Studio Arts, Media and Visual Communication and Design have their creative works on display in the Daley Gallery down at the Centre for the Arts. The woks on display range from films, animations, fashion garments, models, posters, paintings, ceramics, drawings and more. The exhibition is open during school hours until the 18 November.
The Visual Art and Design department warmly invites you to visit the wonderful exhibition and view the student works on display. The VCE students work through a folio process to plan, experiment, develop and resolve their creative ideas into final artworks. It’s an exciting space, where the creativity of our students comes together in a collaborative group show.
Mrs Zara Mckenzie
Senior Art Teacher
Music
Masterclass with Visiting Artist Rachel Beesley
The advanced Suzuki Violin Group was privileged to have a masterclass with internationally recognised baroque violin specialist, Rachael Beesley. Trinity students worked in a small group to reshape their approach to the Vivaldi Concerto in G minor from a historically informed performance perspective using baroque violin bows. This study will improve their interpretation of music of all styles and genres, not only baroque works. A devoted educator, Ms Beesley hopes to return in 2023 for follow-up sessions.
Moirsheen Kelly-Keesing
Coordinator Suzuki Strings
Associate in Music
Congratulations to Year 9 student Eason Yang, for obtaining his AMusA on Oboe. This is quite an achievement! Eason is a member of many musical ensembles and has greatly contributed to our Music Program.
AMEB Achievements
We wish to congratulate the following students, who successfully completed their recent AMEB Exams with fantastic results:
Ollie Murugasu, Year 5
Derek Qian, Year 6
Marc Chen, Year 7
Jason Huang, Year 9
BIGGER BETTER BRAINS
What do parents need to know about music and the brain?
To learn more and Download your FREE copy, click on the link below:
https://biggerbetterbrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/What-do-parents-need-to-know.pdf
Jan Blazejczak
Director of Music
Chaplain’s Chat
Today saw all students from the Junior School, except for those on camp, plus our Year 7s attend our Founders’ Day service at our founding parish church, Holy Trinity Kew. Reverend Robert Newton is a great friend of the school, regularly addressing the boys in chapel, with the boys returning the visits on Easter and Founders’ Day. We are grateful for his hospitality today as we met to give thanks for the strong links between church and school that span nearly 120 years. Prayers of thanks were offered by the boys and our Principal, Adrian Farrer, spoke on the theme of belonging and gathering strength from one another. The boys also learned something of the historic links between church and school, narrated to us by boys adopting the personas of the students for whom the Junior School houses are named: Edgar Inglis, Alan Henderson, Robert Summers and Colin Friend, all of whom were Holy Trinity Sunday School attendees, as well as pupils at Trinity. It was at a service at Holy Trinity in 1903 where the first intake of pupils received their Trinity caps and promised to wear them as ‘Christians, Scholars and Gentlemen.’ The photo of the boys on the church steps on that exciting day hangs proudly today in the Junior School office. (Exciting, as one little boy apparently refused to ever take his cap off – even in bed!) Worship and prayer has always been a part of the fabric of Trinity life and encouraged by our links with our founding church, Holy Trinity Kew, it continues to be so to this day.
Cecilia Fairlie
Junior School Chaplain
Community Engagement
It was wonderful to see the Trinity community out in full force at the Founders’ Day Fair over the weekend!
The weather held out for a fabulous day of festivities, and there was plenty of fun to be had across the many wonderful stalls, rides and activities.
I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the Fair Committee and Stall Convenors, together with the countless volunteers, parents, staff, students, OTGs, donors and family members who made the day possible. I would also like to express a very special thank you to the Fair Convenor, Sean Rooney assisted by Julie Coleman, together with PA President, Heidi Pfeffer, for their tireless efforts in making the day a success.
Keep an eye out for our final Fair Newsletter in the coming days with a link to photos from the day.
Congratulations to the 2022 Founders’ Day Fair Raffle Prize Winners:
1st Prize $8,000 Toorak Village Travel Voucher
John Lancaster
2nd Prize $6000 Coles Myer Gift Card
Bronwyn Thompson
3rd Prize Mantra Lorne Accommodation – 2 nights’ accommodation in a two-bedroom apartment
Jessica Zhang
4th Prize Velissaris Photography Voucher
Deborah Griffiths
5th Prize The Cotton On Group $500 Voucher
Bronwyn Thompson
6th Prize Bunnings Hawthorn $150 Voucher and prize pack
Mary Cini
7th Prize Endota Day Spa $150 Voucher and prize pack
Dina Mammone
Booksellers Draw Prize – Chocolate Box Hamper
Martin Greig (OTG 1968)
SAVE THE DATE
Second Hand Book Sale
9am – 12pm Saturday 3 December
This is a Parent Association-run event where parents can sell and purchase second hand textbooks for their children.
More details to come.
Lucy Cohen
Director of Community Engagement
Christmas Hampers
Dear Trinity Community,
It’s that time of year again to start getting ready for our Christmas Hampers!!!! With Trinity’s support, our Boroondara Community Outreach (BCO) will be providing over 600 Christmas hampers to help members of our Good Grub Community and others enjoy their upcoming festive season. Boroondara Community Outreach supports people living with a mental illness and/or who are socially isolated.
We would like all students/Trinity community to try and bring in a men’s body spray/after shave or instant coffee (jars or sachets). All donations need to be collected by the end of November at the latest. Please leave your items at the front office or with your Head of Year.
Tommy Purcell
Director of Outreach
Summer and Winter Firsts Sports Photo – Purchase Link
The group photos from the recent 2022 Trinity Grammar Firsts Winter and Summer Sports Group Photo Days are now available to be viewed and purchased from National Photography. You can access the photos by following the below link and enter the password TRNGS (new users will need to create an account before access the gallery):
https://orders.nationalphotography.com.au/school/trinity_grammar_school/
Or you can go to www.nationalphotography.com.au and then follow the below steps:
On our home page click on Order Online
- Click on Co-curricular Group Online Ordering
- New users need to create an account using an email address and password of their choice/Existing users can simply log in.
- Scroll to your school’s Logo
- Enter the password TRNGS
Year 11 Parents’ Coffee Morning – Term 4
Wednesday 23 November, from 8am at Via Verona (193 High St, Kew). Simply order and pay for your coffee and/or breakfast, then head to the courtyard at the back. Your Class Reps will be there and would love to see you.
Christmas Holiday Embroidery 2022 – Bob Stewart
To ensure the best chance possible that blazers are back in time for Term 1, 2023 commencement, we kindly ask that all dry-cleaned blazers be submitted by Wednesday 14 December. Blazers and any worn garments requiring alterations (including embroidery), must have a dry-cleaning tag attached and be in the original dry-cleaning bag. This is an essential measure to protect the wellbeing of staff, for now and the foreseeable future. Further delays are to be expected if blazers are received late or are rejected due to noncompliance with dry-cleaning.
Karolyne Paron
Bob Stewart
IMORTANT DATES
Wednesday 16 November
VCAA Written Examinations conclude
Prep (2023) Orientation Morning, 9:00AM
Year 6 Billy Cart Sessions, 9:15AM – 12:40PM
Thursday 17 November
Year 9 AAS Placement Testing 9:00AM
Friday 18 November
Years 9 & 10 Examinations commence
Energy Breakthrough, 6:45AM Maryborough commences
Prep Sports Display, 9:00AM
Years 1-2 Athletics Display, 1:50PM
Senior Play (2023) Term 4 Rehearsals, 3:30PM P&F Hall
Year 7G & 7H Outdoor Education Camp concludes, 4:30PM
Saturday 19 November
AGSV Firsts Finals Round for 2022
Sunday 20 November
First XVIII Pre-Season Training, 9:00AM Bulleen
Energy Breakthrough, concludes 4:30PM
Monday 21 November
Call Backs Trinity Ruyton Year 9 Play (2023), 3:30PM Ruyton
Tuesday 22 November
Year 7 (2023) Orientation Day
ELC to Year 6 (2023) Orientation Day
Trinity Shop, 1:00PM – 4:00PM
Wednesday 23 November
Year 11 Examinations conclude
Thursday 24 November
Information Morning for prospective families (Senior School), 8:45AM
Friday 25 November
Professional Practice Day (no Year 7-8 classes)
Years 9 & 10 Examinations conclude
Senior Play (2023) Term 4 Rehearsals, 3:30PM Arnold Hall
Saturday 26 November
Head of the Yarra Regatta, 7:00AM
Sunday 27 November
Choir Rehearsal, Centre for the Arts
Year 12 (2023) Leadership Retreat commences
First XVIII Pre-Season Training, 9:00AM Bulleen
Monday 28 November
Year 12 (2023) Leadership Retreat concludes