EDITION 4 - JUNE 2022
MUSIC EVENINGS MAKE A COMEBACK
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BUILDING ON OUR SUCCESS Albert Park College is excited about plans to build its new youth arts precinct (left) in Gasworks Arts Park. Construction is due to start later this year. However, the cost to fit out such a world-class precinct will be significant. To be a truly professional training ground for our students, APC will need to purchase equipment such as: • • • •
State of the art sound, lighting and projection technologies for theatre and exhibition spaces Professional level musical instruments The latest in back of house staging Seating for the 350-seat theatre and smaller studio
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UPCOMING DATES
THURSDAY 2 JUNE
Report Writing Day (Student-free day) Year 9 Parent - Student - Teacher Interviews 10am - 7pm (Online)
THURSDAY 16 JUNE
Year 12 Parent - Student - Teacher Interviews 2.30pm – 6.30pm (Online) 17 JUNE – 18 JUNE
Litfest Library, Danks St campus
2 JUNE - 10 JUNE
Year 10 and Year 11 Exams FRIDAY 3 JUNE
MONDAY 11 JULY
First day of Term 3 THURSDAY 14 JULY
Senior Years Expo Pickles St campus 3.30pm - 6pm 14 JULY – 15 JULY
TUESDAY 21 JUNE
Year 9 Da Vinci Panels Bay St campus
Year 12 Formal
Music Concert Lawler Theatre (Shows at 7pm Thursday, 2pm and 7pm Friday)
THURSDAY 23 JUNE 6 JUNE – 24 JUNE
Year 9 Course Counselling MONDAY 13 JUNE
Year 9 Da Vinci Exhibition Bay St campus 5.30pm - 7pm (tickets via TryBooking. More details soon)
Public Holiday - Queen’s Birthday
18 JULY – 22 JULY
Senior Snow Camp 1 Mt Hotham 25 JULY – 29 JULY
FRIDAY 24 JUNE
End of Term 2
Senior Snow Camp 2 Mt Hotham
COVER: Hannah Cameron conducts the senior choir at the Voice Concert.
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PRINCIPAL'S SAY
ASSESSMENT TIME IS UPON US Madeleine Campbell Acting Principal
Can it be June already? It seems like just yesterday we were all at the beach, and now it’s officially winter. While we have had our heads down working hard, time has raced by. Thankfully this year we’ve been able to put the focus fully back on teaching and learning. The NAPLAN testing has been done, our VCE and IB students have pushed through the first big round of assessments, and the years 10 and 11 mid-year exams begin this Thursday. With all these assessments now going on, it’s a good time for families to double down on their encouragement and support. Our teachers regularly send out updates on forthcoming exams and deadlines for major assessments, and it’s a good idea for parents to have this timetable in the back of their mind when rallying students to do homework and revision. Talking it through over the dinner table helps. SO MUCH GOING ON You know the year is progressing speedily when the year-12s are ordering their rugby tops (that’s a subtle reminder to those who haven’t done so yet!) And even more so when they’re trying on their outfits for the Formal, which happens this Friday night. This is an extremely important and enjoyable event for the college and I hope everyone has a great time. I want to thank the members of the student-led organising committee for their enthusiastic work. Year-9 Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews are being held online today (Thursday)
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STEM Camp students in Canberra last week.
to give parents a sense of the academic progress and engaging activities going on at 40 Bay Street. Normalcy is returning on other fronts too. We have just had our first interstate camp since the start of the Covid pandemic – the STEM camp to Canberra. Others are also planned, including Snow Camp and expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef, Outback Queensland and South Australia. Lit Fest is going ahead and a group of students have participated in the Youth Parliament.
LIGHTS OFF! One more thing before I finish. I want to thank those members of the school community who have alerted us to lights and TVs sometimes being left on after school hours. The causes of this are complex, including late-night cleaning and disruption to our on-off sensors, but our environmentally conscious students are on to it and our technical team is tightening up on our unnecessary power usage. We take seriously our desire to be a resource smart school.
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
TEAM READY TO TAKE ITS BILL TO PARLIAMENT
In May APC’s Youth Parliament team attended an official training program at Lake Dewar Lodge.
BILLS PASSED BY THE YOUTH PARLIAMENT AND GIVEN THE ASSENT OF THE YOUTH GOVERNOR ARE THEN PASSED ONTO THE STATE GOVERNMENT FOR CONSIDERATION
The group – years 11 and 12 students Dilan Goode, Maddie White, Maddy Burns, Gabriela Marshall Rosso, Anindo Minifie, and Noe Kalfon (above) – were training and preparing for the YMCA’s Youth Parliament program and will be presenting a Bill to the Youth Parliament held in the Victorian State Parliament later this year. Bills passed by the Youth Parliament and given the assent of the Youth Governor are then passed onto the State Government for consideration.
APC’s Bill is Extracurricular Bonus Credits to Contribute to ATAR Bill 2022. Dilan reflected that “Youth Parliament Training Weekend was a unique opportunity to develop our debating skills while meeting other like-minded Youth Parliamentarians.” The students also participated in a session with staff from the Australian Electoral Commission about how Australia’s voting system works. Stay tuned via the school’s Instagram page to find out how you can attend Parliament House to watch APC’s Youth Parliament team passionately debate their Bill topic in the upcoming school holidays.
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
IF YOU’RE SQUEAMISH, MAYBE LOOK AWAY
During Term 2, students in Year 9 at Bay St, are learning about biological systems, specifically the role they play in maintaining homeostasis, their functions, and their different organs. The starting point has been the nervous system of mammals, including the functions of the brain. One of their assessments was to dissect a sheep’s brain and identify similarities between sheep and a human. Students found it highly interesting and are looking forward to learning about other systems, and organs, as well as conducting another dissection.
AN ELECTION DAY WITH SIZZLE APC is always proud to play its part in the workings of our democracy. On election day, our Environmental Arts Hub at 40 Bay Street hosted an election booth. Sensing an opportunity to market the college and raise money, our APC Families volunteers snagged the best spot for a BBQ and provided sausages and bread to feed the hungry voters, poll workers and party activists. Good value for $3, we reckon. We thank them again for their fantastic support for the college.
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SPORTS NEWS
RECORDS BROKEN IN AQUATIC CENTRE GOLD RUSH
It was gold! gold! gold! for APC swimmers, who fought it out against the state’s best at the 2022 School Sport Victoria State Swimming Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre recently. Joshua Gomes, Daniel Magasanik, Samson Magasanik and Alex Dahlberg broke two state records when they won gold in the 200m medley relay and gold in the 200m freestyle relay. Joshua also won gold in the 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke while Daniel won gold in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Other notable swimmers were: ALEX DAHLBERG: SILVER IN THE 100M BUTTERFLY ARIK A ERDENKO: BRONZE IN THE 50M BUTTERFLY AND 50M BREASTSTROKE REBECCA LANG, JESSICA WATTS, AMELIA EVERITT AND SAFFRON WARDROP-BROWN: SILVER IN THE 200M MEDLEY RELAY GOLDEN END TO A FABULOUS FRISBEE FIGHT At the end of last term, a group of year-8 and year-9 boys participated in the 2022 Victorian State Ultimate Championships as the inaugural APC Ultimate Frisbee team. While experience among the boys varied from ‘seasoned’ to 'as green as the grass they played on’, the students took to the sport like ducks to water. After four pool games, the boys played off against the old enemy, Melbourne High, and won 7-6 after the game went into extra time and was eventually settled by a ‘golden point’.
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Members of our Volleyball teams
A huge thanks needs to go to Kelli and Tao Browne for giving up their time both before and on the day, as well as Mr Nolan for efficaciously signing off on the event at a moment’s notice, Mr Pope for helping put the event together and coaching and, of course, the students who put their hands up at such short notice to make the event happen. OUR VOLLEYBALLERS ARE ACE In the second week of May, our Volleyball Academy Players represented the college in the 2022 Volleyball Victoria One Day Schools Cup Tournament. The teams played really well and can be proud of the strong result. Everyone had a lot of fun, and we congratulate them all, including the year-9 team which won silver.
YEAR YEAR YEAR YEAR YEAR
7 – 6TH OVERALL 8 BOYS – 5TH OVERALL 8 GIRLS – 5TH OVERALL 9 – 2ND OVERALL 10 – 6TH OVERALL
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
OPENING UP TO THE COMMUNITY
OPEN DAY 2022 On Thursday 5 May APC invited members of the community in to see the great things we do. Some 600 people, including prospective parents, journeyed through our four biggest campuses, guided by staff and volunteer students. Our school leaders again played a prominent part, greeting and guiding our guests. On display throughout the classrooms, the Library and courtyards was our creative talent – cooking, dancing, performing, and playing music. Acting Principal Madeleine Campbell addressed an almost capacity crowd in the gym to explain the college’s philosophy of creativity and excellence and to detail our strong academic record across all year levels and disciplines.
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Staff and students talk to visitors during Open Day.
Being named the Australian Education Awards Australian School of the Year 2021 has increased interest in the college and we are delighted to be regarded as a school of choice by so many families.
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
Hayley Schirmer speaks to a family at the SEAL information day.
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Students and their families toured the college during Open Day.
SEAL PROGRAM DRAWS A BIG CROWD The increased interest in APC was also evident in our Select Entry Accelerated Learning Information Day on Saturday 14 May. Around 250 prospective parents and students crowded into our drama space to explain how the SEAL Program works, the results our SEAL students are getting, and how to apply. As the Acting Principal Madeleine Campbell explained to the audience, our SEAL students achieve similar results to the most successful selective schools in Victoria while being part of one of the most creative and engaging curriculums in the country. Such is the interest in our SEAL program that next year we will have to consider moving it to a bigger space to let in more people.
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
SOUNDS OF MUSIC RING OUT
EDEN CAST AND BAND HEAD INTO THE STUDIOS Over the past week, the cast and band of our original musical, Eden, have been hard at work in Allan Eaton Studios creating a cast recording of our original score! The band kicked off our recording over Monday and Tuesday last week, and displayed incredible professionalism and musicianship in the studio. Our singers then brought their energy and talents to the project over Wednesday and Thursday to conclude our recording on a high. This journey began all the way back in 2019, when our student writing team, supported by our artists in residence, started the process of creating an original script and score. With COVID disrupting several attempts at staging our show, this recording acts as its final expression for now (though we are hopeful of putting it on stage in future years). We’ll use the rest of the year to focus on new projects in the performing arts.
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Student Rehearsals at Allan Eaton Studios ▼
While the exact release timing and details of our album are still to be confirmed, keep an eye out for this phenomenal achievement from our students. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC EVENINGS, BANDFEST & LUNCH-TIME CONCERTS Over Weeks 2 and 3 of this term, we celebrated the work of our music students with the return of our Instrumental Music Evenings. Five concerts were staged, featuring various instrumental programs and all were truly special.
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
It was amazing to see our students loving the opportunity to perform again after such a long time. Congratulations to all students involved and a huge thank you to our amazing instrumental staff who organised the concerts and continue to support our students so wonderfully. We also celebrated BandFest at the end of Term 1, with a collection of our student bands performing at lunch time. This was a great celebration of what our students work on so diligently in their own time - a big thank you to the students involved and to Matt Dixon, along with Music Captains Luke Mason and Tristan Carr. Friday lunchtimes across Terms 1 and 2 have been coming alive with Lunch-Time Concerts! Various bands and performers have signed up to perform and they have all brought with them an amazing energy. A big congratulations to all the students putting themselves forward to perform.
ANNUAL CONCERT IS BACK Our Annual Music Concert is back this year to feature our music students and honour their work. The concert will be staged at the Lawler Theatre on July 14-15, with three shows over two days! All our senior ensembles will play, along with some exciting collaborations from our senior students, intermediate ensembles and performers. Tickets will be released later this term and there will be limited capacity, so you’ll need to get in quick! This promises to be a fantastic celebration of our incredible music students.
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The Instrumental Music Evenings were a welcome return to the APC calendar.
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ART NEWS
STAFF BRUSH UP ON THEIR CREATIVITY
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Staff and friends appreciate their artistic endeavours.
On Monday 16 May, our clever, creative staff and art admirers descended upon Studio 120 for an evening of art appreciation. Now in its third year, the Staff Art Show included a diverse body of artwork produced by staff across many disciplines. Drawing, painting, textiles, ceramics and photography had a strong presence along with video and digital mediums. A real highlight was the musical musings of Alex Hansen who serenaded the art show observers, providing the perfect accompaniment.
Another hotly anticipated item on display, a chocolate tart produced by our resident TV celeb, was keenly watched by all but unfortunately had not cooled down enough to eat on the night. The event would not have been possible without the visual art staff at Studio 120 and the many fantastic education support staff who set up the event, delivered easels, made food and provided administrative support. We all look forward to the APC Art Show at the end of the year for another burst of creativity.
PICTURES: Michael Blamey of Michael Blamey Photography.
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STAFF AND STUDENTS
VERA, TAKE A BOW
Congratulations to Vera Crook on the production of an outstanding choreographed dance performance titled, ‘I Live for the Applause' for her IB Creative Activity and Service Project. In 2021 Vera worked hard to choreograph, teach and produce a contemporary dance performance video with dancers from her dance school. Vera created the dance video project to promote connection and friendship and support the mental well-being of her peers following the challenging period. YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
GARETH EARNS TOP POETRY HONOUR APC is proud to share the achievements of the college’s inaugural writer in residence, Gareth Morgan (right), who in April was awarded second prize in the Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize seeks outstanding poetry from new and emerging writers. In 2022 there were over 600 entries for the prize. Gareth, among the shortlist of nine outstanding works, won second place for his poem ‘The National Debt’. ‘The National Debt’ will be published in Overland's autumn issue later this month.
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STAFF AD STUDENTS
REACHING FOR THE MOON AT STEM CAMP
Last week a group of 30 year 7-9 students embarked on their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Camp to Canberra. The group was the first APC camp to travel interstate since the pandemic struck so there was an excited buzz in the airport. Across the three days the students participated in a number of activities, including a workshop about aboriginal perspectives of land use with Reconciliation Week links at the Botanic Gardens, a discovery tour at CSIRO, and an evening at Mt Stromlo Observatory. They also got try out wheelchair basketball at the Australian Institute of Sport, saw how earthquakes are monitored at Geoscience Australia, got up close to endangered species at the Australian National Zoo, and participated in a maths workshop about how to become a Google squillionaire at the Australian National University.
As well as the hands-on and immersive experiences, students worked alongside a variety of STEM professionals and this enabled them to gain a further insight into the field of STEM-related careers, as well as preview life as a university student. We asked some students for their highlights of the camp: Alice Reid Rodrigues
Tommy Debien “For me the highlight of camp would have to be the Australian Institute of Sport. The main reason was due to their high-tech games made for different sports, such as skiing, rowing, soccer, footy and basketball. It was also fun to try out the wheelchair basketball.”
“For me the highlight was going to Mount Stromlo as it showed me another part of science. I’ve always liked the medical aspect of science, however during the camp I was able to open my eyes and look at STEM as a whole.” Spencer Holt “Some of the best things we saw on camp was the WOMBAT XL at Mt Stromlo Observatory, and learning about Australia’s work at Geoscience Australia. In Geoscience Australia we got to touch a piece of the moon - one of 12 and the only one in the southern hemisphere.”
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APC COMMUNIT Y
A WELCOME RETURN FOR BOOK CLUB
In the opening week of term, APC’s Book Club met for the first time this year. The session marked the first occasion that Book Club had taken place on site after occurring remotely throughout 2021. Book Club was attended by students, parents and staff at the college who came together to discuss Hannah Kent’s novel Devotion.
APC’s Book Club will meet again on Wednesday, June 15 in the college Library. Our book in focus will be Laura Elizabeth Woolett’s collection of short stories The Love of a Bad Man. The collection deals with some confronting themes and is recommended for mature readers. Our discussion will centre around the following stories: Blanche, Eva, Martha and Marceline.
A departure from her preceding works, Kent’s novel provoked animated and thought provoking discussion about love, faith and the Australian landscape.
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APC Book Club Term 2 2022
Albert Park College is excited to invite students, their families and our broader community to take part in APC’s Book Club.
In Term 2 Book Club will coincide with Book Week and take place on Wednesday 15 June. Laura Elizabeth Woolett will be one of the writers participating in this year’s LitFest program. We are excited to be discussing her collection of short stories. THIS SESSION WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 15 FROM 6PM TO 7PM. OUR BOOK WILL BE:
The Love of a Bad Man by Laura Elizabeth Woolett. The Avenue Book Store on Dundas Place stocks the novel. Please consider purchasing your copy of the novel at The Avenue. Albert Park College now has an Avenue Bookstore Frequent Buyer account. When purchasing books, cards or gift vouchers simply mention you’re part of the Albert Park College community and 10 percent of your purchase will turn into credit the library can spend. Every purchase can accumulate ‘points’ and every $250 spent, the library will receive a $25 voucher.
BOOK YOUR FREE TICKETS AT: EVENTBRITE.COM
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SUSTAINABILIT Y NEWS
STUDENTS MAINTAIN VIGILANCE ON EMISSIONS
Back on campus full time this year, our students are maintaining their vigilance, determined to get our emissions down. Recently, the electricity team of the sustainability sub-committee carried out a data analysis for APC’s electric usage between January and April 2022, for all four campuses. A summary is presented in the pie chart above. Currently, only approximately 50 per cent of APC’s electricity demand is consumed in regular school hours while almost half is consumed after school or on school holidays and weekends. It is worth noting that the college is closed more than 80 per cent of the time and that during this time essential items like security lights and computer servers need to run. Nevertheless, this finding provides the team with more evidence to inspire its future actions. Our 2022 environment action plan has a goal of reducing daily out-of-school-
hour electricity usage by 20 per cent compared to 2020. In the following weeks, the team will conduct an energy audit, starting at the Pickles Street campus. Students and team members will collect data on power demand of every appliance within the campus and calculate the out-of-hour consumption of each one of them. The aim of this audit is to find out the main source of energy consumption which can be safely and easily turned off after school and over the weekends. Another detailed report with actionable items that does not cause interruption to regular learning and teaching activities will be presented to the school community early Term 3. Further data analysis will be carried out and presented in Term 4 to test the effectiveness of those actions and to inspire further actions in 2023.
LIGHTS OUT EARLY AT DANKS ST After some social media postings about lights being on after hours at Danks Street, we did some after hours checking and found all lights (apart from security lighting) off at 9 pm. We can only surmise that reports of lights on were either earlier in the evening or later when cleaners were present.
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LIBRARY NEWS
LIBRARY CORNER
PREMIERS’ READING CHALLENGE UPDATE As of Wednesday, there has been 721 books recorded on the Premiers’ Reading Challenge (PRC) website by students at the school. This is a big achievement! Students still have until September 2 to read at least 15 books and to go into the running to win 100 house points, a $50 book voucher and a $20 canteen voucher. Remember, every book recorded on the website by an APC student will raise $1 for the Australian Red Cross, thanks to the Rotary Club of Albert Park.
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2022
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK: MAY 27-JUNE 3 The library has been honouring Indigenous history, culture and sovereignty by screening a selection of documentaries in the library each lunchtime during National Reconciliation Week. We discussed 'Jacaranda Street’ by Jasmin McGaughey, from the new short fiction anthology This All Come Back Now: An Anthology of First Nations Speculative Fiction, edited by Mykaela Saunders at lunchtime early this week. We will also have an array of new books written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people available to borrow. BOOK WEEK: JUNE 14–17 IN THE APC LIBRARY We are thrilled to present a sneak preview of our events for Book Week, which will be held in the library in the week leading up to Lit Fest weekend. The past two Book Weeks have been held virtually, and while this was in no way a dull experience, we are very much looking forward to welcoming students into the library this year to celebrate all things literary.
27 MAY – 3 JUNE #NRW2022
NRW.RECONCILIATION.ORG.AU
BOOK WEEK EVENTS TUESDAY 14 JUNE
FRIDAY 17 JUNE
Recess: Audiobook session
All day: Book dress up day with gold coin donation to Indigenous Literacy Foundation. There is a $20 voucher for best dressed, a string of origami cranes, and 50 points
Lunch: Heartstopper episode 1 screening WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE
Recess: Blackout poetry activity Lunch: Writer’s Open Mic with Saanjana and Jess. Winner will receive a $20 voucher and 75 house points Evening: Book Club with Ms Riosa: The Love of a Bad Man by Laura Elizabeth Woollettt
Recess: Gareth Morgan will be doing a reading of his poetry Lunch: House Book Trivia run by the Library Leader Maia Ryks and Qian-Yi. Each winning member receives a $20 book voucher, bouquet of origami flowers, and 25 points
THURSDAY 16 JUNE
Recess: Group Bookdle activity Lunch: Library Scavenger Hunt. Winner will receive $20 voucher and 50 points
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IMAGE BY FORMER APC STUDENT JODHI RAMSDEN-MAVRIC
Albert Park College, 83 Danks St Albert Park
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LINK: https://linktr.ee/albertparkcollege 18