APC Newsletter August Ed.2 2023

AFTER MONTHS OF HARD WORK THE BIG NIGHT IS HERE

IMPORTANT DATES

THURSDAY 31 AUGUST – FRIDAY

1 SEPTEMBER

Working The Musical

7pm

National Theatre, St Kilda

MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER

Year 9 Da Vinci Expeditions begin

THURSDAY 7 SPETEMBER

Inspire Tour 1 departs

THURSDAY 14 SEPTEMBER

Inspire Tour 2 departs

FRIDAY 15 SEPTEMBER

Last Day of Term 3

Students dismissed at 2.10pm

MONDAY 2 OCTOBER

First day of Term 4

ONE SMALL JUMP IN THE BAY, BUT A GIANT LEAP FOR CLASS OF 2023

It's a big day in the life of the college when our senior students receive their personalised rugby tops.

It says 'you're nearly there, team, but not quite'. Exams are on the way and the hard study now begins.

We never let this big day pass without marking it in our traditional way, with a collective dip in the bay.

This year the sun shone and it was another memorable event.

Those new rugby tops will only be with us for another seven weeks, including the holidays, before the swotvac begins.

COVER: STUDENTS STRIKE A POSE AHEAD OF THE PREMIERE OF WORKING THE MUSICAL. PICTURE: RYAN BASILE

APC’S ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS ARE BOOMING

Our newspapers are full of stories about the staffing and other difficulties facing schools right now, and how this is hitting enrichment programs particularly hard. Not so at APC!

Our enrichment programs have never been stronger. This is something we pride ourselves on because we see education as something that goes on not just in the classroom but in all aspects of school life.

A great school makes coming to school interesting and engaging – in fact research shows this is a crucial ingredient for success. Here’s just a taste of what’s currently going on.

WORKING – THE MUSICAL

I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about anything at APC as I am about our forthcoming musical – Working. Every time we put on an artistic production we insist on originality and creativity, and our students, assisted by their teachers and artists in residence, have adapted this classic

American story to local conditions, with a new script, new songs and new choreography. Nothing gives students more confidence and more of a sense of achievement that this. Get your tickets, that’s all I can say.

SCHOOL CAMPS

Our camps program powers on, like no other school’s. The ski camp has recently finished and in the last two weeks of term the Da Vinci expeditions head off around Victoria, Australia and the world to build student awareness about our threatened global environment. It will be fun and eyeopening all at once.

ROWING

Last week one of the local top-fee private schools announced the closure of their rowing program, to the consternation of parents. APC’s rowing program goes from strength to strength. Our strong teams are about to kick off the summer season, during

which they typically fill their trophy cabinet competing against big name schools. And to ensure they have the best kit, we’ve just bought them two new boats.

LEAP INTO THE BAY

Our annual August ritual has continued, with our year-12 students donning their swimming gear and plunging into the chilly winter Port Phillip Bay along with their teachers. Brrrr! But once again the sun shone and a great time was had, as you can see from the photos on the previous page. Why? To wake up our senior students to the fast approaching exam period. It always comes around faster than we think. Time to get studying!

Remember everyone, this is the time to put the foot on the pedal. Your studying efforts will pay off next term.

Steven Cook Foundation Principal

STUDENTS REHEARSE FOR WORKING THE MUSICAL

GREAT NAPLAN RESULTS AT APC

Nationwide NAPLAN results were released last week, producing concern and even alarm at the proportion of students falling behind the desired standards.

But at APC it was a different story, with a marvelous set of results that should make our community feel extremely confident that our children are receiving a first class education.

APC students performed well above similarly ranked schools – which comprise the highest achieving schools in Victoria – in reading, writing and numeracy.

Our students showed particularly exceptional growth in writing, with 35 percent of them placed in the top ‘exceeding’ band.

We also showed yet more high growth in numeracy – a category in which we were already extremely highly ranked.

To keep improving on already strong results is an amazing achievement for the college and it reflects on the skill and dedication of our wonderful middle years teachers as well as on the great work of parents in encouraging students to study hard.

Naturally, we won’t be resting on our laurels. We will be aiming to improve even more in the future.

Oscar Woodhouse (above) helped the Victorian team bring home a gold medal in the 12 Years Boys National Cross Country championships in Canberra last Saturday.

Oscar needed to come in 13th place or better to ensure Victoria won gold in the teams event, and he defied the pressure to cross the line in 11th place. A great performance.

OSCAR HELPS TEAM TO GOLD

APC CONTINUES TO ACHIEVE GOOD ACADEMIC RESULTS, THANKS TO THE DEDICATION OF STAFF, STUDENTS AND PARENTS

WORKING HARD FOR A SMASH HIT

One of the biggest events in the APC year is upon us: our musical.

It is being staged tomorrow and Friday night (31 August and 1 September) at the 783-seat National Theatre in St Kilda.

This year’s production is Working – a very localised reworking of the famous 1978 Broadway musical based on the oral history of working people by Studs Terkel.

We’ve looked into the lives of the people of our community and turned their own words into monologue and song.

As usual at APC, the creative work has been done by the students themselves, with the assistance of artists in residence and of course our wonderful music and our entire performing arts staff. Our Performing Arts Captains, Mia Kamarinos and Tristan Carr have provided amazing leadership.

Students have written the songs and script, directed the scenes, choreographed the dancing, and designed the set, costumes and lighting.

The orchestra pit will be filled with both current students and alumni who have willingly come back to make music together again.

Over a dozen staff have helped in rehearsals and supported students in bringing what is their vision to life.

Our version shines a light on the members of our community whose contribution goes unnoticed and underappreciated.

We love this idea of representing the people who support our school and our wider lives.

Months of dedicated work has gone into the production and we’d love you to come along, see it, and recognise the people it celebrates.

IT WAS ALL HANDS ON DECK AS APC PREPARED FOR ITS MUSICAL WITH REHEARSALS AND SET DESIGN

STAFF AND STUDENTS SKI GUNS POWER THEIR WAY TO GOLD

The young guns from the APC ski team swept all before them to take the honours at the 2023 Victorian Cross Country Interschools championships at Mt Buller recently.

In the Division 1 Classic, over 3000m, Clancy Merrick Harvey took gold in a time of six minutes 49.71 seconds, a mere 1.9 seconds ahead of teammate Boris Stanish, while teammate Leewin Harridge came in sixth in eight minutes 38.26 seconds.

Together the three completed the course in a combined time of 22 minutes 19.6 seconds to also take out the teams event.

They came home an amazing two minutes 30 seconds ahead of Melbourne Grammar School (A) and more than seven minutes ahead of Melbourne Grammar School (B).

Trailing in their wake were teams from Scotch College, Ivanhoe and Geelong Grammar Schools.

Clancy, Boris and Leeuwin then teamed up in the 6000m relay to win the gold in a time of 13.24 minutes, to lead home second placed Melbourne Grammar School by one minute 21 seconds.

Also competing at the championships and doing APC proud was Finn Meehan, who competed in the Division 3 Classic.

Finn, who tackled the gruelling 2000m course, came home in 13th place, just over one minute 30 seconds behind the third placegetter.

CLANCY MERRICK HARVEY WITH HIS GOLD MEDAL HAUL (ABOVE) AND WITH TEAMMATE BORIS STANISH AND LEEWIN HARRIDGE (LEFT)

STAFF AND STUDENTS

VOLLEYBALL TEAMS SERVE IT UP

Five teams from the APC Volleyball Academy (8 Girls, 8 Boys, 9 Girls, 10 Boys, 11 Girls) fought hard at the recent Victorian Schools Championships.

All our teams played well – serving, passing and spiking their way through three days of games against

competitors from 232 teams from schools across the state.

As a result, APC teams were rewarded with a top 20 finish overall.

Congratulations to all the players.

BERN’S SKILLS ETCHED INTO THE MINDS OF YEAR 10 s

Year 10 sculpture and ceramics students participated in an incursion workshop with one of Australia’s leading ceramic artists recently.

Bern Emmerichs, whose work is displayed in many significant art institutions in Australia, came to APC to speak to students about life as a fulltime ceramic artist and book illustrator.

During Bern’s two-hour workshop, students learned how to effectively use negative space within linear designs

as they each etched Spanish tiles with wooden tools and knitting needles.

Each student had the opportunity to complete a tile under Bern’s guidance and have them fired in Bern’s kiln.

Bern was so impressed with the students she met and the school that she generously donated several of her beautifully illustrated books to our library.

APC is fortunate to have so many skilled professionals like Bern prepared to give up their valuable time to mentor our students.

STAFF AND STUDENTS

PURPLE REIGNS

The colour purple was everywhere at APC on Wear It Purple Day on 25 August.

The day is all about creating safe and welcoming environments for students regardless of their gender.

Teachers from Studio 120 (right) and the APC library team (far right) as usual got into the act with style.

BERN GUIDES STUDENTS DURING HER WORKSHOP

LEARN HOW TO ENJOY YOUR CLASSES, SAYS JADE

WE CAUGHT UP WITH 2020 ALUMNI JADE BRITZMAN TO CHAT ABOUT LIFE AFTER APC

AT APC I studied History Revolutions, Literature, General Maths, Chemistry, Programming, and Philosophy. I took Revs a year early.

THE BEST PART OF APC FOR ME were the teachers. I still hold a lot of fondness for the vast majority of my old teachers. Due to life events, I didn't actually do well enough in VCE to get into the courses I wanted at the time, but the skills they taught me have gone on to be more useful than I could have imagined.

They weren't just training me up for exams, they were teaching me how to be an academic person, they taught me to be somebody who values learning for its own sake.

SINCE GRADUATING, I TOOK A gap semester to work on my portfolio, then began studying a Bachelors of Game Design at RMIT University. I focus on narrative design and gameplay systems.

I've also had many opportunities for online community management, charity events, and more. I'm in my final year of the course at the moment and I've already made professional connections, and had the opportunity to work on some games I'm really proud of.

I'D LIKE TO STAY CONNECTED TO APC. I loved being asked to speak to the students at Pickles St recently as a former Alumni.

MY ADVICE TO CURRENT OR future students taking VCE is to try and learn how to enjoy your classes. Reading beyond the coursework to find something you're truly passionate about will make the more tedious work feel worth it.

MY ESSAY WRITING BECAME significantly better when I started finding essays online that spoke to more personal themes and ideas. Start getting excited about how the stuff you're doing now is going to be useful later.

I'M NOT SURE WHICH OF THE teachers who taught me still teach at APC, but I'd most like to thank Mr Sankey, Ms Young, Ms Voss, Mr Whitaker, and Ms Vann-Summerin for teaching me, and Ms Gore for maintaining the Diversity Club, without which I have no idea where I'd be in my life.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE APC ALUMNI

FORMER STUDENT JADE BRITZMAN TAKES A BREAK AT RMIT

CATHERINE A PROUD AMBASSADOR FOR FRENCH AND AUSTRALIAN CULTURES

Our wonderful French language expert Catherine Jackson-Grosse was recently interviewed on SBS Radio about her experience of migration to Australia.

Catherine spoke about her reasons to live in Australia as well as her motivation to stay here for good.

Catherine described the many benefits that APC offered it's students, especially the fact that APC promotes exclusively learning French.

Working in such an avant-garde school, she said, allowed her to teach her own language in the best possible conditions.

In the interview, Catherine spoke about the quality of the relationships between France and Australia, and the increasing growth of the presence of France in Australia in many fields.

She said there was also a growing interest by Australians into French culture.

I ’LL BE BACK, SAYS ONDINE

For French exchange student Ondine Desaché, her six weeks at APC have been a real learning experience.

“The school is really different,” Ondine said. “The teachers here help you a lot. Teachers in France are really strict,” she said.

She also loved the school’s location. “It’s close to the sea, so you feel like you’re on a holiday. And the winter is not bad.”

The exchange student, who lives in Paris, has been hosted by Year 11

This, she said, justifies a focus on teaching the language despite the distance between the two countries.

You can listen to Catherine's interview here.

student Hilary Dennis and her family. The two familes have stayed in touch after Hilary was hosted by the Desaché family last year.

Ondine enjoyed her first visit to Australia so much she extended her stay to six weeks.

“I really liked the nature and I have learned a lot about Aboriginal art,” she said.

“And I’d like to come back again after I finish year 12.”

DEBATING AT THE MODEL UN

Recently, a group of year 9 to 11 debaters travelled to the Centre for Higher Education Studies (CHES) to take part in a Model United Nations conference with local schools.

Model United Nations is a form of debating where students become the delegates of countries and set out to achieve international cooperation through diplomacy, public speaking and teamwork.

APC students were assigned to the delegations of the Republic of Tunisia, Federal Republic of Germany and Canada.

During the day, we engaged with fellow member states of the United Nations and negotiated a proposed resolution to amend international law on UN

Sustainable Development Goal 11 –‘Sustainable cities and communities’.

The UN culture is growing strong at APC thanks to the recent creation of our very own and very popular Model United Nations Club last term, which is helping us develop our global awareness and improve our debating skills.

Sophia Amin Year 10 ambassador

HOT OFF THE UN PRESSES

Former APC students Alyssa Seckinger-Crow and Anindo Minfe have been accepted into the "Millennium Fellowship", which is the UN Global Social Impact Program run through the University of Melbourne. The pair competed for places against 45,000 applicants from across the world.

Amazing!