Victory in Park Campaign

NEWS

Edition 1 – February 2021

Victory in Park Campaign

A major public campaign by students, parents and community supporters has preserved APC’s right to use open space at Gasworks Arts Park as a recreation area for recess and lunch times.

The college rallied hundreds of parents and residents to defeat a motion from officers of the City of Port Phillip that would have restricted student use of the park to a small, built up corner.

Councillors each received more than 600 emails, after APC put out a call to parents and friends to come to its aid. In the debate in the council chamber, the elected representatives spoke of the extraordinary outpouring of support for the school’s campaign.

The furore spilled out into the mainstream media. Our argument that children needed access to parkplands for their physical and mental health, especially after the pandemic lockdown, hit a nerve. Our campaign appeared on the front page of The Age, in the HeraldSun, on Channel 7 and Channel 9 news and on 3AW and 774 ABC.

The council meeting was addressed by Principal Steven Cook, Assistant Principal Tim Nolan, School Council President Oona Nicolson and student leaders Melisand Box and Pia Martyn. Several community members showed up independently to voice their outrage over the motion and to condemn the misleading campaign by a small and unrepresentative handful of residents who were determined to stop our students sharing the park.

The result was a unanimous vote to extend the school’s use of the space for another year.

The school is delighted with the opportunity to share the park with the community into the future.

NEWS

Edition 1 – February 2021

Buddy Program 2021

On Wednesday 3 March, Year 10 and Year 7 students spent an hour together as part of the Buddy Program.

From a Year 7 student

Starting high school can be daunting but the buddy program makes the transition from junior school to high school easier and more fun. Recently we were introduced to our Year Ten buddies. Mine were Ollie and Natalia. In our first session I was able to ask them questions about APC and the two hours flew by. Thanks to the Buddy Program I can now see familiar faces as I walk down the corridors of APC. From a Year 10 student

This year Year 10 students were in charge of running activities and each Year 10 was paired with a few Year 7 buddies with similar interests. Fun activities included cupcake decorating, origami, paper plane making, scrap booking, games, drawing, cards, sports and team bonding activities. There was plenty of chatter and fun as everyone got to know each other. The Buddy Program was a great success and I’m sure we speak for all the Year 10 students when we say we’re looking forward to the next time we see our Year-7 buddies!

NEWS

Edition 1 – February 2021

On-Water Victories

APC Rowing Academy

After a long winter of zoom circuit sessions and running, our senior and inter squads finally returned to the water on 9 November. We were joined a week later by our learn to row squad (which was pushed into term 4 instead of the usual term 3). Excellent attendance and dedication at training however made up for lost time and meant everyone, including our newbies, were well prepared for the coming regatta season.

Our senior crews got straight into solid training through a tailored gym program and quality on-water sessions, with emphasis also on being well organised and aware of nutrition and sleep requirements. There were some very good results at regattas, with crews often achieving above expectations.

We are also very excited that we currently have nine coxswains in the program keeping all our rowers safe on the water and making excellent calls during training and racing. Special thanks to Phoebe Koo, Liz Arnott, Luca Hooke, Lulu Gleeson Payne, Georgia Arnott, Tanner Travis, Tom Sterkenburg, Max Hall and Ollie O’Connor for guiding everyone on the water and assisting the coaches at all times.

While the team secured many medals over the summer, special congratulations go to the Year 10 boys who remained undefeated this summer season and secured the State Championships title at the end of February.

The Rowing Academy is growing at a very rapid rate and we are thrilled to be taking delivery of two new quads at the end of this term. We are currently fundraising for a third quad to accommodate our increasing numbers.

The squad will now concentrate on winter training and other sports for terms 2 and 3. Planning for the next learn to row program will take place shortly.

NEWS

Edition 1 – February 2021

APC Sailing Academy

Well done to our Sailing team, who raced in Williamstown on Sunday 28 March. Our students made it to the elimination finals and received the School Sport of Victoria Award. Congratulations to everyone involved, especially Mr Gillepsie who has run the Sailing Academy for a number of years and has fostered a love of sport at the college.

Beach Swimmers Take Title

On 9 March APC took part in the Beachside Division Inter-School swimming competition.

Our swimmers thrived in the tropical conditions to win the competition with a total of 647 points, beating the likes of Glen Eira SC, Cheltenham SC, Melbourne High School, Elwood College and Prahran Secondary College.

We had many strong swimmers compete throughout the day with some notable performances from several age-group champions: • Reya Sonigra (14 girls) • Jack Gonzalez (14 boys) • Daniel Magasanik (15 boys) • Alex Dahlberg (17 boys).

New division records were set by: • Joshua Gomes – 100m Breaststroke & 50m

Breaststroke • Daniel Magasanik – 100m Freestyle • Samson Magasanik – 50m Freestyle.

NEWS

Edition 1 – February 2021

Ride 2 School Day Success

On Friday the 19 March, APC came to school sustainably, celebrating with delicious pancakes, music, fruit and fun!

The Enviro Club put in a big effort to make the day special, gathering travel statistics and encouraging sustainable travel.

The results, as shown in the attached graphs, showed that 3 out of 4 students chose a sustainable, active and healthy way to travel to school. This is a good result and we hope that the school can continue to improve and encourage those who live close to school to walk, ride or tram.

Ride 2 School Day is the day where we celebrate our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. In 2019, nearly 40 percent of the school’s carbon footprint was a result of transport by air, land and sea. Choosing sustainable transport helps reduce our CO2 emissions and also prevents the mining of crude oil to produce petrol. Because it uses copious fossilfuel, students have begun debating the ethical issues around our international excursions, which are of course suspended during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Ella Simons and Alyssa Seckinger-Crow Junior and Senior Environment Student Leaders