Primary Classes

Row 4: Peter Mercoulia, Christopher Brabender, Mark Epifano, Matthew Badrock. Row 3: Stewart Williams, Christopher Francru, Matthew Kortum, Louis Bowden, Maurice Melillo, Thomas McIlroy, Edward Harding. Row 2: Christopher White, Adrian Lane, Justin McKenzie, Christian Ancora, Nicholas Smith, James Gaynor, Michael Ward. Row 1: James Xipolitos, Tynan John, Michael Hajdinjak, Nicholas Tschui, Timothy Evans, Andrew Molloy, Michael Brown Mr Terry Atkins Address to the school: Final Assembly — 21st October 2003

Good Morning Brother Tim, distinguished guests, staff and fellow students, Good morning De La Salle. Danny Nikolic, a past student of the school rode the winner of the Caulfield Cup on the weekend ahead of a strong field, aboard the dashing horse Mummify. Another past student of De La Salle, John Phillips retired last week as the Chief Justice of Victoria. Danny wasn’t the most studious boy and left school at fourteen to pursue his passion to be a jockey. John Phillips finished his schooling with excellent academic results and then went on with his burning ambition to do Law. Both Danny and John had a dream, and by being true to themselves stood up for what they believed, and they made those dreams a reality. At De La Salle each of us possesses the desire to be the best person we can be, to be held in esteem and respected amongst our peers, but what is often overlooked, and what I regard to be more important is the value of being ourselves, just like John and Danny. You and I are in a privileged position, we are all unique and respected for being so. But, we all have fears and we hold ourselves back in the fear of being judged. By the examples set by John and Danny, I implore each of us to be undaunted by our human failings. Be fearless. As we gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience we really stop to look fear in the face. Be not afraid of who you are, You are you, and there in nothing more special than this. To my fellow Year 12 students who I have been so privileged and honoured to be a part of: thankyou for walking beside me. And to the parents and teachers who have guided us along the whole way, knowing there has been someone there throughout the journey to pick us up when we have fallen has given us faith and confidence, and made the whole experience more worthwhile being able to share it with someone. Thankyou. We must all realise the importance of belonging, as De La boys and as mates. Be passionate about our Lasallian heritage and be inspired by each other. As well as action and support, dreams also play a vital role. In the pursuit of success and excellence, remember that we are limitless, there is nothing that we cannot achieve. Our way is not always of soft grass, it is of rocks and challenges, but it goes upward, ever upward. Follow your dreams, let no- one stand in your way nor let any obstacle however great it may seem distract you. Danny and John followed their dreams, as did our founder who recognised a need and set about making a difference. By their example help us to realise that sometimes sacrifices have to be made, but the rewards are telling. You may not end up riding the winner of the Caulfield Cup or becoming the Chief Justice of Victoria, but I know you will all be great men.

YEAR 5

Back Row : David Windley, Achilles Ploutos, Todd Dover, Sean Ellis, Jonathan Nikakis, Simon Windley Third Row : Blake Davis, Shadee Molinaro, James Scoutas, Michael Crosbie, Daniel Martin, Jake Kakouros, Liam Ellis Second Row : Benjamin Stott, David Brace, Adam Russo, James Logan, Christopher Todisco, Matthew Tucker, Marcus Topp, Mr Tim Curran Front Row : Nicholas Bolger, Nicholas Borgia, Danny Eid, Ryan Ellis, Christopher Frangoulis, Paul Pritchard-Cseh, Hayden Renshaw Absent : James Lolicato, Sebastian Lolicato: Back Row : Jack O'Shannessy, Matthew Daly, Juke Campbell-Beschorner, Joseph Regan, Nicholas Smith, Patrick Shannon, James Annett, Harry Haley, Calvin Wu Third Row : Corey Robinson-Bodin, Liam Sharp, Dean Georgiou, Justin Anagnostopoulos, James Anderson, Cameron Rizio, James Palmer Second Row : Nicholas Cardamone, John Farrugia, Clancy Scanlan, Cameron Foots, Jacob Williams, Kha Tran, Mr Terry Atkins Front Row : Jackson Munday, Peter Petros, Carlo Tjahjadi, Lincoln Edwards, Scott Miller, Thomas Callahan, James Campbell-Tennant

Back Row : Paul Saunders, Ryan Graf, Vincent Ho, Nathan Berenger, Andrew Brown Third Row : Gianfranco Lolicato, Zohaib Zaman, Aaron Robinson-Bodin, Guilliano Muratore, Christopher Klidaras, Roger Madafferi, Joseph Phillipos Second Row : Barry Tjahjadi, Edward Ennor, Courtney Scanlan, Benjamin Tesoriero, Haimish Rix, Thomas Miles, Timothy Soumplis, Mr Brett Wadley Front Row : Dean Petras, Daniel Nguyen, Kevin Nguyen, Christopher Smith, Xavier PritchardCseh, Paul Siarabalos, Jonathon Gillette Absent : Declan Smith

During the year the Primary classes had a Grandparents' Day. The Grade 6 boys wrote poems about their Grandparents. Here are extracts from some of the poems: I talk to him When I am feeling sad. Then I feel much better - He's a great grandad

Declan Smith

When I see my grandma She is taking care of my cousin. She gets tired of doing this (And hopes he doesn't turn into a dozen). Vincent Ho.

When I see my grandad It is really nice, I sometimes get a lolly I sometimes get advice. Courtney Scanlan They are both very religious, They say the Rosary every day. God keeps them in good health And for us they always pray. Joseph Phillipos

This poem was written as a detention for being late for class: This morning I arrived late Because I wanted to talk to my mate. We were talking about fried rice And the time I got invaded by mice So when we got to the classroom And Mr Wadley shouted in a boom "Why are you late John, Jack and Mel?" "Because we didn't hear the bell!" So later that day we stayed in It was like a time out bin So I wrote this poem listening to Neil (Mitchell) I can't wait for my playtime meal.

Jonathon Gillette.

Congratulations to Academic Achievement Award winners Semester 1: Lincoln Edwards 4, Calvin Wu 4, Benjamin Stott 5, Marcus Topp 5, Jonathon Gillette 6, Haimish Rix 6

English

It has been an engaging and lively year in the English department. Classes at all year levels have worked very hard and with a great deal of enthusiasm to produce some excellent work. At each Year level there has been a specific English event that has been organised by teams of hard working teachers to complement studies being undertaken in the classroom. We have been very fortunate to have the benefit of a wonderful library staff who have worked with the English staff in organising many of these events, and special thanks must go to the entire library staff for the incredibly co-operative work that has gone on at all levels this year. Our junior students were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be addressed by authors of the calibre of Michael Hyde, David Metzenthen and Robert Newton. Some of these authors were invited to the school as part of the book week celebrations (special thanks to Betty Rudin) whilst author Michael Hyde worked with each Year 7 class discussing different ways to approach writing genres. The students also had the opportunity to conduct a televised interview with Michael putting many of their oral and written skills into action. Sandra Troise in Year 9 grabbed hold of the opportunity to engage the services of Anthony Hill, author of ‘Soldier Boy’, to speak to the year level about the process of writing an autobiographical text. This allowed the students access the author of a text they were currently studying, a rare privilege indeed. Our Year 10 students faced the daunting task of studying ‘MacBeth’ this year and to complement their study and allow them greater understanding of the text we employed an ‘artist in residence’ for a week. Margo Fenley, who is a polished Shakespearean dramatist, workshopped each of the Year 10 classes giving them an entirely different perspective to the text and making it so much more accessible to all students involved. Some of the most impressive writing was done in response to this text at Year 10 and congratulations must go to the Year 10’s for the wonderful work they did on such a challenging text. The senior students have had to come to terms with the demands of the VCE and have done so admirably. It was with great enthusiasm that the Year 11s welcomed Peter Rose to De La Salle who was generous to speak ear level soon after the death of his father, Robert Rose. The Year 11 students studied Peter’s book, ‘The Rose Boys’. Hearing Peter speak provided the students with rare insight into the complexities involved in writing about topics such as the accident, illness and subsequent death of a family member. For the Year 12s we ventured to The Astor theatre for a private screening of ‘Breaker Morant’, the film and Australian text they are studying this year. The opportunity to see the film on ‘the big screen’ is one that had many benefits in developing their understanding of the text. Amongst all of this we saw the introduction of a school wide public speaking competition that saw representatives at each year level ‘play off’ for the honour of being judged the best at each Year level. We had representatives at the Lasallian Public Speaking award held at St Bede’s who ably competed against students from other Lasallian schools in the district. Students have been challenged to think ‘outside the box’ and compete in writing competitions such as those held by the UNHCR describing the experiences of refugees. Outlined is simply a glimpse of the many innovative ways in which the study of English is being undertaken at De La Salle. We are fortunate to have an incredibly hardworking and enthusiastic English staff who challenge our students on a daily basis to produce work of an excellent quality. We hope to foster in our students a love of, and appreciation for, great and varied forms of literature. We encourage all students to read their prescribed texts before the school year starts and where possible for parents to Anthony Hill, author of ‘Soldier Boy’, also read the texts spoke to Year 9 about the process of to enable as many writing an autobiographical text. people as possible to be involved in the discussion each individual text raises. My personal thanks to Mark Leslie for his invaluable assistance this year. I hope that the Christmas break gives everyone an opportunity to lie in the sun and enjoy a good read.

Ms Sally Buick English Coordinator