Secondary Campus

YEAR 12 ACADEMIC AWARDS

Academic Excellence
Awarded to students who averaged an ‘A’ grade across their Term 3 subject areas.

Academic Endeavour
Awarded to students who achieved ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ for Application to Study and Behaviour in class for all subjects.

Congratulations to the following students in Year 12 who achieved Academic Excellence and/or Academic Endeavour awards for their Term 3 studies.

YEAR 10 CAD

Year 10 Computer Aided Design students entered a competition in week 1 run by SeaLink in which SA students are tasked to design a ‘Ferry for the future’. Students had an opportunity to bring STEM, tourism, and eco-friendly approaches to their ferry design and continued to develop their ability to use the design process to meet a brief. Students used computer generated models, engineering drawings and 3D printing to communicate and evaluate their designs.

Another objective of the competition was to promote Kangaroo Island and to encourage South Australians to holiday in their own backyard, to support our regional communities doing it tough during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to help with communities impacted by the bushfires.

The competition winner is awarded return ferry fare and two nights accommodation on Kangaroo Island for themselves and their family. Students worked very hard, developed some fantastic designs and I wish them the best for the competition!

Ms Tess Morcom, Design and Technology Teacher – Secondary

YEAR 9 BOOK TRAILER COMPETITION

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students who have won a Westfield voucher for creating the most original and creative book trailers for 2021. Each trailer also ethically and correctly acknowledged other people’s work. To view the book trailers, go to Clickview/Booktrailers.

1st prize ($50 voucher)
Charlotte McCarthy (9GPC-04) : Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

2nd prize (joint winners – $25 voucher each)
Sebastian Cesare (9BPC-06) : The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
Hamish Beeby (9BPC-06): Gone by Michael Grant

3rd prize  (joint winners – $20 voucher each)
Ava Perin (9GPC-05): Five Feet apart by Rachael Lippincott
Will Noblet (9BPC-02): Specky Magee by Felice Arena and Gary Lyon

Mrs Maria Pepe-Micholos, Head of Library – Secondary

YEAR 11 MODERN HISTORY EXCURSION: ADELAIDE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM AND ANDREW STEINER CENTRE

To support their study of Genocide, Year 11 Modern History students visited the Adelaide Holocaust Museum Centre and Steiner Education Centre on Monday 18 October. The Museum and Centre are a fabulous new facility in Wakefield Street in the city. We were guided by volunteers who showed us through the vast range of sources on the different stages of the Holocaust, from discrimination, isolation, ghettoization and deportation, through to the Final Solution. The highlight of the visit was the special exhibition titled ‘Let Me Be Myself: The Anne Frank Story’. The Museum is a compelling place to visit and one we will certainly return to each year.

“Our history excursion to the Holocaust Museum was very informative and insightful. We had the opportunity to see the new Anne Frank exhibition, educating ourselves on the tragedy she and her family endured during the Holocaust. Her story was significant in the way that she is the modern face of the Holocaust. Anne was a strong young girl, having the bravery to write about her journey in the hopes we can learn from the mistakes of the Holocaust. The volunteers at the museum were amazing and were able to give us a perspective of how people lived during this horrific event. We walked out of the museum with a fresh perspective and having learned so much about Anne Frank; it was an experience we would recommend everyone to see”. – Madison Caldwell (11PC-05) and Jessica Meade (11PC-05)

Mrs Ady Webb, Assistant Year 12 Director

YEARS 7-9 LEARNING AND WELLBEING CHARACTER STRENGTH FOCUS

Week 2: Honesty

Two years ago, my husband and I had the really good fortune and timing to take a much awaited and planned overseas holiday. Our first stop was the Greek Island of Milos. If you can imagine the Garden of Eden, well, I think you’d be pretty close to capturing the idyllic landscape. The terrain was hot and dry, olives, prickly pears and grapes, and some scattered tomatoes seemed to soak up the hot sunshine and burst with colour and flavour. The sea surrounding the island reflected a kaleidoscope of shades of blue, and the bougainvillea flowers seemed to create a perfect contrast. Milos is a very natural and tiny island of less than 5000 people.

When we arrived, hot, tired and jet lagged we caught a taxi to our AirBnB.  On the journey that seemed to take 100 hours, but was probably 10 minutes, the driver just kept talking, animatedly. We passed a kafenion and amidst our microsleeps he laughed, beeped his horn and waved, and then continued to tell us his 90-year-old grandfather spent his days there smoking and drinking. Welcome to Greece! Yiasou!

When we arrived at our accommodation we practically fell out of the car, exhausted, gathered our bags and looked towards a shower and a bed. Half an hour later my husband realised he had left his phone in the taxi!

Panic, a bit, on Day 1? We ran down to the house our host lived in and in simple English and restrained panic explained what had happened.

“Who was the driver?” She asked, hopefully.
We looked at each other. “No idea”.
“What sort of car?”
Again, blank looks between us. “No idea-ummm… silver?”

What we did know was that his papou was 90 and drank and smoked in a kafenion and loved life!

“Oh, I know him!” she says when she hears this description, without batting an eyelid. “I will call him”. Within half an hour the smiling taxi driver returned with my husband’s phone. Major mess averted!

Honesty…Billy Joel sang… is such a lonely word… but isn’t it the best thing in circumstances like this, and doesn’t it make us feel good about being able to trust people around us?

While honesty is about speaking the truth, more broadly it means conducting ourselves with integrity; being true to our values across life’s various domains and taking responsibility for our actions. At St Michael’s those values encapsulate Community, Challenge and Choice, and making choices that reflect the values of the Lasallian ethos. It goes without saying that when we try to respond with honesty and integrity, this influences our relationships and our state of wellbeing in a positive direction.

How can we encourage honesty in our children? Available literature indicates, amongst other advice that like most aspects of parenting, role modelling is important, perhaps even discussing the ‘white lies’ we might tell to protect their childhood at a stage when they are old enough to understand. Celebrating honesty in difficult situations is also a plus, even when it may not be what we want to hear. The way we respond to the honesty of our children can highlight that honesty nurtures trust; an important feature of all meaningful relationships.

This week in my email to students and staff I shared a quote by Nelson Mandela about honesty. In this quote, Mandela speaks about honesty as being fundamental to peace. First of all, it allows us to be at peace with ourselves, and this is so important to our wellbeing and to our relationships with other people. He also explains that when we are honest our actions can also have a positive knock-on effect on our community and world around us. It can help us to know, value and care for each other, as our Mission and Vision at St Michael’s would suggest.

Have a great weekend and Week 3 ahead!

Mrs Tonia Carfora, Year 7-9 Learning and Wellbeing Initiatives Leader

CARDZ FOR KIDZ

On Wednesday 20 October, the Year 11 cohort came together to create homemade cards to support ‘Cardz for Kidz’. Since 2010, Cardz for Kidz has provided emotional support via handwritten cards to vulnerable individuals including those in hospitals, foster homes, or assisted living homes around the globe. This provided the Year 11s with an opportunity to get creative and give back to our wider community!

Ms Anna Porcelli, Year 11 Director