Dear parents and caregivers,

It is hard to believe that another school Term is over. It has been an amazingly busy term with a great deal of success to celebrate.

Please note we have our Student Academic Reports will be available to parents to help assess your child’s progress and consider implementing strategies to seek further learning improvements next Term. It was great to see so many students making improvements during this recent Term despite many facing challenges, in relation to literacy and numeracy standards.  Staff have worked hard to provide our students support and guidance in this area and many thanks to parents/caregivers who reinforce the need to engage in Learning not only at School but also at home.

This Term we have had a number of sporting events, very well supported by our participating students. There is always fragility when it comes to the weather for these events and although this veered from boiling hot sunshine to torrential rain and back again, the bulk of the activities organised for students, took place. I am incredibly grateful to Ms Nedas and Mr Rompous, together with staff who assisted in coaching teams, for their hard work and flexibility setting up and running each of the events. The atmosphere at our swimming and athletics day was fantastic. And we were proud of teams representing our school in Regional and State competitions.

Both our Middle and Senior School teams accessed opportunities for students, delivering dedicated events in school, as well as a number of valuable excursions connected to learning hosted out of school. This included the career events, which saw senior students visit a higher education campus and engage in lectures that raised their awareness of courses and vocational options.

Many thanks to all the parents who attended meetings at school, including participating in the Parent Teacher events. We continue, at times, to face challenging behaviours that impact our progress. However, we know that it is only through working together that things can improve. We are acting on a number of issues-based System and School expectations and we request parents and caregivers to collaborate with us, so that wrong doings are curbed. I am also keen next Term to meet with any parents who have concerns and offer a Parent Learning Walk to consider any further suggestions, which we may act on in 2025. I would also like to remind families that Course Counselling occurs in Term 3. Please keep an eye out for information about this process in early Term 3.

Further, you may be aware that the high number of vehicles at the beginning of the school day and at the end, is worsening. We have many more vehicles on the roads and at peak times with the high pedestrian traffic safety is a major issue. I would like to thank all our car drivers for their courtesy over the last few months, but can I also take this opportunity to remind all our parents who drive that they need to follow our guidelines on driving and parking while using the carpark or the adjoining service road. I also ask that parents follow road rules on the road outside the school and respect the speed limits and the no parking signs. Remember that both Local Council and Police will issue a fine if parent breach road rules and the school cannot assist in its retracting. Please do not park in the no standing areas in the service road, which allow for a car free zone to help the local and school bus to enter.

I wish all our students an enjoyable break and I encourage our Year 12 students to use some of this time to work on major assignments and to study previous topics covered this year in preparation for any end of year examination.

With Respect and Pride,

Mr. Fernando Ianni PSM

Principal

Hi, my name is Anita, and I’m one of the vice-captains in year 11.  I joined this position as I would like to assist the school and the students with improving the school to be a better place. If you ever need help you can always come see me or the other members. 

Name is Zainab Yasar, I know there are many Zainab’s in this school but this one’s a little different. I just came to Australia last year and was really impressed by the school system here (not lying).  I love competitions and my friends call me a “tough person who is also a problem solver”. My problem-solving skills are on the next level which means I don’t stress myself on small things. Helping my school mates is undoubtedly my passion because it really comforts me. In the past year I have worked as the Vice president of Journalism club through which I got to know about problems and mindsets of Roxburgh college students, and it is a privilege for me to improve your school life and make it a memorable one. Being a student at Roxburgh college has been a beneficial experience, which has helped me in striving to achieve my goals and aspirations and fulfil the ability to take on this current leadership position. In recent years I have participated in many debate competitions and also won all of them just the same way I will win y’alls hearts by bringing good changes in Roxburgh college .So, that’s all about me. I hope it wasn’t that boring.

Hi everyone, I’m Sura, one of your vice-captains this year. My goal is to support you, listen to your ideas, and enhance our school experience together. Whether it’s organizing events, addressing concerns, or simply being there for you, I’m committed to making a positive impact during my time as vice-captain!

Hi there! I’m Dima Dawood, one of the Year 11 Vice Captains. I really enjoy helping to make our school better in any way I can, which is why I took on this role. If you ever have any questions or want to share your thoughts, just email me or any of the other Vice Captains. We’re happy to help. Thanks!

A WORD FROM MURAT ERDURAN

Our Instrumental Music Students attended School of Rock yesterday which is a ” 2 day Music Festival” type of performance where schools within the Northern Metropolitan Region are invited to bring their bands comprised of Instrumental Music students to perform for each other in a supportive and inclusive safe space with full professional production (lights, sound and professional DVD filming/big screens

).

We are very happy to report that our students performed impeccably which is the result of their resilience, dedication and commitment to months of hard work and rehearsals. They also showed a great amount of respect for all the other school’s performances (16 schools performed throughout the day and Roxburgh College were co-headliners). They represented the college and our community in a very positive manner.

To the Roxburgh College teachers – if you teach any of the students mentioned below or see them in the yard (even next term when we resume) please congratulate them as this is one of our biggest performances of the year for Instrumental Music and they will be buzzing for some time to come. Attached are some live photos and some cool group pics.

Also, our students did such a good job with their performances that the younger performers from neighbouring primary schools were asking our students to sign autographs (as pictured.) A very cool and proud moment for our students. This was also a very good opportunity for our students to represent our dynamic and inclusive culture to potential primary school students that are considering secondary school options in the years to come.

The Roxburgh College community would like to extend a warm congratulations to Edward and Jaydan Webb, who successfully represented Victoria in the Australian Youth Volleyball Championships in March. Victoria placed second Australia-wide, with Queensland placing first.

Congratulations, Edward & Jaydan! 

Mid-Year English Update by Jack Phelan

The Year 12s were faced with a mountain of work this term and the way they responded was nothing short of inspiring. All students crafted two texts in the form of their choice that explored the theme of ‘protest’. One was written in class and required students to engage in cycles of drafting and feedback to perfect their work. The other was done in SAC conditions, with impressive results considering the time conditions. Once these were finished, there was no time to rest – it was on to the Oral Presentations. The Year 12s once again impressed with the quality and delivery of their speeches. It was great to see so many students go to the effort of memorising their entire piece and presenting with passion. The mid-year exam capped off the term. Most students gave it their best go and completed three finished essays – a testament to their hard work all semester.

The Year 11s had a similarly busy term. Like the Year 12s, they had to create two texts in the form of their choice, this time exploring the theme of ‘courage’. Overall, the cohort impressed with their diverse range of original and unique ideas.

The Year 10s had their first taste of VCE with the Argument Analysis SAC. Most students demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the text, and it was great to see so many students producing VCE-level writing from their very first attempt. To end the term, the Year 10s delivered their speeches. For the first time ever, they had an ‘Oral Presentation Day.’ All students rose to the occasion and presented their speeches with gusto.

The middle years continued to build on learning from last term, and explored a range of different texts, ideas and writing styles. It was promising to see and hear so many students taking pride in their effort and the quality of their work.

MID-YEAR SPORT UPDATE FROM CHRISTINE NEDAS

Roxburgh College students have been busy participating in many sporting events since our last newsletter. We have had many students compete at swimming, badminton, soccer, netball, cross country and not to mention our whole school athletics carnival and a basketball clinic run through Sporting Schools for some of our year 7 & 8 students.

Term 1 finished off with four of our students competing at the Northern Region Swimming Championships held at Watermarc in Greensborough. These students swam exceptionally well and most swam faster than what they did at the Division competition. Marino yr 10 and William yr 9 both had individual swims with William placing 3rd in the 15/u boys 200m Individual Medley. Both boys were joined by Adem yr 10 and Amran yr 9 to compete in the 18yrs 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay which they also came in 3rd place. 

Term 2 began with the whole school athletics carnival held 6th May. This was attended very well by our students with one of our biggest turn outs. Students competed in sprint and distance running events, throwing and jumping field events. This year also saw the use of timing gates at the event which helped get through some of the more popular running events a lot quicker. Students who placed first in an event will likely compete at Division Athletics early in Term 3.

The next main events to be held were our team events of badminton, soccer, AFL and netball. This saw many of our year 7 students compete at interschool sport for the first time at secondary level and gave them a taste of what it is like. All of our teams across all sports competed extremely well and we had teams represented in both boys and girls across all age groups which was terrific to see. Some notable performances:

Senior Boys Netball finished 2nd

Senior Boys AFL finished 2nd -their best result ever!

Senior Girls and Yr 8 Girls Soccer finished 3rd

Year 7 Boys Soccer 1st!! They move on to the Northern Region soccer competition held in August so congratulations to the year 7 boys.

The Year 7 Badminton Team: 

The Year 8 Badminton Team:

The Intermediate Girls Badminton Team: 

The Year 8 Boys Soccer Team: 

The Intermediate Boys Soccer Team: 

Finally, we had a handful of students compete at the Division Cross Country event. The students braved the cold weather and ran extremely well across either 3km or 5km events. Omar.A in year 12 won his event at division level and we had 6 students qualify to run at Northern Region -Omar.A yr 12, Yusuf yr 11, Ahmed.A yr 11, Emily yr 11, Zahra yr 11, Moosa yr 8. On the day we had 3 students run (Omar, Yusuf and Moosa). All ran exceptionally well with two of our students, Omar and Yusuf qualifying for the State Cross Country event to be held first back week in Term 3.

Thank you to all the PE teachers, other teachers and ES staff who helped out with taking these teams out to compete (too many to name). Also to the student helpers who attended these days to help out with some required duties. Term 3 will see our students compete at athletics, basketball and table tennis.

Sporting Schools Basketball Program

The last three weeks of term has seen around 30 of our students from year 7 and 8 participate in a basketball clinic run through Sporting Schools. This is to help promote the sport and get our students active through some funding we received. The students have been participating well in the program and seem to be enjoying the activities presented to them. We hope to increase participation though Sporting Schools in the future and participate in a number of different sports where students will hopefully continue to play during lunchtime and after school.

AN UPDATE FROM JOHN DODSWORTH & TOUKA SHOUKOR

Semester 1 has come to an end! The semester has been positive and full of fantastic opportunities for our Year 9 students who have been part of a range of events and excursions. The Learning to Lead class, led by John Dodsworth, collaborated with Roxburgh Park Primary on a weekly basis where the Year 9 students ran activities and showcased their leadership skills to a range of primary classes. This collaboration further strengthened the relationship the two schools have and allowed for generational impact from students.

There were several excursions occurring this semester, with a select group of students going to KPMG to learn more about one of the leading financial organisations. Students got to see how the company operates and ask questions. Others got the chance to go to Note Printing Australia where they got to experience how money is printed as well as given a history of the Australian dollar. Students were able to create a print a version of Australian dollar. 

At the beginning of the semester, we were lucky enough to have two fantastic organisations run a full day program with our students, Flourish Girls and Man Cave. Girls and boys were placed in groups and took part is sessions that spoke about key issues they face during their transitional periods from Junior to Senior school. The day ran smoothly, having been organised by Mariam Sharobeem and supervised by many teaching staff and members of the Wellbeing Team. 

The Year 9s have now completed all tasks and assessments for Semester 1 and will be undergoing a new set of electives for semester 2. Additionally, we’re preparing the Year 9s for work experience which will occur during the last 2 weeks of Term 4, ensuring all work experience forms are completed and ready before throughout the upcoming term. On behalf of the Year 9 coordination team, I would like to thank all the teachers and staff who have supported our Year 9s in beginning their final year at the junior school, and I would like to congratulate the Year 9 cohort on completing their first semester. We’re looking forward to seeing you thrive in semester 2.

Written by, 

Touka Shoukor 

Year 9 Coordinator

On 4 different occasions from the 6th of May to the 31st of May, Mr. Dodsworth’s Year 9 Leadership class attended various meetings with staff from ABCN, a corporation which involves partnerships with the private sector and schools, and KPMG, a large and highly valued financial, audit, and taxation advisory company.

The students on the dual excursions and incursions explored various examples, ideas, and discussed to them what goal-setting is.

These students who attended all engaged in thought-provoking discussions set their own goals, how they may achieve it, and observed what challenges they may face.

On every next meeting the students and staff then reviewed their goals, exploring it and discussing what challenges they have faced and if they were setting too low or too high. After this, students set other goals for themselves, some for example sought to become better at history or humanities, others also sought to set goals for trying to find a place to do work experience, or merely becoming better at sports. This all culminated into the final session, where despite it still being like those of before, it was quite filled with splendour and laughs. All of the students who attended found the excursion and event to be fun, informative, and showed to the students the importance of setting goals, achieving them, and how they may do so.

By Andre Gouros

In term 2 our learning to lead group helped mentor and tutor grade 1s and 2s from Roxburgh Par k Primary School. We helped them with maths specifically graphs and sorting numbers in sequential order for 8 weeks. After the the 8 weeks we wrote cards for the students on our last visit and they wrote us cards back expressing how we helped them with their maths we also had a pizza party and invited Mr Moat to have lunch with us. In learning to lead we worked on a few skills like trust, feedback, and

communication to help us understand and talk to the primary school kids.

By Khaled Abbas

EAL Update, by Students Athraa, Rzan, Maryam, Emilya & Sayman

First, we collected short texts. Then, in pairs, we read the texts to identify the field, tenor and mode. We did this to know where the text sits on the register continuum. Before we did this activity our teacher showed us an example of this task.

It is important to understand the field, tenor and mode so we can communicate appropriately. 

By doing this task we learnt teamwork since we had to combine our ideas together to write short paragraphs.

An Update on Careers, by Rebekah Evans

Term 2 has been a busy term for Careers with multiple excursions and students getting ready to select their subjects for 2025.

On Friday 31st May, all Year 10 students attended Vic Uni, Footscray to participate in a tertiary experience day. Students attended a presentation about attending Vic Uni and what courses they offer. They were then split into groups and participated in a scavenger hunt around the campus. They had to answer questions and the group with the most correct answers won university merchandise. After lunch in the university cafe, students attended different workshops where they were involved in activities such as measuring blood pressure, identifying business logos and looking at evidence and solving a criminal case. Overall, everyone had a great day and learnt lots!

The Trade and Tech Fit expo focused on female and gender diverse secondary students by giving them a unique and exciting experience of trade and technology industries. We took 30 female students from year 9 -12 to the expo in the city. Students were able to walk around the expo and talk to numerous workplaces and education institutes about females in trade careers. Our very own Lafena Yaqo who is currently completing a SBAT was lucky enough to meet the Minister for Education Ben Carroll.

MID-YEAR LIBRARY UPDATE

It’s been a busy term in the library space. We’ve been lucky enough to host a couple of small events during lunch time, including those run by the Wellbeing Team for IDAHOBIT Day and Reconciliation Week.

We’ve been busy sourcing and buying new books for our student cohort and in support of our fantastic  teaching team. Our library catalogue has grown exponentially this term, and we’re always very grateful to the students who request books from us.

The library staff have been busy this term running a cupcake colouring competition, and the winners were appropriately awarded cupcakes for their efforts! Students have also been coming to the library to grab a footy badge of their favourite player or their favourite team emblem, which go out of stock pretty quickly!

A Reminder!

The library offers a free tutoring service from Monday – Thursday after school. The free tutoring service runs from 2:50 PM – 5:00 PM. Our tutors are fantastic, and students are encouraged to attend!

Ms Barker, the library Manager, your Library Staff & Tisha the Therapy Dog with you a relaxing break! See you in term three!

AN UPDATE BY NAMEER HANA

On Tuesday, March 26, we ran the World of Maths incursion for the year 7 students, students completed a variety of problem-solving practical activities.

Taking Inspiration from Classical Greek Vessels & Adding a Contemporary Design Under the Instruction of Ms Rachel Duffin