As the 2011 school year draws to its conclusion in a whirl of week long bike rides, Christmas carol performances, public speaking challenge, picnic day activities, swimming, special Christmas movie and a walk from Killarney to Port Fairy (phew) I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas holiday season. This video reminds us about the wonderful world we live in.
What a wonderful world
December 9th, 2011 by margm · No Comments · Uncategorized
The Golden Fleece
November 20th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · events
Ms Murnane's collage
Excitement and nerves ran high as the school’s major production for 2011 eventuated. “The Golden Fleece” was a creative and innovative performance that modelled “Theatre in the Round”. Students from year prep through to year 11 were involved. Two performances were held – one in the afternoon and one in the evening.
Rosemary Johns, Carolyn Myers and Kate Attrill were responsible for the major direction of the production which involved acting, dancing, singing and drama. Our own staff including Denise Regan, Marg Murnane, Bob Grey, Britt Gow and Sylvie Rogers helped with costumes, music and the singing group. The whole show was produced and rehearsed within a 3 week time frame. To quote Rosemary and Carolyn:-
… Few, if any, schools in Australia would be able to do this, under these circumstances, and for Hawkesdale to have achieved this, is remarkable”
… but most of all, thank you to all the performers who have risen to the challenge and created a powerful show with commitment, passion and integrity.
Congratulations to all involved!
11 11 11 – Remembrance Day
November 11th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · events
This morning our school remembered those who had were members of the armed forces and who have died in the line of duty. All students walked to the new reflection area in Hawkesdale where a special ceremony was held. Members of the community were there as well. A special service was held which included:-
- reading of presentations prepared by the year 10 students
- lowering of the flag to half mast
- “When I was 19″ – a year 9/10 band item
- laying of wreaths at the flag pole
- the last post
- 1 minutes silence
- the National Anthem
As it is a special day to also celebrate “Home is where the hall is”. Community members and student groups could visit the hall to see the special displays setup and enjoy light refreshments.
Tags: remembrance day
Congratulations to Levi!
October 28th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · achievements
Congratulations to Levi, in year 11, on his great effort at the State Secondary Track and Field events for School Sports Victoria. Levi gained second place in the javelin throw.
Congratulations to Tessa – our Shutterup Exhibitor
October 20th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · achievements
Congratulations to Tessa, a year 11 student who has had three of her photos selected from the Shutterup Online
exhibition for the “Hooked on Teens Exhibition” at the Warrnambool Art Gallery. See Tessa’s photos
Further reading, see Teens hooked on Shutterup Online. Tessa attended the launch of the Youth Art Exhibition last night.
An educational tour of China
October 18th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · events, Global connections
Mr Distel, our principal and two leadership team members, Mrs Tricia Butters and Ms Marg Murnane joined an Education Tour of China for two weeks at the end of September. This was a great experience where the staff involved had the opportunity to learn about the culture and history of China, as well as experience their education system.
The trip was quite different to past school trips in relation to what was seen and experienced. The visits to International Schools allowed them to talk with teachers and watch lessons providing insights into what support the language program at our school requires. While their classrooms and later during tours of the school acted as a remingder of how different modern education is in Australia compared to what we experienced as a student.
Mr Distel’s report continues as follows:-
The other participants on the study tour provided valuable contacts in terms of future funding support and the exchange of ideas between our schools. The Hanban in Beijing which sponsored the land based costs in China went out of their way to make us welcome and had spent much time planning our accommodation, meals and itinerary. The Hanban is able to support language programs in schools in Australia, particularly in relation to resources. One of th ehighlights of the trip for me was the education centre at the Hanban building in Beijing, at which we experienced some of the innovative use of technology that is being developed to support the teaching of Chinese language. I am currently investigating the possibility of having a Chinese teacher assistant next year. They would need to be provided with home stay accommodation.
China is rapidly changing and is becoming increasingly more important in world affairs, the trip demonstrated clearly to me that the Chinese people are keen to embrace other countries and that the learning of the Chinese language will provide our students with a valuable tool in th future. On numerous occasions, be it on a tour of a school or a casual walk through a park in the morning, we were made to feel welcome. It was apparent on numerous other occasions while there are cultural differences that we are all the same in so many ways. I highly recommend that you take up the opportunity to visit China, if you are given the chance, because the reality of China is very different to the perceptions that you may have.
Tags: China·Education Tour of China
Digital Footprint Competition
September 24th, 2011 by brittgow · No Comments · achievements, awards, Cybersafety, ICT
Congratulations to all students from Grade 5 to 8 who participated in the “What Does My Digital Footprint Say About Me?” competition. We recieved some excellent posters, pieces of writing, music and multimedia projects demonstrating a very good understanding of appropriate online behaviour. The winners are shown above, with great prizes donated by Target, Dick Smith and IT Made Simple. Thanks also to Mrs Davey, who did a great job assisting students with their entries and co-ordinating the entry process. The winners are:
Nicky Oosthuizen – Year 5/6 Writing (Target Voucher)
Billy-Jo Parsons-Muskee – Year 7/8 Writing (Dick Smith MP3 player)
Thalia Watson – Year 7/8 Poster ($20 iTunes voucher)
Ben Casey and Luke Gow – Year 7/8 Music (Rap) ($20 iTunes voucher)
Sophie Hines – Year 5/6 Multimedia (Digital video camera donated by IT Made Simple)
Sarah Herring – Year 7/8 Multimedia (Digital video camera donated by IT Made Simple).
Tags: Cybersafety·digital·footprint·winners
The visit from the Flying Doctor
September 15th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · events
Students were treated to a visit by Tom Ryan, the Program Manager for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Section of Victoria. Tom gave a short presentation on the work of the RFDS. Students were then invited on board the simulator to discover what an actual Flying Doctors plane looks like.
The photos show some of the learning that took place. What do you think of activities like this?
Learning outside the simulator
Learning inside the simulator
Tags: aero-medical simulator·FLying Doctor Service·simulator
The Age – nikon photo competition
September 8th, 2011 by margm · No Comments · Competitions
Attention all students who are into photography. Please visit The Age competition website, to discover how you could win a fantastic new camera for yourself and for the school. There are separate primary and secondary categories. This is a fabulous opportunity to showcase some of the brilliant photography being done by some of our students.
The Last Block in Harlem comes to Hawkesdale!
August 28th, 2011 by murch · No Comments · events, Global connections
We are excited to welcome Christopher Herz to our school on Friday. Christopher is author of the newly published “Last Block in Harlem” which captures his love of the Block . From the age of 8, Christopher knew that he wanted to write and become an author.
The publishing of his book by Amazon Encore is an amazing story in itself - From Street Selling to Publisher to a Publishing Deal. The intriguing part of this presentation, is that Christopher is in New York and he will skype or videoconference into our school on Friday morning 11:30am our time, which will be late Thursday night his time. He was kind enough to respond to a tweet seeking an author or writer for our celebrations during Australian Bookweek - the theme of which is One World – Many Stories and Literacy/Numeracy Week 29th Aug to 4th Sept. He is passionate about inspiring young writers and encouraging them to read and write. Christopher kindly responded to a tweet seeking an author to speak to our students.
Many of our students will be attending the Melbourne Writers Festival the day before. These students will be given the opportunity to hear Christopher talk.
Thanks Christopher for sharing your precious time with us and we look forward to working with you.
Tags: @herzwords·book writers·Childrens Book Week·Christopher Herz·One World Many Stories·skype an author·The Last Block in Harlem
