This week has been an absolute treat for all in our school community with our Senior School students
after many hours of rehearsal and preparation staging our 2022 Senior School Production of Matilda
The Musical. The students from Years 7 – 12 worked closely with Director, Keira Lyons our Head
of Drama and Performing Arts and her team, plus Musical Director, Rohan Mack, Director of Music
– Instrumental, as cast, orchestra and crew. We have been incredibly privileged to have two casts
perform this well-loved musical. Cast B who performed at the Matinee and who will perform again
tonight and Cast A who performed last night and will again on Saturday night. Seeing our students
involved in such numbers and displaying incredible talent, brings us all so much joy and pride.
Congratulations to all involved.
On each of the evening performances a light show, “Projections of Us” of the history of our school
has also been reflected onto the main school building. This too was to be part of our Centenary
celebrations and it has been very special to be able to see this projection. Again, many thanks to those
involved in creating the light show.
In assembly on Tuesday, it was my pleasure to announce the Monash Scholars Program recipients for
2022. The Monash Scholars Program provides selected high achieving students from Years 10 – 12
with an exclusive opportunity to engage with Monash University. Each year students in Year 10 are
invited to apply to be a part of this prestigious program.
The program is offered by Monash University to give the successful students a unique head start into
university life. It provides opportunities for students to explore their passions, develop a broad suite of
study, personal and academic skills, gives students the knowledge and confidence to make the right
university course and career choices. The program also enables the recipients to build a network of
student peers, academic, and future employment contacts.
The program begins in Year 10, and continues through Years 11 and 12, with participants being invited
to a number of events and activities each year. Students who receive this award are expected to
commit around 20 hours a year to the program through participation in a range of events and activities.
Students receiving this award who successfully gain a place at Monash University for their tertiary
studies after completing Year 12 continue to receive benefits including leadership and ambassador
opportunities.
This year we congratulate our 2022 Monash Scholars Emily Price, Ishana Suriyapperuma and Baoyi
Zhu and we wish them well as they commence in this prestigious program.
With best wishes,
Cathy Poyser
Deputy Principal / Head of Senior School
Our fourth Upskill By Design day for the year took place on July 26, running parallel to Year 7 and 8 Learning Conversations.
Between 8.30am and 1.00pm students across year levels took part in a variety of bespoke programs, designed to align with their year level spotlight. In the afternoon, a curated collection of Wellbeing 360 activities was available for everyone to participate in.
As the program is an intentional hybrid design, our Year 7s and Year 8s undertook asynchronous online programs that enabled them flexibility to move in and out of their Learning Conversations as required. The time management and organisation that this requires of students, also ensures that they continue to maintain the skills that will enable them to work and learn, regardless of their setting.
The Upskill program more generally, is a great opportunity for student to participate in and contribute to experiences that sit outside the academic program. All our Upskill programs are designed to amplify the eight transferable skills that are a core component of our By Design Learning Architecture. Skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving carry significant weight for future employers and tertiary institutions. Giving our students the opportunity to actively engage with these skills outside of the academic sphere, equips them with a breadth of evidence to talk to when requested.
YEAR 7
At Year 7, students worked remotely for the second time this year, developing the skills of graphic recording as we partnered with Paul Telling from the Visual Storytellers Group. Paul developed a bespoke online course for our Year 7s, with students attending a series of master classes and completing skills based challenges as they worked to develop their knowledge and understanding of the power of this form of note taking. Armed with the knowledge that recall of information doubles when a visual is used, students explored:
• Mind-mapping and concept webs
• Layout, space and flow
• Lettering and images
• Frames and headings
• Borders and colour
At the end of the end of these workshops, the Year 7s were also provided the opportunity to achieve a micro-credential for their efforts by submitting a Proofpoint demonstrating their application of all the above in a Vision Board of their own design.
At CGGS, Micro-credentials are used to demonstrate learning success providing the information that future employers need to know about their potential employees. A micro-credential is a small unit of learning represented through a digital badge or certificate. Micro-credentialing provides an opportunity to acknowledge, recognise and validate the different skills and knowledge that is acquired through different learning experiences, both in and outside of the classroom. At CGGS, we utilise the online platform Credly which students can access even after they’ve completed their time at CGGS. We can’t wait to see how many Year 7s take up the opportunity to warrant their success in this way.
YEAR 8
For Year 8, who were also learning remotely on this day, it was also a packed morning. Beginning with Mr Wilkins and Ms Carroll, supported by the CS in Schools team, students were introduced to this program and the AI Day Challenge. Additionally, our LeadHERship Crew of our fantastic Year 10 students, worked with the Year 8s on the first part of their introduction to this leadership program. Designed and delivered by students and for students, working remotely was no barrier to enabling the Year 8s to learn about women in leadership, styles of leadership and even get to know their own leadership strengths a little more.
YEAR 9
At Year 9, the LeadHERship Crew were also supporting with the delivery of the final session of the Year 9 program. From learning about the principles of good leadership, to building their own FrankenleadHER, hearing from a guest panel and setting their own leadership goals, the Year 9s were apprenticed into some of the key attributes of what it is to lead within the CGGS community.
YEAR 10
Year 10s worked collaboratively, led by Ms Wighton and Ms Biggs on a Service Learning initiative exploring Gender Inequality. Building an understanding of Global Inequality and with a specific focus on gender, students worked through an inquiry process culminating in the creation of ways to communicate what the problem is and how we can take action to address these issues.
YEARS 11 AND 12
Our VCE students who were also onsite undertook a variety of experiences in the morning before taking part in a trial GAT in the afternoon. At Year 11 we again welcomed Elite Fitness for Part Two of a self-defence sequence begun in July and at Year 12, the Money and You shared a workshop on financial management for leaving school. We were then really pleased to be able to welcome the Cyber Safety Project for a bespoke presentation designed to empower young people to take control of their own digital safety and wellbeing through responsible online engagement.
To round off the day, our Wellbeing 360 program took place in the afternoon. Curated activities designed to enable everyone to participate and actively work to support their wellbeing were available to opt into.
Kate Manners
Head of Strategic Initiatives
Good afternoon, last Thursday a small group of students and I went to Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the city for the Anglican School’s Service. This was an amazing experience to be seated in the same space as so many other students from schools just like our own. There was a great sense of community throughout from the banner procession at the beginning to the opportunity of meeting and discussing the theme of the service with the students sitting around us.
The theme was “creating ripples” and together with other students, we discussed what we thought about this concept and how we too could create ripples for change that could have lasting effects. Those who spoke to us about this topic were all very engaging and inspiring, giving us much to think about and showing us that our actions don’t need to be huge in order to create a ripple effect, we just have to have the courage to take one little step and one small action.
Rev Helen Creed
School Chaplain
On 27 June, I attended a piano masterclass hosted by Bernie’s Music Land as part of the 2022 Bernstein Masterclass Series. The guest lecturer was Mikhail Solovei who is a Ukrainian-Russian pianist and a current professor at Monash University for piano, he is famous for upholding the Russian school of piano playing.
I attended the masterclass in the hope of gaining more expertise advice and learning new interpretations of the piece I played—Nocturno by Manuel De Falla, a post-romantic composition, also an era which Mikhail specialises in. I especially enjoyed his insights in the use of rubato and expressive phrasing in the melody of this piece. I am fortunate to have been selected from the performers of the day to participate in the National Bernstein Piano Competition that will take place at 381 Canterbury Rd, Ringwood VIC 3134 on the 2nd of October 2022, which includes finalists from states and regions from Australia. The public is welcome to attend.
Grace Zhu
Year 11
In the beginning weeks of this term, we held our annual CGS vs CGGS netball match. CGS were fierce competitors, scoring 3 goals in the first 5 minutes. At half-time they held the lead at 5-1, and unfortunately maintained this lead as time ran out with the final score at 7-3. Despite loosing the match, our always amazing CGGS spirit was clear with a stunningly ruthless pep-rally-like dance, choreographed by Alyssa Wong and Isabel D’Souza, headlining the half-time entertainment.
We sold goodies at a bake sale with the help of Mrs Goad and her edible creations class, and raised a total of $311 for the Confident Girls Foundation. At the Confident Girls Foundation, netball is used to instil leadership qualities and facilitate mentorships for young women experiencing adversity. They’ve created a police protected netball league for families fleeing domestic violence situations, as well as starting the first Indigenous High Performance Camp for netball. We’re super excited to be able to support them especially as our next initiative this term will highlight women empowerment and gender equity.
Teagan Diep, Charli Lincke and Isabel D’Souza
2022 School Captains
Year 7 students were excited to be able visit a local wetland on Wednesday 27 July to see the urban water cycle in action. They braved the rain and it certainly was great when the sun did come out for lunch. Throughout the day, students rotated through a series of hands-on activities, each deigned to collect different types of primary data. These included identifying water bugs and testing the pH and turbidity of the water to determine the health of the waterway, they completed field sketches and learned about the water sensitive urban design (WSUD) features in the area. They also went on a nature walk to observe and record the biodiversity at the wetlands. Some students were also able to test-fly CGGS Drone.
“The Year 7 Geography Excursion to the Glen Iris Wetlands was quite an experience for everyone. Even though there were many unexpected weather conditions throughout the day, that didn’t stop us from connecting with friends and other people from different classes. The activities provided for us were definitely interesting. From investigating varieties of bugs to going on biodiversity walks, there was something to keep us occupied. To sum up everything, this excursion was fascinating and fun!” – Aathana 7T
Karoline Walter
Head of Geography
This term Dr Jordan Nguyen spoke at one of our staff days where he inspired us with his stories of human-centred STEM projects. One of his takeaway messages was to ‘dream big’. Four of our Year 10 students, Grace Barnes, Sophie Chang, Katherine Mason and Emily Price have been dreaming big the past 3 months as part of Swinburne University’s Youth Space Innovation Challenge, lead by Dr Rebecca Allen and Dr Sara Webb and supported by NASA. This program involved students completing a microunit on astrophysics, designing an experiment to send to the International Space Station and pitching their idea to an expert panel.
Team ‘Space Geeks’ finished second in this national competition which is a well-earned reward for their high quality research, teamwork, critical and creative thinking and presentation skills. Their Fungi Experiment sought to explore the possibility of growing fresh food (mushrooms) in space to support both the physical and mental health of space travellers. Congratulations to each of the students involved and a big thank you to the team involved in running this ambitious program.
Dr Charlotte Forwood
Director of Learning Design and Development
