On the morning of Friday, 19 May, our Year 12's were buzzing with excitement as the day finally came for the cohort to move into the latest capital works project at the College, the Margaret Tierney Centre.

A fantastic purpose built space for our senior students to learn in.

As the first students to use this space, our Year 12's have the opportunity to set the standard and be role models for future generations - We know you will do us proud!

A historic day for the College

A fantastic student reflection from Aadyant Bagga in Year 9 about the upcoming musical - More details to come soon!

Recently, Ms Crane and the students of St Columba’s and St Bernards have been working together to on the production of a new musical for all to enjoy.

I was lucky enough to watch a few of these rehearsals and I can say that this musical is coming out spectacularly. When asked about what they think of the play, cast members such as Cooper Marin in Year 11 and George Anderson in Year 12 at St Bernard's have said that “We are well into the final process of the show”.

Cast such as Carla Mardini in Year 9 at St Columba’s stated that “this play is one to be excited about.” The cast has had fun working with Ms Crane to help them come out of their comfort zone and try new things which has definitely played a major role in the way this play turned out.

This musical has been one of the best ways to meet new people not only from St Columba’s but also people from within St Bernards and has given the opportunity for many aspiring actors to work on their skills. Lucas Civarella in Year 10 at St Bernards mentioned that “acting is a fun yet important life skill as it teaches you how to be more confident, how to work with others, and it can help you be more comfortable being in uncomfortable positions.”

Overall, it’s certain that this play is going to be worth all the “long and tiring” rehearsals that the cast, crew and staff have been doing to make this musical a possibility. Joshua Zanella in Year 10 at St Bernards is making sure that everyone comes to watch this play as “this musical is going to be very different to the past ones done by our schools. It's thrilling, exciting, funny and will make sure to keep you on the edges of your seats!” Based off what Josh has said you definitely do not want to miss out on this year's musical.
 

On Thursday 11 May, students had the privilege of viewing in a presentation from The Storey Players, titled The Forgotten Warrior. This play focused on the life of Peter Craigie, an Indigenous man who fought in World War I. This play highlighted the injustices and challenges Indigenous people faced when signing up to defend our country. The students deeply engaged in this experience, which linked well to the Humanities and English curriculum. In speaking to many of the students, the common feedback was they greatly enjoyed the play and most importantly, learnt about this component of Australian history.

On Monday 15 May, we had a great moment, where all of the students were present at once, for the first, and probably only time this year. We took a photo to celebrate and commemorate the first St Bernard’s cohort to learn at Resurrection House.

Over the next few weeks, the students will be undertaking their Semester One exams, where they have an opportunity to prove their learnings and reap the rewards of a semester of hard work. For parents, if you didn’t get a chance to attend the exam preparation night, a copy of the event’s slides can be found on the Year 9 MySBC page (titled Exam Prep Yr. 9), as well as the exam timetable. It provides some great strategies for the students to implement to ensure they are best positioned to do well.

To support this, I have also developed a guide for students regarding Homestudy. I have included this in the article and it outlines to students how to best record their work to do at home. Over the next few weeks, a big focus will be on further supporting students to be responsible for their learning in this way. The guide also outlines that students never have “no howework”, and the process of active study, or reviewing and summarising the day’s learning at home is vital.

Finally, from next week onwards, Cross Country training will be held at Resurrection House every Thursday for all students from 7-12, to utilise our close proximity to the Maribyrnong River. It will be a great opportunity for Year 9’s to connect with boys from the other year levels, but also for the rest of the student body to see Resurrection House. Training begins at 6:45am.

Wishing everyone a great weekend.
 

Last Saturday two senior teams headed to Princes Park, Carlton to compete in the Victorian Road Relay Championships. Last year the team had a podium finish in the U/18 event and the number one team were again hopefully of a medal finish this year in the U/20 race. The race is a 4 x 3km event and features all the top APS and AGS schools, most who compete each Saturday morning in fixtured cross country events. James Cruse ran the first leg and although sitting in fifth place at the change he was in touch with the leaders.

Importantly his fast start against arguably the 'gun' runners from each of the other nineteen schools had put the team in the mix. Ben Parker ran second and after consolidating his position in the first half of his leg he was able to move the team into fourth place by the change. Charles Saunders ran the third leg and he immediately moved up on the third placed runner. He initially sat on his opponent, but ultimately wore him down and changed for the final leg in third place. Charles Barrett ran the final leg and although he had been under the weather during the week, he paced himself beautifully and was able to pick off the Xavier runner to work the team into second place by the finish. A wonderful effort by the boys considering the quality of the field.With school training only just beginning at the college the road relays each year are always a little early in the season for our boys.

This was the case with the number two team who could only find three U/18 runners, their fourth runner being U/20. Hence, they had to compete in the U/20 event. Add to this that two of the four runners were very inexperienced when it comes to competitive running, the boys all performed well. Anthony Mathews got the team off to a good start and Thomas Beecham running in his first competition ran a very solid second leg to hold his own with the other competitors around him. Matteo Bell, also in his first competition, ran a very well-paced leg considering he was left running on his own, as most of the field were spread far and wide by this stage of the race. Dylan Gwynne, like Matteo, was left to virtually run a time trial for his leg of the relay as he too was on his own for most of the 3km circuit. It was a terrific run by Dylan, as his time below indicates. Congratulations boys on a great effort and thank you for representing the school.

A big thank also to all the parents who attended. I look forward to continuing to develop the culture of distance running at St Bernard's.

TEAM 1

James Cruse 9.08

Ben Parker 9:56

Charles Saunders 9.23

Charles Barrett 9.08

TEAM 2

Anthony Matthews 10.33

Thomas Beecham 11.36

Matteo Bell 11.34

Dylan Gwynne 9.55

Author Gabriel Bergmoser conducted a talk to the Year 7 and Year 8 students on Wednesday 17th May. His energetic presentation was entertaining and inspiring to be part of.

Gabe’s journey to becoming an author has been an interesting one that has endured its ups and downs but ultimately his passion for writing and persistence has paid off. He has written material for plays, screenplays, books and television. His books are mysteries with great twists and dramatic, enduring characters. Gabe also ran a writing workshop to a mix of students from Year 7 to Year 11. They learnt strategies on how to build character, build tension and suspense in stories. The workshop was very insightful for our students. We have his books in our library collection, I am sure after Gabriel’s talks to our students will now have another author they would like to read!

The Ladies Night is back for 2023

Friday 16 June 2023, 6.30pm - 11.00pm

Hosted at Windy Hill in the prestigious Premier's Room

Following a sold-out event in 2022, the Welcoming Community Group invite you to come and celebrate once again.

Don’t miss out! There are only 140 tickets available for this event.

Tickets are $115 per person and all inclusive with Champagne on arrival

Three Course Dinner with drinks, DJ Entertainment, door prizes and more!

Bookings are now open, so don't delay and get your tickets today!

A great student reflection on a recent excursion to the State Parliament of Victoria

On 15 May, the year 10 civics class had the pleasure of venturing into the CBD, for a guided tour of State Parliament.

The aim of the excursion was to apply our understanding of the path of a bill through Victorian State Parliament by actually passing one! (or pretending to, at least) Standing before the towering columns of limestone, we passed into the ornately decorated and intricately designed vestibule where, as Ms. Lipsia coined it the best, the CBD felt most like regal Europe.

Whilst our guide greeted us and escorted us inside the legislative assembly, most of us developed sore necks after basking in the glow of the 23.5 carat gold which coated the ceiling. After a brief reminder on the process of passing a bill in Parliament from our guide, the class nominated each other to act as key individuals within the lower house, as a part of a mock Parliament sitting.

Three students took on the role of Premier Daniel Andrews, former Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and the Speaker of the House, whilst several others sat as different members of Parliament. The sitting pertained to the legalisation of voluntary assisted dying. There was some fierce debate by both leaders, as well as other members of Parliament, all expressing their views on the topic.

Ultimately, the bill was passed by the lower house, with an overwhelming majority of ‘aye’s’. The experience gave the class an insight into the arduous nature of politics and the moral dilemmas commonly faced by lawmakers. The overall key takeaway was that there is never a clear choice you can make in complex decisions, in politics or in life.

We also had the opportunity to highlight a few budding politicians amongst our cohort, some of whom would be likely to fill those green chairs, in Victoria or in Canberra!

Thanks to Ms. Lipsia, and to Ms. Glenny for a great day and insightful experience.

In 2023, the College is celebrating a significant milestone in its rich history. Don’t miss out on a wonderful evening! Tickets on sale now…

Celebrate 60 Years of educational excellence in Essendon!

Come together as a community to celebrate with a Diamond Dinner.
 

Tickets on sale now!

The Diamond Dinner will take place on Saturday, 26 August 2023, at the Victoria Pavilion, Showgrounds. This promises to be an unforgettable evening for our alumni, parents, staff and guests from the College community. It is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends to reminisce and look back on 60 years at Essendon. The Diamond Dinner invites you to partake in a 3-course dinner, engage with a live 6-piece band; so put on your dancing shoes, and there are even great door prizes up for grabs thanks to our wonderful sponsors.

To purchase tickets or book a table (10), please click on this link Diamond Dinner or scan the QR code.
 

For further enquiries please contact Mr Craig Osborne (Email: cosborne@sbc.vic.edu.au / Ph: 9289 1000

The SBC uniform shop is only a click away - now operating via appointments, Please click here to book an appointment or order via our online shop if you know your son's sizes'

Please note that the uniform shop is closed during the school holidays
 

For all other uniform enquiries, please email rbuhagiar@sbc.vic.edu.au or phone 9289 1176.