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John Maher - Carmen Road Safety Last Friday afternoon our Year 10 to 12 students got to hear a very powerful and thought provoking message from international speaker, John Maher. John spoke of his own experience with road accidents, outlining a crash he was involved in which took the life of an 18 year old driver. John was left with severe injuries and spent more than 6 weeks in hospital – the crash also cost him his job as he suffered some brain damage. 20 months down the track and John lost his youngest daughter, Carmen, in a single driver car crash due to fatigue. John told his very raw story and I would like to bet there was not a dry eye in the Hall at times during his presentation. Once again I was very proud of our students, they were respectful and many went up to pay their respects to John at the conclusion of his presentation. John challenged all students to go home and cuddle their parents and siblings and promise them they will not get themselves killed on the road. I wonder how many students went home and did this. I know I went home and gave all members of my family a big hug. Once again, thanks to Hendy’s Transport for their sponsoring of John’s visit – it is truly appreciated. Parent Opinion Survey Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of ran-domly selected parents at each school. It is designed to assist our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perception of school climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. This survey is one of three annual surveys conducted by Government Schools under the Department of Educa-tion. The Student “Attitudes to School Survey” was conducted in Term 2 and the Staff Opinion Survey will be conducted later this term. The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes to complete. The survey can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at any convenient time within the field-work period from Monday 7th August to Sunday 27th August. A random sample of 45 parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. The survey results will be reported back to our school at the end of September. The results will then be shared and analysed with staff and School Council. While the survey results will be communicated to parents through annual reporting, some snapshots of the data may be released via the school newsletter. For further information, please speak to your child’s teacher or visit: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performsurveyparent.aspx

Abe Nouk Presentation Last Thursday our Year 9 and 10 students got to hear from Abe Nouk. Abe was illiterate when he arrived in Australia in 2004, not being able to read or write. He is now an acclaimed spoken word poet and community ed-ucator, and he spoke to our students about his early years as a refugee, the marginalisation of young Sudanese men and his fierce love for his adopted country. Our students responded very positively to Abe and there is an article on his visit in this newsletter. Uniform We have been noticing that there have been a number of students, particularly in the more senior year levels, who are not wearing full school uniform. The Uniform Policy is set by the School Council and is there for all students. If there is a reason why your child is not in uniform, please provide a note and a uniform pass will be issued, either for the day or longer where necessary. If you require some help sourcing or affording uniform, please contact myself or Rosanne Chapman at the College.

Tony Hand Principal

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Nayook Campus, Rubicon Outdoor Education Centre. Have you ever seen people raining? Several of the group at Mount Baw Baw had retreated earlier to the

warmth of the dining area when in trooped those hardier students who had remained on the slopes skiing,

trying to eke out more time to practise. Were they drenched and dripping! It had rained for the last 20

minutes and each skier rained water from head to toe.

But the challenges of Nayook offered a myriad of learning opportunities, both physical and social. We were

taught to consider three things before making a decision:

OPV – other people’s views,

C&S – consequences and sequels, and to

CAF – consider all factors. These thinking skills were implemented as students navigated the outdoor

environment.

Some of the highlights included caving: Bright and early we woke up for the second day of camp. We had a

delicious breakfast before heading up to the caves. Just after breakfast before we left, we all discussed the

weather and what to bring.

After the 45-minute bus ride to the caves we were finally there. We put our head lights on our helmets and

headed down into the cave.

When all ten of us students and four staff got down there, it began to become crowded and cold. We had to

find our way through small spaces and long drops. While we were down there we found glow worms.

Around halfway through the cave there was a small creek that ran through it. Eventually it began to get re-

ally cold and dark. When reaching the end of the cave we all stopped and Alex (our group leader) showed us

some special sorts of rocks, such as one rock when you hit them against one another you could see sparks.

Once we had finished that first cave, we moved to a second one nearby. All the students got the option to go

down this one. No staff came with us so we had to find a way out alone. Around eight of us students went

down there. We found when we got down there that it was much more difficult than the first cave. We all

tried working together to find way out. We found that there were creeks and branches while down there. Af-

ter 20 minutes of moaning and groaning we eventually found the way out. It was a challenging cave but

worth the wait.

Despite the water and the cold weather, all students had a great day. Jordyn Atkinson

the tree challenge: My experience with the tree challenge WAS challenging. It wasn’t the height of the tree

- it was just the trust of your mates pulling you up and down. Another thing that was good was the pride you

felt after the tree challenge. I felt pretty proud because it felt easy afterwards, it absolutely felt like a piece of

cake. Only seventy-five percent of the group felt the same way I myself did. Everyone was tough about it, de-

spite the fact that the staff Torri and Alex were encouraging all of us to give it a solid try. We all later dis-

covered that Alex and Torri didn’t even care if we did one or five steps on the ladder. The tree challenge was

a great experience! Having decided I would even go again and complete the tree challenge for the second

time.

Afterwards Torri asked our group if we wanted to go and do the tree climb – it’s like rock climbing but on a

tree. Kyra, Teagan, Jack and I were the only people that did tree climb. The tree climb looked a bit sketchy,

although I love doing rock climbs. Kyra was going to give up half way but when she got halfway Torri and

Kelsey encouraged her to go all the way. After a while she eventually got to the top of the tree climb. After-

wards it was my turn at it and I went up the tree in a flash. I love tree climbing I could do it all day.

Zac Hyslop

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Nayook Campus, Rubicon Outdoor Education Centre

Continued... Terrified of Heights

the high ropes course: Walking to the canopy quest made my head spin. I started to feel sick and my

legs started to shake. We were in pairs. My partner wasn’t afraid of heights and was actually waiting to do

the course. I wanted her to go first for everything just to make sure it was okay. The first obstacle made my

legs shake more. We then had to hold each other’s weight on a peg wall. My entire body started quivering

and I almost couldn’t move. We then went on to the flying fox. Gladly it wasn’t as terrifying but then my

heart stopped, I couldn’t stop shaking there were tears in my eyes. I couldn’t do one of the obstacles. I had

to take a by-pass. Even the bi-pass was sickening. I held tight to the rest of my obstacles, begging not to

fall. The last walk felt great. I saw the last piece of wood, safety, and was determined to get there. As I

stepped onto the wood, I was still shaking but I felt relief. I wanted to do it again but I knew that I’d end

up crying so I stayed at the bottom and watched. Unfortunately, they made me be a spotter though and

catch whoever came down, but I’m not very good at catching. I dropped most people.

It was a horrifying experience that I won’t be doing again. Tessa Young

But always at the end of our day, we had delicious, healthy food.

Baked Potatoes.

The anticipation killed me as I walked through the door with my belly growling like it never had before.

Out of everything that we had done today the food that we would be eating soon excited me the most. My

belly got louder as I saw everyone else getting their food. I waited impatiently for the teacher to finally say

we could get our food. Smelling the beautiful aroma of the steaming potatoes, I grabbed my plate and wait-

ed in line. “What is wrong with these people?” I thought. “Do they have no taste buds?” I watched annoyed

at people walking back to their tables with one on their plate. “Why are these people so picky? Food is

food.” I wondered as I dumped sour cream on my potato, flopped a slice of bread on my plate and scooped

up my vegetables. Eager to get back to my table to start devouring the delicious goodness, I nudged my way

through the bundle of obstacles in my way – tables, chairs and people. I wasn’t going to let them stop me

from achieving my goal of stuffing my face with delicious goodness.

Picking up my knife and fork with great anticipation to dig into my potato, I realised one thing. I put down

my cutlery and waited … until the water jug was free so I could pour my drink. The sloshing sound of wa-

ter being transferred to my cup made me even more excited to stuff my face with the heaven on a plate that

sat in front of me. Finally, the wait was over; I picked up my knife and fork, stabbed my potato and cut in-

to it. The soft flesh of the potato made it easy to slide my knife through. Steam rose from the potato along

with everything else on my plate filled my nose. After scooping some sour cream and vegetables onto my

potato, I picked it up with my fork with the growling of a hungry stomach, the smell of a delicious potato in

my nose and the anticipation to finally eat it, I stuffed it in my mouth and chewed.

Georgia Probst

All students made great learning leaps, whether they be on the giant’s ladder or within themselves per-

sonally. Being challenged physically, environmentally and emotionally was a wonderful experience and

showed us all that when we consider all factors (CAF), take into account other people’s views (OPV) and

understand the consequences and sequel (C&S), decision making is more efficient and achievement sky-

rockets.

Carmel Young

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Nayook Pics

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The only thing that is asked of you is to

become the best you can be On Thursday July 27, St Arnaud Secondary College Year 9 and 10 students were lucky to have a presentation from Mr Abe Nouk. Abe was illiterate when he arrived in Australia. Now an acclaimed spoken word poet and community educator, he spoke about his early years in Sudan and as a refugee and his fierce love for his adopted country.

Abe arrived in Australia via Egypt in 2004, having fled Sudan with his family. He didn't know how to read or write. “We went to school with no clue what was going on. We were chucked into Year 9 with a bunch of Australian stu-dents,” he said. “Seeing the kids talk back to the teachers — we'd never talk back to the teachers. We didn't know what to say. It was just a case of figuring it out, with everybody thinking that we were equipped when we weren't.”

He began to teach himself how to read after school and got audio books and a copy of the same book and traced the words along.

Throughout the presentation Abe got the students to do some free writing, just putting down their thoughts about imagined characters with a starter ‘His name is…’ and ‘Her name is…’ and they wrote to their future self and their past self.

Although it was open to all of the students to get up and share their writing pieces only a few courageous students did. The following students are congratulated on their courage and believing in themselves – Kacie Macauley, Sam Lloyd, Julia George, Dallas Flanagan, Liam McSwain and Edward Parry.

Abe spoke to the students about choices; the choices that they can make throughout their lives and how to then deal with the consequences of those choices either good or bad. His parting comment was “You are so lucky to live in a country that the only thing that is asked of you is to become the best you can be”. Something I hope all of the stu-dents reflect on.

Julia George has also kindly agreed to share one of her writing pieces that touched many of us in the room, including Abe:

Dear Future Me, Fill in an application for Kryal castle, write a children’s book, buy a small cottage in a small town, never let go of our faith, trust in God, go where He wants you to help those who have nothing, always keep an extra seat at the table, offer it to everyone and anyone who needs, never stop drawing, get off your phone and take a walk, look around you, look up, watch the sunset and stare at the stars, raise your children like your parents raised you, adopt a child and never let them feel un-loved ever again, meet the man God has set aside for you, never forget or break promises you make, always dance, never stop smiling, never stop reading, make your heart your best feature, stop focussing on how you and others look, just feel, never lose sight of your goals, make others feel safe and loved, in-spire people, travel the world, love yourself. Photo on front cover of the Newsletter Left to right: Mr Abe Nouk, Sam Lloyd, Ed-ward Parry, Dallas Flanagan, Kacie Ma-cauley, Julia George and Liam McSwain.

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Round 2 Table Tennis SEPEP Publicity Report

This week round 2 was played in the Year 9 SEPEP table tennis tournament. The theme this week was

“Around the World”. This saw students dressing up in costumes of countries around the world. There were

some Mexicans, Hawaiians and plenty of Australian Bogans!

The first match was played between Harambe Heroes and Mop and Bucket. The highest point scorer

throughout the singles games was Dallas Flanagan with 39 points. The highest pairing partnership was

Dallas Flanagan and Jenna Dodd with 29 points. The winning team for this match was Harambe Heroes.

The second match was played between Bubbles and Sainters. The highest point scorer throughout the

singles games was Abby Needs with 40 points. The highest scoring double partnership was Abby Needs and

Callum Edwards with 27 points. The winning team for this match was Bubbles.

Next week, Sainters versus Mop and Bucket and Kanye2020 versus Bubbles with Harambes Heroes acting

as the duty team.

The theme for the next round is “Girls and Boys”.

Ladder after round 2:

Team Points

1. Harambe Heroes 14

2. Bubbles 10

3. Mop and Bucket 10

4. Sainters 8

5. Kanye 2020 6

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MORE INFO… http://www.charlton.vic.edu.au/index.php/driver-ed

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FOR STUDENTS ENTERING YEAR 11 GENERAL MATHS AND YEAR 11 MATHS METHODS.

The TINPIRE CAS CALCULATOR is required by students studying Year 11 General Maths and Year 11 Maths

Methods. It is also required for Year 12 Maths studies.

Our school in conjunction with ABACUS offer a slightly more viable option than purchasing from the booklist. If you

require more information please contact Mrs Jackson.

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New Power Hour Structure

St Arnaud Secondary College is pleased to announce the commencement of the new Power Hour struc-

ture on a weekly basis. This is an after-school session, run between 3:15 and 4:30 on Tuesdays,

Wednesdays and Thursdays. In these sessions students can receive additional support and assistance

with their studies, along with further extension activities. Thursday’s Power Hour will feature a specif-

ic focus on English and Literacy learning. Staff will be available to provide assistance to students or

direct them to appropriate support. Students from across all year levels are invited to attend as a way

of enriching and improving their learning. These sessions also provide a quiet block of time where stu-

dents can practise focusing on learning tasks in a sustained manner.

If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the Power Hour Coordinator

(Calvin Taylor) at the College.

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Term 3 2017 Semester 2

August Fri 11 Youth Summit SRC—Warracknabeal

Thurs 17-18 Year 10 Pre-Driver Ed

Tues 22 Parent Teacher Interviews 3.30pm—6.30pm Years 10-12 Parents

Wed 23 Immunisations

September Wed 6 NCD Athletics

Tues 12 Parent Teacher Interviews Years 7-9 3.30-6.30pm

Wed-Fri 13-15 VSSS Rehearsals/Performance

Friday 22 Last Day of Term 3—2.30pm dismissal

Term 4 2017 Semester 2

October Thurs 12 LMR Athletics

Mon-Fri

Mon-Fri

16-20

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16-20

Year 12 Practice Exam Week

Minyip Field & Game Shoot

Year 10 Work Experience

Mon 23 SSV Athletics

Year 11 Biology Ecolinc

Thurs 26 Year 12’s Last Day

November Wed 1 NCD Clay Target & Lawn Bowls

Year 12 Exams Begin

Mon 6 Pupil Free Curriculum Day

Tues 7 MELBOURNE CUP DAY - PUPIL FREE DAY

Mon-Wed 20-22 Year 11 Exams

Thurs-Sun 23-26 RACV Energy Breakthrough

Frid 24 Year 12 Exams End

Wed-Fri 29-1st

Dec

Year 10 Exams begin