2017 Mac.

Rob Newsletter
Issue 5, 04 May 2017

Ceiling fresco at Opera Garnier, Paris depicting Pallas Athena

Photographed by Raymond Pask

Principals Report School Calendar Good Friday Appeal

Page 2 Page 5 Page 5

Information Night ANZAC Day Summer Concert

Page 6 Page 6 Page 7

Wellbeing and mental health

As parents, we
want our children
to be happy and
well. Here are some
ways you can
support your childs
wellbeing and
mental health.

Look for warning

signs

Mental health issues

affect approximately
14 per centor one in
sevenof Australian
children, at any given point in time. Many children can go through a
period of difficulty and then improve. Here are some of the signs that
your child might be experiencing a mental health issue:

LCR German Exchange Wellbeing & Mental Health

They seem unusually anxious and worried.
They are expressing negative thoughts.
They are not interacting with other children.
They are having attention difficulties.
They are unusually angry and aggressive.

Talk it over

Page 9 Page 10 Page 12

Be available for your child to talk to you at any time about anything. Build
a supportive relationship that gives your child the confidence to know
they can come and talk to you when they need to. Really listen to what
your child is saying before you try to offer any solutions. Sometimes just
 Page 2
Principals Report
Think. Change. Do.
These are the inspiring words of Professor Shirley Alexander, Deputy Vice Chancellor of The University of Technology, Sydney.
Professor Alexander delivered an outstanding keynote at the recent Academic Select Entry Network Conference at Suzanne
Cory High School on Monday 24th April, titled The future of work and what it means for education. The world of work is
undergoing significant change and there are growing predictions of unprecedented levels of disruption to the workforce.
The triggers of these changes include increased automation, globalization and an ageing population. Professor Alexander
reminded us of the need to be future-focused in the teaching of students and her presentation highlighted the importance
of key capabilities to be prepared for an unknown future. These include:

Critical thinking skills

Creativity
Problem Solving skills
A trans-discipline approach
A sense-making design mindset
High levels of numeracy
New media literacy
Novel and adaptive thinking

By equipping students with these contemporary skills, educators will be supporting them to be a part of the global competition
for talent and much of the work articulated in our Strategic Plan 2016-2019 and our 2017 Annual Implementation Plan
reflects this thinking.

Portrait Gallery 2017

On May 1st, we were delighted to host the induction of 11 alumni into our Portrait Gallery. Our School Council and The
Promotions and Development Committee are the group responsible for the recognition of past scholars who have made
a significant mark in their field and their nomination and consequent selection to our enduring collection of portraits.
Congratulations to our inductees including:

Captain Katja Bizilj Ms Kathryn Gilmore Dr Patricia Samson

Dr Anne Bridges Ms Lynne Jensen Ms Mary Sheargold
The Honourable Justice Joanne Cameron Ms Kathy Kaplan OAM Mrs Katherine Thomas (nee Hindson)
Dr Elif Ekinci Ms Vicky Papachristos

It was a special evening with many guests travelling from interstate to attend. The evening was led by our school leaders,
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Principals Report

Ms Ann Baby, Ms Demi Tangri, Ms Caitlin Flemming and Ms Aiko Redwan,

eloquently prcised the career highlights of each recipient and then invited a
response. We were honoured to have our former Principals, Ms Gwen Bowles,
Ms Gabrielle Blood, Dr Lesley Boston AO and Ms Jane Garvey in attendance.

The idea for the portrait gallery arose from the schools centenary celebrations
in 2005. The text, The Making of Women, written by Pauline Parker in 2006
underscored the importance of capturing and acknowledging the mark made by
former students. Establishing a permanent collection of images and biographies
of eminent past scholars displayed in the corridors serves many purposes, but
most importantly to inspire current students to achieve their personal best. It is
also a tangible way to inform the whole school, as well as the outside community,
of the many achievements of Mac.Rob students. In 2017, our Portrait Gallery
collection is comprised of 58 remarkable past scholars who have become
eminent women in their field. If you are at Mac.Rob please make time to come
and see the Gallery in the Kingsway Corridor on the lower level.

Thank you to our musicians who entertained us on the evening including our pianist, Ms Yilin Duan, 9I and our Clarinet
Ensemble, Ms Tanya Leeunburg, 12J, Ms Anh-Thu Nguyen-Pham 12I, Ms Jessica Yang, 12H and Ms Victoria Zhang, 10E.

The inaugural grants of The Mac.Rob Foundation 2017

The mission of The Mac.Rob Foundation is to advance the education of young women within the Mac.Rob community
and as a philanthropic organisation, it is dedicated to enabling the education and advancement of young women through
scholarship, educational opportunity and enhanced tertiary pathways. Through the generosity of donors the Mac.Rob
Foundation will deliver significant grants to support students in our community. At this early stage in the development of The
Mac.Rob Foundation it has delivered two grants - the first is a bursary of financial assistance and the second is a scholarship
recognizing academic excellence. The bursary grant for $1500 was granted at the beginning of Term 1 and is designed to
support a student in financial need. This grant is confidential for privacy reasons; however, we know that it has been put to
very good use. The scholarship grant is for $2500 to acknowledge excellence through financial support to enable students
of exceptional ability to engage in curriculum enhancement programs at a high level. With this in mind we are delighted to
announce that Year 12B student, Anna Sing is the recipient of this scholarship.

Anna has been selected as the inaugural Mac.Rob Foundation grant recipient for academic
excellence, and the funding will support her involvement in a significant educational opportunity.
An exemplary student with an outstanding academic record, Anna is also the recipient of the 2017
Premiers Prize for the study of VCE Biology in 2016 which she completed when she was in Year 11.
She is a determined and resilient young woman with a passion and curiosity for Biology.
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Principals Report
2017 Premiers VCE Awards

Congratulations to our students who are the recipients of the 2017 Premiers VCE Awards for their 2016 VCE studies and
thank you to their teachers who guided them for this wonderful recognition. These students received their certificates from
the Victorian Education Minister, The Honorable James Merlino is a special ceremony on Thursday 27th April. The students,
their subjects and their teachers are:

Nebula Chowdhury - Physics - Ms Roxana Sandulache

Josephine Ngyuen - Environmental Science - Ms Susy Puszka
Alisha Patel - Economics - Mr Daniel Crowe
Anna Sing - Biology - Ms Vani Manokaran
Shannon Teh - English (EAL) - Ms Margaret Israel
Gloria To - Literature - Mr Christopher Muir
Hannah Weston - Literature - Ms Yvette Arnott
Xue Ning Yu - Biology - Mr Simon Maaser
Sandelli Loku Narangoda - Sinhali - Victorian School of Languages (VSL)

Update on Metro Rail Tunnel

The preparation for the construction of the Melbourne Metro Station at Domain Exchange on St Kilda Rd has commenced.
There is a lot of disruption to this area, especially at the beginning of Albert Road, so please remind your daughter to be
careful as a pedestrian. In the interest of safety, we will be addressing this at assembly, so please support us when we ask
students to remove their headphones, obey crossing lights and be alert and aware when travelling to and from the tram
stops.

All students (excepting our Year 12 cohort) should now be in full winter uniform.

Yours in learning,

Dr Toni E. Meath
 Page 5
School Calendar

Week 3 Saturday 6th May - Parents Association International Ball - 6:00pm

Week 4 Monday 8th May to Wednesday 10th May - NAPLAN Year 9 students
Tuesday 9th May - School Tour for prospective parents & students - 11:00am
Wednesday 10th May to Saturday 13th May - School Musical, Wizard of Oz
Week 5 Tuesday 16th May - Visiting Author Kate Mildenhall
Term 2
Wednesday 17th May - Parent, Teacher & Student Interviews - 12:30pm
Friday 19th May - Year 12 Formal
Week 6 Social Service Week
Week 7 Thursday 1st June - Autumn Concert
Week 8 Multi Cultural Week
Parents and Students are encouraged to check Compass for events which impact students. All SAC dates and important
events for Term 2 are listed and these will be updated as the year progresses.

Good Friday Appeal

On the 14th of April, students from both Mac.Rob and Suzanne Cory High School
participated in the annual Pied Pipers Good Friday Appeal to raise funds for essential
equipment and facilities for the Royal Childrens Hospital. This event has always had
large participation from Mac.Rob and this year was no different. So many enthusiastic
volunteers, both from the two schools and Pied Pipers, turned up on the morning of the
Appeal and were each given an area to collect in, along with as much food to sustain us
as we could carry.

After we were all organised, we set off to our allocated areas, which were scattered throughout the Melbourne suburbs, and
began our annual door knocking! Although we had to battle the cold and windy weather with the occasional rain, we were
greeted by many nice and generous people and some very eager and excited pets. We were so proud to see that everyone
did their absolute best to make sure they collected as much money as they could. The students were all passionate about
the cause they were collecting for and this helped ensure the event ran smoothly.

Thank you to the 134 students who showed up and helped raise an amazing amount
of $12,428.10 out of the overall total of $17,605,662! All proceeds have gone to the
Royal Childrens Hospital. Wed like to give a special mention to Mori Sensei, Ms Dean
and Sunil from the Pied Pipers for making this all possible, and also to all the parents,
past students and friends that gave up their time and volunteered to drive the girls.
We appreciate it so much!

We hope to see even more students participating next year!

GIV Team
Anushka, Briana, Piyumini and Saobienz
 Page 6
Information Night for Prospective Students 2018
The Information Night for prospective students and parents was held in the School Hall on Wednesday 26 April.

The recurring themes of friendship, fun and the amazing co-curricular program permeated the speeches of all presenters.
The warmth and genuine positive feelings about the Mac.Rob community absolutely shone through and we all felt proud to
part of this community and showcase its finestour students.

My thanks go to School Captain, Ann Baby, School Vice-Captain Devangna Tangri and SCR Vice-President Aiko Ridwan who
spoke so eloquently, yet engagingly and naturally about the many aspects of Mac.Rob. Elizabeth Skvortsova and Chelsea
Truong both Year 10 students, gave their perspectives on starting at Mac.Rob last year and what the move to Mac.Rob has
meant for them.

Dr Meath, Mr Beale (Director of Middle School) and Mr Sawaki (Director of Senior School) provided warm and welcoming
historical and contemporary information about the school and demonstrated that Mac.Rob is so much more than the
perception of academic-focus.

The Senior Flute Ensemble was sublime in its performance of a medley which included Danny Boy.

Mac.Rob was at its best last week.

Marina McAlpine

Director Transitions and Wellbeing

ANZAC Day
Melbourne Legacy invited teachers and students from schools across Victoria to attend the
86th Annual ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony for Students at the Shrine of Remembrance. By
commemorating the many sacrifices made by men and women who have served our country,
the ceremony serves to remind and educate students and the keep the ANZAC spirit alive.
The ceremony was accompanied by the Year 10 students of Mac.Rob and Melbourne High
Schools, as it has been for many years, singing Waltzing Matilda and We Are Australian
with the Melbourne High Band. Our students, conducted by Mr Angus Grant, sang with pride
and reverence.

The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, addressed the students and the ceremony
included Defence Force Cadets and an RAAF fly-over. Many wreaths were also laid beside the eternal
flame alongside the Cenotaph.

A big congratulations to Ann Baby on her We shall keep the faith speech in front of thousands of
people at the Legacy Service.

James Richards
 Page 7
Mac.Rob Summer Concert
On the 21st of March, the Music Department held their first Summer Concert in the Mac.Rob Hall featuring the core
ensembles. Each ensemble had a total of six rehearsals and was able to perform their piece at a high standard. It was a very
successful evening and we look forward to continuing the Summer Concert tradition in the future.

This performance was the first concert for Year 9 students and we hope they had an enjoyable experience. The Music
Department would like to thank all the ensemble students, stage crew, SMC and Music Staff for their hard work throughout
Term 1. The next performance will be the Autumn Concert held on Thursday 1st of June. We hope to see you there!

Jamie McGee
Music Teacher
 Page 8
Mac.Rob Summer Concert
 Page 9
LRC
The visiting author program for 2017 has commenced with our first author Maithri
Goonetilleke, author of the wonderfully engaging book entitled Vula Bevalile:
Letters From a Young Doctor. This book recounts vignettes and memories of
the many and varied experiences he had whilst working in Swaziland. He read
three stories to the audience, all of which were vividly written and dramatically
presented. He is indeed a natural performer and storyteller along with being
a highly compassionate person and doctor. The stories recount, sometimes
brutally, the effects of the HIV epidemic and AIDS in Africa, in particular,
Swaziland. He explains, through the stories, the challenges and difficulties that
poor people face, the distances people travel and the grace by which they
accept help, life and death. He colourfully described the landscape, feelings
and emotions of living under such conditions. The audience found this both
insightful and moving. As a result of his experiences, he developed and now runs the philanthropic organisation Possible
Dreams International; he was so touched by the plight and need of the people of Swaziland that he was compelled to act
and to improve the situation. This NGO is doing valuable work in the areas of
food, medicine, water, housing and even choir. One of our former students,
Hui Ling, who attended the talk, has become involved in the project and is now
a board member. It was great for the audience to see a former student as a
qualified doctor and working on such a valuable humanitarian project.

Please see the links below for more information.

http://www.possibledreams.org/
http://maithrigoonetilleke.com/about/

Our next visiting author will be Kate Mildenhall discussing her novel Skylarking on Thursday 18th of May at lunchtime in
the LRC.

https://katemildenhall.com/

All are welcome.

Nuccio Gurciullo
Head of Library.
 Page 10
SAGSE German Exchange 2016/17
As we crossed over into summer in late November of last year, I was on a plane heading towards a wintery wonderland.
Along with 26 other Year 11 and 12 students from Victoria, Perth, NSW, Canberra and New Zealand, I received a scholarship
from the Scholarships for Australian German Student Exchanges (SAGSE) organisation to participate in a ten week exchange
in Germany!

After an almost 24 hour plane journey, we landed in Frankfurt. Our host families were scattered all around Germany, and
so we parted at Frankfurt station to make our way to our German homes, and for the first time, we were on our own in a
foreign land. For me, that first train ride from Frankfurt to Stuttgart in the south was nerve racking. Would my German be
good enough to communicate without any help from a teacher or other students? What would my host family be like? But
as soon as I was welcomed with warm hugs and Wilkommens I realised that I had nothing to be nervous about!

Soon I fell into the routine of daily life: a breakfast of bread and vegan Nutella with the family before catching our bus to
school, a filling and warm lunch in the school dining room, classes of countless subjects and afterschool activities with my
host sister, Luca, and her younger sister, Flora. I loved going to school with Luca, as it was a completely different experience
to my school life in Melbourne everything from the structure of the classes, to the way the teachers taught, the way
students interacted and the very subjects themselves. Everyone was welcoming and always willing to help as I stumbled
with my German.

As a family we would watch TV, discussing important issues like refugees in Germany and politicians in both Australia and
Germany, as well as simply enjoying a good Hollywood romantic comedy dubbed in German. On weekends wed drive up to
the mountains and walk in the crisp winter air until wed feel a burn in our legs, which was rewarded by the amazing view
of houses and roads and nature as far as the eye could see. We visited nearly every Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market)
in the surrounding areas, enjoying the warmth of the stalls, the crowds, the lights and the warm sugared almonds. On my
second weekend in Germany Luca, Flora, Julia and I drove down to Fssen to visit Castle Neuschwanstein and a few other
surrounding castles, which was a really great experience; the history of Germany is so rich and never fails to be fascinating
and I was so lucky to have such an adventurous and kind host family, who made my stay in Germany the best I could have
had.

As a part of the SAGSE scholarship, as well as staying with a host family and attending a German school, we also had a Winter
Camp week, a Free Travel week and a Berlin camp week. Winter Camp was a chance to get to know the other scholarship
winners and their German host brothers and sisters better. We had entertainment evenings, where we had to perform as
groups, and other competitions including classics like the egg and spoon race, tug of war and also a city rally which was a
mini-Amazing Race around the tiny German town of Biedenkopf.

Right after Winter Camp, we split into small groups for our Free Travel week! Those five days were some of the best of my
life; at 17 years of age, I was given the agency to travel a country with new found friends, making decisions from small things
like where to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner to where we would travel to or what we would do in any particular city and
where we would stay, managing my own finances and truly learning what it means to be independent. I could go on and on
about my experiences in those five days and what I learnt about myself as well as about Germany and travelling, but for now
Ill just say that I think every person my age needs to be given a chance to experience the independence and freedom that
comes with travelling alone (and with friends) even if its just in Australia, in Victoria. It makes us bolder, more confident
in our decisions and in how we deal with different situations, and more than anything, the exposure to different places and
people is invaluable.
 Page 11
SAGSE German Exchange 2016/17 (cont.)
Berlin Camp was right at the end of the exchange, after we had said our tearful goodbyes to our host families, and before our
long journey back home. After 9 weeks in Germany, we had become so accustomed to the public transport, the language,
the people, the customs and norms. It was weird to imagine going back to our lives in Australia/ New Zealand. And so, Berlin
was a blur of trying to enjoy a big, new city, making the most of our company with friends who dont live in the same city
as us and preparing ourselves for our return to normal life. I loved visiting the Australian Embassy and the Department of
Foreign Affairs, which reasserted my interest in international relations and also gave me an insight to the practical uses of
learning a foreign language. What I didnt expect was to experience the art culture that is so strongly expressed in the capital
city, which interestingly juxtaposes the bureaucratic aspects of Berlin. The street art, the people, the music were all very
unique to the city, relating to the history of being at the heart of post-war tensions and divides between people and nations,
but also relating to current issues such as the refugee crisis, homelessness and the global political scene (rise of Trump and
other right wing leaders).

There is so much more to my 10 weeks in Germany which I wasnt able to fit in this article. The SAGSE exchange is truly
unique, and I cant imagine going through any other program. That said, I think any type of exchange is worthwhile and
unbelievably rewarding. If youre a German student in Years 11 or 12, I highly recommend applying for this exchange (ask
Frau Hohmann or contact me!) And if you dont learn German (or any other language) there are lots of other programs to
a variety of countries (including English speaking nations) which I encourage you to consider some time during your high
school career.

Zenia Vasaiwalla
 Wellbeing and mental health

As parents, we
want our children
to be happy and
well. Here are some
ways you can
support your childs
wellbeing and
mental health.

Look for warning

signs

Mental health issues

affect approximately
14 per centor one in
sevenof Australian
children, at any given point in time. Many children can go through a
period of difficulty and then improve. Here are some of the signs that
your child might be experiencing a mental health issue:

They seem unusually anxious and worried.

They are expressing negative thoughts.
They are not interacting with other children.
They are having attention difficulties.
They are unusually angry and aggressive.

Talk it over
Be available for your child to talk to you at any time about anything. Build
a supportive relationship that gives your child the confidence to know
they can come and talk to you when they need to. Really listen to what
your child is saying before you try to offer any solutions. Sometimes just
talking about how they are feeling with you can help your child to work
out what they want to do. At other times, they might appreciate more
advice or support from you.

If the problem your child is experiencing is something you do not feel you
are able to assist them with, discuss the problem with your childs
teachers or school counsellor. If your child needs additional assistance,
ask your GP for a referral to a psychologist who deals with children.

For further information and confidential support go to:

headspace (http://headspace.org.au/
beyondblue (https://www.beyondblue.org.au/)
KidsMatter (http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/)

SchoolTV
A reminder the school subscribed to this program. The link can be found on the
schools website in the Students area under Student Wellbeing:

www.macrob.vic.edu.au/student_wellbeing

There are currently items on Sexting, Cyberbullying, Drug and Alcohol use,
Suicide and Self-harm, Depression and Anxiety