Thursday, 22 May 2014

Another Great Week - 5, Term 2

Important Dates 2014

College Production - Thursday 5 June - Friday 6 June
GAT - Wednesday 11 June
Report Writing Day - Friday 20 June
Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews - Tuesday 2 September



Some useful links

Dear all, welcome to week 5 Term 2.

As always it has been a great week at Forest Hill College. I was privileged enough to attend the North Eastern Region Music Concert, "Back in the Groove” at Hamer Hall with Ms Cook, Mr Spokes and Ms Hood, where 16 of our students and four of our staff played significant roles. Ross McKinnon performed with the Senior Singers, Julian Warren and Marianne Zabukosek worked backstage, and all three did an outstanding job to support the program. They were fantastic not only helping out with their scheduled tasks but pitching in at every moment to help with whatever needed to be done. Cheryl Morrow did a wonderful job in setting high expectations of the performers. They all arrived at Hamer Hall at 8.30 am and left after midnight, following a big day of final preparations before the spectacular performance in the evening. Cheryl Morrow was in fact part of a team of three NEVR staff who led the entire event and were responsible for the production of all the music. They did an outstanding job, and in the presence of the Regional Director and an audience from all schools involved, our College shone out. We are very proud of the Forest Hill achievement in this prestigious event.


This week parents of Grade 6 students are required to submit their preferences for secondary schools in 2015. We have had a significantly increased volume of parents and students touring the facilities and showing great excitement at what Forest Hill College offers. We are receiving applications for our Developing Sports Leaders and ACE enhancement programs for 2015 already.


Our boys Intermediate soccer team were only narrowly defeated in the Division final on Wednesday. They went down 2-1 in a spirited performance. We are very proud of their achievement in advancing through preliminary rounds to make the final. Our expectations of all Forest Hill students when they represent the College are very high. We expect excellence and these boys certainly delivered on that.


This week the College Principal team worked off campus for 2 days to plan how the College reflects on the achievements of the last 4 years in preparation for the writing of a new strategic plan. We examined all data the College keeps to look for trends and areas of opportunity to improve further the education we provide our students. Over the coming months parents and students will be given some great opportunities to inform these reflections and provide feedback. Please stay tuned to the Blog and Compass for the dates of these opportunities. We will use this feedback to develop our new strategic plan.


Last Friday many of the College Leadership Team went to the Teacher of the Year Awards at Crown. As mentioned in last week’s Blog, Burwood Heights Primary School Principal Esther Wood was nominated for the Primary School Principal of the Year by her community. We are thrilled to announce that she was the eventual winner of the award. We are proud of our association with Esther and Burwood Heights Primary School and extend our hearty congratulations to Esther on receiving such deserved recognition for the great work she does at Burwood Heights Primary School.

College Athletics

Finally the College Athletics was scheduled for today. The rain was threatening to dampen the spirits of the staff and students and see the event called off. However it takes more than a very threatening radar image and some impending rain to deter Forest Hill College. The students and staff were keen to try to make the event work. We decided to walk to the track and give it a go. What I am proud of is the grit and resilience this demonstrates exists within our community. Rather than be put off by some adversity, minor adjustments were made to the scheduling and we set off determined to persist and make it a great day. Grit, resilience and persistence are vital personal characteristics that assist us to navigate life’s challenges. At Forest Hill College we expect students give 100% effort to any task they undertake so they achieve their own personal best. Today as a community we modelled those characteristics and had a fantastic day. What we celebrate this week is the persistence we showed, next week’s Blog will have the details and results from the day.



Staff Achievements


On Monday night Chris Grant and Schy Peterson graduated from the Masters of School Leadership at Monash University.

Developed for aspirant school leaders, Chris and Schy have been undertaking the course for two years part-time through a scholarship awarded by the Bastow institute.









VCE Theatre Studies 'Hercules' Performance



The VCE Theatre Studies class has been busy in rehearsals for their performance of ‘Hercules’. The performance will be on Tuesday 27 May 2014 in the theatre at 7pm and is open to all for just a gold coin donation at the door! Come along and see our hardworking students as they perform their humorous adaptation of the entertaining Disney story Hercules!





Jelly Cells



As a conclusion to our Cells unit, this week the year 8 science class completed an edible assessment task. Students designed & built models of animal cells using lollies. Some outstanding work was produced, and it was great to see students really enjoy their assessment task.



 





Forest Hill College Production




This year Forest Hill College are lucky enough to have two very talented Year 11 students writing and directing our annual school production.

Set in a high school the story follows Gwen Powers who is an intelligent and determined high achiever who spends more time on her studies than her social life. She is striving to get votes from the various cliques within the school to become School President at Park Mountain High’s 2014 election. Forced to blackmail the cliques to ensure they vote for her, will she win?

With over 50 students involved, come and see this excellent production the students have been rehearsing since the beginning of the year.

Performances are being held in the Kel Watson Theatre at Forest Hill College and will commence on Wednesday the 4th, Thursday the 5th and Friday the 6th of June 2014 at 7:30pm.
 

Tickets are $5 and will be on sale from Friday 16 May 2014 through Try Booking-http://trybooking.com/EYJC.



Host A Chinese Student

Brush up on your Chinese or learn a bit about Chinese culture.  Teach someone English or our Aussie culture and share our blue unpolluted sky. Our Chinese Sister School is coming to visit us and we need homestays to host them. Please consider the possibility of having one or two Chinese students from Wenzhou stay with your family ffor a week (July 23 - 30). They will be attending school here and going on excursions. The homestay will need to provide them with 3 meals a day - except for Breaky Club days of course when they will only need lunch and dinner. If your family is interested please come and see Ms Jacki Hood in the International Student Centre.

In the future it could be you visiting them in China!

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