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Edition 33
23 October 2020
General
Primary
Secondary
26
Oct
Yrs 8-10 Return On Campus
26
Oct
Yr 12 VCE Reports Released

October

26: Yrs 8-10 Return On Campus
26: Foundation & Year 1 School Photos
26: Yr 12 VCE Reports Released
27: Year 2-4 School Photos
28: Year 5-6 School Photos
29: Secondary School Photos
26-30: F-11 Literacy Week

November

2-3: Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
9-13: Yr 11 Exams (No Exams 7-10)
10: VCE Exams start
20: Pupil Free Day (Report Writing)
30: VCE Exams End

December

7: Primary Awards
7: Yr 12 Formal
8: Secondary Awards
8: Last Day For Students

The Value for Week 3 will be:

Trust

Trust is the firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something. A trustworthy person demonstrates responsibility. This value matches responsibility in the core values for Australian schools. God is the only one we can fully put our trust in.

“I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.” – Psalms 52:8

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5,6

• I follow the rules and guidelines of the Acceptable Use Agreement
•
I use the bins

 

Uniform Shop Open

The uniform shop is now open on Tuesday 2:30pm-4pm & Thursday 8:45am-9:15am for appointments only, between 8:30am-9:15 am. Please call the office to make an appointment on 9717 7300. Please note that numbers are limited so some wait times may occur.

 

Flu Symptoms Protocol

Please be aware that any students showing flu like symptoms will be sent home as per our school protocol. Thank you for your understanding and diligence in keeping our students & staff healthy.

 

School Fees

Friday 30th October – Term 4 Fees due

General
Editorial
Decisions In History
I have in my personal library a book entitled ‘History’s Worst Decisions and the People who Made them’. Interestingly, the first decision is listed under the names of Adam and Eve and while the author questions the veracity of the story he does acknowledge that DNA analysis identifies two individuals as everyone’s common ancestors. All women on the planet receive their mitochondrial DNA from their mothers and all living males have their Y chromosome from a single remote ancestor. Since those early days, and while people have been writing and recording their exploits, history is littered with mistakes and there...
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Chaplain's Corner
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School Photos
School portrait photos have been arranged to be taken in house for the purpose of our Yearbook memories. As such, unfortunately these photographs can’t be purchased or printed by us however they will be made available to you later in the year- potentially in digital form. We sincerely apologise for this but appreciate your understanding as we navigate very different circumstances this year. Please have students wear their Full Winter Academic uniforms on their required day. They are to bring a separate bag with their Sports uniform to change into after photos have been taken. Photos will be taken on different days for various...
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Sah Ghee Lar
In this week’s teacher introduction, in our series of people...
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Think, Learn, Succeed
Step 2 Focussed Thinking/Reflect
The aim of this step is to teach you how to think properly, and, in doing so, develop your phenomenal capacity to build effective, long-term memory into your dendrites. The Golden Rule of the Learning Process is to think to understand the information you are trying to remember. Thinking to understand involves three steps: asking, answering, and discussing. For the Focussed Thinking step: 1. Read a chunk of information- between one to three sentences- out loud, with your guide (pencil, pointer or finger). 2. Stop and ask yourself what you have read. 3. Now, answer yourself by looking at what...
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Avondale Summer Gift Pack
VCE students enter to win! To help get you through...
Read more
World Teachers Day
The 30th Oct is the day we celebrate World Teacher’s...
Read more
Happy Dyslexia Awareness Month
Happy Dyslexia Awareness Month – October 2020 Live Online Events: https://speld.secure.force.com/events   SPELD Victoria Info Need Assistance? Please Contact Us Amended Operating Hours are 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday to Friday – Closed Saturday and Sunday. Administration, assessment queries, bookings E: hello@speldvic.org.au T: 03 9480 4422 Press 1 Education events; product purchases and memberships E: events@speldvic.org.au For additional support and advice regarding SLDs, leave a message on 1800 051 533
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Extra Yearbooks
We have a number of Gilson College YearBooks leftover from...
Read more
A Message From The Counsellor
Things to keep in mind returning to school from COVID...
Read more
Decisions In History

I have in my personal library a book entitled ‘History’s Worst Decisions and the People who Made them’. Interestingly, the first decision is listed under the names of Adam and Eve and while the author questions the veracity of the story he does acknowledge that DNA analysis identifies two individuals as everyone’s common ancestors. All women on the planet receive their mitochondrial DNA from their mothers and all living males have their Y chromosome from a single remote ancestor.

Since those early days, and while people have been writing and recording their exploits, history is littered with mistakes and there appears to be no shortage of candidates stepping up to continue the tradition. In fact, it was George Santayana who penned those famous words: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” and in a sobering pause for thought you will find them on a plaque in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

A little closer to home, Australia gets a couple of mentions in the list of outstanding blunders, one which centres on the actions of Mr Thomas Austin. Tom, it appears enjoyed shooting rabbits when he was back in England, and so he ordered 24 rabbits and released them down near Geelong. Environmental destruction by rabbits is now estimated to cover around four million square kilometres! Despite some of the longest fences in the world (1150 km), the introduction of myxomatosis and the development of an entire industry of rabbit killers and skinners – (from which the South Sydney Rugby League got its Rabbitohs symbol) – these pesky little varmints have been almost impossible to eradicate. More recently, the calicivirus was introduced with mixed results.

So has anything good come from this decision? Well, the great Australian Akubra hat is made from rabbit fur and Tom’s widow established the Austin hospital. Which goes to show that decisions made by people can have intended and unintended consequences that are both good and bad.

In recent times some have paused to consider the decisions made by governments around the world to respond to the coronavirus and there has been a variety of approaches. We, in Australia, can be relatively pleased with some of the outcomes, however I have observed with interest changes in the prevailing zeitgeist – some obvious and others more subtle that are concerning. Let me quote two articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

As we move forward and plan for the future this should be done with care for the community, and remembering that sometimes small decisions can have large ramifications for the individual.

It’s worth a thought.

Mark B Vodéll
Principal

Chaplain's Corner

School Photos
School portrait photos have been arranged to be taken in house for the purpose of our Yearbook memories. As such, unfortunately these photographs can’t be purchased or printed by us however they will be made available to you later in the year- potentially in digital form. We sincerely apologise for this but appreciate your understanding as we navigate very different circumstances this year.

Please have students wear their Full Winter Academic uniforms on their required day. They are to bring a separate bag with their Sports uniform to change into after photos have been taken.

Photos will be taken on different days for various year levels first thing in the morning. Please note dates and year levels below:

Monday 26th October – Foundation – Year 1
Tuesday 27th October- Years 2 – Year 4
Wednesday 28th October – Years 5 & 6
Thursday 29th October – Secondary students
If you have any concerns, please contact the heads of school: Primary: jodi.batten@gilson.vic.edu.au – Secondary: israel.best@gilson.vic.edu.au
Thank you for your assistance in this event.
Sah Ghee Lar

In this week’s teacher introduction, in our series of people that Gilson College supports, we introduce Sah Ghee Lar who has a B.A. and has been serving at Pwaytawru Adventist School for five years.

 

 

She writes to us saying:

I would firstly pray that may the blessings of God be bestowed upon you and all those who help us in this endeavour. Because of your assistance I and the children, villagers, students’ parents – we all are blessed.

It is quite difficult to introduce the Creator God to the villagers. But it has been a privilege to spread these seeds into the hearts of these young children. As we teach general education to these children, we have the privilege of introducing our living God to these people. I would like to thank you heartily for your help and assistance as I can serve Him with peaceful heart.

May all donors be blessed and continue to live with happiness

 

Step 2 Focussed Thinking/Reflect

The aim of this step is to teach you how to think properly, and, in doing so, develop your phenomenal capacity to build effective, long-term memory into your dendrites. The Golden Rule of the Learning Process is to think to understand the information you are trying to remember. Thinking to understand involves three steps: asking, answering, and discussing.

For the Focussed Thinking step:

1. Read a chunk of information- between one to three sentences- out loud, with your guide (pencil, pointer or finger).

2. Stop and ask yourself what you have read.

3. Now, answer yourself by looking at what you have just read. Then answer yourself by rereading the chunk of information out loud and circling the concepts. Don’t underline or highlight words. Those are passive actions, because they don’t require you to think, analyse, or understand what you have underlined or highlighted. Circling is active.

4. Discuss this chunk of information with yourself, still looking at the sentence(s) you have just read. Discussion means you explain it to yourself over and over in your own words until you understand. If you can’t work it out what iit means, ask someone or make a note to find out later.

5. Check how much you have circled. If more than 40%, it is too much and you don’t understand yet. Go back and reread and rediscuss until you can reduce what you have circled down to 15-35% of the content. If you focus on too many words, you will make your memory worse, not better. It is between 15-35% of sentences that contain the most important concepts; the rest of the sentences are filler words and don’t need to be written down. Once you feel you have fully understood the concepts of the chunck you have just read, you are ready to write them down.

On a cellular level, the dendrites become involved in the process of learning. Great memories are beginning to form as neurons are responding by growing dendrites to store the information. Integration across the left and right sides of the brain occurs.

 

Think, Learn, Succeed
by Dr Caroline Leaf, pages 188 – 190

Avondale Summer Gift Pack

VCE students enter to win!

To help get you through this stressful time, Avondale is giving away two ‘Sunny Days’ Gift Packs (worth over $700) to make your summer holiday awesome! The pack includes an oversized floatie, Spikeball set, gift vouchers to spend on whatever you want and some other goodies (there is even something for the parents/guardians).

Entries are open only until 5pm 26 October 2020.

Enter online: http://au-sn03.marketo.com/lp/526-HFD-053/YEAR12_LP.html

World Teachers Day

The 30th Oct is the day we celebrate World Teacher’s Day in Australia. Our Teachers continue to go above and beyond their roles, showing care and support for our children. Parents and Friends, together with our parent community would like to acknowledge our teachers and their hard work. If you would like to send in a word of thanks or encouragement to show your appreciation to your child/ren’s teachers, please email the Wellbeing Coordinator- jodi.batten@gilson.vic.edu.au by the 28th October and she will compile your words of encouragement and ensure each teacher is recognised for their dedicated service.

Happy Dyslexia Awareness Month

Happy Dyslexia Awareness Month – October 2020

Live Online Events: https://speld.secure.force.com/events

 

SPELD Victoria Info
Need Assistance? Please Contact Us

Amended Operating Hours are 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday to Friday – Closed Saturday and Sunday.

Administration, assessment queries, bookings
E: hello@speldvic.org.au T: 03 9480 4422 Press 1

Education events; product purchases and memberships
E: events@speldvic.org.au

For additional support and advice regarding SLDs, leave a message on 1800 051 533

Extra Yearbooks

We have a number of Gilson College YearBooks leftover from the last few years that we are giving to families that either haven’t received one or would like an extra. Please email admin on admin.m@gilson.vic.edu.au to request a copy and indicate which year you are requesting.

2014, 2015, 2018 & 2019

A Message From The Counsellor

Things to keep in mind returning to school from COVID Lockdown!

For some children they are very excited about coming back to school, some mixed feelings and for some they might me feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

Each child will have had very different experiences of the COVID 19 lockdown period. They will also have varying levels of coping skills and resilience in dealing with those experiences. Having an open mind about what individual children may be going through and how they will be coping with it will be important.   You can make your child feel at ease by having an open conversation about what it is that’s worrying him/her and letting them know that it’s natural to feel anxious.

Each child will have a different emotional reaction to returning to school.  Given that there are many kinds of change that children may have experienced over their time away from school, you may see different kinds of emotional responses.  As a parent you need to remind your child about the positives of school, that they will be able to see their friends and teachers and continue learning new things.

Reassure children about safety measures in place to help keep students, teachers and parents healthy and remind children that they can also help prevent germs spreading by washing their hands with soap and coughing or sneezing into their elbow.

For Older Children (12 and above) children may be reluctant or frustrated to wear masks, especially when running or playing. You can reassure your children that lots of adults are working hard to help keep your family safe, but emphasize that it’s important we all follow the recommended measures to take care of more vulnerable members of our community.

It’s important to be calm and proactive in your conversations with children, ensure you check in with them to see how they are doing. Their emotions will change regularly and you need to show them that’s okay, listen to their concerns and reassure them.

Signs of stress and anxiety may impact in your child’s:
• sleep patterns
• school work
• withdrawal from social settings
• friendships
• feeling overwhelmed/ not coping
• change in behaviour / mood
• avoidance of school/ contacting friends
• irritability
• heart racing and feeling sick when you mention school

If your child is experiencing any of these you can contact the wellbeing co- ordinator and book a time to see one of the wellbeing team or the school counsellor.

Jodi Batten – Wellbeing Co–ordinator Jodi.batten@gilson.vic.edu.au

Primary
Primary Art
Curious Creatures Book Week Primary students have been working on cartoons for Book Week, which is on the Theme ‘Curious Creatures’. In the gallery below are some examples that have been submitted. Please continue to bring the cartoons in so we can put them up in the learning corridor to read. Can students please bring in their rock and rock design for the College Rock Garden. ASAP. Mrs Wilson   Also check out the gallery below for. Year 2 Robots. Collage and Posca Pen Year 3 Pop Art. Influenced by Andy Warhol.
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Book Week
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Family Staff Worship NOW
Story Time
Dear Parents and Guardians, Earlier this week we shared how...
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Primary Art

Curious Creatures Book Week

Primary students have been working on cartoons for Book Week, which is on the Theme ‘Curious Creatures’. In the gallery below are some examples that have been submitted. Please continue to bring the cartoons in so we can put them up in the learning corridor to read.

Can students please bring in their rock and rock design for the College Rock Garden. ASAP. Mrs Wilson

 

Also check out the gallery below for.

Year 2 Robots. Collage and Posca Pen
Year 3 Pop Art. Influenced by Andy Warhol.

Book Week

Story Time

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Earlier this week we shared how many have enjoyed seeing other families and students during Stage 4 restrictions by being invited to the Friday Family/Staff worship. Now that students are back at school this time slot will no longer be possible or convenient. However, given the challenges that 2020 has thrown at all of us, but especially our children, the benefits of a caring community are needed more than ever. As a College we have always recognised that it takes a village to raise a child and the need for community is especially important at this time.

We recognise that special moments with our students and families build our capacity to adapt to acutely stressful situations such as this long-term challenge of the COVID pandemic. Putting in place strategies that maintain our personal wellbeing is now a priority and so as a College we are looking at ways to enhance those connections. A number of families had indicated that they have enjoyed the inspiring and uplifting stories on Friday mornings, and so now we invite our families to join our chaplaincy team for a short (15 minutes) time of positive story telling on Friday evenings at 7:30pm. We understand that at this time of extended lockdown this may be a welcomed wellbeing moment where uplifting stories will encourage the human spirit.
Look forward to seeing our students for this weekly finale.

Primary Art
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Secondary
Last Day for Year 12
Today our Year 12 students demonstrated what fine young people they are with clear heads and beautiful hearts. They began the day by presenting a Farewell Chapel to the Year 11 students in person and all other students and families via live stream (Chaplains and IT). Stacy opened in prayer and then what an emotional rollercoaster they gave us with funny stories, solemn reflections and moving photos of their journeys from babies to the young men and women they are today. We trust parents and community will enjoy the photographs that have captured this significant milestone (Mr Rampton). Mrs Jakupec...
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Peer Support
Year 11 & 7 The Year 11s were keen to...
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Last Day for Year 12

Today our Year 12 students demonstrated what fine young people they are with clear heads and beautiful hearts. They began the day by presenting a Farewell Chapel to the Year 11 students in person and all other students and families via live stream (Chaplains and IT). Stacy opened in prayer and then what an emotional rollercoaster they gave us with funny stories, solemn reflections and moving photos of their journeys from babies to the young men and women they are today. We trust parents and community will enjoy the photographs that have captured this significant milestone (Mr Rampton).

Mrs Jakupec led them through a series of questions which provided us with some new insights into the hopes and dreams of each of the Year 12s. Declan’s advice to younger students to listen to everything from Year 7 onwards not just in Year 11 had the teachers applauding loudly while Stacy and Manreet saying they wouldn’t change a thing about their educational journeys because they were so happy had us all close to tears. When asked about who inspired them most, Viljen and Manreet both chose their paternal grandmothers while Aya and Prashant paid tribute to their parents. In 20 years time all but one of them wants to be married with a family of their own so the strong family values shone clearly. The Valedictory speeches of the School Captains, Aya and Declan were both excellent and quite different in the reflections and the advice they gave to following students. Aya reminded students to look out for the inspirational moments at school and treasure them while Declan looked to several famous people who had overcome adversity to make their way in the world. The Chapel ended with another moving video of the Year 12s and credit goes to Prashant for creating the videos so well.

After Chapel, the students headed back to the Middle School where Miss Humble and Mr Zammit had created an outdoor oasis with sparkling shade, palm trees, beautiful flowers on white table cloths and delicious food – all in separate covid safe boxes. Mrs Humble and a band of helpers including Sandy, Mrs Kerta, Mrs Manners and Mrs Joy prepared magnificent food to celebrate our magnificent students. The brunch was such a celebration with laughter, stories, photos and moving speeches and thanks to Trent and Jeremy powerful messages of encouragement and affirmation were heard clearly in the outdoor setting. Mr Vodell reminded the Year 12 students that if ever troubles or doubters come their way they should read Mark’s Gospel as a reminder of what Christ did for us all and draw strength from that. Mrs Kelso ended any fears the students may have of this being the ‘end’ because each and everyone of them takes with them a part of every teachers’ heart and they have left an imprint on the teachers as well. Mr Best reminded the students of the maps and beepers they carried with them on Learning for Life expeditions and that if they ever needed us they could ‘hit the beeper’ and we’d be there.

The students were then given their ‘affirmation’ packs which contained messages from parents, other family and teachers and they were given time alone to consider how loved and respected they are as they move to their next stage of life. While the students had that special time the teachers remained at the oasis and talked about what a wonderful group of students we are farewelling and what an outstanding legacy they are leaving us. We thank the collective team of teaching and non teaching staff for their support and care of this precious cohort and the memorable send off. We will miss them and we thank them.

Peer Support

Year 11 & 7

The Year 11s were keen to come back to school and welcome back the Year 7s. Whilst in lockdown they attempted to maintain their Peer Support online via Zoom sessions. Although this was appreciated, the face to face contact was was enjoyed by all. The Year 11s have done a wonderful job trying to mentor and support the Year 7s as they’ve shared on the value of the week, checked in with each other and prayed together. It’s been a privilege watching them all grow and become more comfortable and confident in the roles.

As Grishma noted, “COVID has shown us how valuable coming to school and being a part of a school community is”. We’ll look forward to welcoming back the whole school next week

Look whats happening in the Secondary
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Headspace Support
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Headspace Support

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