Newsletter Term 3, Week 8 2 Sept 2021

The Art Department at Strathcona has really felt the loss of studio time with our girls. Losing the chance to explore the sensation of art materials, like the coolness of clay, the noise that charcoal makes on paper and seeing students persist and learn to develop new skills, has been a challenge. Living through the pandemic has also meant missing out on exciting visits to Art Galleries and Exhibitions, having artists and designers visit us at school and seeing real finished artworks on display, watching design and artmaking come to life.  Instead, 2021 has seen us swap to using online resources like virtual art gallery tours and finding new ways to make art from things found at home. Some of which has led to some excellent creative thinking from our students.

We have had students explore toning photographs with tea, creating sculptures from things found in the garden, carving soap or using playdough. We have returned to drawing as a main tool of expressing how we feel at home and creating opportunities to use photography and digital art and media to create, make and respond to our students’ ideas. All of these have been carefully thought out and purposeful to ensure they are an extension of what is learnt at school- not to just fill in time or create busywork for our students. The aim has been to create opportunities to explore and engage in the visual arts, despite the loss of the studio and specialised art materials. This meant giving flexible options to enrich our students' learning while at home, engage them with artworks and allow time for creative thinking and to develop art-making skills and self-expression.

While we may have lost some of our favorite parts of teaching art with our students, I reflect that we need to be proud and celebrate the way that our students, teachers and parents have found so many creative options and ways to keep our students learning. I do hope we will get to celebrate all of this wonderful work in an exhibition of artwork later in the year.

All of us from teachers, parents and students have had to find the motivation and will to challenge themselves to be creative thinkers, dreamers and innovators over 2020-2021.

This reminded me of a favorite quote from American Artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who in 1922 said: “It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.”

Erin Horsley Head of Art

Click on the below images to enlarge: Artworks created at home 2021 
In order of images:

1. Sophie Tremewen, Year 10 Environmental Installation.
2. Emma Hooton, Year 11 Art, Soap Sculpture
3. Sophie Niel, Year 11 Art, Coloured marker and fineliner Drawing on paper
4. Milla O’Brien, Year 10, Digital Photography

As new industries materialise and new technologies emerge, further thought is put into the question of how schools are preparing students for the world beyond their classrooms. There is no doubt that we will need brilliant scientists, analytical mathematicians, erudite writers and sustainably-minded geographers, but much of the literature now recognises that people will need new mindsets, they will need to develop the capacity to adapt quickly, to fail and to fail fast, being responsive to situations and applying data to new and novel situations. It is for this reason that I believe that entrepreneurship, if taught explicitly in schools, is the most important subject any student, but even more so females, can learn. Let me explain further.

To begin, a look into what the current data actually suggests. At present in Australia 34% of our companies are run by women in comparison to 66% run by men. Not only is this a serious underrepresentation of one segment of the population, but alarmingly, in the last 20 years, the amount of female representation has only increased by 3%. In 2020, US magazine ‘Fortune’ proudly gloated that “The number of women running America's largest corporations has hit a new high” 37 of the companies on this year's Fortune 500 are led by female CEOs. This gender imbalance is disturbing to me as a female, a mother of a daughter and a teacher of girls. In Australia, it’s a similar story. In an article published in September last year by the Sydney Morning Herald titled 'Absolutely no progress': Number of female CEOs in Australia is declining’  the figure of 10 women occupying the top job among ASX200 companies was given. As Sheryl Thai from ‘The League of Extraordinary Women often says when speaking to our Year 9 students,  “you can’t be what you can’t see” and the lack of role models, pathways and embedded educational programs designed to enable women to fulfil leadership roles in big business is disturbing.  Entrepreneurial education provides students with transversal skills to negotiate and thrive in increasingly complex societies and must be seen as one specific approach to enable schools to address these gender issues and the lack of female activation in commercial enterprises.

“An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.” Entrepreneurship in schools, when taught explicitly, is real-world learning. It is totally authentic, never contrived and seeks to encourage students to meet specific objectives.  “For learners to develop these skills or capabilities, the organisation of learning must provide students with the opportunities to truly exercise their capacities.” This involves, adaptation, response to competition, meaningful application of statistics and data, feedback, negotiation and innovation. This is not a lemonade stand or a person baking a few cupcakes to sell, much as they can be enterprising in nature, this is a series of curated, intentional experiences designed to teach and give students opportunities to practise being curious and creative, forming a vision, taking a risk and being tenacious. Importantly, students need to understand that the skills and capacities they are learning are highly transferrable. Not all students will go on to run their own business post school, but they may be intrapreneurs or run teams and business units within larger companies where the same skills are crucial. Without the skills being taught, females believe that they are far less likely to be able to do the job. In order for women to play a larger role in the upper echelons of business, they must first have the attributes to ensure that their journey can be a successful one.

Our Envision program at Tay Creggan fulfils two main aims of teaching entrepreneurship. Firstly, it provides an authentic learning experience for all students where risks can be taken and lessons learned. Not all businesses thrive. Feedback can be harsh as the stakes are high. The program allows female students a chance to lead their own company – to have a ‘taste’ of what this feels like, to sit in discomfit at times, to have difficult conversations with business partners and to be challenged. Secondly, it is a brilliant mechanism to explicitly teach  future proofing skills to young women, on the cusp of their senior years of schooling. If we want more female CEO’s this is where the rubber meets the road.

In 2021, the third year of Envision at Year 9, the program continues to expand. We retain our valuable partnership with “The League of Extraordinary Women” , work closely with the Wade Institute at The University of Melbourne and surround our students with mentors and role models who have life experiences to share.  At the start of this term we planned for a face-to-face market, two weeks later, that avenue of sales was closed. Established last year by three entrepreneurial students, the online Envision Marketplace has continued to provide authentic experiences and student learning is immense. Our female businesswomen can articulate their value propositions, they know their customer segments and they are all tracking their progress on excel spreadsheets that VCE Accounting teachers would be proud of. They have been forced to “Pivot, Punt or Persevere” with their ideas. 

From our 37 businesses created in 2021, 31 have successfully launched, with a couple more about to burst onto the scene. At the time of writing, 866 individual items have been purchased and over $7,400 of gross sales have been earned in just under a week. Tax, in the form of a charity donation to Rotary Charity FORaMEAL will be paid (it is real-world learning after all!) $20 Seed Funding and Shareholder investor payments will be returned and businesses will complete their financial statements and understand their balance sheets.  Important time will be spent reflecting on how each business operated, on lessons learned and on making notes about what might be done differently in the future.  Each year, a couple of enterprising students continue their business without the support of the school marketplace. Whilst it will be outstanding to celebrate the financial success of many of our 2021 businesses, even better will be the knowledge that this group of female entrepreneurs has augmented their toolbox of life-ready skills, so that regardless of the industry they end up in, they are ready to make critical decisions, and be strong and capable leaders.
 
Mrs Karyn Murray, Head of Tay Creggan
 

References
Jean-Pierre Béchard & Jean-Marie Toulouse (1991) ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND EDUCATION: VIEWPOINT FROM EDUCATION, Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 9:1, 3-13, DOI: 10.1080/08276331.1991.10600386

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (2020) ‘Why You Should Become an “Intrapreneur”’Harvard Business Review
 
Milligan S, Luo R, Hassim E, Johnson J ((2020) Future Proofing Students What they need to know and how to assess and credential them. Melbourne, Australia MGSE Industry Report #2

Youngson L, (2017) Women’s Entrepreneurship – the state of women’s representation in the Australian StartUp ecosystem, why we need to improve it and how to get there. Wade Institute, University of Melbourne.
 

Women’s Entrepreneurship – the state of women’s representation in the Australian StartUp ecosystem, why we need to improve it and how to get there. 
https://fortune.com/2020/05/18...
https://www.smh.com.au/busines...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/e...

Future Proofing Students MGSE Industry Report #2

The Wellbeing team is acutely aware of the importance of building connections between the girls in these challenging times, where the typical connective activities teenagers engage in have been dramatically paused. As part of our programming to ensure the girls have opportunities to bond outside of the virtual classroom, the last week or two saw the senior girls come together for some fun with a series of trivia nights.

The Heads of House aimed to engage and connect each of the Year 10, 11 and 12 cohorts through an event that promoted fun, laughter and even a little bit of healthy competition! Each year level had their own trivia evening or afternoon whereby the girls joined a team and dressed in costume. The energy and creativity of the girls was impressive, and it is with pleasure that I share some of the most inventive team costumes below in some photos from each year level.

The most memorable element of each of the trivia nights was not only seeing the girls with their cameras voluntarily on for a change but witnessing their moods lift, their faces full of smiles and laughter in their voices. Their happy faces are evident in the photos below and the connection clearly visible. They bantered with each other in the group chat and relished opportunities to steal points from other teams vying for the prized Uber Eats and Sephora vouchers. The interactive rounds of paper/scissors/rock and lip-syncing were vigorously battled. The girls answered a range of questions about movies, geography, cartoon characters and there was even a roundabout with their teachers.

Many thanks must go to our quizmaster, Mrs Claire Johns, who dazzled the girls with her “prancercising”, props and performance. These evenings really showcased how a community can come together to support and enjoy one another’s company, albeit from a virtual distance. It was rewarding and inspiring to see that the girls were able to embrace this opportunity and enjoy an entertaining evening that we hope brought an element of excitement to their week. 

Adolescent Health & Wellbeing-Webinars

There are many organisations providing parents with information to support their children’s mental health and wellbeing during another period of lockdown. This includes several excellent webinar opportunities to hear from leading experts in the adolescent mental health field. Below are some links that we would recommend for parents looking to source further information, these are often targeted specifically to children and teenagers and they are free.

Black Dog Institute
FREE Webinar: Supporting children during lockdown six

Mrs Miranda Gazis, Head of Gilbert

References:
The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health
A Systematic Review of Recent Research on Adolescent Social Connectedness and Mental Health with Internet Technology Use
Teenage girls more stressed and anxious under lockdown than boys

Body Kind Families is a Butterfly Foundation initiative for parents of teenagers. It provides FREE resources and important tips on supporting positive body image. It also encourages everyone in a family to be kind to their own body and to others.

It includes resources for parents on: 

• Building resilience to social media pressures
• Healthy eating and exercise behaviours Talking about appearance and weight
• Body acceptance & compassion 
• Warning signs and what to do if concerned
• What does it mean to be BODY KIND? (video)
• Boday Kind Families poster

For more information and to receive free resources (videos, tips sheets, family activities & more) visit www.butterfly.org.au/bodykindfamilies

Dr Flynn has advised that for many of us the majority of our day is spent sitting at a chair. Given this we need to stop to consider the importance of our posture. If you are someone who is always wiggling in the chair and never able to get comfortable, or finding more and more injuries and issues popping up that don’t improve even with stretching or foam rolling, it’s time to take a step back and look at what you are doing for the majority of your day. Just a few postural and ergonomic adjustments can make a huge difference to how you feel and get rid of tightness and aches through the body. 

Online postural and ergonomic assessments are available, email amelia@yarraosteo.com.au to find out more!

Kerri Rhodes, Senior School Psychologist

The parent seminar will examine current drug trends amongst school-based young people, including vaping and the online sale of drugs via social media apps. The session aims to empower parents with a positive message and assist them in having open and honest family discussions in this complex area. Further details and registration can be found here.

Paul will also be delivering two one-hour webinars for teachers in Term 4 and they are as follows:

•             Monday, 18 October: Vaping – 'short and sweet': What do teachers need to know? More info and to book here.

•             Wednesday, 20 October: School-based young people and alcohol and other drugs: Hot topics 2021. More info and to book here

They will run from 3.30-4.30pm (AEST). 

NAPLAN tests students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation, and Numeracy each May. The certificates with results for each student will be mailed out to home addresses and should arrive some time next week. As a school, Strathcona has performed on par with previous years showing no more variation with previous results than normal. The scores for NAPLAN are scaled to enable comparison of performance from year to year and no obvious signs of decline relative to previous years has been recorded, in spite of all that has occurred. Some areas even show signs of improvement. This is both in relation to previous scores for Strathcona and in comparison with the results for students across Victoria. 

A result that stood out for me is the state Reading scores for Years 3 and 5. Reading is so important and there is a lot of research to say that what happens at home is important in the reading development of young people. Maybe more reading was done at home and parents read more to their children. It is not a huge difference but with the large number of students sitting NAPLAN across the state, the variation from year to year is very small. The variation from year to year at Strathcona is a reflection of the small sample in the class. Seeing a rise of several points in a year when everyone is concerned about the impacts on education is fascinating. 

The following table shows the Reading results for the past 5 years at Year 3.

The following graphs show the performance this year on each test at each year level at Strathcona compared with the state results for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. 

Year 3, 2021

Year 5, 2021

Year 7, 2021

Year 9, 2021

You may have a schedule and follow a daily routine in lockdown, or you may lie in bed all day and only get up for food. You may dread having to put on your camera for school, or you may be the first person in class with your camera on ready for the day. You may go for a daily run, you might do a home workout, you could be lying in bed not wanting to get out of it, you may still be in your pyjamas from this morning, whether people will admit it or not, we’ve all had those days, and it is normal.

It is always a good idea to have a mental health day. Whatever that means to you, it is probably the best thing you can do for yourself right now. We aren’t seeing any of our friends, so whether it’s just face-timing one of them, or going for a walk with one of them, maybe it’s not seeing them at all, it is the best thing you can do.

It is times like these where you should do something that benefits you and your mood to make these rough times better.

It is always hard to find the motivation to do work when you are online, your phone could be right next to you, but you have a test you need to study for. Everyone is finding it difficult no matter what age you are.

You may feel down sometimes in lockdown, but there are so many people in your home that love you and will support you through this entire ISO and be with you no matter what happens. Once this lockdown finishes, we will see each other again! And be even more grateful that we have each other!

Annie Knight, Year 7

Earlier in the year we were granted permission by Enid Blyton’s estate to develop ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ into a performance. Students in Year 3 and Year 4 had just one workshop together before we began classes online. Undeterred, these enthusiastic students have continued meeting each week to script scenes, brainstorm ideas and develop their vocal and physical expressive skills. Technology has allowed them to record and share their experiences, and although the digital space will never replace the Drama studio, it has enabled younger students to engage in the play making process.  

The Middle School production ‘Shrek’ has been postponed twice because of lockdowns this year. Students have sustained momentum by rehearsing in Teams, refining their choreography through recorded videos and meeting together for read-throughs. In the Senior School, students have been meeting online twice a week to rehearse ‘Boy Girl Wall’, a comedic play chosen as much for its hopeful themes as well as its flexible performance rights. Despite postponing these productions, students are enjoying the development process and opportunity to connect creatively with one another on a regular basis. The same rehearsal process will be applied to the Year 9 play ‘Hating Alison Ashley’, beginning with auditions utilising the video platform Flipgrid at the end of the term.  

While we dream of returning to a time BC (before covid) where we could develop performances without restrictions, it is important that we continue to provide our students with meaningful experiences and opportunities. The pace at which the most recent round of restrictions was introduced has encouraged our young performers to seize the opportunity to collaborate when they meet again. Our students speak with excitement about future projects, demonstrating true determination and resilience. Most importantly, they share their gratitude for past experiences, discussing these performances fondly whilst looking forward to working together in the real world again.  

Ms Claire Johns.  Director of Productions and Senior Mentor Grenfell

AHN is looking for warm, friendly families to host Strathcona international students in 2022. 

Homestay is a great opportunity for international students to experience the Australian lifestyle in a safe and supportive family environment.
Homestay host families contribute to the positive memories international students have of their time in Melbourne.  

What does a homestay host family provide?

Your primary role as a homestay host is to provide students with a safe, welcoming and friendly home situation that supports their personal and educational needs.

You must provide your student with:

• a clean, safe and friendly home where international students can experience the Melbourne lifestyle and practice their English conversation skills
• a private bedroom with a desk for study and storage space for the student’s clothes, personal belongings and study materials
• three nutritious meals a day
• assistance to access transport to and from school and for school-related activities.

What do homestay host families receive?

In return for your care and hospitality, students are expected to show you and your family respect, courtesy and consideration.

By registering with AHN you will receive a supplementary income to cover the student’s meals and homestay expenses, host training, 24/7 support and mandatory host insurance.

You will have access to support services and resources to help you plan for your student’s visit, and throughout their stay.

Have a chat to Amanda Orgill, Overseas Student Coordinator at Strathcona, or contact AHN for further information.

Amanda Orgill: aorgill@strathcona.vic.edu.au / Ph. 0457 874 932

AHN: melbourne@homestaynetwork.org / Ph. 03 9458 9000

Prinicpal Mrs Marise McConaghy wrote a piece titled How girls’ schools foster confidence, shaping female leaders of tomorrow in the Education Review on 27 August 2021.

Mr Ross Phillips, Senior Dean of Learning Futures contributed to an article titled How principals can boost female engagement in STEM educationsharing Strathcona's approach to promoting STEM to young women and how the School takes into account the complexities of the issue.

For more news items of interest click here. 

We were delighted at the turnout for our recent online events. If you missed them please find the links to the recordings below:

Planning Liveable Cities

Green Evolution Breakfast

Items in the Career News include:
• Dates to Diarise in Term 3
• Deakin Campus Tours – September School Holidays
• New Bachelor of Digital Construction Management at Swinburne
• VU Polytechnic Sports Pathway to VU Degrees
• News from the University of Sydney
o Admission Pathways
o The Future Leaders Scheme
o Academic Excellence Scheme
• 2024 entry requirements for ANU
• Health Science Degrees in Victoria in 2021
• Nursing and/or Midwifery Degree Courses 2021
• Snapshot of Melbourne Polytechnic in 2021

Please click here for this week's Career News. To visit the Careers page or view previous versions of Careers News click here.

I have had quite a few deliveries dropped off over the past week - some by students on foot, a couple on their bikes and the rest in the car with a parent or sibling. It has been lovely to have a quick chat, reconnect for a moment in person and value the effort that has been made. I recognise that there are a multitude of parents behind the scenes who are assisting in a variety of capacities to keep these businesses ticking over - and I thank you most sincerely. I have taken photos of a number of my purchases - Rex in particular has enjoyed his new bandana - and sat up beautifully for me to take his photo when bribed with a delicious Furry Friends banana and peanut butter treat. 

Orders can still be made https://envision.melbourne/ you will need the password: taycreggan to order. A few new businesses should come online over the coming day or two - one selling relishes and curds, the other choc bombs!

As an introduction to their unit on Provence, Madame Lloyd and her French classes have been watching the film “La Fille du Puisatier” (The Well Digger’s Daughter) which is by the celebrated Provence author, film maker and playwright, Marcel Pagnol. Students have become virtual tourists, exploring the regions and made their own screen backgrounds. It is nice to dream of a holiday in the French countryside - even if it feels a little way off.

The Drama students with Ms Claire Johns have been playing around with comedy and satire in their classes. You can see their "Brady Bunch" screenshot below - apparently there was a lot of laughter and smiles in that class. 

Enjoy the spring weather, it certainly does make it feel like better times are on their way!

Mrs Karyn Murray, Head of Tay Creggan 

Extra info

Age Range: 5 – 9 (Prep - Grade 3)
Cost: Free Equipment Needed: Access to Zoom, coloured pencils/pens, printer if possible.
For further information in the program, or to enrol in the sessions, please don’t hesitate to contact our intake team on 9953 3006

Dads, Daughters and Special Friends online trivia night: 6.30pm, Thursday 2 September 2021.

As we can’t celebrate Father’s Day in our usual way with the big breakfast we are running an online trivia night!
Thursday 2 September at 6.30pm. Dad/Daughter and special friends Trivia Night.
$25 per family. All money is donated to the A Brave Life charity.

Bookings can be made through Trybooking - https://www.trybooking.com/BTSXR
For more information please check out the Trybooking link.

We hope you can join us!