Year 12 2017 - TIME TO PLEDGE

The end of an era has arrived for you, our dear Year Twelves of 2017. Your days as high school students have officially finished - 'no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks' - ha! Seriously, we wish you a leaving with fond memories of the past and excitement for the future. 'Best is my challenge' is a mantra that echoes for all MSC students through the times they spend here. As you go we extend on that ideal by setting you a pledge. This pledge is about taking the values and character resilience promoted by our school with you as guiding principles throughout your lives. Now, holding your hearts over your hands, please read this pledge with BART pride together:

1. MSC Pledge by katieb555 on Scribd

Who will be holding Flowers?

MSC 2017 FINAL BART POINT TALLIES:

Heath have been our House Tribe Rulers 2016-17. Will they hold on to their title for 2017-18? Or will it be Banksia, Boronia, Heath or Waratah?

The most recent point tally saw Bailey Slade and Zac Kennedy earn points for donating time to provide music for the 'Fairley Foundation Annual Conference'. The tally at this time was:

BORONIA - 1014
HEATH - 935
WARATAH - 927
BANKSIA - 846

The revealing of the Athletics Carnival and Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge points will now determine which House Tribe gets to walk out of here with Flowers.

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL:

Banksia were the winner of the Athletic Carnival and an additional 1071 points takes them to a score of 1917, enough to put them in 2nd place but not enough to take the lead from Boronia.

Boronia - 1
Banksia - 2
Heath - 3
Waratah - 4

How will the VPRC achievers impact the tally? Readers from every House Tribe have added points to the tallies this year. Our readers are:

Year 10

Daniel Kniese

Kane Muratovski

Year 9

Jessica Eldred

Year 8

Margaret Phillips

Navdeep Aulakh

Year 7

Ellis Jeffers

Summer Smith

The first to complete the challenge to read 15 books and then also the first to make the 100 club this year was Ellis Jeffers. An awarding of 300 points goes to Heath for this excellent effort.

The next student to join the 100 club was Daniel Kniese of Boronia and he earned 150 points for Boronia.

All up.................

BART points have been delivered this year and:

BORONIA TAKES CLAIM TO FLOWERS AND THE 'HOUSE TRIBE 2017-18 RULERS OF THE SCHOOL' TITLE!

1. OLIVIA ADAMS, JAYDEN ARMSTRONG and BREANNA DORSETT please come forward and remove the rival House Tribe ribbons from Flowers.

2. Boronia House Tribe come join your leaders in claiming victory.

3. Boronia please begin the lap of honour for our 2017 Year Twelve Finishers. Followed by Heath, Banksia and last but not least, Waratah.

2017 Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge

For those of you who might not be aware, the Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge (VPRC) is a big ticket item in our MSC House Tribes' competition. Students in Year 7-10 are advised of the VPRC every year and told how it is a way to log their reading, set reading goals and EARN BIG POINTS FOR THEIR HOUSE TRIBE. The BART points for the VPRC are the final set of points awarded before the House Tribe Rulers and claimants of the Flowers Cup are officially declared. Yes, gripping stuff indeed!

At MSC students can make the most of their reading efforts at school and home by making the effort to log their reading for the VPRC. For those of us prehistoric enough to not be classified as digital natives, the VPRC is the computerised version of reading log lists many of us will remember having had to keep when we were at school. Hopefully, as students and families become more used to the VPRC reading log system, more and more students will use it. Information from the reading logs will help teachers and families to support students in:

• talking to them about their reading
• encouraging them in their reading
• sourcing their individual reading interests
• choosing books they want to read and stocking our library accordingly 
• building their reading capacities
• finding enjoyment in reading
• becoming readers, not only for entertainment, but for learning and knowledge

A big well done goes out to the seven students who managed to officially finish the 2017 VPRC through logging and verifying their books as instructed. Also, two students logged an incredible 100 books. The readers that have earned points for their House Tribe this year are:

Year 10

Daniel Kniese

Kane Muratovski

Year 9

Jessica Eldred

Year 8

Margaret Phillips

Navdeep Aulakh

Year 7

Ellis Jeffers

Summer Smith

Many of our Premier Reading Challenge participants and winners over the years have stated Harry Potter has had been a favourite series to read. Here is an audio taste of Harry Potter being read aloud in honour of it being nominated as a favoured text among our VPRC students again this year.

The final points tally, revealing the influence these readers' efforts have made, will be announced at the Year 12 final whole school assembly. The readers' points hold a lot of sway and can be the difference needed to get one or another of the House Tribes in place to dress Flowers in their colours, hold hold her high and pronounce themselves to be the House Tribe Rulers of MSC for the coming year. 

MSC Athletics Day

Track and field star and Olympic Gold medallist

The Track and Field Athletics sports were held on Tuesday the 22nd of August. The sun came out, and conditions were excellent, enabling our students to perform at their best. The new synthetic track at the Shepparton Sports Precinct was excellent. Students gave their best, and all present had a great day.

BANKSIA were the top scoring House Tribe of the day. They had the edge in being determined, dedicated and self-disciplined in their efforts on the day. With a whopping 1071 points they took the competition out by 74 points. It was a close contest all round which makes the win that much sweeter for BANKSIA. Maybe this win will give them the edge in the race to win the House Tribe Rulers 2017-18 title and adorn Flowers in blue for the year ahead.

MSC Athletics Carnival House Tribe Scores and Placings:

1. Banksia - 1071 points
2. Boronia - 997 points
3. Heath - 815 points
4. Waratah - 793 points

These points set the new House Tribe overall tally to be:

Stephen Bolton

Fairley Foundation Partnership

On Wednesday 19th July 2017 “The Fairley Foundation “held its annual conference at La Trobe University. The Fairley Foundation have kindly assisted the Music Department with small grants over the past few years. As a token of our appreciation, two of our VCE students, Bailey Slade and Zac Kennedy played for the function. Congratulations to both boys as they did a brilliant performance. Bailey Slade played guitar and sang, and Zac played trombone. The boys were given some wonderful compliments. Well done.

Bailey and Zac have have upheld values of belonging, respect, achievement and teamwork in performing for this function. A thank you to acknowledge assistance from others is so important to and appreciated by its recipients. And what a powerful way to be able to say thank you, through a gift of music. House Tribe points are being awarded to Heath and Banksia for your performance Bailey and Zac.

The new House Tribe tally is:

Lindy Tennant —

Music Co-Ordinator

Water Week 2017

Water Week happens between the 15th and 21st of October. Goulburn Valley Water runs activities and competitions in the lead up to Water Week each year.

Gabrielle Fabregas and Shania Buxton put their artistic flair into action and created winning macroinvertebrate critters for this year's Water Week schools' competition.

Meet Candy Cray and Bertie Beetle:

By Gabrielle Fabregas

Candy is a crayfish.

Crayfish, also known as crawfish, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs or yabbies, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related; taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills.

Candy is a very out there crayfish! She has very colourful features, her body is rainbow coloured and so is her tail, she has very bright pink antennas and bright gold-yellow claws.

Candy loves makeup and getting dressed up for everyday life. She also loves pizza and Rolo chocolates.

Barry the Beetle by Shania Buxton

Macro invertebrate type:
HydrophilidaeWater Scavenger Beetle - Berosus involutus 

Description:
Most water scavenger species are aquatic or semiaquatic in both larval and adult stages, and most of these prefer shallow standing water.
Adults of aquatic species usually come to the surface head first, breaking the surface film with their antennae and storing air on the ventral plastron or under the elytra.
Underwater many appear silvery because of the thin film of air coating their ventral surface. Unlike dytiscid beetles, they swim using alternating leg strokes. The larvae are predaceous and have large, sickle-like mandibles. Along the east coast of Australia, except Tasmania. In the Moreton Bay Region Berosus involutusis very common. It lives in all types of dams and streams, including upper parts of estuaries because this beetle is tolerant of brackish water. Berosus avoids fast running streams.

Gabrielle and Shania have each earned a set of BART points for their House Tribes for their participation and achievement in the Water Week competition. Gabrielle wins her points for Banksia and Shania wins hers for Heath. The new tally is:

A thank you goes out to Kristy Elrington and Goulburn Valley Water for running this competition. To see more about the programs GVW are running in our community visit their Facebook page. The bollard competition they are running and that is open till Thursday 19th October looks another fun opportunity to get creative. Click on the minion bollard for all the details and how to enter.

Another part of the Water Week celebrations that people might like to get involved in is the 'Gone Fishing Day' that will take place at Victoria Park Lake on Sunday 15th of October. Registration to take part in the fishing competition that runs on the day starts at 10.30am. The events run between 11.00am and 3pm for anyone interested in going for a gander and to getting amongst the fun of the day.

Dance Achievement

MSC would like to congratulate Kearla (Missy) Dooley of Year 12 who is the first Indigenous student in the State to receive a Certificate II in dance recently. This is something that all students at MSC should be very proud of. Well done Missy!

For such an outstanding achievement 100 BART values points have been awarded to Banksia. You have set an example of what an MSC Cumbungi Champion effort looks like Missy. May we all aspire to live the motto 'best is my challenge' and take away the good that arises from the efforts inspired by it.

                                          

The new points tally in the race to claim Flowers is:

Stephen Bolton

MRS MACDONALD'S AWESOME ART

The year 9 Art group has recently completed watercolour paintings of flowers and cacti. Students developed their drawing and painting skills and considered a range of possible arrangements and compositions for their flowers and cacti. Here are just a couple of the awesome artworks:

Absolutely more awesomeness!

Interschool Music Concert

Last Friday on the 1st September, the Mooroopna Secondary College Senior Jazz Band performed at the regional music night held at Shepparton High School. It was a wonderful evening where schools across the region were given the opportunity to have some of their music groups perform. The aim of this concert was to share music amongst the schools while at the same time raise money towards a local charity. This year all money raised will go to “The Salvo’s”. This is the third year that this Interschool Music concert has run. It is led by a committee made up of students representing each school. Regular meetings were held to organize the event.

It was a fantastic night. Special mention goes to the MSC Senior Jazz Band for their amazing performance and commitment. We have received wonderful comments from members of the public. Eg.,

”I just wanted to congratulate the MSC students on a really impressive performance on Friday night. I thought that your stage band was one of the highlights of the night, and to see such a large number of students performing so professionally, and at such a high level, was fabulous”

A sincere thank you to everyone who assisted on the night. Thank you also to Matthew Jefferis and Bailey Gall who were committee members for this event. Your commitment and support is greatly appreciated.

BART points are awarded to Matthew and Bailey for their leadership in helping to get the Interschool Music Concert and fundraiser up and running. The new tally of House Tribe points is:

Lindy Tennant —
Music Co-Ordinator

MSC Writing Competition

If one wishes to win a story writing competition one must type!

Well done to all students who submitted pieces for our MSC Creative Writing Competition. The competition ended Friday 8th September. Congratulations to Ellis Jeffers in year 7 for winning the short story category of the competition. Ellis’s story Edna the Eggplants journey through the digestive system was a wonderful, unique story about Edna being digested by a ‘Giant’. Edna doesn’t realise what is happening to her. Here is an excerpt from the story:

‘…It was one of those hairy Giants that made the ground shake when they moved the fleshy logs attached to their upper body. It had tried to bite my stomach and now I was juicing.’ 

Ellis will receive a $20 book voucher from Collins Booksellers for her winning story. She has also earned a set of BART points for Heath House Tribe.

                                            

The new House Tribes' point tally is:

MSC encourages all its students to work on and build their writing skills. Creating writing, fiction and non-fiction, is a fantastic way to improve our overall writing capacity. With writing the fun never stops and we want all our students to know that their stories matter. To any students or families who want to have fun with writing the NANOWRIMO writing community is worth looking into. Happy writing everyone.

Mrs Fidock & Ms Liversidge —Library Staff

Book Week 2017

A quiz of 20 questions was put to students for book week. At the end of the questions we had a ‘knock-out round’ with the overall winner being Cody Jenkin. Congratulations on winning the $5 voucher from the canteen and earning Banksia House Tribe points.

This makes the new tally:

Mrs Fidock & Ms Liversidge —Library Staff

MUNA

Last week, Michael Eldred and I attended a MUNA being held in Canberra. MUNA is a Model United Nations. Held globally, they are run by the Rotary Organization. Introduced to Australia in the 1980s MUNA’s are now run across Australia.

A Model united nations provides an opportunity for young people like us to experience how a real united nations assembly takes place. We attended the MUNA held in Canberra, which is run by the Sunrise rotary club. 27 schools from NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the Act attended.

Weeks before the event took place, all schools involved are given a country to represent within the Assembly. The countries are allocated to achieve a mixture of countries from all over the world. Countries included Samoa, North Korea, India, Cuba, France and many more. All countries are given topics in advance to prepare for the debate. Topics are based on real events that the United Nations is debating, and students are to debate as the country they are representing. The topics are resolutions to current world issues, such as: measures to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the north Korean Peninsula, and regulating international migration. All speeches given by students must be under 3 minutes in length and attempt to persuade other countries to be for or against the resolution.

Michael and I represented Australia which was a unique experience and meant we had to really research the topics. This was because all students present understood Australia’s foreign policy and other global relation issues. We spoke on 5 of the 6 different issues debated over the weekend. Reading speeches we prepared before leaving, and speeches we wrote the night before the event.

We left early on the Friday and once we arrived, were shown where we were staying for the weekend. We then got together in our country blocks, each consisting of five countries from a specific region, and voted for 6 topics to debate the following days. The topics were decided and speeches were written late into the night. The following morning, we left for Old Parliament house, and we took our seats for the weekends debates. Many students had dressed up into clothing that represented the country they were representing. On the Saturday, four topics were debated. We returned to our accommodation, before leaving for the formal dinner. The dinner was held at a part of ANU buildings, we were lucky to have a guest speaker for the night. Rick Smith was the Australian Ambassador to China and Indonesia, as well as being a special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He spoke about his experiences in these positions.

We would like to thank Miss Westphalen for all the help over the weekend, as well as Rotary for this great opportunity.

... Jono Clarke and Michael Eldred

For representing MSC at MUNA Jono and Michael have delivered further points to their House Tribes' tallies. The global political topics discussed and debated on the stage of the United Nations have impacts that affect everyone. It is wonderful to see youth participating and projecting their voices in a setting such as MUNA. Thank you for representing MSC Jono and Michael, MSC and no doubt Rotary are proud of your achievement.

The new House Tribes' tallies are: