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From the Head of Senior School
A warm welcome back to Term 3.
Camps at CGS
The wintery weather certainly hasn’t prevented us from enjoying the great outdoors, with two very successful camps providing students with life-long memories in recent weeks. Year 8 students spent two nights and three days exploring nature, developing personal initiative and skills in teamwork with exciting activities including white water kayaking, caving and tobogganing at Lake Mountain.
During the third week of the holidays, a group of lucky Year 11 and 12 students spent six fun-filled days at Falls Creek relishing the opportunity to shred the slopes on skis or snowboards. From beginners right through to advanced, their skills were amazing!
Push Up Challenge
A message from Wellbeing Captain, Emerson R:
Last term, Casey Grammar participated in the Push Up for Better Mental Health Challenge. With an amazing uptake of 72 participants from Years 7 to 12, Casey Grammar completed 112,376 push ups in total, as well as beating our donation goal of $1,000, with our head runners, the Year 12 Physics class, contributing almost $400. Thank you to everyone who took on this challenge or donated. Congratulations on doing your part to raise awareness of mental health and supporting those in need.
Monash Scholars Program
The Monash Scholars program is a prestigious program that provides select students with an opportunity to engage with Monash University. Scholars participate in a range of bespoke activities to enhance their learning, explore their career ambitions, define their personal aspirations and build networks with other high-achieving students. Students who are selected to join the program in Year 10 stay until the end of Year 12.
In their application for this program, students needed to demonstrate academic achievement, extra-curricular endeavours and articulate what a good leader looks like and how they display these qualities in their own lives.
Congratulations to Year 10 students Nick S and Allysha W who have been accepted into the 2023–2025 program!
International Friendship Day
Did you know that 30 July was International Friendship Day? Students in Years 7 and 8 have shared their thoughts on what friendship means to them:
“Friendship means to me having someone that you can muck around with and trust.” Ryan K Year 7
“To me, friendships means a bond that is very special. You can be yourself and you don’t have to act like something else when you’re around them.” Charlotte H Year 7
“True friendship is built on trust, respect and understanding, and offers support, encouragement and shared experiences.” Riya T Year 8
“A friend is often someone that you share a bond with. You may share some common beliefs and values with friends, and frequently, a friend is someone you trust and enjoy being around. Friends can be in person or online and can vary in distance. You might have a next-door neighbour friend or a friend thousands of miles away.” Eric R Year 7
“Friendship to me is having a trustworthy relationship with the people I’m most comfortable with. If I cannot trust the person I am with, I would not consider it a friendship.” Mineli B Year 7
“Friendship is when two alter-egos share one soul and their soul gets them through the good, the bad and the ugly times.” Svanaya B Year 8
“To me, friendship means having a close connection with someone. You are willing to do anything for them, and they mean something to you, and you mean something to them.” Emily P Year 7
“Friendships can be complicated and hard to maintain, but the good things far outweigh the negatives of having close friendships.” Max A Year 7
Kate Morgan
Head of Senior School
DAV Debate Report
Last week our C- and D-Graders competed in their final official DAV Debate for this year — and wow, was it an intense oratory battle!
Our D-Graders debated the topic of: That we regret the use of participation awards. Our D-Grade teams are entirely Year 7, with most of their competitors being in Year 9.
The D-Grade 1 Team (Johanna J, Theekshana T and Ekam G) debated against Melbourne Grammar and they did an amazing job. Not only did they have a large win against the team they lost to in the first round, but Ekam G received her fourth best speaker award.
The D-Grade 2 Team (Nereesa W, Ayaana A and Harleen K) battled against Camberwell Girls Grammar school. They were not only brilliant in their arguments but in their rebuttals and left with another a win. And again, Ayaana walked away with her second best speaker award.
Whilst the C-Graders (Elora P, Esha S and Arpitta A) did not have a win, they handled themselves very well against a strong team from Camberwell Girls Grammar on a tough topic: That medical professionals should not be allowed to strike.
I am very proud of our debators and how much progress, growth and talent they have shown in a short time.
Naomi Weiler
Debating Coordinator
