Presentation Night

This section includes:

• What is Presentation Night?
• Award Sponsors

What is Presentation Night?

Mentone Girls’ Secondary College holds its Presentation Evening in November each year at the Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University. The evening is an opportunity for parents to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of students at the College during the year.

Awards are presented to students at every year level for academic achievement, in recognition of their sporting, dramatic and musical talents, and for their service to the College, and wider community.

During the evening:

• Members of the Year 12 graduating class are formally presented to the College and farewelled as they leave school.
• Musical, theatrical and sporting talents of all of our students are showcased.
• A valedictory speaker provides an appropriate message for our College community, especially to our Year 12 students as they complete their school years.

The College invited Mrs Joan Kirner, the former Premier of Victoria as its Presentation Evening guest speaker.

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL’S REPORT 2008

Student Pathways
I am pleased to report on the destination data for the 160 Year 12 girls of 2007:

• 58% enrolled at a university
• 19% enrolled at an Institute of TAFE
• 12% are in employment
• 8% deferred their university place
• 2% are in an apprenticeship/traineeship

Of the tertiary institutions, Monash (41), Deakin (22), Melbourne (13) and Victoria (10) were the four most popular university destinations, whilst Holmesglen, Swinburne and William Angliss were the three most popular TAFE destinations.
The areas of study which attracted most students in their tertiary courses were (in order):

• Society and Culture (arts, children’s services, criminal justice studies, psychology, social science, sport and sports sciences)
• Management and Commerce
• Natural and Physical Sciences
• Creative Arts

This year all VCE girls received a fortnightly careers newsletter which kept them informed of careers events, course information and other related careers matters.  Our Year 10 students undertook their Work Experience during July/August. During term 3, pathways interviews were organised for all Year 10 and Year 12 girls with their parents.  For our Year 10 families, the interviews allowed for opportunities to discuss VCE subject selections and pathways plans.  For our Year 12 counselling program, 35 staff volunteered their time and expertise.  It enabled a closer monitoring of the students’ intended tertiary preferences and/or future career plans.
VET studies continued to grow with 34 Year 10 students, 58 Year 11 students and 18 Year 12 students undertaking them.  Across the three year levels the number of students undertaking each of the programs this year was – Community Services (27), Sport and Recreation (20), Hospitality (19), Multimedia (19), Clothing Production (12), Music Industry (6), Hair and Beauty (4) and Equine (3). For the first time, the first year of the clothing program was successfully conducted from our school and was available for students from other schools to also be enrolled in.
One of the highlights this year was when one of our Year 12 Multimedia student’s design ideas were chosen by a neighbouring school for the redesign of their internet homepage.

Curriculum
2008 has seen the continuing imbedding of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards across all the subjects taught at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College.
The standards identify what is important for students to achieve at different stages of their schooling, set standards for those achievements and provide a clear basis for reporting to parents.
Our priorities this year have been to build on the work already undertaken to ensure that the school curriculum in years 7 to 10 is student centred and is relevant to young women reaching maturity in the 21st century.
  In order to achieve this, the school community has:

• developed Course Descriptions and Assessment Requirements for every subject they are undertaking, these are given to all students in every subject in year 7 through to 10. This process allows students and parents to have a clear understanding of the intended outcomes of every subject
• continued the process of developing student learning objectives through the writing of their Personal Learning Plans (PLP).

The PLP process is integral to the effective implementation of the VELS, in that it insists on students taking control of aspects of their own learning and work habits and reflecting on the success or otherwise of these endeavours. The PLPs will be included in each student’s end of semester report.

• MGSC has joined with Parkdale and Cheltenham Secondary Colleges to assist staff in adopting and developing a curriculum relevant to learners in the 21st century, to this end all staff participated in our first Learning Federation Conference held in Term 2.

MGSC will be introducing Learning to Learn as a primary curriculum focus in 2009 The Learning to Learn (L2L) program is based on the premise that, “If we accept that there are a significant set of generic skills and key dispositions which are essential for the success of a learner, we should ask ourselves why do we leave the acquisition of these skills to chance in the education system? L2L is a strategic attempt to minimise this educational lottery and to put each learner at the centre of what we do in the school environment.”

• Is developing a Mentone specific program that will see all students in Years 8 to 11 begin their next school year in the last two weeks of the year before. This program the Mentone Academic Achievement Program(MAAP) will begin in Term 4 of 2009
• Evaluated the Camp Program for Year 9, from 2009 all Year 9 students will be involved in a ‘city camp’ which is integrally linked to their curriculum in the RLC
• Continued our Leading Schools Fund project the Reflective Learning Centre providing all Year 9 students with rich cross curricula opportunities.

Staff Development
2008 has been a busy and productive year for staff development at Mentone Girls’. As a staff development committee our focus has been on improving the quality of teaching and learning throughout our College and assisting individual and team pursuits of professional knowledge and growth. During 2008 staff at Mentone Girls’ SC, Cheltenham SC and Parkdale SC have been working closely together to share professional expertise. This federation has been an important relationship that developed from our Learn to Learn conference on April 21st. These networking opportunities are a valuable way for us to share in conversations about teaching and learning. Key areas of focus for staff development this year have been:

• Supporting our large intake of new teachers into our College. Each new teacher to Mentone Girls’ SC is assigned an official mentor to ensure their transition into our college is successful. Our new teachers bring with them a wealth of experience both in education and in relevant industries.
• ICT professional development. The next step in our journey to enhancing our use of ICT in classrooms began with our “Bit and Bytes” professional development day on March 11th. This provided staff with opportunities to trial web design software and engage in discussions in their domains about assessing students ICT skills. In second semester all staff have been involved in a number of professional development sessions about our new “Studywiz” system.
• The use of Restorative Practices to enhance relationships with students. On July 18th all staff participated in a whole school professional development day focusing on Restorative Practices. The day was facilitated by Marg Armstrong, who worked with staff on the concept of restorative justice and how this approach can change the relationships we have with our students.

Student Leadership
Leadership at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College contributes significantly to a student’s preparation for life as she is empowered to assume a positive place in an evolving global and democratic community.
We believe opportunity and skill development is the key to building leadership. Providing the opportunity to lead and follow through a range of experiences enhances personal growth.
Mentone Girls’ Secondary College provides a wide range of opportunities and encourages students to develop skills in: Speaking out, sharing their own ideas and listening to other peoples’ concerns and opinions. Building confidence and assertiveness, learning to take risks. Decision-making: making things happen, working as a team, meeting new people. Organisational skills: delegating tasks, managing budgets
Teams of students work extensively on developing personal and leadership skills through their involvement in the following programs: The Year 10 Girls’ State Schools Conference planned and organised by a team of students from eight state girls' schools each year; The Year 8 Girls’ State Schools Conference involving a team of students from eight state girls' schools introduced this year; RYPEN, the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment; VICSRC Conferences; MUNA, the Mock United Nations Assembly where teams of students represent a particular UN country in debates on matters of world political and social concern; AYDP, the Australian Youth Development Program, held for student leaders in January at Melbourne University; Camp Awakening, a program to develop personal skills and self-confidence conducted in May for Year 9 students; Step to the Future Forum, Future Leaders Forum and National Leaders Day where students are exposed to leadership initiatives, career concepts and inspiring role models.
Students organised functions and committees to support a range of causes identified in these forums, these included: World Vision Sponsorship of a Ugandan Child, Unicef, Very Special Kids, Amnesty International, The Cancer Society, Shave For A Cure, Melbourne City Mission, Friends Of Manatuto, Humane Society, The State Schools’ Relief Fund
College student leaders have run school assemblies and year level assemblies on a regular basis.  Peer Support Leaders, Supportive Friends, The VCE Committee, Magazine Committee, House, Sport, Music and Form Captains have all planned, managed and evaluated functions and activities in ways that epitomise their emerging leadership skills.
Each year students initiate a wide range of activities and programs. This year these included: International Women’s Day events, Badge Conferring Ceremony and this year the introduction of  IWD activities with the other girl’s schools in our community; guest speakers, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, Year 7 and 12 Fancy Dress, Year 10 Social, The VCE Ball, Leadership Training Days and workshops.
This year’s Student Leaders have provided an active voice for the students, as well as working to improve the quality of both student and community life through leadership, listening to suggestions, school involvement and fundraising.
Overall our girls are moving towards our goal of developing strong, independent young women who will make outstanding leaders in the future.

English
The English Faculty has increased vigour in spelling and grammar and made more opportunities for girls to show leadership and encourage others in the study of English.
This year a spelling bee was organised and run by the English captains. Girls in years 7 and 8 competed in class spelling tests and a spelling championship was held at the end of term 3 where spelling champions from each class  participated in a spelling bee held in the lecture theatre by the English captains. There was a spectacular interest shown by the girls and at lunch time the lecture theatre was full with those who came to support their friends involved in the spelling championship.
We seek to engage our students and build upon the high standard of reading and writing by trialling different novels amongst groups of girls to ensure that the ones that are selected are relevant and engaging. Girls from many year levels also enter the variety of competitions held throughout the year.  Some of these are; Write 4 Fun Story, the annual Dorothea MacKellar Poetry Award, and the Premiers Reading Challenge.  Girls have continued to win awards from these competitions.
This year we entered the Australasian Schools Writing Competition. All girls from year 7 to 9 entered the competition and it was voluntary for girls in years 10 to 12.Our results were excellent with 4 girls receiving High Distinctions, 39 Distinction and 136 Credit out of 558 participants.
Students in each year level have attended a performance or presentation related to their texts studied, or the craft of writing. Some of these include performances of Romeo and Juliet for Year 9 and a modern interpretation of Macbeth for Year 10. To develop narrative writing in year 7 and 8 visiting writers presented their ideas to the students. Year 7 were delighted by Boori Pryor’s storytelling, and Cora Zon who developed narrative writing. A group of 25 Year 8 girls engaged in a writing workshop following the Storyteller Hendre Roelink’s presentation to all Year 8.
 Public speaking is also strongly encouraged by participation in the Victorian Legacy Public Speaking Award and the Plain English Speaking Competition.
In term 4 the College annual Public Speaking Competition was held in which all girls in years 7-10 participate.  It is most rewarding to witness the interest shown by all girls in each other’s speeches and the level of confidence with which they approach this activity.

Co-curricular Program – Debating
In 2008, participation in the Debating Society included 17 girls in the program. There were 3 teams, two D Grade and one C Grade team in the Semester 1 Debating Association of Victoria with both the D Grade teams achieving recognition in a “Best Speaker” award. The Junior School was more represented than in previous years, comprising of most of the girls in the D Grade teams. The region remains at Brighton Grammar in order to debate against schools in our neighbouring region.

Mathematics
During 2008 the Mathematics Domain provided our interested and talented Mathematics students the opportunity to participate in a range of Mathematics Enrichment Activities.
The first stage of the Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians – “The Challenge Stage”, in which participants are entered from across the country, was held over a three week period in Term 2.
Over fifty of our students from years 7 to 10 participated in the competition and were challenged with six problems that were to be completed during the three weeks.
One student from Year 7 and one student from Year 9 achieved High Distinctions. They both ranked scores above the 95th percentile.
In the Junior and Intermediate Divisions 5 students achieved Distinction Certificates and 12 students attained Credit Certificates.
20 students from Year 7 to 10 have just completed “The Enrichment Stage” of the Competition. This worthwhile extension activity required students to work though 8 problem solving activities throughout Term 3 and submit written reports on each question.
This year the quality of the submissions was once again exceptional with excellent levels of algebraic understanding displayed in their reports. Results will be published as soon as they are received.
542 students from years 7-12 sat the ICAS (International Competitions and Assessment for Schools) Mathematics Competition in Term 3.
Three students from Year 7, 8 and 9 achieved outstanding success this year attaining High Distinctions with all three ranking in the 99 percentile in Victoria).
33 students attained Distinction Certificates and 115 students attained Credit Certificates.
This year saw the introduction of the Year 11 Mathematical Methods (CAS) (Computer Algebra System) course. Our Year 7-10 students were assessed to the five Mathematics Dimensions, two Personal Learning Dimensions and the ICT Dimension “Visual Thinking”.
In 2009 our year 7-10 Mathematics students will have increased access to interactive, highly visual and engaging Mathematical resources that recognise the online world that our students live in. Digital resources will allow students to study, revise and review mathematical concepts both at school and at home. Parents will have the opportunity to track their daughters’ mathematical progress.

Science
Another busy and productive year in Science. We further refined our teaching of VELS and incorporated greater use of technology in our teaching of Science across all year levels. The new data projectors enabled teachers to investigate websites and animations with the class that further enhanced the student’s learning. We introduced new practical work using our new equipment purchased from the Science Equipment Grant such as the electrophoresis separations that were conducted at both Year 7 and Year 12 level.
At Year 8 we continued with the highly successful ‘Global Citizens Day’ which incorporates the linking of our Science and Humanities courses at this level. It gives the girls a far better perspective of their place in the world and how different conditions are for students in many other countries. We had an exciting Science Week where the theme ‘Our Changing Planet’ allowed us to look at climate change, our environment and structures of the Earth. There was a hotly contested daily quiz, the film ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ was screened over two lunchtimes and students were invited to make jewellery from rocks and crystals during another lunch break. We also invited Monty the Rock man to visit our Year 8 classes to regale them with his stories and vast knowledge of rocks.
Students again had the opportunity to participate in the ICAS Science competition.  440 students participated with very pleasing results: 102 Credits, 13 Distinctions and 1 High Distinction. The girls were presented with their certificates at a full college assembly.  Our College has been part of a three way partnership this year with Parkdale and Cheltenham Secondary Colleges and we were part of a very informative Professional development program where we were able to meet with the Science staff of the other schools to share ideas and resources in order to further improve our delivery of Science at MGSC.

Health & Physical Education
2008 has been a full year in the PE /Health domain at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College. The Year 7’s experienced Middle Eastern culture by participating in belly dancing.  Many girls got right into it learning the moves and many dressed up like a real belly dancer.  VCE classes were popular this year with two Year 11 PE, two Year 12 PE and 5 Year 12 Human and Health Development classes running.  The Year 12 PE classes went to Torquay for surfing, did a spinning class/boxercise class at Kingclub and visited the sports department at Deakin University where some girls tried out the very expensive state-of-the-art exercise equipment.
The Year 10 PE program has again consisted of many electives for the girls to select, ranging from dance, golf, lawn bowls, squash, fencing/archery, CPR and self defence.  It is structured differently to Year 7, 8 and 9 PE and is always very well received by the girls.
The Sport Psychology students had a spokesperson from Wheelchair Australia talk to them about living and playing sport with a disability. The girls also played wheelchair basketball. The Bayside Special Development School students visited M.G.S.C on a number of occasions so the Sport Psychology class could take them through a games/activity session.
The Year 9 Fitness and First Aid class participated in The-Adopt- A- School program this year with ‘Fitness First’, a program allowing our girls to go and experience various training methods for all round fitness. They also did a triathlon at Fitness First as part of their assessment this year.
In the Outdoor Education program this year, the middle school classes have had many exciting trips including; kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, mountain biking, orienteering and surfing, as well as learning about these activities and how to participate in them. They have also cooked up a storm on the Trangia stoves. In the Unit 1/2 Outdoor Education program, the students participated in a two-day snow camp to Mt Buller, where each student accomplished the art of skiing or snowboarding – some of whom were quite competent on the intermediate runs. The class also went on an all day rafting adventure on the Thomson River.  The practical trips made the coursework more relevant and helped to reinforce the content covered in class.

Visual Arts
2008 started with quite a different staff line up; with 3 new teachers in the area. Within our Junior School classes, we were able to look at consolidating our new curriculum while also taking on new ideas brought into the domain by the new staff. Working in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional formats, students have used a range of contemporary processes and digital media to complete a wide variety of experiences in the art, design and media fields. Along with the practical art work produced, students also start to develop creative thinking and the ability to clearly articulate their opinions when responding to artworks.
The Middle School, with its elective system, we have seen a growth in the number of students selecting the Art offerings. Media, with its students working in both analogue and digital photography and collaboratively creating imaginative music videos and animations always proves to be very popular. Visual Communication and Design allows students to start at the ground level and develop their skills using a range of computer software programs as well as developing technical drawing skills in order to display and communicate ideas in a variety of visual formats. Ceramics, Multi-Media, Drawing and Painting has allowed other students to develop their creativity, skills, knowledge and further their experiences in fields of art giving them a sound background from which they can continue their studies in the Arts area.
At VCE level, we have continued to see a growth in the number of students selecting Media, Fine Art and Visual Communication. Throughout the year students have visited a number of practicing artist in their work environment and exhibitions, as well as incursions at school that have all helped to inspire and develop their design ideas. The girls have also taken full advantage of extra time offered to them outside school hours including holidays and weekends to complete their work which showed through in the excellent standard of work in the annual Malcolm Art Exhibition held in early November.

Performing Arts
This year marked the culmination of many years of excitement, dreaming about and working on the design and plans for the New Music Facility. We were very excited to start the year by moving into our new building. The facility has the latest state of the art technology in the keyboard lab and includes a recording studio and fantastic learning, teaching and rehearsal areas. We are in the process of forming an alliance with the Soundhouse, an international company (based at the Victorian Arts Centre) that runs ICT workshops for staff and students at schools across the globe. During the course of this year we have had various Professional Development sessions for staff, including demonstration classes with some of our Junior Classes. We would like to thank Simon Frazer for his passion for the Building Projects around the school. His attention to detail and never ending patience with changes and alterations is the reason why we ended up with such a great facility.
The Wizard of Oz was staged this year as the whole school production. This is a bi-annual event that all students have the opportunity to participate in. Students can be involved in all areas, including backstage teams and technical areas, like lighting and sound production. The much-hyped production was a visual and musical spectacle and literally transformed the drama spaces into the merry old Land of Oz. The musical was a tremendous success with six shows and a matinee to the local Primary Schools performed over the timeframe of two weeks.
Performances by the Drama Department included The Temple by the Year 12 Theatre Studies Class and Medea, staged by the Year 11 Theatre Studies Class. Aspects of stagecraft, such as costumes, set, makeup and lighting were developed by the classes. Students worked in a cooperative and complementary manner to achieve excellent results in the collaborative performance of their given play. Students from middle school levels performed the plays of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Hating Alison Ashley. Year 9 students also had the opportunity to perform short fairytale plays to local primary schools.
The Music Department started the year with the annual Music Camp, followed by a very successful Camp Concert, with performances by the Camp Choir, Camp Concert Band, Symphonic Wind, Brass Ensemble, Stage Band and Jazz Band. The annual House Music Competition was again very popular with both vocal and instrumental students, forming wonderful choirs and orchestras who delighted the audience and adjudicator with their performances on the final night.
The year was filled with many performances in and out of school. Highlights include the annual Winter Concert, 2 VCE Recital Evenings, 2 Vocal Nights, 2 Year 7 Band Class Concerts, a Year 8 Band Class Concert, a Soiree for the Year 10 Music Class, the annual Brass Recital and the Jazz and Stage Band Gig with Jet Band at the Old Kew Post Office. There is also a focus on supporting the school functions during the year, with performances at Information Evenings, Orientation Day, Presentation evening, The R Malcolm Arts Awards, all Whole School Assemblies and Year level Assemblies.
Our focus on excellence in VCE Music Performance is always a high priority. The students attended vocal and brass master classes during the course of the year and in February of this year the Jazz Band had a workshop with Peter Foley, the Director of Mojo (Mordialloc Jazz Band) and Head of Big Bands at Wesley College.
 In order to celebrate the fortunate position that we find ourselves in at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College, we decided that we should be a voice in the National Project “Music. Count us in.” About 85 music students joined the rest of the nation on the 23rd of October at exactly 11.30 a.m. in the performance of this years’ piece titled “Sing”. The purpose of the project is to focus on the importance of music in schools as part of every child’s education.
On the social front, students had the opportunity to attend a series of three evening concerts by the Melbourne Symphony with staff. This year the repertoire we enjoyed included popular works like Ravel’s Bolero, Handel’s Water Music and a performance by the renowned Australian guitarist John Williams. Vocal students had the opportunity to participate in the Regional Singfest, while the instrumental students from the Year 7 and 8 Band Classes attended one of the Regional Band Festivals.
A number of students enrolled for AMEB Exams, receiving excellent results including multiple Distinctions and High Distinctions. The examiners congratulated us on challenging the girls by enrolling them for the higher level grades.
We are very proud of to have one of the biggest Music Programs in the Southern Region, with many students actively involved in Music Ensembles and Instrumental lessons at the College.
Congratulations to all the girls and their families and a big thank you for the sacrifices made to attend the never-ending stream of afternoon, evening and weekend rehearsals.

Technology
The Technology faculty in 2008 have welcomed new teaching staff who stimulated students to broaden their skills in design and production work. The result has been a creative and interesting range of products which are pleasing to the eye and reflect a strong knowledge of the equipment and materials used.
Technology at MGSC allows students to explore the materials of wood, electronics, acrylics, metals, food and textiles. Students use their knowledge of the properties of materials to design products which meet the constraints and considerations of a design brief. Cafe Catering students have delighted staff with a consistently high quality product from the ever changing menu. Textiles students have produced bags, boxer shorts, skirts, shirts and home furnishings. Wood students have been creative producing foot stools and jewellery boxes. Acrylic as a material has been introduced into the curriculum and students have been learning about its properties and creating interesting pieces.
The Technology faculty is pleased to be introducing Metals and Jewellery as a new elective to Middle School in 2009.

Library
Information literacy is viewed as a key competence necessary for students to become life-long learners.  Children need to practise their reading to become literate and this belief underpins the school’s commitment to the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge.  In an age of information Mentone Girls’ Secondary College views fiction as a central component of the library’s collection.
This year all year 7 students registered for the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge.  To meet the challenge students needed to read 10 books selected from the provided reading lists and 5 free choice novels by August 31st.  The library in conjunction with the English Domain congratulates all those students who participated and the 44% of year 7 students who successfully completed the challenge.  This year the ‘Twilight’ series by Stephenie Meyer were the most popular books read.  Morris Gleitzman, too, continues to be a most popular author with his book ‘Once’ being widely read. 
In 2008 the library has focused on refurbishing the shelving in the non-fiction collection to accommodate the integration of two collections.  This process will be completed in 2009.  In area A of the library the new lounge chairs purchased created an additional reading space and viewing area for the television/DVD located there.  This year a colour photocopier was a welcome addition to the resources provided to the school community.  Library staff continue to support the teaching program through online bibliographies and pathfinders targeted at specific research assignments.

Leading Schools Project Fund/Reflective Learning Centre
LAS and MAI continued to progress effectively in 2008. Several successful programs were run throughout the year and demonstrated our students’ abilities to work both independently and in cooperative teams to produce outcomes of a very impressive standard.
In Term One, all Year Nine students took part in the Night of the Eminent Australian. They produced information stands on a notable Australian identity that informed and engaged their audience of family, teachers and friends. Costumes, food and memorabilia formed part of their exhibition.
Term Two, in MAI, saw students produce advertisement campaigns (comprising of short ads, documentaries and brochures) to help raise awareness of environmental issues in our local community. Students visited areas around the school, such as local beaches and parks, in order to assess the problems that currently exist, and then created ways to inform the community about how they could care for their local environment through such methods as conserving water, disposing of litter correctly, etc.
In Term 3, students took part in the “Living in the City” project. Keeping in mind the rich question of “How can we make the City of Melbourne a better place to live?”, students chose an area of interest, such as drama, media, music and architecture, to investigate. They made two trips into the city, one of which was independent, and developed their own focus question to research. Groups all developed “products” (such as models of new buildings, websites, etc.) to address the issues they discovered and then created a ten minute presentation for various members of the wider community.
A select group of students were involved in a program run by SYN FM, made possible by the grant from the Office for Youth Advance Program. The girls went on an initial tour of SYN FM, and then in small groups, went back to the station independently and wrote, produced and presented their own two hour live broadcast.
2008 has proved to be a very productive one in the Reflective Learning Centre, and our students demonstrated their critical thinking, problem solving and organisational skills across a wide range of activities.

Humanities
Another busy and exciting year in the Humanities Domain, with many highlights over and above the usual hard work of students and teachers alike.
The Business Management Unit 1 Market Day was an enormous success raising over $1100 in accumulated profits from the multitude of business activities planned, organised, led and controlled by our young businesswomen.  This money has been donated to the Anti Cancer Council to help in the fight against breast cancer.
Students from Year 10 Practical Accounting participated in the Australian Securities Exchange “Share Market Game’, simulating the buying and selling of shares in Australia’s top 200 ASX listed public companies.  Our girls equipped themselves well in a difficult climate for effective asset management.  ‘Loss minimisation’ was the key strategy learned at this difficult time.
The Year 10 Asian Studies course was brought to life by the “KITA” (Korea Indonesia Taiwan Australia) dance company, as it presented a stimulating and energetic dance exhibition drawing form all four cultures.  Girls took the chance to participate and dance with the performers.
Year 11 Legal Studies students visited the Parliament House of Victoria as part of their exploration of the processes of making legislation.  Girls were treated to a tour of the historic building which was the venue for the first ever Parliament of Australia.  Earlier in the year the Year 10’s were visited by the Australian Electoral Commission for discussions and explanations of Australia’s system of voting and ‘representative democracy’.
The Melbourne Magistrate’s Court was a popular destination for Mentone’s girls this year, fortunately as spectators rather than offenders.  VCE Legal Studies, Year 9 Law Matters and Year 9 LAS students all gained first hand experience of our system of justice as they spent time observing the operation of the court.  Follow up discussions revealed how much students had taken in from their experience with many vowing they will never find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
We are becoming accustomed to the many highlights that come from the Year 9 Reflective Learning Centre and ‘Language and Society’ including; the ‘Night of the Eminent Australian’, the City Project , a visit to the Shrine of Remembrance and a cruise up and down the Yarra River exploring Melbourne’s key precincts form the  water. These adventures provided girls with wonderful opportunities to explore their society and the events and actions of people that have helped to form the society we all participate in.
Our Year 8 Humanities students took on new and foreign identities for the day as they experienced ‘Global Citizens Day’ in Term 1 this year.  The girls spent the day experiencing the economic and social conditions of others around the world, in order to come to an understanding of the lives led by people in other countries and cultures.  Most were significantly poorer than they really are and accessing basic essentials such as water was not always easy and fair.  The girls reflected their feelings of despair and injustice in thoughtful and articulate entries in their journals.
The Year 8 classes also visited the Royal Cranbourne Botanic Gardens to get a glimpse of how future gardens will look in Australia as we deal with the realities of climate change and the increasing scarcity of water in our community.
Individual students continue to reach new heights of excellence with some outstanding achievements during the year.  Notably, one student was awarded a $2300 scholarship to attend the Australian Business Week programme at Deakin University.  Also, a Year 9 student entered the Victorian Law Week Poster competition and placed second of all entries.  These are outstanding individual achievements by the girls.

LOTE
The highlight of the year without doubt was the visit by 10 students, led by Ms Kaori Sasaki and Mr Takeshi Takeda, from Nakamura Senior High School, Nagoya, for three weeks in late July and early August. The group spent every day at school, and made lots of friends in all year levels; they left a very deep impression, and contributed to international friendship, and language and culture exchange, for many of our students. The visitors conducted the Japan Day during their stay, and made the experience a real one for Year 8 students of Japanese.
Many families from the school community contributed significantly to the success of the visit by offering the Japanese students homestays. We hope they got something special out of the visit, because hosting a stranger can be hard work, and we must thank them sincerely for their selfless efforts in helping ensure the relationship between MGSC and Nakamura continues strong.
The equivalent event for students of French, exchange with families from Lycee Pierre et Marie Curie, in Menton, is planned for 2009. We hope to be able to return the favour to students from this school, and host a visit from a group from France in the following year.
But most of our achievements are made in the activities of the regular language curriculum and special events. Work in class, focussing on written and spoken communication and cultural understanding, gives us the tools to take full advantage of visits to France and Japan. This work includes theatre activities and performances, sampling food, studies of art and culture, and days devoted to learning about traditional cultural pursuits. With the hard work of teaching staff, the French language assistant, Cecile Dumont, and our Japanese language assistant, Saori Okada, we have seen plays and films, eaten crepes and other exotic cuisine, and held speech and poetry contests. Next year we will again have the extremely valuable support of a French language assistant as well as Japanese, a situation that will mean the girls’ opportunities to use the language they are studying will increase.
Perhaps we can, therefore, be most proud of our retention rate: in comparison to other schools, and against the recent trend in this, numbers of girls studying either French or Japanese are very healthy, right up to Year 12, and even our senior classes are quite large.

Learning Technologies
This year in Learning Technologies we focussed on extending the use of ICT in the development of ePortfolios. An ePortfolio is a personal website for each student. In this website students reflect on their learning and store evidence of significant developments they have made throughout the year. By promoting the integration of ICT and reflection of metacognition it is hoped that students will further develop in the three main areas of ICT; visual thinking, creation and communication.
The replacement of the content management system with Studywiz commenced midway through the year. Studywiz provides an easier access for students to course information, collaborative tools, online tests and games that staff can develop and use as part of their teaching. Facility for parents to become more involved in the child’s online learning also exists.
The use of ICT in Visual Arts, Media, Drama, Music. LOTE and Technology is becoming more sophisticated. Students in the Year 10 ICT course “People Programming and Projects” have continued to develop websites for businesses in the local community.
Students participating in the Macromedia Flash programming course have continued to develop a range of high quality user interfaces and animations.
An experiment in online learning has been met with mixed success. This year all students have been enrolled in “The Computer School”. Access to these resources provided tutorials in basic computing skills and application use. Students were able to participate in designated tutorials and complete on line assessments. Unfortunately, even though this was a commercially hosted and supported product, some students had great difficulty in login on and working as independently as we imagined.
During the last term of 2008 we have employed a help desk technician to assist with the readiness of ICT to be used on demand. We are hopeful that we will be successful in our application grant monies as part of the federal government “Digital Revolution” program. The result of this success will see increased number of laptops available across the school and further network upgrades.

Interschool Sports
Mentone has continued to uphold its reputation as one of the best government secondary schools in the sporting arena. The College competes in over 20 sports offered by the V.S.S.S.A. as well as Lifesaving Golf, Cycling, Aerobics, Karate, Cheerleading and Gymnastics. Since November 2007, the College has won state titles in : Aerobics, Yr 7 Soccer, Yr 8 Soccer, Intermediate Soccer and Senior Squash.
The College finished 5th in Athletics and 15th in Swimming. Given there are nearly 300 secondary colleges in the state and we are unable to enter half of the events, our girls continue to perform at extremely high levels. There were three significant sporting achievements this year. Mentone won its first State All Schools title in Aerobics and then proceeded to come fourth in the National Titles. The school won three out of four Soccer titles with the Intermediate Team also claiming the All Schools trophy. The year seven team claimed the 4x50m freestyle Swimming state title. We also have had teams in state finals in Lifesaving, Gymnastics, Badminton, Tennis, Football, Netball, Squash and Volleyball.
At the school level an inter form competition in Netball, Indoor Soccer, Warball and Volleyball is now a regular feature of the Year 7 & 8 sport education program. This provides an opportunity for all junior students to participate in a team sport competition. The college extends its thanks to all the volunteer teacher coaches, parents and students who combine to make our school so successful in sport.

Camps
This year has included a very successful camping program. The Year 12 camp at Monash University, Year 7 camp at Arrabri Lodge in Warburton, the Music Camp also at Arrabri Lodge and the Year 8 camp at Camp Rumbug Waratah Bay have all been held in 2008. Following the extensive review of the Year 9 camp program in 2007 a diverse program with strong links to the curriculum was run this year. This has been reviewed and as a result a City Camp experience will be offered in 2009. Thank you and congratulations to all staff who gave time to plan and participate in these programs. Each camp requires many hours of additional work in planning and implementation.
We also have a group of 23 girls who will be leaving tomorrow on the Vietnam expedition as part of the World Challenge Program. Mr Steve Williams and Ms Judy Firestone will lead the groups. The girls have worked hard throughout the year to raise money for this very worthwhile and challenging expedition.

Soweto
Jasmine (Xolile) Ngcobo has thoroughly enjoyed her time at Mentone Girls’ Secondary College.  I am always very proud of the way our girls welcome students from other countries into our school and their homes. A very big thank you to all the host families, parents of Mia and Fiona Ivey, Lucy Bashfield, Laura Suckling, Jacqueline and Kerrie Hempshall and Zeniya Vreugdenhil who have supported Jasmine and made her feel part of their families. In addition to her working very diligently at her studies she also immersed herself in the Co Curricular program.  Two new skills that Jasmine acquired during the year were to swim and ride a bike. We wish Jasmine all the best with her Year 12 studies back at Letsibogo Girls High School in 2009.

Resources
Construction of the new Music Centre was completed in February this year. This project was funded entirely from within College resources. The facility comprises a new Band Room, a refurbished music classroom, a recording studio, a keyboard computer lab, improved storage spaces for musical instruments, five teaching studios and a staff work space. After many years, an appropriate facility is now available to support our Music program.
Council has determined that the next major building project will be the development of facilities for Media Studies. The current facilities for teaching Media are unsuitable and do not allow for our students to fully develop the skills, especially in the use of Information Technology, they need for Media Studies. A preliminary meeting has been held with the College architects. Design of this project will proceed in 2009.
With the completion of the Music Centre, three portable classrooms were removed from the site at the beginning of 2008.
The College submitted three applications through the Australian Government’s Investing In Our Schools Program and has received grants totalling $100,000. These funds have been used for three projects:

• Tennis Court refurbishment. This project provided for installation of an artificial grass surface on the existing asphalt tennis courts. This has provided a better outdoor surface suitable for tennis, and a range of other outdoor sports.
• Oval rejuvenation. This project has improved the quality of the grass surface and the drainage on the school oval, although lack of water remains an ongoing issue.
• Information Technology in the Music Centre. This project allowed for the purchase of computer equipment to fit out the keyboard lab in the new Music Centre.

The College received a Community Water Grant of $50,000 from the Federal Government. Two water tanks have been installed with these funds. The tanks are collecting water from the roof which is being used to flush toilets. This project was completed in August.
A 4 kW Solar Electricity system has been installed on the roof of the Technology building. The College received two grants to support the cost of this project. One from Sustainability Victoria and a further grant from the Australian Greenhouse Office. The Solar system provides a curriculum resource that is able to be used to support College programs as well as an alternative source of energy.
Further grant monies have been sought under the following programs:

• Trade Training Centres in Schools. For equipment and minor building refurbishment works in the Technology Centre
• National Secondary Schools Computer Fund. For additional computers and other Information Technology resources
• National Solar Schools Program. For additional solar electricity capacity and other energy efficiency measures.

Our Gymnasium remains almost fully tenanted with the Southern Basketball Association being the main hirer. The funds generated from the Gymnasium hire provide a valuable additional source of revenue to support College programs.

Parents and Friends
The Parents and Friends Group has continued to provide support to the college in a number of ways during 2008. A Car Boot Sale in May was a successful fund raiser.  Trivia and Entertainment Night was their major function for the year.
One of the roles of Parent and Friends Association is to promote parent involvement in the college and provide support for parents. The group has continued to do this in 2008 in a range of different ways. The second hand uniform shop is an important service they provide for families. This year they invited Helen Barnacle a well known and experienced psychologist and counsellor to speak to parents.
The PFA has sponsored the annual Presentation Night Awards again this year.  They have also hosted a Wine and Cheese night in conjunction with the Year 7 parent Information Evening.  We have also appreciated their willingness to volunteer their assistance with many other college functions such as music and drama events. I would like to express my thanks to the parents involved in the PFA, in particular the committee who have given to time to support college events.

Past Students’ Association
The Past Students’ Association has been very active in 2008. The annual International Women’s Day Dinner was well attended and featured the theme of dancing with the stars. Dancers from Ritz Dance Club provided a wonderful display of ballroom dancing.
Reunions of past students were organised for the graduating classes of 1988 and 1998, these being for the twenty and ten year past students. For the first time a five year reunion (class of 2003) was also organised.  Interest and attendance at all reunions surpassed that of previous years.  In order to maintain this momentum the current year 12 class was addressed by the Past Students’ Association, encouraging and inviting them to join in future Association activities.
The Past Students’ Association has continued to support Presentation Night with a large donation for award prizes. We look forward to another successful year in 2009.

College Council
Our College Council is responsible for all policy development and stewardship of the College finances throughout the year. We are fortunate to have a committed group of parents and teachers, as well as Mrs. Dorothy Booth as our community member. Once again, President Anthony Marriott ran a steady ship and encouraged Councillors to participate in the life of the College. The Council Fellowship was awarded to Ms. Galit Begleiter, who travelled to Harvard for an intensive program on learning and teaching.

Staff
We have had a significant change in staff this year, with 25 teachers beginning with us in January. The injection of youth has been wonderful, with new ideas meeting with experience to produce some very stimulating classes.
There are a number of teachers leaving us at the end of this year; some on leave for a year, others moving on to different schools and several retiring. Mrs. Judy Lielnors leaves us after a long career in education, much of it at Mentone. As Acting Assistant Principal, formerly a Leading Teacher, she has helped steer the College in its movement towards using restorative practice, and has demonstrated all aspects of an excellent classroom teacher. We wish her, and the other teachers who are leaving, all the very best in the future.
Through reading this report you will see just how much extra the teachers put in to make this such a wonderful school. All teaching and non-teaching staff deserve our gratitude and respect.

Deborah M Lehner
Principal
November 27th 2008