RT Newsletter No. 33, 29 October 2009
29 October 2009
Life at Rosstrevor
In Assembly yesterday, I commented again to the boys about how busy life was for them at Rosstrevor and highlighted the multitude of opportunities available to them almost on a daily basis. Since last Monday week, the following has occurred:
· Year 7 boys were enthralled by the visit of Robert Newton (Author of Runner),
· last Wednesday, over eighty boys represented Rosstrevor in either the Junior Secondary Athletics or APS Senior Athletics,
· last Friday, over twenty boys took part in the combined Book Club with Firbank,
· last Saturday saw the finals of the APS Senior Athletics at which ten boys took part,
· on Monday, four of our boys took part in the Victoria Interschool Chess Championships,
· on Tuesday, Mr McLellan took sixteen boys to Camberwell Grammar School for Maths Extension,
· yesterday, seventy mothers and their sons attended the Mother and Son Luncheon at the Robert Sanderson Centenary Hall,
· today, over 180 boys are taking part in the Rosstrevor Music Soiree and
· tomorrow, the final Interschool Debating competition for the year takes place with Firbank Grammar School.
I feel tired just reading over this long list of activities and the boys of Rosstrevor are certainly very deserving of an extended break this weekend to recharge their batteries prior to the run-up to the examinations commencing on Friday, 13 November. A reminder that boys do not have school next Monday. They will finish school at the normal time tomorrow and resume classes at 8.30am on Wednesday 4 November.
Important Dates
October
Thurs 29
RT Music Soiree BGS Atrium
Fri 30
Year 7-8 BGS/FGS Debating @ FGS
November
Mon 2
Mid Term Holiday
Tues 3
Melbourne Cup
Fri 6
Ute Full of Food
Thurs 12
Rotating Subjects Round 4 Ends
Fri 13
Year 7/8 Exams Begin
Tues 17
Year 7/8 Exams End
Fri 20
Rosstrevor Walkathon
Mon 23
RT/SS Pupil Free Day
Tues 24
Year 7 and 8 Activities Day
Wed 25
RT Speech Night
Thurs 26
Years 8 and 9 (2010) Promotions Day
Ute Full of Food
A reminder you that our last Ute Full of Food for St. Mark’s Fitzroy will be held on Friday week, 6 November. It is our Christmas collection, so any little Christmassy food that could be included would add to our collection. Of course the basics like pasta, pasta sauce, rice, tinned fruit and vegetables (preferably with ring pull-tops), biscuits and breakfast cereal are still necessary items. Could I ask you all to support this worthwhile cause? It can only be successful if the whole BGS community support it. Don’t forget that Brighton Grammar is now the largest single supplier of food for St. Mark’s and they will have to wait at least four months before our first collection in 2010. Povety doesn’t take a Christmas holiday.
Monty Stephens
Mother & Son Luncheon
Yesterday, seventy Year 8 boys and their mothers attended the second Mother and Son Luncheon held at the Robert Sanderson Centenary Hall. The main purpose of the luncheon was to once again provide quality time for our parents, in this case our mums, to spend time with their sons. We had a very special Guest Speaker in Ms Susan Barton who earlier this year was named Melbournian of the Year for her work in setting up the Lighthouse Foundation which currently has six centres around Melbourne looking after homeless youth. She gave an inspired speech which left many of us quite reflective on our current circumstances and what possibly we could do more, to help the homeless youth of Melbourne. Josh Kelly and Nik Robers provided an informative snapshot of Rosstrevor 2009 prior to some wonderful musical performances from Andrew Alesi, singing The Impossible Dream accompanied by Andrew Kerr and then four pieces from the Rosstrevor Big Band. It was a very successful luncheon on all counts and special thanks are extended to the Year 7 mothers who helped out during the luncheon.
Orientation Day
On Tuesday, the Year 7 (2010) cohort joined us here at Rosstrevor for the day. In the morning, all boys undertook the Robert Allwell Testing program whilst in the afternoon, boys were placed into tentative Form Groups for 2010 and took part in a range of activities with their probable future form group members designed to facilitate a smooth transition into Year 7.
The Year 9s (2010) journeyed to the Senior School for the day and had their scheduled classes held there. By all accounts, it was a very successful day and certainly served the purpose of helping the Year 9 (2010) group make the transition into the Senior School.
Chess
A total of 26 schools qualified for the zone Victoria Interschool Chess Championships on the 26th of October 2009 at the Monash University in Clayton. Brighton Grammar won the Junior Secondary Title with a formidable score of 32 out of 36 in a gruelling 9 rounds of play among the 26 schools. Jeffrey Jiang (Year 7) top scored with 8.5 out of 9 for Brighton Grammar followed by Isaac Ng (Year 6) 8/9, Alex Gruen (Year 6) 8/9, Joshua Ng (Year 7) 7.5/9 and Jack O'Shaughnessy (Year 8) on 6/9. Benjamin Jiang (Year 6) and Sam Waterhouse (Year 7) played as reserves. The second place was won by Mazenod College and the third place by Melbourne High School.
Tom Barnes Performs in Assembly
In Assembly yesterday, Tom Barnes, accompanied by his mum, Jane Barnes, performed Tarantella by W.H. Squire. Tom played superbly and is to be commended on his performance as part of “Rosstrevor You’ve Got Talent”.
Medieval Shields
Over the past few weeks the History department in Year 8 has been studying Medieval England. With an intriguing topic full of witches, war, Black Death and disease, it isn’t hard to engage the boys in some fascinating topics. One of the major elements of the course is the Heraldry and shield making component. Year 8 parents don’t need reminding about the man hours and quantity of time it takes to prepare a battle-ready shield with this year’s crop being of the highest quality. See below for some excellent examples and next week we will award prizes for the most outstanding and life like shields.
Brendan Savage
Combined Book Club
The Rosstrevor and Firbank Combined Book Club for this year was held last Friday when we discussed Polar Boy by Sally Fussell. This book generated a lot of discussion at each table as students responded to the story of Iluak, a 13 year-old boy from Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle.
Human survival was the focus of this book, with Iluak’s clan meeting the daily struggles of food and shelter with discipline, compassion and an ever present sense of humour. The arrival of the Vikings adds an extra threat to the clan and this is where Iluak must find the courage to confront the fear he’s lived with for so long.
I feel that the social aspects of Book Clubs have equal importance with the text, as it’s with the support and encouragement of other members that we’re able to state our opinions relating to the book and its story. Sometimes this can be quite a challenging thing to do.
Throughout the year I’ve been privileged to see students from both schools confidently express and explain their responses to the set novels and I’ve always been very impressed by the way they’ve done this. I’d like to share some thoughts about our Book Club from some of our members.
Throughout the year Book Club has been meeting with Firbank. We have read four books, those being: The Painter, Market Blues, Mandragora and Polar Boy. These were all interesting books that we immensely enjoyed discussing with Firbank. A huge thanks goes to Ms Teese for organising each great Book Club, an event I looked forward to every term. I’d encourage all Year 7s to continue on with Book Club next year, and to be part of this great group.
Joel Le Couteur
As last Friday was the final Book Club for our Year 8s I thank them sincerely for being such enthusiastic members of the Combined Book Club and congratulate them on the way they’ve represented Rosstrevor throughout the year. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each of them through our Book Club and wish them well as they progress through BGS. Happy Reading
Nerelie Teese
Rosstrevor Music Soiree
Parents are reminded of the very warm invitation they have to attend tonight’s Music Soiree in The Atrium in the Senior School, commencing at 4.30pm and concluding at approximately 5.30pm. The standard of the music at the soiree is always of a high standard and I feel sure attending parents will really enjoy the experience.
Mobile Phones
Parents are again reminded of the school’s expectation with respect to Mobile Phones. As the boys have been told repeatedly in Assembly since Day 1, they are at no time to be carried on them throughout the day whilst at school. Upon arrival at school, they are to be placed into their lockers and left there until 3.35pm. Any phones found on boys will be confiscated for a period up to and possibly including two weeks. I recognize that this may be inconvenient to boys and parents but the reality is that boys need to take greater responsibility in ensuring their adherence to the above school rule.
Hats
Rosstrevor boys are reminded that after the ‘Cup Weekend’, hats are required to be worn at recess and lunchtime. The two styles that are suitable are BGS wide brimmed ones or Greg Chapel cricket hats. Quite simply a “No Hat, No Play” policy will be applied at Rosstrevor from Wednesday onwards.
Exam Timetable
As promulgated in last week’s Newsletter, please find attached another link to the Semester 2 Exam Timetable. Please note that on Tuesday 16th November, all boys will be finishing up at 12.30pm and are then free to go home. If need be, boys can be supervised in the library until normal finishing time of 3.35pm. Please click here to download a copy of the Exam Timetable
Michael Grose
Please click here to download a copy of the Michael Grose seminar flyer.
New Boy
One of our new Year 7 (2010) boys, Denton Schragger from Brighton Beach Primary School is to be highly commended on his gold medal performance in the Boys 11-13 black belt second dan division at the Australian Open and National Championships of Taekwondo held recently in Brisbane. We look forward to Denton formally joining the Rosstrevor community in 2010.
Senior APS Athletics
Last Saturday, ten boys competed for the Senior School in the Senior APS Athletics which is arguably the strongest schoolboy athletics competition in the whole of Australia. Ten Rosstrevor boys is the most that have ever represented BGS with Rosstrevor boys competing all Under 15 events except for the Triple Jump.
Matt Fogarty jumped a PB of 1.63m to come third in the High Jump. Jordan Betts ran superbly to finish 4th in the Hurdles. Christian Salem won the B Grade of the 200m to come 7th overall whilst Max Hayes came second in B Grade to come 8th overall. Ian Palackic and Kieren Pascoe completed the Under 16 Shot Put and Under 15 Long Jump respectively whilst Jeremy Fernando ran a leg of the Under 16 4X100m.
Our 4X100m relay team and 4X400m team of Christian Salem, Max Hayes, Raury Bolger and Andrew Knox competed very well in both events and will no doubt be better next year for the experience.
Finally, Captain of Athletics at Rosstrevor, Josh Kelly came 7th in the Under 15 800m and 6th in the Under 15 1500m. For these superb efforts, Josh has been chosen to be acknowledged on the Pryor Honour Board for Athletics for 2009.
The school finished 8th overall which was a solid effort against many much larger APS Schools.
Junior APS Athletics
Many athletes performed well in last Wednesday’s Junior Secondary Athletics at Olympic Park. For a full set of results please click here.
Sport Training - Summer Training Details
APS competition will take place in Cricket, Tennis and Swimming on Saturday November 21st and 28th. There will also be Year 7B and C cricket matches on November 7th. No sport is scheduled for November 14th during the examination period.
Training and trials for each sport will be held on the following days.
CRICKET
Year 7B and C November 9th Mr Taylor, Ward and Fitzsimmons
7A November 5th, 19th and 26th. Players involved in Music on this night may train Mondays. Mr McLellan
8A and B Wednesday November 4th, 11th and 18th. Mr Savage and Pugh
TENNIS
Hunter Cup for Rosstrevor Singles Champion Wednesday November 4th at Brighton Secondary College Mr McCarthy. Knockout competition continues Saturday November 7th at BSC 8.30-9.30am, November 18th and 25th.
All Year 7 players Wednesday November 18th Mr Johnston, Tutera and Ms Turek and Jenner and 25th at Dendy Park Mr McCarthy and White
All year 8 players Wednesday November 18th at Brighton Secondary College Mr McCarthy and Anderson and Ms Ellis and John
Inter House Tennis Saturday November 7th at BSC Yr 7 9.30am-10.45am Mr Johnston, Tutera and Ms Turek and Jenner
Yr 8 10.30am-12 noon S Anderson Ms Ellis and John
SWIMMING
Saturday November 7th 8.30am-10am Mr Ryan and Ms Counihan
Other trainings will be scheduled with the Senior School Squad for our Year 8 swimmers entering Year 9.
TOUCH (Year 7 only)
Wednesday November 4th and 18th after school and Saturday November 7th 8.30am-9.30am on Junior School Oval. Inter school match November 28th. Mr Keane
VOLLEYBALL (Year 7 only)
Saturday November 7th 8.30am-9.30am and Wednesday 18th. Ms Ting
Note: students who have selected Badminton in Year 9 do not train until February.
Michael McCarthy
Rowing
There will be no rowing training sessions during the week following Cup Day. All Year 8 Rowers will be required for rowing training at 7:30am on Saturday the 7th of November at Powerhouse Sheds on Albert Park Lake Melways ref: 2L A11. Training will finish at approximately 10:30am, boys are required to find their own transport to the Saturday rowing sessions
Water Polo Awards
Year 8 Water Polo Awards
Pryor Honour Board Award for Water Polo - Fergus Irwin
Most Consistent - Luke Vucinic
Coaches Award - Adam Andrews
Year 7 Water Polo Awards
Best and Fairest - Josh Gover
Coaches Award - Jack Toulli
Coaches Award – Edward Tait
Congratulations to these students and to all players who contributed during the season.
Old Boy coaches
Book now for our next BGS Corporate Connections Breakfast
Our business minded parents are invited to attend our next BGS Corporate Connections Breakfast on Friday, 6 November at The Point, Albert Park. At this Breakfast, past parent Dr Jim Fox will be our guest speaker. Jim is a hugely successful businessman who has achieved considerable success building innovative technology based companies in competitive international markets. Come and hear Jim’s remarkable story!
Book now by emailing Lynn Bullock on lbullock@brightongrammar.vic.edu.au or by phoning 8591 2271. Further details can be found on the attached flier.
finished mid field in their respective competitions the standard of opposition is very high and we more than held our own.
Brighton Grammar School Senior Parents’ Group - Secondhand Book Pool 2009
The time has come to start getting your recyclable textbooks ready to sell in the 2009 Book Pool, which runs from Monday 16 November to Saturday 21 November.
Only books in good condition (and the correct edition) can be accepted. Books with torn covers, missing pages, ink scribbles, drawings and high-lighting will be rejected. Please make sure all pencil marks are erased before you bring your books to the Book Pool, and remember to include the CD’s where relevant.
Books must be handed in before 3pm Friday 20 November.
The book pool will be held in classroom 103 located in the Senior School. Selling lists will be sent home with the 2010 book lists or can be downloaded from the BGS Website. Selling lists for boys currently in Year 12 will be mailed out.
You will be able to buy secondhand books on Saturday 21 November between the hours of 8.30am – 12.00pm only in rooms 103 and 104. Enter through the St. Andrews Street gates located next to the St. Andrews Church Tennis Courts and walk straight ahead. A pointer board will be located outside the gates in St. Andrews Street.
If you have any queries please contact Jane James on 9521 9763 or 0421 224523 or via email jane_james@hotkey.net.au.
Year 7 Morning Tea
8.30am next Friday 4th November, Florentines, Church Street, Brighton. All welcome.
Rosstrevor and Senior Parents Group - Annual General Meeting
Tuesday 10th November @1pm in the Graeme Simon Gallery (Upstairs in the Rosstrevor Hall). Everyone welcome. Please bring a small plate to share as the AGM will be preceded by a light lunch
Rosstrevor and Senior Parents Group Christmas Lunch
All parents are cordially invited to join us for our Christmas lunch at – Humble House , 11 Church Street , Brighton. On Friday Nov 27 at 12.30. Cost is $26 per person including a glass of wine. Please RSVP your attendance to Fiona Hardgrave on 9592 0699 /0415558 858 by Friday 20th November
Lost and Found Property
Matthew Miles 8E has lost his BGS Sports Bag. If found, pleaser return to Matt or the Rosstrevor office. Thank you.