PerthModernSchool news Jan2014_8.indd

Transcription

JAN 2014
NEWS
Perth Modern School goes to the Top of the Class
The Class of 2013 have been stunningly successful in the West Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) results, winning
more awards than any other school, with 59 students receiving 89 School Curriculum and Standards Authority awards.
The median ATAR for the graduating class
at Perth Modern School was 95.4 which was
the highest median ATAR of any school in
the State and is an increase from last year’s
median of 95.35.
Shannon Truong, Conway Li, Ee Faye Chong,
Eleanor Lau, James Houlahan and Kayley
Crebbin received a General Exhibition,
which are awarded to the top 40 students
in the State who study at least two subjects
from the humanities/social science list and
two from the mathematics/science list.
Jonty Coy (Music), Johnson Ye (Ancient
History), Alice Jeffcott (Design) and Leon
Wu (English) won a Course Exhibition for
topping the State in that subject.
A number of students have been offered
scholarships to top universities, including
Keegan McNamara and Lisa Karaki who
have each won a John Curtin Scholarship
in this issue
to Curtin University. Campbell Abbott and
Sophie Antulov have won scholarships to
UWA where they have been awarded the
UWA Vice-Chancellor’s Award of Distinction.
James Pretty has obtained a scholarship to
the Australian Defence Force Academy and
Leon Wu has been successful in gaining
entry to Columbia University in New York,
where he will study film.
Shannon Truong, who achieved an ATAR of
99.85, a General Exhibition, a Certificate of
Distinction in Economics and a Certificate
of Commendation paid tribute to the
positive and encouraging environment she
encountered at Perth Mod, along with her
supportive family.
‘I knew the school had high expectations
of me and all the students in Year 12, but
I always felt strongly supported by the
teachers and also my peers, who are like
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School Curriculum and
Standards Authority winners
minded and want to do well so that really
pushes you along,’ Shannon said.
Alice Jeffcott, who achieved an ATAR of
99.6 and the Course Exhibition in Design,
said the whole year group pulled together
to support one another, contacting each
other through social media to ask questions
on a subject, setting up study groups and
sharing information.
‘The teachers really went above and beyond
the call of duty and we were encouraged
to achieve our own personal best,’ Alice
said. ‘The focus was on everyone working
together to help each other succeed, so it
was a healthy competitiveness.’
High achievers: Back row: Aidan Yuen-Oye, Zoe
Castleden, Thomas Windsor, Associate Principal
Steve Jurilj and James Houlahan. Middle row:
Keegan McNamara, Principal Lois Joll, Leon Wu,
Kayley Crebbin, Johnson Ye and Alice Jeffcott.
Front row: Shannon Truong and Ee Faye Chong.
Page 9
Tour of Italy
Pages 16–17
City Beach
Residential College
From the Principal,
reflections on 2013
What a great year 2013 was for the Perth Modern School community,
culminating in the fantastic results in the WA Certificate of Education by the
Class of 2013. Perth Mod students achieved the State’s highest median ATAR
with 95.4 and also the highest number of School Curriculum and Standards
Authority awards. In particular, I acknowledge the six students who achieved
a General Exhibition—Shannon Truong, Conway Li, Ee Faye Chong,
Eleanor Lau, James Houlahan and Kayley Crebbin and also the four Course
Exhibition winners—Johnson Ye, Alice Jeffcott, Leon Wu and Jonty Coy.
School Dux James Houlahan deserves special mention after achieving a
perfect ATAR of 99.95. In addition, 32 students have joined the prestigious 99+
Club. I would like to acknowledge and thank their dedicated and committed
teachers who consistently go beyond the call of duty to ensure students are
well supported in pursuing their academic goals.
The 2013 academic year has
reaffirmed that Perth Modern
School is more than a successful
school for the academically
gifted; it is also a kind and giving
community of students, staff,
alumni and parents that support
and care for one another as well
as others in the community. The
staff at Perth Mod are continuously
developing new and exciting
opportunities to challenge and
support individual students as
they develop their talents and
explore their strengths, passions
and interests. Students also had a
lot of fun, participating in camps,
river cruises, bake offs, tours,
excursions, carnivals and concerts
plus many others. At Perth Mod
students always have an event or
outing to look forward to where
they can deepen friendships
with their peers and achieve that
really important balance in their
lives between work and play.
I would like to express my
appreciation to outgoing School
Board Chair Warren Barbetti
for his commitment in helping
to establish the School Board
and successfully steering
the development of the
School Business Plan.
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I also thank outgoing Board members Alicia
Brown and Narayana Seethepalli for
their valued contributions and welcome
new Board members Simon Davies, Paula
Munt and Mark Ogden. I would also like to
thank President of the P & C Julie Pegrum
and the P & C Executive for the wonderful
contributions they have made to the school
in 2013.
In 2013 the school consolidated upon the
evolutionary path that has taken us from
a local intake secondary school to a highly
successful School of the Gifted. At the centre
of every decision made by the school,
student wellbeing and the development of
resilience, the provision of rich experiences,
breadth and depth in the curriculum and the
consideration of the ‘whole-child’ are the
driving forces.
In 2014, the school will evaluate and
implement best-practice initiatives to
further enhance support of students as
we plan for the introduction of the new
Australian Curriculum and Year 7 intake in
2015, the expansion of NAPLAN testing and
the refinements being made to the West
Australian Certificate of Education. Changes
to school operations will provide students
with more opportunities for extension,
including supporting the increasing trend
for Year 11 students to complete Stage 3
WACE subjects. The timetable for 2014 has
had some adjustments to allow for a more
effective Advocacy program and to provide
more time for lunch, so students are able to
relax, see their friends, play sport or attend a
meeting or Club.
NEWS January 2014
The 2013 Year 12 Presentation Ceremony
was held at the Winthrop Hall at UWA on
Saturday, 23 November. This very special
event was a wonderful occasion for Year
12 students to have their hard work and
many achievements acknowledged in front
of their families and peers. Many thanks to
Kellie Morgan, Lauryl Wallace, Jo Guthrie,
Val Furphy, Steve Jurilj, Nikki Reilly
(backstage), Heads of Departments and
the many staff and students for their tireless
work to make the event such a success.
Former Prime Minister and Modernian Bob
Hawke AC paid a special visit to the school
on December 3 to speak to our Year 10
and 11 students and attend a morning tea
with Sphinx Society members. Mr. Hawke
offered some fantastic advice to students
on appreciating their gifts and abilities and
making sure they made the most of them.
The school has been awarded an Artistin-Residence (AiR) grant of $30,000 in
partnership with Shenton College, which
will allow for the employment of an artistin-residence to bring together Art and the
Curriculum. Thanks to Laura Liddell and
English Department staff for their success
with this grant.
Student Councillors for 2013/14 attended
a Student Services Camp where they
participated in planning events and
other activities for next year and further
honing their leadership skills. Thank you
to Elizabeth Hamer, Ian Hunt and Nigel
Bateman for their participation.
Exceptional schooling.
Almost 80 students and five staff headed
off over the summer break on the
journey of a lifetime for World Youth
Adventures. During this challenge students
completed a trek in Nepal or Tanzania as
well as volunteering in local villages and
undertaking adventure activities. Thanks to
team leaders Allan Bertram, Angela Jones,
Sol Hanna, Dylan Trent, Lisa Kim and
Lorraine Donaldson.
Year 11 Drama students performed
brilliantly in their production It’s
Complicated, which examined
Shakespearean love themes in a
contemporary world. The students
demonstrated excellent performance skills,
delighting the audience with their creative
interpretations of a variety of Shakespeare’s
plays and characters.
A fabulous Year 10 Dinner Dance was
held at AQWA with students dressing
up beautifully in the latest fashions and
enjoying an evening of delicious food, funky
tunes and being entertained by Mr Meczes’
dance moves. Thank you to Head of Year 10
Alex Banyard and other staff for ensuring a
successful evening.
Similarly, the Year 8/9 River Cruise was
a delightful night of frivolity on the Swan
River that was set off spectacularly by a
stunning red sunset. Thank you to Head of
Year 8 Sinead Corr and staff for a wonderful
evening.
I congratulate the following students who
have received accolades in Term 4:
• Eleven students have won International
Competitions and Assessments for
Schools (ICAS) medals, out of only 40
awarded in Western Australia. Well done
to Year 8 students Anezka Hamdani,
Sonia Lal, Shi Han Su, Jonathan
Darmago and Timothy Tian, Year 9
students Virinchi Rallabhandi and Alan
Cheng, James Arcus in Year 10 and Beth
Crowley in Year 11.
• The school has once again had some
wonderful results in the 2013 National
History Challenge. Year 10 student
Hayley McMillan won WA Young
Historian of the Year and the State award
for the category Year Level 10. Year 9
student Rebecca Green won the National
award for the category of Migration and
Human Rights and Year 12 student Ee
Faye Chong won the State Award for the
categories of Women’s History and Year
Level 11–12. Emily Lyon in Year 9 and
Exceptional students.
Eleanor Lau in Year 12 were awarded a
High Commendation for their respective
pieces.
• Our students were gallant runners-up in
the Grand Final of the Schools Conflict
Resolution and Mediation (SCRAM)
Competition. Congratulations to Angel
Thanur, Aria Rossi, Alexander Lwin,
Daniel Cokis, Hannah Smith, Yi Fei Li,
Hinako Shiraishi and Jason Russell.
• Year 9 students who were members
of the Australasian Problem Solving
Mathematical Olympiad have been
named ‘Team of the Year’ for 2013.
Congratulations to Alan Cheng, Virinchi
Rallabhandi, Patrick Olofsson, Daniel
Ho, Sehyun Kim, Nicole Tan, Bedanta
Dhal, Alex Pan, Priya Fisher, Rebecca
Green, Daniel Lee, Jacob McDermott,
Andrea Ho, Lexman Palanirajan and Ing
Yao Wong.
• The Australian Mathematics
Competition (AMC) produced a medal
winning performance by Henry Yoo in
Year 10. Overall, Perth Modern School
achieved 11 prize winners (top 0.3 per
cent), 66 High Distinctions (top two per
cent), and 229 Distinctions (top 15 per
cent). The following students achieved a
High Distinction: Lachlan Grant, Anezka
Hamdani, Yi Si Wong, Yi Wen Wong
and Samuel Yang in Year 8, Alan Cheng,
Haobei Ma, Patrick Olofsson, Theodore
Vickery in Year 9 and Daryl Chung-WahCheong in Year 12.
• The Perth Modern School Chess Team
featuring Virinchi Rallabhandi, Aston
Taminsjah, Jack Pan and Varun
Mukhedkar won the State Chess
Championships for an incredible fourth
year in a row. The team travelled to
Melbourne for the National Finals with
Erwin Tee replacing Jack Pan who was
unable to travel and placed equal third.
• The Perth Modern School Philosothon
team came second in the State at the
Philosothon Competition. Rebecca
Green secured third place in the Year 9
Girl category.
• Michaela Taylor-Williams in Year 11 was
a semi-finalist in the 2013–14 Siemens
Competition for Math, Science and
Technology.
• Radheya Jegatheva in Year 9 has won
the Encouragement Award in the National
Young Writers category of the Katharine
Susannah Pritchard Speculative Fiction
Awards.
• Liam Finlay has received the Edith
Cowan University Year 11 Citizenship
Award.
• Cara Holland in Year 11 has won the
prestigious Alliance Français prize as
best candidate in the 2013 exams. Cara
won a trip to New Caledonia where she
underwent an intensive French Language
course.
• Davina Staneva in Year 8 was awarded
second prize at the Recital and Concerto
Competition, performing Chopin and
Beethoven at Section 7 level.
• Sagar Badve in Year 8 has come second
in the Junior Division Grand Final of Voice
2013, run by UN Youth.
• Brandon Boccola in Year 9 has received
the Youth Encouragement Grant for
Academic Excellence from the Town of
Mosman Park and has also been elected
to their Youth Advisory Group.
• Mia Judkins in Year 8 and Andrea Ho in
Year 9 were selected to represent Western
Australia in the Friendship Games at
Shanghai Sport Academy.
• The Year 10 AFL Girls’ team won the
Claremont Tigers AFL Carnival. Pia
Durk was named Fairest and Best with
Georgia Brand and Morgan Edgar
named equal runners up Fairest and Best.
• Ee Keat Beh in Year 8 and Eric Tian in
Year 9 won the Badminton Be Active
Schools Competition for Middle
School. Ben Hotchkin and Dylan Wood
in Year 10 reached the semi-finals.
• Year 10 student John Newcomb has
won the 1500m at the State Athletics
Carnival as well as coming second in the
800m. Lara Ilievski in Year 8 achieved a
place in the National finals for Javelin and
Discus.
Thank you to all staff who helped facilitate
these wonderful achievements.
In closing, it was an honour for Perth
Modern School to be selected as one of
four finalists in the Secondary School of
the Year category of the WA Education
Awards. Members of the selection
committee visited the school where
they met with members of the school
community for a day showcasing what
makes our school so special. Whilst we were
not chosen as the overall winner, the school
community can be very proud of what we
have achieved in 2013.
Lois Joll, Principal
Perth Modern School
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NEWS January 2014
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Exceptional Students: Exceptional Results
Principal of Perth Modern School Lois Joll has
paid tribute to the Class of 2013’s work ethic,
determination and how they supported one
another throughout the year.
‘The school community is absolutely delighted
not only with this group’s academic achievements
but also the incredible community spirit they
have demonstrated, spending thousands of hours
between them on community service projects,’ Ms
Joll said.
‘The Class of 2013 has maintained the momentum
from the previous year’s students who also achieved
the highest number of WACE awards won,’ she
said. ‘Their achievements will inspire our younger
students to reach their potential and aspire to their
own personal best.’
It’s the vast numbers of students that do
well that’s particularly impressive at Perth
Modern School.
Sharyn O’Neill, Director General, Department of
Education.
Members of the 99 Club Ee Faye Chong, Alice Jeffcott, James Houlahan and Kayley Crebbin.
Photo courtesy of The West Australian.
99 Club
Congratulations to the following students who obtained an ATAR of 99+.
James Houlahan
Ee Faye Chong
Daryl Chung-Wah-Cheong
Jonty Coy
Kayley Crebbin
Conway Li
Keegan McNamara
Shannon Truong
Eleanor Lau
Aidan Yuen-Oye
Diff y Zhou
Joe Dowson
Jason Guo
Alice Jeffcott
Lewis Hong
Joy Er
James Lawson
Ja-Jet Loh
Jacinta Fong
Alexander Thatcher
Jacob Day
Jie Yang
Boyuan Pang
Johnson Ye
Jing Ying Chan
Lewis Lim
Zhi Bin Lin
Sean Oakley
Zoe Castleden
Eleanor Jones
Andrew Ho
Deriek Pijls
Three generations of Modernians
Class of 2013 graduate Lucinda Grey has joined her mum Dr Alison Grey
and grandmother Catherine Turner (nee McQueen) in becoming Perth
Modern School alumni. Alison graduated in 1978 and Catherine in the late
1950s.
Catherine was a journalist and teacher whilst Alison became a GP and Lucinda is
also interested in medicine and is planning on studying science with a major in
pharmacology at UWA.
A bright family: Dr Alison Grey, Lucinda Grey and Catherine Turner.
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NEWS January 2014
School Curriculum and Standards Authority
award winners
General Exhibitions
General Exhibitions are awarded to the 40 eligible students with the
highest School Curriculum and Standards Authority WACE award scores
based on the average of five scaled scores with at least two from each of
the humanities/social sciences list and the mathematics/science list.
Shannon Truong
Eleanor Lau
Conway Li
James Houlahan
Ee Faye Chong
Kayley Crebbin
Course Exhibitions
A Course Exhibition
is awarded to the
top eligible student
obtaining the highest
combined mark in a
WACE course.
Subject
Name
Subject
Name
Ancient History
Johnson Ye
English
Leon Wu
Design
Alice Jeffcott
Music
Jonty Coy
Certificates of Distinction
A Certificate of
Distinction is awarded
to an eligible student
who is in the top 0.5
per cent of candidates
based on the WACE
course score or the
top two candidates
(whichever is greater)
in a WACE course.
Subject
Name
Subject
Name
Ancient History
Johnson Ye
Mathematics
James Houlahan
Biological Science
Thomas Windsor
Amy Zheng
Chemistry
Kayley Crebbin
James Houlahan
Aidan Yuen-Oye
Design
Stephanie Hair
Alice Jeffcott
Economics
Eleanor Lau
Shannon Truong
English
French
Philippa Campbell
Eleanor Lau
Lucy Wardle
Leon Wu
Cara Holland (Special
Certificate of Distinction for
Year 11)
Conway Li
Phillip Cheng (Special
Certificate of Distinction for
Year 11)
Audrey Lee (Special Certificate
of Distinction for Year 11)
Jamin Wu (Special Certificate
of Distinction for Year 11)
Modern History
Eleanor Lau
Lucy Raffel
Music
Jonty Coy
Physics
James Houlahan
Conway Li
Psychology
Zoe Castleden
Alice Jeffcott
Certificates of Commendation
A Certificate of Commendation is awarded to each eligible student
who obtains at least 20 grades of ‘A’ in course units or equivalents and
achieved the WACE.
Campbell Abbott
Sophie Antulov
Grace Brooks
David CameronMackintosh
Phillipa Campbell
Seamus Carey
Zoe Castleden
Dianna Chan
Jessica Cheng
Ee Faye Chong
Karri Coles
Jonty Coy
Kayley Crebbin
Crystal Dietrechsen
Fergus Downey
Joe Dowson
Joy Er
Jacinta Fong
James Gall
Jason Guo
Stephanie Hair
Andrew Ho
Matthew Hobley
Lewis Hong
James Houlahan
Alice Jeffcott
Ashwin Rajendra
Julia Sheridan
Georgina Spittle
Claire Stacey
Nee Tong
Shannon Truong
Siobhan Walsh
Danielle Williams
Leon Wu
Jie Yang
Johnson Ye
Aidan Yuen-Oye
Amy Zheng
Diff y Zhou
Eleanor Jones
Lisa Karaki
Eleanor Lau
James Lawson
Conway Li
Lewis Lim
Ja-Jet Loh
Keegan McNamara
Ariel Mroz
Boyuan Pang
Kate Phillips
Deriek Pijls
James Pretty
Perth Modern School
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NEWS January 2014
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Perth Modern School Presentation Awards
Class of 2013 students, from left, Johnson Ye, Shannon Truong, James Houlahan and Alice Jeffcott celebrate their exceptional results.
Photo courtesy of The West Australian.
Presentation Awards
Dux of Perth Modern School
James Houlahan
Principal’s Award for Academic Excellence
Conway Li
Shannon Truong
Ee Faye Chong
Joe Dowson
Kayley Crebbin
Johnson Ye
Australian Defence Force Long Tan
Leadership and Teamwork Award
Karri Coles
The Clare Casey Service Award
Lucy Raffel
The Caltex All Rounder Award
House Awards
Alice Jeffcott
Gold Sphinx
Platinum Award
Ee Faye Chong
Ee Faye Chong
Kayley Crebbin
Diamond Award
Conway Li
Courteney Eaton
Douglas Gould
Lucy Raffel
Kate Phillips
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NEWS January 2014
Perth Modern School Presentation Awards
Stage 3 Subject Awards
Arts and Technology Awards
Drama
Madeleine Gibson
Computer Science
Lauren Gee
Design-Photography
Stephanie Hair
Alice Jeffcott
Visual Arts
Louise Easey
English Awards
Ella Mackay Award for English
Philippa Campbell
Literature
Philippa Campbell
Languages Awards
Chinese
Helen Jiang (Year 11)
French
Cara Holland (Year 11)
Italian
Gabriela Guizzo Dri
(Year 11)
Isabelle Flynn (Year 11)
Japanese
Fiona Yokohata
Mathematics Awards
Class of 2013 Dux James Houlahan with Principal Lois Joll.
Science Awards
Biological Science
Thomas Windsor
Chemistry
James Houlahan
Human Biological Science
Pheobe Li Hui Ho
(Year 11)
Mathematics 3A/B
Ailish Lawrie
Physics
James Houlahan
Mathematics 3C/D
James Houlahan
Audrey Lee (Year 11)
Psychology
Eleanor Jones
Conway Li
Keegan McNamara
The Dr Albert Walkington Prize for
Chemistry and Physics
James Houlahan
Mathematics Specialist 3C/D
Engineers Australia Certificates for
Excellence in Science and Mathematics
Music Awards
Music
Jonty Coy
Outstanding Instrumental Music Student
Jonty Coy
Dettman Music Scholarship
Jonty Coy
Irene Jolley Memorial Choral Award
Angus Edwards
Amelia Toyne
Tom Kent Scholarship
Mia Vukovic
William and Clarice Stabb Music Scholarship Joe Dowson
John Peter Coles Award for Top Vocal
Student
Katherine Langford
Physical Education Awards
Ja-Jet Loh
Ee Faye Chong
Zhi Bin (Jacky) Lin
Jacob Day
Keegan McNamara
Cameron Duncan
Shannon Truong
Jason Guo
Deriek Pijls
Andrew Ho
Alexander Thatcher
Lewis Hong
Jie (Jason) Yang
James Houlahan
Aidan Yuen-Oye
James Lawson
Diff y Zhou
Conway Li
Physical Education Studies
Brodie CartwrightWorrall
Sports Person of the Year
Katherine Langford
Sports Citizen of the Year
Kyle Ogden
Daryl Chung-Wah-Cheong
Social Science Awards
Philosophy and Ethics
Boyuan Pang
Ancient History
Johnson Ye
Mike McGinley Award for Modern History
Eleanor Lau
Economics
Eleanor Lau
Politics and Law
Eleanor Lau
Perth Modern School
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NEWS January 2014
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Students visit the nation’s capital
REBECCA GREEN
After months of excited anticipation,
41 eager Year 9 students along with
four teachers congregated at Perth
Airport, about to embark on a trip
to the awesome cities of Sydney and
Canberra to learn more about Australia’s
history and the institutions that have
helped make our country peaceful and
prosperous.
and back; travelling across the Sydney
Harbour Bridge to Taronga Zoo, where we
wandered around freely and saw all the
amazing animals including fennec foxes,
Himalayan mountain goats and talented
seals and a somewhat sad trip to the
Sydney Jewish Museum, where we learnt
about Judaism and the Holocaust.
Tour group at Parliament House.
This trip was helped made possible by the
Federal Government’s Parliamentary and
Civics Education Rebate (PACER), which
contributed $260 per person.
We landed in Sydney and moved into the
YHA Backpackers located in the centre of
the city right above the archaeological dig
of the Botany Bay settlement. We were
very fortunate to be able to admire Sydney
Harbour from our terraces.
Parliament House.
Sydney highlights included trips to the
famous Paddy’s Markets; the Powerhouse
Museum, which had awesome exhibitions
on such fascinating topics as light,
sustainability and the Wiggles; a night walk
around Circular Quay to the Opera House
Doing the meerkat: Olivia Hartwig,
Giulia Villa, Victoria Holman and
Eliza Tester.
Left: Stephanie Melvin inspects the
names of our fallen soldiers.
Farewelling beautiful Sydney, we set off
for Canberra where our first stop was
Parliament House. Although parliament
wasn’t in session, we learnt about the
House of Representatives and the Senate
and passed a mock law that allowed people
from the age of 16 to vote. We also visited
the High Court of Australia and saw the
courtrooms. Another highlight included a
visit to the Australian War Memorial, where
we had a tour before being free to wander
around and remember all those brave souls
who had made the ultimate sacrifice for our
country.
We also enjoyed a visit to the Museum
of Australian Democracy where we reenacted the debate whether to introduce
conscription for the Vietnam War. Other
institutions visited included the National
Portrait Gallery and the National Film and
Sound Archive’s Museum; the National
Museum of Australia with its astonishing
architecture and fascinating exhibits; the
Royal Australian Mint where we learned
how botched coins
can be worth tens of
thousands of dollars and
the CSIRO Discovery
Centre where we learnt
about the Global Food
Crisis and discussed how
to make food production
more sustainable.
The trip wasn’t all about
education, we also got to
go ice skating and ten pin
bowling and shopping at
the Canberra Centre.
Thank you to Mr Lowry,
Mr Duncan, Ms Hubbard
and Ms Nicholson for
all of your hard work
and sleepless nights to
make this wonderful trip
possible.
Tour group at Taronga Zoo.
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NEWS January 2014
Bella Italia
TAYLAH HOOD AND HINAKO SHIRAISHI
Over the October school holidays 14 Italian Language students were fortunate
to have the opportunity to travel to Italy, accompanied by Ms Joll, Ms Candaten
and Mr Temov. The atmosphere in Italy was amazing and with our friends and
incredible teachers it was more like a fun holiday, but we learnt new things every
day.
Our first stop was the stunning city of Venice where we stayed in a private hotel all to
ourselves. We walked along the famous Rialto Bridge and enjoyed a plate of real Italian
pasta, meeting some charming Italian waiters. We had breakfast at a delightful little
Italian cafe and our first genuine Italian coffee. We visited the San Marco Square, the
Basilica and the Doge’s Palace as well as taking a ferry to Murano, the island famous for
glass, and Burano, famous for lace and colourful houses.
After Venice we travelled by boat and bus to splendid Milan. The historical sites
here such as the Duomo di Milano were incredibly well preserved. Once in Milan, we
shopped ‘till we dropped and said ‘ciao bella’ to everyone. We also visited Castello
Sforzesco and Luini’s bakery for handmade panzerotti, famous since first opening in
1888.
In the middle of our tour we travelled to Parma, the home of Parmesan cheese. It was
there we participated in a homestay program for five days, living the Italian teenager’s
life with our amazing host brothers and sisters. During our homestay, we went
shopping, had Italian feasts until we became so full we had to say ‘sono pieno con un
uovo’ (‘I’m full like an egg’), visited castles and rivers and attended school. Each person
had different experiences with our host families so we had plenty to talk about on the
way home!
After a tearful goodbye to our host families, we left Parma for Florence via Pisa and
Lucca. Like most tourists we took photos pretending to hold up the Leaning Tower of
Pisa.
Arriving in Florence, we visited the leather markets and spent four hours haggling and
bargaining. We also visited Michelangelo’s statue of David at the Accademia Gallery
and the interactive museum of Leonardo Da Vinci. From there, we made our way to
Rome where we visited all the great sites including the Spanish Steps, throwing coins in
the Trevi Fountain, visiting the ancient Roman baths and marvelling at the Colosseum.
Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel were simply amazing.
We then headed to Pompeii and the great Mt
Vesuvius where we had a guided tour of the ruins
of the town that had once been bustling with life.
Our final stop was Sorrento, the beautiful city on the
coast of Italy. The weather was warm enough to go
swimming, shopping at the markets and to eat more
gelato. To celebrate the end of our trip, we went to
a lovely seafood restaurant and ate many delicious
dishes.
We were all really sad to say ‘arrivederci’ to our new
favourite country. The tour was a really rewarding
experience, teaching us so much about the Italian
culture and language and each one of us can’t
wait to return and buy more one euro coffees and
gelatos!
Top to bottom: The colourful houses of Burano.
Admiring the stunning medieval architecture of Florence.
The Colosseum.
Rome.
Perth Modern School
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NEWS January 2014
9
Student accolades
Eleven Perth Modern School students
win an ICAS medal
Perth Modern School students have won an incredible 11 International
Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) medals, more than any
other West Australian school.
Medals are awarded to students who have achieved the highest scores in their
year level in their State. Over one million student entries are accepted from over
6,300 schools in Australia and New Zealand annually.
Mathematics: Jonathan Darmago in
Year 8, Virinchi Rallabhandi in Year 9
and Henry Yoo in Year 10
Congratulations to the following
students:
Computer Science: Anezka
Hamdani in Year 8
English: Sonial Lal in Year 8, Shi Han
Su in Year 8, Hui Min Tay in Year 8 and
Beth Crowley in Year 11
Science: Timothy Tian in Year 8, Alan
Cheng in Year 9 and James Arcus in
Year 10
ICAS winners: Back row: James Arcus, Sonia Lal, Virinchi
Rallabhandi, Shi Han Su, Henry Yoo. Front row: Principal Lois Joll,
Beth Crowley, Timothy Tian, Hui Min Tay and Anezka Hamdani.
Absent: Jonathan Darmago and Alan Cheng.
Hayley and Rebecca awarded national history prizes
Two Perth Modern School students have won national recognition in the National
History Challenge.
Hayley McMillan in Year 10 won WA Young
Historian of the Year, and Rebecca Green
in Year 9 was awarded the national prize
in the migration and human rights special
category.
The challenge is a research-based
competition giving students the chance to
be historians by researching world history,
examining Australia’s past, investigating
their community and exploring their own
roots.
In addition, Ee Faye Chong in Year 12 was
awarded the State prizes for the categories
of Women’s History and Year Level 11–12.
Hayley chose the Battle of Red Cliffs in
Chinese history as the basis for her prize-
winning essay, which ended up being the
first ancient history submission to earn the
State’s top prize in the competition.
Hayley said the battle interested her
because it was one of the biggest battles in
the Three Kingdom period and was fought
at the end of the Han Dynasty.
‘It’s just not really heard that much,’ Hayley
said. ‘It’s interesting because the north had
more people than from the south but the
south still managed to defeat the northern
invaders. It’s just really fascinating; they had
some clever war strategies.’
Hayley and Rebecca were recognised at a
presentation ceremony at Parliament House
in Canberra.
Former Prime Minister and Modernian Bob Hawke
AC congratulates Hayley McMillan (L) and Rebecca
Green on their National History Challenge awards.
Interschool Chess champions
The Perth Modern School chess team has won the Interschool Chess
Championships for the fourth year in a row, a fantastic achievement.
The victory secured the team entrance in the Chess Kids National Final in
Melbourne.
The elite team that travelled to Melbourne consisted of Aston Taminsjah,
Erwin Tee, Varun Mukhedkar, Varinchi Rallabhandi and mentor, Mr Walter
Wilson. Armed with the goodwill of Western Australia, the team surpassed
everyone’s expectations and finished equal third, an impressive feat.
Chess Kids National Final: Virinchi Rallabhandi, Erwin Tee, Varun Mukhedkar
and Aston Taminsjah.
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Student accolades
Year 9 Mathematics team named
APSMO Team of the Year
JACQUI CARTER, MATHEMATICS TEACHER
The Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads
(APSMO) were an exciting opportunity for our keen young
mathematicians to show what they can do.
The Olympiads were held over three terms and the problems were
interesting and challenging. Perth Modern School entered a team in
both Years 8 and 9. The teams performed exceptionally well with both
achieving in the top 10 per cent of teams entered across Australia.
In fact our Year 9 Team was named 2013 Team of the Year for all
Australian schools, which is a truly outstanding achievement. In
addition, only three students out of 7959 participants achieved
perfect scores. Congratulations go to Alan Cheng and Virinchi
Rallabhandi in Year 9 who both achieved this goal.
The Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads Team of the Year.
Back row: Daniel Ho, Lexman Palanirajan, Virinchi Rallabhandi, Alex Pan,
Daniel Lee, Sehyun Kim, Ing Yao Wong, Bedanta Dhal, Alan Cheng and Jacob
McDermott. Front row: Nicole Tan, Priya Fisher, Rebecca Green, Amy Tan and
Andrea Ho.
A special mention also goes to Anezka Hamdani who was the top
performer on the Year 8 team.
Language students achieve top results
French
Cara Holland in Year 11 has beaten all
Year 12 French Language students across
the secondary school system in Western
Australia to take out the prestigious Alliance
Française prize as best candidate in the
2013 exams. As part of her prize, Cara spent
part of her summer break in beautiful New
Calédonia, undertaking an intensive course
in French. Cara also achieved a Special
Certificate of Distinction for Stage 3 French
in the recent WACE results.
Other wonderful results were achieved by
Tony Gao, who came fifth overall in the Year
10 exam and Hannah Sullivan who came
second in the background speaker category.
Italian
Dante Alighieri, a Florentine writer and
poet, is considered to be the father of
Italian language. The Dante Society of WA
promotes the study of the Italian language
and a deeper understanding of Italy’s
rich cultural heritage. A number of Perth
Modern School students competed in the
Dante Aligheiri examinations, achieving
some excellent results. Congratulations to
the following students:
Jina Ahn in Year 8
Second place
Nicole Tan in Year 9
Cara Holland in Year 11
Phoebe Larsen in Year 12
First place
Second place
Third place
Chinese
Sisters Helen Jiang in Year 11 and Emily
Jiang in Year 10 have won respective
second and third place in the Chinese Star
writing competition for their essays on the
topic My Chinese Dream. The competition
was organised by the Confucius Institute at
Cara Holland. Photo courtesy of WA Community
Newspaper Group.
the University of Adelaide, and their results
will enable priority when they apply for
Confucius Institute Scholarships to study
in China. Emily
and Helen have
also passed the
world renowned
Chinese
Language
Level Test (HSK)
and obtained
HSK Level 4
certificates.
Dante Alighieri Examinations Jina Ahn, Nicole Tan and Phoebe Larsen.
Left: Emily Jiang. Right: Helen Jiang.
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Dragon’s Den comes to Perth Modern School
NICOLA REILLY, SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHER
The budding entrepreneurs of Perth
Modern School were excited to
participate in a version of A Dragon’s
Den, the popular BBC TV series where
individuals pitch their business idea to
a panel of business experts in the hope
to raise funds to make their business
dream a reality.
In the final four weeks of Term 4, Year 10
students developed a business idea, wrote a
business plan and prepared a pitch in order
to impress the three dragons, Kate Bunney,
Yvonne Atkinson and Sarah Hubbard. The
dragons, through their extensive business
experience, asked the students’ questions
about their idea, gave feedback and
hypothetically offered injections of cash or
advised a rethink of the idea.
The students came up with a huge variety
of ideas from sonar watches for shark
alerts to limited edition collector dolls,
clear kayaks to savoury and sweet eating
Back row: Thomas Wendt, Michael Hou, Haobei Ma, Jack Brommecker and Roger Li. Middle row: Nicola
Reilly, Harrison Carter-Turner, Aria Rossi, Yeong Wong, Tony Gao and Aston Taminsjah. Front: Yvonne
Atkinson, Kate Bunney and Sarah Hubbard.
outlets, apps for ordering food and drink at sporting venues to file sharing without limits. The
students were incredibly well prepared and sold their ideas with detail, flair and enthusiasm.
The three dragons commented that they were ’very impressed with the amount the students
had achieved in such a limited amount of time, their presenting skills were outstanding and
they are most definitely the entrepreneurs of the future.’
The Critical and Creative Thinking Project
ESTHER HILL, HEAD OF ENGLISH
Making learning engaging and relevant is a big part of the curriculum at Perth Modern School. During Term 4 in English, students
were involved in a unique and innovative learning experience —The Critical and Creative Thinking Project.
Class was a little different because there was
no formal assessment, but a Symposium
where they had to show evidence of their
learning. So on the big day, fellow students
and parents browsed, asked questions
and listened to the students present their
products.
Some students created a unique and
original world, while others presented plays
and documentaries about walking a mile in
another person’s shoes.
One class pitched the ‘next big thing’ in
the gaming, movie or literature world and
another looked into the magic and mystery
of Shakespearean England with interactive
games and lashings of mystery. To give a
voice to the voiceless was the purpose of
yet another group who sought to stand
up for minorities and advocate for animals,
peoples in our community and around the
globe.
The project emphasised thinking strategies
and student-centred cooperative learning.
This allowed the students to collaborate
with their peers and be involved in a
community of inquiry in order to create a
product. They mastered a range of visible
thinking strategies to help them refine,
explore and synthesise ideas. All of these
learning experiences have been closely tied
to the General Capabilities of the Australian
Curriculum and is preparing the learner for
the challenges of the 21st Century.
Left to right: Alexandra Monson, Davina Staneva and Talica Gummery.
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Students get results thinking philosophically
DR RAY DRIEHUIS, SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHER
The annual Philosothon Competition
is growing in popularity as more and
more students across the State see
the value in studying Philosophy and
Ethics courses that make you think both
logically and creatively.
The Perth Modern School team featuring
Hirzi Putra Laksana in Year 8, Rebecca
Green in Year 9, Connor Oswald and Braden
Thorne in Year 10 and Tallulah Starkie in Year
11, were thrilled to have come second out of
24 participating schools. Rebecca is also to
be congratulated for achieving third place
for best individual performance in Year 9.
The process of competing involves our
students engaging in a philosophical
community of inquiry based on a reading
for each of the following topics:
1. Will machines ever become human?
2. Who pays for climate change?
3. Should parents use mobile apps to
monitor their children?
4. Is the free market intrinsically moral?
Braden Thorne, Connor Oswald, Hirzi Putra Laksana, Dr Ray Driehuis, Tallulah Starkie and Rebecca Green.
Each inquiry ran for thirty minutes so that
overall students were thinking critically,
creatively and collaboratively for two
full hours. Having had the opportunity
to observe the team in their respective
communities of inquiry, I was very pleased
to note the collaborative spirit and
intellectual rigour of our students. Their
engagement with the topics and readings,
and the ready manner in which they were
prepared to share ideas and build on the
thinking of others, was truly remarkable.
What is even more satisfying is our result
means we continue on to represent the
State in the national competition run by the
Federal Association for Philosophy Schools’
Association in July 2014 in Perth. We are
very much looking forward to this event
and the chance to think with students
from other states, including the Raffles Girls
School from Singapore.
Future Problem Solving
LISA KIM, FUTURE PROBLEM SOLVING COACH
The topic for Future Problem Solving
(FPS) 2013 was ‘Ocean Soup’—there
may be a time 30 years in the future
where a population is living on the
ocean in vessels as opposed to land.
The existence of these very people is
determined by what lies in the ocean.
Land based humans are insensitive to
the pollution that they generate, fish are
low in stock…
heat, our Senior team won a place in the
finals but we were graciously defeated
by other schools with equally talented
students.
Jasmine Lynn and Henry Clarkson were our
only team to qualify for Nationals this year,
and after being joined by Ryan Barrett, did
well to place seventh out of 12 teams.
Jamin Wu in Year 11 came first in the
Individual Senior Competition and was
invited to the International Conference in
Iowa in 2014.
I wish to congratulate all of the 34 students
who participated this year and I look
forward to another successful year in Future
Problem Solving in 2014.
Henry Clarkson, Ms Lisa Kim,
Jasmine Lynn, Ryan Barrett
and Jamin Wu.
These were some of the issues that faced
the teams entered. How were we going
to find a solution to this monstrosity?
The cycle of evolution and life itself was
depending on FPS citizens to come up with
solutions so that these two populations
could co-exist even after years of conflict.
Teams had a two-hour timeframe and
access to basic materials to find a solution
to the problem. Some teams made fancy
costumes, others sang songs and danced,
we at Mod just acted it out. In the initial
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13
Youth Ambassadors end the year on a high
Ellen-Rose and Caitlyn give
a voice to the voiceless
When Caitlyn Viskovich and Ellen-Rose Lenny
partnered up for their Year 8 English project ‘Give a
Voice to the Voiceless’ they became so inspired by
their chosen topic, the dolphins that live in the Swan
River, that they decided to fundraise to help these
beautiful creatures.
In their spare time, they baked some delicious goodies
and conducted a bake-sale during Advocacy at school.
Their fellow students were more than willing to help out
by opening their wallets and they ended up raising a
fabulous $160.
‘Neither of us were aware that dolphins
even lived in the river,’ Caitlyn said. ‘I
travelled past the Swan River daily not
realising that there were dolphins living
there that faced a daily battle just to
survive.’
‘We learned through our research that
Left to right: Ellen-Rose Lenny, Dr Hugh Finn, Caitlyn Viskovich and Marnie Giroud.
the dolphins were impacted not only by
natural predators such as sharks, but also
by toxic algae and other pollutants caused
by humans and by being caught in fishing
nets that are left in the river,’ Ellen-Rose said.
‘We decided to do something about it, and
thought fundraising would be the best way
we could help.’
Dr Hugh Finn from Murdoch University
and Marnie Giroud from the Swan River
Trust were delighted to visit the school to
meet with the two girls and accept their
donation. Dr Finn said the money will
contribute towards further research on the
Swan River dolphin pod.
Ambassadors bring out their inner child
KATHARINE GUO
The Loftus Community Centre is home to Perth’s only
Community Childcare Cooperative. This unique group differs
from playgroups in that it provides a rare opportunity for
families to supervise each other’s children on a scheduled basis.
The children have a great time and have the opportunity to
mingle with children of various ages while their parents get
some much deserved time out.
Matthew Newell, Aanchal Chopra, Lachlan Bunney and myself had the
opportunity to visit the centre to sing Christmas carols and partake in
a nursery rhyme sing-a-long, with actions!
After all the singing, it was time for us to
get in touch with our childish side as we ran
around the playground playing hide and
seek and riding on miniature tricycles.
The visit to this co-op group was such a
fun and enjoyable way to give back to
the community. A huge thank you to Mr.
Bateman, Mr. Marshall and Vanessa for
making this visit possible.
Top: Lachlan Bunney and Katharine Guo.
Right: Matthew Newell, Lachlan Bunney and
Katharine Guo enjoy spending time with the children.
Photography by Aanchal Chopra.
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Saving the Devils
When Year 10 student Louis Blackwell heard that Tasmanian Devils were facing
extinction due to the Devil Facial Tumour Disease, he decided to do something about
it and set up his own charity. He is currently organising a Tasmanian Devil Quiz Night
at Perth Modern School to be held on March 29, 2014.
Having lived previously in Tasmania the
welfare of the Devils was something that
was close to Louis’ heart. He contacted
the charity Save the Tasmanian Devil and
they posted out official collection cans and
stickers for Louis to use in his fundraising.
He enlisted the help of his brother and sister
and shook cans in the local shopping area,
surprising himself by raising $500 for the
Tasmanian Devil Appeal.
On Mufti Day 2013 his ‘slushi and throw a
ring on a drink’ stall raised $200 and Louis
decided to keep the ball rolling. Having had
experience organising a quiz night last year
he decided it was time to go one bigger
this year and organise one that would
benefit research into a cure of the tumours,
rehabilitation programs and sustaining
insurance populations in zoos around
Australia.
Louis has started canvassing local
businesses for prizes, accumulated some
Louis Blackwell (R) raising money for Tasmanian
Devils with help from his sister and brother.
fun and also tricky questions and is relying
on the school community to get behind the
event. If you are interested in supporting
Louis and this worthwhile cause, make up a
table or contact Mr Scott Marshall at Perth
Modern School to donate items for the
silent auction and get behind this budding
philanthropist.
Working bees create the school’s first sustainable garden
LORRAINE DONALDSON, SUSTAINABILITY CLUB COORDINATOR
In June 2012 at the Start the Switch Summit, a group of Year 11 students were challenged to dream of their
ideal project to improve the school community. Being inspired at the summit that youth can indeed make
a difference, they decided to create Perth Modern School’s first sustainable garden. It would take a lot of
work—fundraising, official application for ground use, planning and designing.
As a first step, and keeping sustainability in
mind, the project was simplified to provide
a community garden for the school as a
first step. But in the background we hoped
to eventually develop our own compost,
redevelop the native garden, encourage
wildlife into the garden by building
appropriate shelter such as rocks, logs and
hollow boxes, and to embrace creative and
artistic reuse of materials.
Phase two of the garden was planting fruit
trees. At the end of this it was raining, which
was great for the trees… but not so great
for a photo. The work the students have put
in this year has been amazing. They have
received recognition from Subiaco Council
who gave a ‘Highly Commended’ award to
this project, largely due to the scope of the
project.
Many hours have been spent gradually
implementing this project. None of
this would have been possible without
the commitment of five students in
particular—Virginia Horn, Stephanie Hair,
Sophie Antulov, Thomas Windsor and Tessa
Freeman. As well as fundraising, designing
the garden and gaining approvals they
have also held three working bees. These
have been supported by the
wider community, in particular
Year 12 students.
Above: Thomas Windsor.
Left: Sustainability Garden
before and after.
Below: Stephanie Hair,
Tessa Freeman, Sophie
Antulov, Ms Lorraine
Donaldson, Phoebe Larsen
and Virginia Horn.
The Sustainability Garden is
a legacy to that small group
of students who have since
inspired other students to
pursue their own projects.
I look forward to continuing this
project next year as well as many
others via the formation of an
environmental advocacy group.
Left: Dianna Chan
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City Beach Residential College provides
country students with a home away from home
City Beach Residential College is
co-located with the International
School of Western Australia and the
Perth Japanese School on the site of the
former City Beach Senior High School. It
sits high on the sandhills back from City
Beach, next to Bold Park, with a view
over the city to the Darling Scarp.
The Residential College accommodates
students from rural Western Australia who
have been offered a place in the Gifted and
Talent Program to attend Perth Modern
School or other selective schools in the
program. In 2013, of the 58 residents,
29 attended Perth Modern School, 25
attended John Curtin College of the Arts
(JCCA), one attended Churchlands SHS and
three attended Shenton College.
As Perth Modern School is a fully selective
school, its students receive first preference,
followed by students who win places in
the programs at JCCA, and any other public
school with specialist programs. Numbers
for 2014 are already nearing capacity, and a
Boarder Nataniel Stephenson.
24-bed extension is planned, when funding
is available, to accommodate the Year 7
students who will join the Year 8 secondary
school intake in 2015.
Helen Dixon, the Manager of the Residential
College, has nearly 30 years’ experience
supervising and managing a boarding
facility for secondary school students. In
1985 Helen and her husband, Don, moved
to Narrogin to join the highly regarded
Narrogin Residential College. After 18 years
in management they relocated to Perth in
2007 for Helen to manage the start-up of
the City Beach Residential College and Don
to take a managerial role with the Country
High School Hostels Authority. The College
has the support of a very experienced
Board of Management, comprising the
Principals of Perth Modern School and
John Curtin College of the Arts, parents and
community members.
on weekends. Adjacent to the College
administration office is a shady grassed area
set up for barbecues and outdoor movies in
summer. It is also a place where parents and
friends can relax when visiting.
Helen remarked on an interesting
difference, comparing her Narrogin
experience with the College in City
Beach—‘The majority of students here
hadn’t considered boarding before, whereas
parents and students in the smaller towns
around Narrogin had been planning it for
years and knew what to expect. On such
a large site our supervision has to be very
careful, and there is always a period of
adjustment from family life to the routines
of sharing a space as a boarder. They soon
settle in, and it’s great to see how the
students look out for one another.’
Male and female students have the same
accommodation but are situated on
two separate levels on the site. Each unit
contains five single bedrooms and one
double room, three bathrooms, a kitchen
and dining/lounge area. Students in Years
8–10 take turns sharing the double room.
The College is a very busy place after school
hours and on weekends. Students are
engaged in many extra-curricula activities,
such as music lessons, concerts, rehearsals,
and competitions, such as debating and
sporting activities. The College’s two
commuter buses are in constant use.
There is a large kitchen/dining area with
an adjoining recreation hall. The school
gymnasium is a shared facility and the
Residential College utilises it mostly
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Boarder Ellie Maslin
…it’s great to see how the
students look out for one
another
The College is
surrounded by natural
bushland.
Orientation camp activities.
Below: Boarders enjoying Games Night.
City Beach Residential
College accommodation.
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Introducing the 2014 Student Council
Year 12
Head Girl
Jasmine Jansen
Jasmine is thrilled to have been chosen as Head Girl for 2014 and is looking forward to further developing her
already outstanding public speaking and leadership skills. She is an exceptionally busy and productive student,
achieving academically as well as participating in a variety of activities including the Senior Chorale, United Nations
Youth events, the Evatt Trophy Competition, Young Leaders Forum and UNYA State Conference Camp, amongst
others. Jasmine is dedicated to the Perth Modern School community and is keen to contribute however she can in
making the school a positive and nurturing environment for all students.
Head Boy
Jamin Wu
Jamin is honoured to represent Perth Modern School as Head Boy in 2014. Since commencing at Perth Modern
School, he has established good relations with fellow students and staff, has a thorough understanding of school
issues, good communication skills and a willingness to lead. Jamin believes that strong leadership lies in taking the
time to listen and consider the views of others and is looking forward to developing a constructive and conducive
atmosphere amongst the student body.
Tate Deklerk
Tate is a very motivated individual who is friendly and approachable and believes in commitment, dedication and
teamwork. He treats everyone with respect and courtesy and is a good listener. He has honed his leadership skills
by participating in a variety of activities and has many ideas that he believes will create a more effective school
environment.
Lucy Gipson-Stratton
Lucy is a confident and enthusiastic student who is passionate about learning and making the most of the
opportunities that come her way. She is a very genuine and friendly person who enjoys a good laugh and has
many friends amongst the student body. Lucy hopes to invigorate the Student Council with her creative ideas
and help create a stimulating and supportive environment for the amazing individuals who attend Perth Modern
School.
Audrey Lee
Audrey has been a member of Student Council for the past three years and it is a role she thoroughly enjoys. On top of
her impressive academic achievements, she has been actively involved in the organisation and running of Mufti Day,
Variety Concerts and fundraising initiatives. Audrey takes very seriously her role in acting as a channel of communication
between the school decision makers and the student body and being friendly and approachable to all students.
Arya Rao
Arya is very proud to be part of the Perth Modern School community and is keen to contribute his skills in
whatever capacity he is able to further the school’s reputation as the preeminent public school in the State. He is
an engaging public speaker and has the ability to enthuse and inspire those round him in the pursuit of a common
goal. In his position on Student Council, Arya is keen to help motivate, inspire and assist his fellow students and act
as a mentor and positive role model.
Year 11
Russell Watt
Russell is a responsible and hardworking student who upholds the school’s values and uniform, is very approachable
and friendly and always gives his best. He is looking forward to working in a team environment and encouraging all
students to participate in school events. On Student Council, Russell hopes to set a good example for his peers, help
create a collegial school community and effectively represent the various opinions of the student body.
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Year 11
Shibi Doss
Shibi prides himself on completing everything to the best of his ability which he plans to continue with his role on
Student Council. He enjoys participating in community service and completed 75 hours in 2013. He also actively
enjoys a wide variety of extra-curricular activities in sport, music and academics. Shibi plans to be an approachable,
determined, honest and hardworking Student Councillor who will bring flair to Council meetings.
Jet Kye Chong
Jet Kye displays leadership skills, responsibility and initiative on a daily basis and consistently upholds school
values. He has a thirst for knowledge and always strives to achieve his personal best. Jet Kye’s ability to collaborate,
contribute and create, as well as get things done, will undoubtedly continue to make him a highly effective team
member of the Student Council.
Frances Lamont
Frances is an experienced Student Councillor, having already served two years in this privileged position. Frances
enjoys upholding the traditions and values of the school and is keen to bring out the best in others by fostering
their special gifts and talents. Frances is enthusiastic about creating a supportive environment for all students and
contributing to the positive growth of the school.
Anna Lee
Anna is a very good writer and communicator and is often the first to raise her hand when something needs to
get done. She very much enjoys being part of the school community, working in a team and putting forward her
ideas. Anna wants to make the most of every possibility that comes her way and serving on Student Council is the
perfect opportunity for her to positively contribute to the Perth Modern School community.
Naqia Lawtie
Naqia is new to the Student Council in 2014 and is very excited about being able to give back to the school
community in return for the wonderful opportunities the school has provided. She has learnt the art of
compromise and mediation through her participation in the Student Conflict Resolution and Mediation (SCRAM)
course and is looking forward to implementing these new-found skills. Naqia is very enthusiastic about making a
positive difference to the school and setting a good example for other students.
Year 10
Nhi Danh
Nhi is very excited about her new role on Council as she is from a large and loving family with younger siblings who
look up to her and see her as a role model. She loves working in a team environment, expressing her opinions and
believes in making work fun and enjoyable. In her role as Student Councillor Nhi hopes to lead by example and
help her fellow students in whatever capacity she is able.
Rebecca Green
Since Year 8, Rebecca has thoroughly enjoyed being on Student Council as she always gives her all, loves being
part of the school community and is an excellent public speaker who is often tasked with this role on behalf of
the Council at various functions. She has been successfully involved in organising and leading a number of school
events including Mufti Day and is a member of the Debating and Future Problem Solving Clubs. Rebecca is keen to
contribute new ideas, demonstrate her initiative and uphold the school’s values and traditions.
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Year 10
Joshua Lindsay
This is Joshua’s first year as a Student Councillor and he is keen to demonstrate his leadership qualities and represent
the school with distinction. He believes in the importance of respecting oneself as well as other people and creating
a positive environment for all students to reach their potential. In his new role, Joshua is enthusiastic about raising
money for charity, listening to the needs of the student body and being a constructive team member.
Radheya Jegatheva
Radheya is an excellent communicator and team member who contributes effectively in the planning and
organisation of Student Council events. He is a generator of many creative ideas and enthusiastically upholds the
school’s values and traditions. Radheya plans to utilise his friendly and cooperative nature along with his excellent
time management and organisational skills to effectively contribute to the collective
goals of the Student Council.
Brandon Boccola
Brandon is looking forward to his first year as a Student Councillor as he prides himself on going above and beyond
to get real results. He is very approachable with a fantastic sense of humour and is a confident public speaker.
As part of his new role, Brandon hopes to be a good role model, uphold the school’s ethics and traditions and
encourage other students to participate in school events.
Priya Fisher
Priya is a very sociable and approachable person who enjoys hearing about and representing the views and
opinions of other students. She has many ideas regarding existing and new school events as well as additions to
the school uniform. As a Student Councillor, Priya is hoping to use her initiative and leadership skills to make a real
difference to her fellow students and act as a role model for others.
Year 9
Ella Davies
Ella is a friendly and approachable person who is interested in everyone she meets and taking the time to get to
know her fellow students. She greatly values the opportunities that being part of Perth Modern School has given
her and feels a strong commitment to give back to the school community. Ella is keen to work as an effective team
member to produce great outcomes for the school as a whole.
Sagar Badve
Sagar has developed strong leadership skills in the year he has already spent on Student Council and he is keen
to work to uphold Perth Modern School traditions and values. He is an excellent public speaker who has won
several awards for his oratory skills and he would like to use these skills to ‘speak up’ for other students. As a Student
Councillor, Sagar plans to use his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for all that the school offers to help create a
collegial and inspiring school environment.
Hirzi Putra Laksana
Hirzi consistently demonstrates initiative and is very responsible in the way he upholds the school’s traditions,
values and uniform code. He is a very good listener and is open to new ideas and suggestions. Hirzi thinks the best
part of being a Student Councillor is the satisfaction the role brings when people tell him they are happy with what
he has been able to contribute to the school.
Shi Han Su
Shi Han is keen to contribute to the school community as a Student Councillor as she really enjoys being a part
of the school and feels very privileged to have so many educational opportunities. She has very good time
management and organisational skills and is not afraid to work hard and tackle big tasks. Shi Han is looking forward
to continuing her involvement with Student Council events such as Mufti Day and contributing wherever she can in
making a positive difference to the school.
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NEWS January 2014
2013 School Board Report
WARREN BARBETTI, CHAIR
I am pleased to take this opportunity to report on the ongoing achievements
of the Perth Modern School Board and to reflect on the activities of the Board
over the past 12 months.
Significantly during the year, the State Government announced
changes to future education budgets. The Board responded to
this by writing to the Minister for Education, the Premier and the
School’s local member, the Hon. Bill Marmion MLA expressing
concern about the proposed changes to the way education is to be
funded in Western Australia and the impact of this on Perth Modern
School. The Board also joined with fourteen other State School
Boards in writing to the Premier and Minister for Education asking for
a reversal in the Government’s decision.
This year, the Board also welcomed Staff representative Ross
Fuhrmann, taking the place of Rick McMahon who resigned
following a temporary move to Edith Cowan University. In addition
the Board welcomed the valuable participation and reports from
student representatives of this year’s School Student Council.
During 2013, the Board successfully achieved a number of objectives:
• At the start of the year, the Board introduced standing items to
review the School’s performance against its objectives as set out
in the Perth Modern School Business Plan 2012–14. At each meeting
during the remainder of the year, the Board considered progress
made against the six key areas directing the strategic direction of
the school. The School is currently well placed to meet its 2014
objectives.
• The Board reviewed and endorsed the 2014 overall school budget
prepared by the School Executive. As part of that undertaking,
the Board also endorsed the contributions and charges for the
upcoming year.
• During the year, the Board endorsed the first school community
survey to be undertaken since becoming an Independent Public
School. The School community responded well to the call for
participation, with the majority of responses being extremely
positive/favourable. Areas identified as requiring attention were
Warren Barbetti
common across workplaces and not unique to Perth Modern
School and centred on communication and coping with change.
• Following detailed review processes, the Board endorsed Perth
Modern Schools Drug Policy, Complaints Management Policy,
Anti-Bullying Policy, and School Uniform Policy. The School
Uniform Policy was changed to include provision for out-of-state
tour wear from which the wet weather jacket has been included
as an optional item for normal school day wear.
In the closing months of the year, nominations were called and
elections held for three new Board Members from the School Parent
community. It is my pleasure to inform you that the new Board
Members for 2014 are Simon Davies, Paula Munt and Mark Ogden.
As I step down from my roles as Board Member and Chairman, I take
this opportunity on behalf of the Board and School community,
to express appreciation to the other outgoing members of the
Board, Alicia Brown and Narayana Seethepalli, who have generously
contributed their time and experience.
Finally, on behalf of the Board I would like to congratulate the
graduating year of 2013 and acknowledge the ongoing dedication
and efforts of the School Executive, the teaching staff and the
administrative support team. I would also like to acknowledge the
enthusiasm and contributions of my fellow Board members who
along with the School community have assisted and supported the
Board during the year.
Celebrating 40 years of History
SALLIE DAVIES, CHAIR PERTH MODERN SCHOOL HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM SOCIETY
Staff and former staff and ex-students
of Perth Modern School recently
toasted the foundation committee of
the Perth Modern School Historical and
Museum Society which formally met
for the first time in December 1973. In
2013 they met to review progress in the
development of the Perth Modernian
Society History Centre 40 years on.
Staff and students (and their families) have
contributed their time, money and effort to
the collections and individual stories held
at the School for many years. They have
been hidden away in storage waiting for an
opportunity to emerge. In 2009 a room was
made available for this purpose. There is still
much work to be done, but it is time for the
work of many interested volunteers to be
recognised as a true resource for student
research and involvement at Perth Modern
School.
In 2014 the Perth Modernian Society will
celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
formalisation of a museum collection within
Perth Modern School, which is now the
responsibility of the Historical and Museum
Committee.
Karen Wedemeyer, Sallie Davies, Greg Anderson
and Stacey Burton.
Perth Modern School
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21
Beyond the classroom
Stacey Burton
Business Manager
The desire for a challenge in a more complex environment led Stacey Burton to apply
for the position of Business Manager at Perth Modern School, which she won in 2010.
‘A school like Perth Modern doesn’t fit the
mould. You have to produce something
extraordinary with a conventional public
school funding model. The Business
Manager position here is a creative role,
it’s about innovation and coming up with
ideas that sit both within the conventions
and which extend the boundaries for gifted
students. The school offers excellence,
enrichment and extension and I have to
manage the finances, facilities and support
staff to enable the teachers and executive
to achieve this. I provide advice about
affordability and availability of resources
to support executive decision-making,
and when decisions are made, my job
is to make them happen. Becoming an
Independent Public School provided
flexibility, and it also changed the work
environment and workload. More than ever,
Business Manager is a team job and in this
school I have great support from my team
in the way they accepted the changed
environment and responded to a new way
of working.
The responsibility of keeping it all in line
means I have my finger in so many pies!
For example, the support staff, which
includes cleaners, gardeners, technicians,
school officers and education assistants,
are covered by at least six different awards.
There’s also the complexity of a heritage
site! The whole site of Perth Modern School
is heritage listed, not just the buildings, so
knowing and following the rules about any
changes on the site is complicated. New
buildings, for example, must look new and
not like a reproduction from a different
period, and as far as possible, the landscape
has to be preserved.
The new gymnasium has been a
really welcome challenge because its
construction means that Perth Modern
School becomes complete. This building,
plus the new netted sports facility near
the Graduate College of Dance for skills
training in sports such as cricket, hockey
and soccer, will complete the facilities for
the physical enrichment and extension of
our students. Thanks to the generosity of
alumni and parents’ support for the Build
the Dream Project, the gymnasium will be
built from January to October 2014 on
the Thomas Street Oval next to the beach
volleyball court. It will also be fitted out as
an assembly area to accommodate 1500
people. When the Year 7 students enter the
school in 2015, the student population will
be 1350.
One of the many things I admire about
this school is the way teachers and
parents donate their time to fundraising
by managing event parking on the school
site out of hours. Each group volunteers
for a day and the earnings are invested in
student facilities, projects or events, such as
the beach volleyball courts, the Music Tour,
and World Challenge projects. It’s the sort
of community spirit I would expect to see in
a country school. My husband and I lived in
Esperance for 18 years where we were very
involved in country life. My husband had his
own business and I became a school officer
at Esperance Senior High School. We loved
the town. It provided an amazing childhood
for our son and daughter and the school
provided a great education. Reluctantly, we
removed to Perth in 2006 for our children’s
university education, but we retained a
huge friendship base in Esperance and
where once we used to go camping
together, now we travel together …when I
have time!
When we relocated to Perth, I was offered a
temporary position at Hampton Senior High
School as relieving Business Manager. I had
been the assistant to the Business Manager
in Esperance so I accepted the position.
Fortunately for me it was just as the school
was undergoing an audit, which provided
me with excellent on-the-job training and
positioned me well for making this my
career.’
John Harris
Deputy Principal Student Services, Senior Years
John Harris was employed at Perth Modern School in 2013 as relieving Student
Services Manager, Years 8 to 12. During the year he won the position of Deputy
Principal Student Services, Senior Years, commencing in January 2014.
This role manages the wellbeing of students
in Years 10, 11 and 12 which includes their
social and emotional development as well
as tracking and supporting their academic
progress. Prior to joining the PMS staff, John
spent 11 years at Christ Church Grammar
School, ten of these as Head of Moyes
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NEWS January 2014
House, as well as teaching Physics. He will
also teach one class of Science as part of his
new Deputy Principal role.
‘I like combining teaching with student
services. You get to know students better
and you share the teaching experience
with your colleagues and the learning
experience with students. The challenges
of giftedness are many. Some students
have difficulty applying their talent; some
are talented in a specific field and struggle
in other parts of the curriculum; some are
perfectionists and become anxious about
their performance; some commute long
distances to and from the school every
day; country students board at City Beach
Residential College and some miss their
families; some students are still developing
the emotional maturity to match their
intellect; and some have health issues like
the rest of the population.
However, taken as a whole, the students
at Perth Modern School are as interesting
and engaging as they are challenging. The
fascination of my job is the broad focus
on the wellbeing of the whole group,
combined with the fine focus on the
immediate needs of an individual. ‘What
can I do for this student?’ is the question
that drives me.
A student’s first year at Perth Modern
School is particularly challenging. It’s a time
when they ‘find their place’ in their peer
group and in their classes. Not everyone
can be at the top, as many of them were in
their primary school. The words of Sir Paul
Hasluck, a student here from 1918–1922, still
ring true:
‘Instead of being the
bright boy of the school
I had to face the harder
demands of the most
exclusive secondary
school in the State.
Everyone there had been
the bright boy or the
bright girl of a primary
school and most of them
had been much more
thoroughly taught than I
had been.’
…and it’s my job to reassure students and
their parents that there is a place here for
everyone.
I am part of a team that interviews students
as they plan their transition from one year to
the next, balancing the subjects they want
with the subjects they need to reach their
educational objectives. We make sure they
know the scholarships that are available,
how to apply and become eligible for
them, and strategies to maximise their ATAR
ranking. I promote coaching programs,
many of which run at Perth Modern School
during breaks, and the Student Services
Team volunteers to manage events parking
on the school site to raise funds to support
academic coaching for disadvantaged
students and for student events.
I also coordinate a fantastic team that
organises most of the students’ social
events—socials, river cruises, Year camps,
and the Year 12 graduation ceremony. One
of the great things about this school is how
easy it is to enlist staff support for these
things. Because Perth Modern School takes
students from the whole State, there isn’t a
local community, but there is a Modernian
spirit of community—exemplified by the
alumni association—of collegiality and
‘giving back’. It’s a great example for students
and a great environment to work in.’
Mary Anne Baljic
Careers Coordinator
Mary Anne Baljic transferred to Perth Modern School in 1987 as Head of Department,
Home Economics.
Mary Anne selected Perth Modern School
because they had computers—MicroBees
—and she had been teaching computing
at her previous school—32 students to one
computer!
‘This is an incredible job and I love it! It’s
such a pleasure to work one-to-one with
our exceptional students. If they want to,
they can talk from the heart, and being
able to offer guidance is such a privilege.
We discuss what’s going well, are there
any concerns, is there balance in their lives,
what are their targets, how can we help
them achieve them…and then there’s
following up and keeping in touch. The
Careers Centre is part of a very strong and
committed Student Services team in this
school and students drop in all the time. I’m
glad they know they are welcome!
In Years 8 and 9 we assist students to create
their achievement portfolios—a record of
certificates, awards and other documents
—which chart a student’s participation in
every aspect of their education and which
they later use to prepare a resume, apply for
scholarships, and as part of career planning.
All students are offered two Endorsed
Programs, Employment Advantage and
Keys for Life, and the school still promotes
and records students’ participation in
Community Service. These programs are
very important. Together with co-curricula
opportunities, such as debating, they
can make students more competitive
for scholarships, especially overseas
scholarships.
In Year 10 all students have one term of
Career Education as part of their Health
Education course. We use the Career Voyage
program which helps to focus students
on potential careers in preparation for the
selection of subjects for Years 11 and 12. A
team from Student Services then interviews
each Year 10—often parents come,
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23
CONTINUED
too—and it’s really impressive to see how
well-researched and realistic most of our
students are. They are interested in a career
as part of their life’s direction. They know
it’s about lifelong learning, they know their
interests, they have penetrating questions,
and they are prepared to consider different
fields and to change their minds.’
Mary Anne’s son and daughter attended
Perth Modern School when she was
appointed. After their graduation from the
…it’s really impressive to see how
well-researched and realistic most of
our students are.
school in the early 1990s, when Mary Anne
felt she would have time on her hands, she
won a scholarship for full time study at UWA
in the Master of Education Management
course, which she completed while also
working full time.
‘In the late 1990s the school curriculum
changed. Business Education, Design &
Technology and Home Economics were
combined into Technology & Enterprise and
we developed a very strong VET program
at Perth Modern School based around
Business, Hospitality and Engineering.
We became a Registered Training
Organisation. After a few years the burden
of documentation and red tape associated
with being an RTO became too great, so we
let that go, but VET was still huge here, right
up until 2005–6 when GATE became the
focus of the school.
Also in the late 1990s, several of us
undertook studies for the Postgraduate
Certificate in Career Training at ECU to assist
us with counselling in the VET programs.
It has proved to be excellent preparation
for this latest part of my career—and now
Career Counselling is huge. All Year 11 and
12 students are interviewed formally at least
twice a year, and informally whenever they
need it. I also run the Sphinx Society, which
acknowledges and celebrates academic
excellence in Years 10 to 12. Straight-A
students are invited to join and they
maintain their membership through their
academic performance, which I monitor as
part of my counselling role, and I also run
meetings and events for them.
I work three days a week and share the
position with Judith Arrowsmith. In my
free time I volunteer one day a week at St
Joseph’s Church in Subiaco. I work in the
office and help with sacramental programs
such as Confirmation, First Communion
and First Reconciliation. And I also have four
grandchildren. I feel as if I have the right
work-life balance.’
Judith Arrowsmith
Careers Coordinator
Judith’s first career in education was as a science teacher in Catholic and Independent
Schools. Her second degree, a Bachelor of Education in Career Development,
supported her role as Head of Year 12 in an independent school, and fitted perfectly
with the need at Perth Modern School.
‘My first connection with Perth Modern School was through my niece, who was a music
scholarship student here 20 years ago. She invited me to attend a Gilbert and Sullivan
production in which she was performing. She and her family were delighted by my invitation
to attend the school’s production of Annie in 2012.’
Judith had already retired from teaching when she came to Perth Modern School in
September 2011 as a relieving staff member in the Careers Office.
‘There was an unexpected vacancy and I
was asked to fill in ‘just for a while’. For the
next two years I job-shared with Ms Mary
Anne Baljic, and it was a very rewarding
experience for me. Mary Anne was a very
tolerant and generous colleague and I feel
privileged to have worked in this unique
school.
There is a real love of learning here, such a
positive engagement in education. The staff
is very committed, innovative and talented.
There is an enthusiasm that pulls everyone
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Perth Modern School
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along at a hectic pace, and great generosity
in the way they support their students
and the School. One pre-service teacher
from ECU remarked on how impressed and
inspired she had been by her experience at
Perth Modern School.
Although I am sad to be leaving this
school—being able to assist motivated
students has been a pleasure, and I admire
their genuine commitment to community
service—I will have much to occupy me in
retirement.
NEWS January 2014
My interests involve environmental and
conservation issues, volunteering at Perth
Zoo, playing golf, current affairs, and
travelling. The New Year holds much of
the latter—my husband and I are planning
some overseas travel and I look forward to
spending more time with my two sons and
grandson.
Year 10 Dinner Dance
ALEX BANYARD, HEAD OF YEAR 10
One Enchanted
Evening
With the sun setting over Hillarys Boat
Harbour as our breathtaking backdrop,
165 bubbly and excited students arrived
at AQWA for the Year 10 Dinner Dance.
And didn’t they look amazing!
Sipping delicious mocktails, students were
given exclusive access to the stunning
aquarium displays, representing 12,000 km
of Western Australia’s coastline, before
entering the function room, decorated to
represent the theme of ‘One Enchanted
Evening’.
With the music pumping out some
fabulous dance tunes, shoes were removed
for what could only be described as a
session of pretty serious dancing. Students
and teachers showed off some impressive
and innovative dance moves that were
definitely trend setting.
Leticia Tan, Philip Tsen and Julian Lee.
Daniel Cokis and Michaela Cotgrave.
Lauren Umbers and Tayla Wood.
Theodore Vickery, Clare Boon and Yeong Wong.
After dancing, students then returned to
their tables for dessert. You could see their
eyes glisten as the delectable chocolate
cakes, mousses, cheesecakes, pies, rocky
road, tarts, pastries, and… fruit (what the!),
was loaded onto their plates. Quite a few
students had obviously envisioned this
moment for some time.
Somehow students then managed to
overcome what must have been an
imminent food coma to finish the night
with another entertaining display of
dancing.
Owen McConney, Alexander van Oss and Louis Blackwell.
Kathryn Skinner and Taylah Hood.
At the culmination of the evening, the
moon glistening off the ocean water
provided a fitting reverence for our
departure.
Thank you to the staff who generously gave
up their time in helping to run the night,
to the parents who went out of their way
to drop off their children
and pick them up in record
time, and of course to the
students who displayed
impeccable behaviour.
Nicholas Hall, Jeff Li and Samuel Grice.
Laney Gould and Molly Brand.
Anuki Kotuwegedara, Kirsten Hoffman, Rosalie Koko,
Adrienne Gamble and Rhiana Chan.
Jason Michael and Matthew Humphrey.
Perth Modern School
Frances Lamont and Bianca Macliver.
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NEWS January 2014
25
Student Council Camp
ELIZABETH HAMER, STUDENT COUNCIL COORDINATOR
During the October school holidays, Student Councillors for
2013 and 2014 attended their annual camp at the Ern Halliday
Recreational Centre accompanied by myself, Mr Hunt and Mr
Bateman.
Brilliant fun was had by all the Councillors, participating in team
building activities, the crate climb and the big swing with camp
staff, theatre sports run by Mr Bateman, a camp quiz night organised
by the outgoing Year 12 Councillors and of course, warm fuzzies!
We took turns cooking and cleaning up, with Mexican and Italian
dinners and pancakes for breakfast.
Above: Audrey Lee helps Ella
Davies find her way.
Left: Student Councillors
enjoying a
team-building game.
The mega meeting on Monday afternoon where we decided on all
sorts of things for the coming year including the Variety Concert,
Mufti Day and Valentine’s Day, was the most productive and useful
part of the camp. And the most fun part was getting to know each
other better and meeting all the new councillors. The school has
been well-served by the 2013 Student Council and the new line-up
for 2014 is also looking like a stellar cast.
Staff farewells
The Perth Modern School Community would like to thank and farewell the teachers who will not be with us in 2014.
Amanda Lin
‘I have had an exciting, challenging
and very rewarding time this year as
Art teacher at Perth Modern School.
The staff have been very friendly and
supportive and it has been a pleasure to
get to know a group of highly capable
and imaginative students. The school
is also fortunate to have fabulously
equipped art rooms and wonderful
gallery spaces for displaying student work. I am now looking
forward to the holidays and having some time to make some of my
own artwork again! It has been a wonderful opportunity to be able
to teach at this exceptional school and I hope I will be back again in
the future.’
Richard Spence
Richard is taking 12 months leave from
his position as a Social Science teacher
to move to Dunsborough where he
will teach at Cape Naturaliste College.
Richard is looking forward to spending
time with his young family, enjoying the
relaxed way of life ‘Down South’ and
learning to surf. He hopes to return to
Perth Modern School in 2015.
Matteo Pantalone
English teacher Matteo is taking twelve
months leave from his position at Perth
Modern School to move to Tasmania
after his wife Jo secured a position at
the University of Tasmania as an English
Literature lecturer.
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He is looking forward to spending more time with his young
children as a stay-at-home Dad and enjoying the beautiful food and
scenery of his new home.
William Leong
‘As a graduate teacher just entering the
teaching profession, I am incredibly
honoured and forever grateful that Perth
Modern School gave me the opportunity
to develop and broaden my teaching
skills at such an exceptional school. I have
thoroughly enjoyed every day that I have
spent challenging, and being challenged
by, such gifted and talented students,
and working alongside such experienced, enthusiastic and supportive
colleagues. I will be spending much of next year travelling but I hope
to return to Perth Modern School in the future.’
Vince Perrella
‘I dropped in to Perth Modern School to
cover a range of English classes during
Semester 2. I really enjoyed getting to
know staff and students. The English
Department are a passionate and
dedicated lot, and I gained so much
from them—their goodwill, helpful
guidance and, when they weren’t
looking, their chocolate. Perth Modern
School students are a special bunch, and it was a pleasure to teach
them. I leave the school proud of the fact that, try as they might,
my two zesty and rambunctious Year 9 classes were simply unable
to scare me off. I farewell the school to spend some time writing
and travelling, before my inevitable and triumphant return to a
whiteboard, somewhere, later in 2014.’
Another wonderful term of Music
ROGER HEY, HEAD OF MUSIC
2013 has been an extremely busy but wonderful year and I would
like to thank all of the music staff, students and parents for their
many contributions to the Music Program this year.
Jonty Coy in Year 12, Megan Barbetti in Year 11 and Minami Uemoto in Year
10 were recently selected to perform in a Flute master class presented by
Ms Emily Beynon, Principal Flutist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
which is rated by many as the best orchestra in the world. The master class
was held in front of 150 students and flute teachers from all over the Perth
metropolitan area. Emily talked a lot about relaxation and the relationship
between singing and playing musically and worked on the student’s
musical interpretation of their pieces.
The school’s String Quartets have been busy this term playing at a
number of functions both within and outside the school. The Senior
Quartet with Helena Ngyuen, Jasmine Jansen, Eric Tian and Scott
Patterson played at the Youth Focus—Make a Difference Awards
Ceremony held at the State Reception Centre, Kings Park. Meanwhile
the Intermediate String Quartet of Scott May, Lachlan D Whang, Jason
Michael and Helena Trang performed beautifully at the Telethon Institute
for the Cystic Fibrosis Association.
Above: Helena
Ngyuen, Jasmine
Jansen, Eric Tian and
Scott Patterson.
Right: Music
scholarship recipients
Jet Kye Chong, Jessica
Leonie Knight and
Minami Uemoto.
At the Year 10 Honours Assembly, scholarship presentations were made
to Minami Uemoto, Jet Kye Chong and Jessica Leonie Knight. Minami was
awarded the John Down—Daniel Girling Scholarship presented by the Sphinx Foundation,
whilst Jet Kye was presented with a bursary under the same name. Jessica was the latest
recipient of the Lower School Dettman Scholarship. Congratulations to all three students.
Joseph Parsons Library goes online
BILL BARR, TEACHER-LIBRARIAN
The Joseph Parsons Library catalogue is now online and available to be used from
any computer anytime!
This is a significant step forward in our
quest to allow the school and GATCA
community access to quality resources
at all times. We are upgrading our digital
resources constantly and aim to include
e-books and ClickView, which we hope to
also make available through the catalogue
and accessible from home. The catalogue
can be accessed at:
http://library.perthmodern.wa.edu.au/
The school community was given the
opportunity to remember our past
students who participated in the two
World Wars through the ‘Lest We Forget’
display. The Modernians, who organise the
School Archives, were extremely helpful
in providing information and articles
about past students, their war records and
memorabilia for the display. We were also
able to borrow Morse code transmitters and
a receiver from the archives and these were
available for students to ‘try out’.
Our historical focus continued with a
Steampunk fiction display. The Western
Australian Historical Society kindly loaned
us a reproduction Victorian ball gown as
part of the display about fiction, based on
the Victorian era and the age of steam.
The ‘Whodunnit?’ presentation of short
crime stories written by Ms McGuinness’
Year 8 students proved
very popular with
visitors to the library.
The display featured
different stories every
two weeks for readers
to try and solve the
crime. The solutions to
the crimes were also
provided so the reader
could check if they
guessed correctly.
Top: Steampunk fiction display. Above: Lest We Forget display.
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27
The sky lights up for the Lower School River Cruise
SINEAD CORR, HEAD OF YEAR 8
The 2013 combined Year 8 and 9 River Cruise was a fabulous evening of dancing,
laughter, glamorous outfits and a stunning sunset to provide the perfect backdrop.
The weather was kind, cooling to 32 degrees after a hot day and the Swan River, still
and calm, glistened like glass.
The girls were dressed and polished to
perfection in their pretty summer dresses,
and the boys also scrubbed up very well too.
Some of the highlights of the night included
Mr Leong singing Taylor Swift’s I Knew You
Were Trouble and Mr Hunt breaking out
onto the dance floor to show off his groovy
moves.
As we arrived back in Perth it was clear that
everyone had a fantastic night by all the
smiles and laughter, not to mention the
steamy windows of the boat from three
hours of non-stop dancing! I hope the
students had as good a time as the teachers
did!
Andrew Ha and Seong Su Jang.
As we made our way to Fremantle the full
moon and stunning red summer sky made
for some beautiful photos. A playful pod of
dolphins joined us as the boat glided past
Mosmans Restaurant.
Back inside the boat the dance floor was
heaving, as the Macarena was being
performed surprisingly well by the Year 9
boys, and everyone joined together to dance
to a range of music ranging from the 80s,
R&B, dance and pop.
Arun Jha
Elizabeth Marsh and Nimisha Thomas.
Ellie Maslin and Tex Moran.
Jina Ahn and Abigail Campbell-Young.
Jesse Hafner and Brigitte Mularczyk.
Thomas Austin and Hayden Krammer.
Riley Lehr and Jessica Jakovcevich.
Giulia Villa and Priya Fisher.
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Students have fun learning self-defence
LISA FERRIE, HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER
School Sport Track
and Field Carnival
John Newcomb
The self-defence class was both educational and fun.
Flying punches and strong blocks were seen every Tuesday afternoon for five weeks
during Term 4.
Students were given the opportunity to learn from expert Rita Cole from Fun in Training.
The class served as a great fitness session and equipped students with some handy hints on
self-defence and how to avoid getting into testing situations. It was a great success with lots
of laughs and it is hoped we will run the session again next year.
Friday Night Basketball
Friday nights in Term 4 were made a lot more fun for the three Perth Modern School
teams competing in the High School Hawks Basketball Competition at the WA
Basketball Stadium.
A Year 9 Boys’ team, a Year 10 Girls’ team
and a Year 10 Boys’ team all competed with
the assistance of various parents.
All three teams made the finals with the
Year 9 Boys’ team being unlucky to lose a
very close and exciting Grand Final. Thank
you to the Health and Physical Education
Department for assisting with uniforms and
the parent coaches and helpers.
The Year 9 Boys’ team being coached by parent
Paul Broadbridge.
Despite a number of athletes
being unavailable for the
Division B School Sport Track
and Field Carnival, our squad
did very well to maintain our
standing in this division.
Special mention should go to
our Year 11 athletes who did an
outstanding job stepping up to
represent the school in place of
Year 12 students who had academic
commitments. Thanks to Mr Mark
Muir and Mr Greg Anderson for
coaching duties and a special thank
you to parent, Mr Glen Bartlett, for
assisting with coaching leading up
to and on the day.
Congratulations to the following
students for their outstanding
individual performances:
Lara Ilievski
Second Year 8 Girl Champion
Year 10 Sports Person of the Year
MARK MUIR, HEAD OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The Health and Physical Education Department awards the Hugh Francis
Year 10 Sports Person of the Year to the student who has excelled in sport
at both the school and community level. The award is named after a
former highly respected and long serving teacher at Perth Modern School.
John Newcomb
Second Year 10 Boy Champion
Louis Ray
Third Year 11 Boy Champion
The 2013 award has been jointly won by Georgia Wheeler and Dylan Wood.
Georgia has represented Western Australia with distinction in rowing and Dylan
has been an exceptional State representative in both tennis and volleyball. In
addition, Georgia and Dylan have been outstanding school representatives in a
number of sports during the year.
Georgia Wheeler, Dylan Wood and Mark Muir.
Perth Modern School
|
NEWS January 2014
29
South West Netball Tour
KELLIE TROTT, NETBALL COORDINATOR
A festive, holiday vibe accompanied the summer weather as
the Specialised Netball Class set off for the beautiful South
West on the very first ever Netball Tour.
Year 10 students who selected this elective completed specialist
netball training sessions over the semester, practising their skills and
newly learnt set plays in a variety of surfaces such as Beach, Indoor,
Net and Outdoor.
Armed with enough gear to last a week we set off for Bunbury
where we competed against Bunbury Catholic College in a highly
charged battle, narrowly missing out on a win. After lunch we set off
again to Busselton and challenged Busselton Senior High School to a
match which we dominated with ease.
Perth Modern School South West Netball Tour players pose with their opponents.
After a café breakfast we headed back north to Newton Moore
High School and played against their talented Country Week team, winning an entertaining match. Next on the list was Bunbury Senior High
School and we were thrilled to win our last match against another talented team full of State league players. Congratulations to all students
who attended and to Dani Trott who skilfully umpired and mentored the students.
Super 8 Cricket
JAN SONDER-SORENSEN, PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER
Super 8 Cricket is taking the sporting world by storm and Perth
Modern School has also jumped on the bandwagon.
Three boys’ teams entered this year against schools from the
Northern suburbs. Super 8 Cricket is designed to mimic the
excitement of the Big Bash League. The three teams all performed
well, with one team winning the competition. Highlights for the
day include Yean Han Lim hitting six consecutive sixes, Matthew
Poultney taking a catch where he had dived several metres to make
the ground and Reid Quekett’s three-wicket maiden to secure
victory.
Super 8 Cricket champions. Back row: Jan Sonder-Sorensen and Scott Marshall. Middle row: Reid Quekett, Alexander Rayfield, Yean Han Lim, Thomas Mayes, Jaxon
Field, Tasman Harris. Front row: Harvey Poole.
Girls’ AFL
GEORGIA BRAND AND PIA DURK
The Youth Girls’ School AFL Carnival organised by the Claremont Tigers
Football Club on November 1 was a great day for everyone involved, with all
participants enjoying being part of the action.
Girls in Years 8, 9 and 10 made up the teams and we benefitted from fantastic and
supportive coaches in developing our skills and improving our game play.
Student Sam Grice coached the Year 10 team who were the undefeated champions
of the carnival. Mick Fowler and Mr Marshall coached the two Year 8/9 teams who
gave it their all and improved immensely throughout the day. The carnival is a
wonderful way for girls to get involved in Australia’s biggest game, and we enjoyed
every kick and tackle!
Miss Ferrie and Ms Trott were brilliantly supportive for the entire process, and were
always ready to give a handy tip. The Girls’ AFL program is a fantastic experience and
we highly recommend it.
Year 10 Girls’ AFL winning coach Sam Grice gets thanked by his players.
30
Perth Modern School
|
NEWS January 2014
Sphinx Society Membership
SEMESTER 2, 2013
The following students have achieved Sphinx Society Membership for Semester 2, 2013.
Year 12
Campbell Abbott
Joe Dowson
Alice Jeffcott
Kate Phillips
Sophie Antulov
Sy (Joy) Er
Eleanor Jones
Deriek Pijls
Grace Brooks
Jacinta Fong
Lisa Karaki
James Pretty
Philippa Campbell
James Gall
Madeline King
Georgina Spittle
Seamus Carey
Lauren Gee
Eleanor Lau
Shannon Truong
Jing Ying (Dianna) Chan
Alice Gregory
James Lawson
Danielle Williams
Jessica Cheng
Stephanie Hair
Conway Li
Leon Wu
Ee Faye Chong
Andrew Ho
Lewis Lim
Jie (Jason) Yang
Karri Coles
Matthew Hobley
Diva Lonial
Johnson Ye
Jonty Coy
James Houlahan
Claudia Motteram
Aidan Yuen-Oye
Kayley Crebbin
Rose Iles Fealy
Boyuan Pang
Diff y Zhou
Wayne Adams
Matthew Dutton
Helen Jiang
Evelyn Snook
Arjun Balaji
Adehlia Ebert
Satthya Krishnasivam
Lauren Street
Megan Barbetti
William Fletcher
David Lau
Titus Tan
Gurpreet Bhullar
Anirudh Garg
Audrey Lee
Joycelyn Tang
Nicholas Chan
Charlotte Glance
Shihe Lim
Daniel Thai
Aanchal Chopra
George Green
Alexander Maouris
Joseph Verstandig
Jacqueline Darmago
Beatrice Ho
Aleksandra Markovic
Jamin Wu
Natalie Darmago
Cara Holland
Helena Nguyen
Zhixian Wu
Henri Do Van
Jasmine Jansen
Joshua Ong
Zi Wei (David) Xu
Deepaysh Dutt
Ruchira Jayasena
Uday Rao
Madeleine Baxter
Louise Eckert
Anuki Kotuwegedara
Angel Thanur
Melissa Bell
Adrienne Gamble
Frances Lamont
Braden Thorne
Georgina Brand
Hongyi (Tony) Gao
YiFei Li
Philip Tsen
Molly Brand
Monique Geddes
Alexandra Loneragan
Minami Uemoto
Lachlan Bunney
Tahlia Gong
Stephanie Lu
Russell Watt
Nicholas Camer-Pesci
Laney Gould
Emily McHale
Georga Webb
Taleisha Capes
Georgina Higgins
Sze-Wan Ng
Georgia Wheeler
Caitlin Carr
Isabelle How
Josaphine Sadler
Tayla Wood
Cynthia Carvalho
Jana IIievski
Kirsty Stewart
Lily Xu
Jet Kye Chong
Emily Jiang
Lucy Sullivan
Chelsea Xu
Anna Conradie
Roshni Kaila
Hui Min Tay
Irene Zhang
Emma Downing
Jessica Leonie Knight
Vidette Teng
Crystal Dietrechsen
Year 11
Year 10
Perth Modern School
|
NEWS January 2014
31
It’s Complicated
SALLY FLOYD, DRAMA TEACHER AND HEAD OF ARTS & TECHNOLOGY
The cast of It’s Complicated.
The question ‘Is Shakespeare relevant to
contemporary audiences?’ challenged
Year 11 Drama students to examine their
understandings of The Bard and his
perception of ‘Love’.
The student’s response to this question, It’s
Complicated, was performed on Thursday,
21 October in front of a full house of family
and friends. Key scenes from Romeo and
Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Taming
of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing,
Twelfth Night and Hamlet were selected and
characters self-cast.
The challenge for the class was finding a
through line linking the selected scenes.
The story starts with an off stage argument
ending with a slap followed by the ‘merry
wanderer of the night’ (Puck) staggering on
stage to be questioned by contemporary
teenagers regarding his lack of fidelity
and his cynical attitude towards love; a
consequence he atones to Shakespeare’s
influence. Puck’s narration links the selected
scenes as he recalls the many paths love can
travel—love at first sight, unrequited love,
forbidden love, avenging love… ultimately
concluding that love is ‘complicated’.
I was very proud of the students as they
practically demonstrated their knowledge
of theatre roles during the rehearsal and production process.
They were well rehearsed and demonstrated outstanding
performance skills, delighting the audience with their creative
and energetic interpretations.
I would also like to commend the Year 10 Drama students
who undertook a number of production roles including
lighting and sound operation, stage management and front
of house with consummate professionalism.
Right: Lachlan Froud. Below left: Beth Crowley and Stephanie Summerell
Below right: Mark Murray, Samantha Bridgen, William Hunt and Isobel Cooke.
Perth Modern School
Roberts Road, Subiaco, WA 6008
Tel: +618 9380 0555
Fax: +618 9380 0550
www.perthmodernschool.wa.edu.au
32
Perth Modern School
|
NEWS January 2014

PerthModernSchool news Jan2014_8.indd

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