End of Year Newsletter 2021
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End of Year Message from Principal
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Dates for 2022
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Year 12 Graduation
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Year 12 Formal 2021
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Year 12 Breakfast 2021
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School Board Budget and 2022 Nominations
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Global Classroom 2022 Conference: ‘Ways of Learning’
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P&C News
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Applications open for University Extension Courses and Accelerated Pathways
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Instrumental Music Program
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One year on –the Northside Academy of Future Skills
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Clemente Program - St Vincent de Paul Society
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Parentline ACT continues to provide counselling services to parents and carers
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ACT Yr12 School Leaver JobTrainer
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Keeping Covid-19 safe on public transport
Thank you for your ongoing support throughout the year and, in particular, as we navigate these final days and work at keeping our students and staff safe as we celebrate the graduation class of 2021. The Year 12’s were farewelled at a final online assembly and had the opportunity to reflect on what they had learnt about themselves over the last two years. The College is very proud of their ability to respond to change and manage what’s going on around them: homelife, study, work, staying connected and finding time for themselves. |
The future maybe very different for us all and we are so proud of who they have become and are becoming. We encourage students to keep connecting, innovating, and making an impact as per our school values and we look forward to following what they do in the future.
To our Year 11’s congratulations for all your resilience, positivity and hard work. May you have a well-deserved break, and we wish you well as leaders of the school in 2021.
The school formal was a wonderful success at the beautiful National Museum of Australia and Graduation was also successfully held at The Canberra Theatre yesterday.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who have participated in events, productions, showcases, played sport, gone on camps, competitions, undertaken work experience, joined clubs and R unit activities, represented Australia, Canberra and the school, the School Community Group and students who provided artwork, music, design, newsletter contributions, leadership and added to the entire life of the College and our learning environment.
Congratulations to all our ACT BSSS award recipients
Tuan Chu |
Ethan Fitzpatrick |
Ricky Hawker |
Claudia Martin |
Victoria Nikias |
Congratulations to the Capital Chemist Scholarship recipients
Olivia Clarke |
Laura Cox |
Jemma Rule |
We also awarded:
24 Certificate II of Outdoor Recreation |
2 Certificate II Automotive |
3 Certificate II Business |
2 Certificate II in Sport and Recreation |
6 Certificate II Kitchen Operations |
12 Certificate I in Hospitality |
The success of all our Year 12s was celebrated at a Graduation ceremony at the Canberra Theatre on 16 December.
Farewells
Farewell, and all the best, to staff moving to different positions or schools – wonderful educators and we thank you for your work and support of the students and colleagues.
Shelley Jacobs, Daniel Gordon, Ben Smith, Kiley Lambert, Susannah Morrison, Lizy Delgado, Vikram Salhotra, Dan McNamara, Karinne Campbell, Kirstin DeMontis, Brad McDonell, Rachel Burrage, Dora Chen, Pari Gilmour and Kirsty Vera.
Welcome
We welcome in 2022 - Adrian Hajra, Nadia Villar, Shellee Young and Desiree Rees.
Welcome back to staff who were on maternity leave in 2021 and we wish those well who go on maternity leave in 2022!
We wish everybody a well-earned and safe summer break and look forward to welcoming our returning students, and new Year 11’s and staff, at the beginning of 2022.
Thank you to the School Board, P&C, community partners and supporters (including Basketball Australia, Momentum Physiotherapy, Woolworths Metro and our network schools and all your support.
I shall be on long service leave until end of March 2022; Gerard Barrett will be Acting Principal and Kirk Zwangobani Acting Deputy Principal.
Wishing all a relaxing, and safe, festive season and new year.
Take care all.
Best wishes
Melissa Planten
Dates for 2022 | |
First day for Year 11 and new students | Monday 31 January |
First day for All students | Tuesday 1 February |
School Photographer | Monday 7 February (Week 2) and Monday 14 February (Week 3) |
Meet the Teacher | Tuesday 15 February (Week 3) |
Moderation Day | Tuesday 1 March (Week 5) |
International Women's Day- Fundraising event | Friday 4 March (Week 5) |
Global Classroom Conference | Week 8 |
Lake Connections/Lake Chill incorporating Lake Idol | Across Week 10 |
School Board Dates 2022
TERM |
WEEK |
DATE |
Term 1 |
Week 6 |
Monday 7 March 2022 |
Term 2 |
Week 15 |
Monday 23 May 2022 |
Term 3 |
Week 5 |
Monday 15 August 2022 |
Term 4 |
Week 13 |
Monday 24 October 2022 |
Term 4 |
Week 18 |
Monday 28 November 2022 (Budget Meeting) |
The graduation ceremony was held at the Canberra Theatre on 16 December. Families and students were treated to an array of talented speakers and performers from year 11 and year 12. The highlight however was the presentation of certificates to graduating students and the entire graduating class being applauded from the venue. Students receiving ATARs will know these on 20 January 2022.
The year 12 formal emerged from lockdown to reach an external venue this year after being held at school in 2020. The National Museum provided a superb venue for students to showcase their finery and farewell 2021 with some style.
Year 12 students began their end of year functions with the traditional year 12 breakfast, prepared and served to them by staff.
Students also had the opportunity to check their academic records one last time before graduation, have a group photo taken with staff and be clapped by staff to exit the school.
A very successful morning as you will see in the photo gallery.
SCHOOL BOARD 2022 BUDGET
Our 2022 Budget has been finalised and approved by the school board. A copy is available from the Front Office upon request.
2022 SCHOOL BOARD NOMINATIONS
If you’re keen to contribute to the governance of UCSSC Lake Ginninderra, please nominate for a position on our School Board. No prior experience is necessary.
The following positions are vacant
- 2 staff members,
- 3 P&C association members and
- 2 student members.
Nominations Open at 11:00am on Monday 7 February (nomination forms will be available from the College Front Office on Monday 7 February).
Nominations are to be submitted to the Front Office between 11.00am, 7 February 2022 and 11.00am, Monday 21 February 2022 by:
- Hand delivery to the College Front Office (Monday-Friday from 8.30am-3:30pm)
- Email to – LakeG@ed.act.edu.au
- Mail to Assistant Returning Officer, UCSSC Lake Ginninderra, 2 Emu Bank Belconnen
The names of all nominees will be announced on 28 February 2022.
Please note: If an election is required, the voting period will be from 11.00am Monday 28 February 2022 to 11.00am to Monday 7 March 2022.
UC SSC Lake Ginninderra is the proud host of the Global Classroom Conference in 2022. The theme we chose for the 2022 conference is ‘Ways of Learning.’ We intend our conference participants to reflect on past and present experiences in learning and respond as a collective at the conference.
We would like to provide opportunities to CONNECT | INNOVATE | IMPACT as 21st century learners who are resilient and well-equipped for the future.
We have been participating in a range of preconference tasks including sending gifted boxes to participating countries, preparing Kahoot Quizzes on individual countries, compiling unique holiday recipes and many more in preparation to the conference in March 2022.
ANU Extension Courses for Prospective Year 11 Students 2022: Applications Now Open
https://extension.anu.edu.au/ - Please visit for information
Applications are now open for prospective 2022 students. Please follow the link to register your interest and submit an online application. Tip: carefully read through the "Before you start" page before completing your application. Online applications will close 13th February 2022.
University of Canberra Accelerated Pathways Program for Prospective Year 11 Students 2022: Applications Now Open
https://www.canberra.edu.au/campaign/accelerated-pathways-program
Congratulations to the following UCSSC Lake Ginninderra students who, by audition participated in Instrumental Music Program (IMP) ensembles this year. The ensembles are made up of students selected from ACT public high schools and colleges and represent the Directorate and the ACT Government at functions in Canberra, interstate and overseas.
Katerina Jakab van Dooren – Senior Concert Choir
Jasmine Kent – Senior Concert Choir
Ashlea Nissen – Senior Concert Band & Senior Jazz Band
Congratulations to all on your accomplishments!
In the year since the official opening of the Academy of Future Skills’ Northside Hub, named Dhawura Ngadjung, the hub has grown and thrived, making inroads into schools across the north, from preschool to year 12.
The Academy of Future Skills is a team of specialist executive teachers who work with ACT public school staff to support the delivery of high-quality STEM education. It’s a unique ACT Government initiative and a key component of the Future of Education Strategy. This model of STEM education that hasn’t been replicated anywhere else in Australia.
There’s always something going on at Dhawura Ngadjung; the hum of a laser cutter, trolleys packed full of technology being prepared for upcoming school visits.
Tim Jones has been teaching with Dhawura Ngadjung since it’s opening in August last year. In the year past, he’s helped teachers to design exciting curriculum aligned inquiries utilising effective pedagogies, delivered enriching professional learning and co-delivered hundreds of lessons.
Tim’s is a dynamic and rewarding role, and he loves having the opportunity to work with other teachers who share his passion for STEM.
In one memorable experiment, Tim connected with a teacher who shared a desire to create a hands-on engineering unit.
They chose a topic with a real-world relevance to the students, testing the efficacy of bike helmets, and designed a process where students would investigate how helmets work, then develop their own.
This unique unit taught students the design thinking process needed for effective engineering, where they would research helmet design, build and test their own helmet, evaluate its success and make changes to improve the efficacy of the design.
“My colleague and I madly researched how bike helmets are tested. From this, we built a swing arm helmet testing rig that we could fit a Styrofoam head into. It would drop the head onto the desk and an in-built sensor would measure the impact. It was a fabulous exercise and the kids learnt so much,” Tim said.
Whether helping a kindy class to learn about forces by installing a functional drawbridge in their play castle, to hand delivering a bag full of Styrofoam heads required for an experiment to a perplexed group of school office staff, there’s never a dull moment in Tim’s day.
Ryan Elwell is a more recent recruit to the Academy. He joined the team from a beloved role as a science teacher at Hawker College.
“Working for the Academy of Future Skills is incredibly rewarding and every day I am learning so much about how we can improve STEM education for our students across the ACT,” Ryan said.
“The team has developed a large array of STEM focused units and projects which we tailor to our schools, but we are also still designing projects from the ground up, personalised for each school and year level and even individual classes within those year levels.”
“At the Academy there’s things that will engage every year group, even our youngest scientists. I love that we can always integrate their learning here to real world contexts and link to other subjects,” Tim said.
The team at the Academy are thrilled with the progress they’ve made so far, and the meaningful connections they’ve been able to build with local schools.
“I love the feeling of invigoration when we are building and designing content for our schools. Regardless of the year level you can feel the excitement as we zero in on a plan that is perfect for those students and how to best implement that plan. That excitement carries over to the lessons, and the students and teachers have all responded so positively,” Ryan said.
For Tim, it’s extremely rewarding when they’ve been working with a teacher on their STEM teaching competence and can send them away with a renewed sense of confidence in their subject matter and an exciting new unit to deliver to their class.
Once a teacher feels confident to deliver the lessons on their own, they can come back and borrow the equipment and resources any time and if ever they need helping hand, it’s comforting to know that a team of dedicated specialist STEM teachers are just one phone call away.
The staff at Dhawura Ngadjung work in conjunction with the Academy team at the Mungga-iri Jingee STEM Centre in Chisholm, ensuring teachers and students across the ACT have access to high quality STEM support and resources.
With everyone getting excited to head into the summer holidays, don’t forget to keep COVID-19 safe on public transport. To students catching the bus or light rail to and from school, please continue to:
For more information on staying COIVD-19 safe on public transport, head to COVID-19 transport updates and information – Transport Canberra. |