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Alpha News 2022, Term 1, Week 10

Term 1, Week 10 2022

From the Principal

Greetings from Darwin where Year 11 and 12 students have been able to experience the best the Northern Territory has to offer. After many delays and rescheduling the senior students have had the opportunity to complete their experiential programs and create many lasting memories with their friends and the staff in attendance.

It has been a very busy ten-week term. Despite a small hiccup with our Year 9 Camp recently we have been able to run all other scheduled activities this term.

It has been wonderful to hold Information Evenings, Open Day, House Night and Year 7 Welcome Drinks for Parents, the Prep to Year 4 Production, Swimming and Athletics Carnivals and many more celebrations on and off campus.

EVZONES Visit (Greek National Guard)

The Premier of Victoria; Mr Daniel Andrews announced the funding of the EVZONES visit and their inclusion in this years ANZAC Day Service at the Shrine. Such a visit does not happen often. They will make a significant addition to the Parade this year.

Added to this, our School has been able to secure a visit by the EVZONES to our school on Thursday 28 April (first Thursday of Term 2). This will be a whole school assembly where we will be able to have a small group of parents and grandparents join us for our ANZAC Day Service where the EVZONES will lead the school parade, special guests and dignitaries.

Numbers will be limited and guests will need to show their vaccination certificates to be able to enter the School. More information will follow shortly.

Mother’s Day Luncheon

Mother’s Day High Tea at Alphington Grammar School has always been a highlight in our events calendar. This year, our Mother’s Day Luncheon will be held on Saturday 7 May, 2022 between 12.00 and 3.00pm in the picturesque River Room at Crown Melbourne, overlooking the Yarra River. We are again looking forward to hosting a wonderful event in recognition of mothers, grandmothers, aunties, big sisters and women everywhere who provide strong role modelling to the next generation.

Tickets are $95 per person and include a two-course luncheon and drinks. Tickets are available online via our website. The best way to guarantee who you will sit with is to book onto the same table number. Tables are strictly a maximum of 10 people.

I look forward to sharing an afternoon of friendship, good food and other surprises.

Term Holidays and Easter Break

I take this opportunity to wish all families a safe vacation period and a Happy Easter.

In the first week of the school holidays, the Office will be closed on Good Friday (15 April) and Easter Monday (18 April) and on Friday 22 April (Orthodox Good Friday) and Monday 25 April (Anzac Day and Orthodox Easter Monday).

A reminder to all families that Term 2 commences on Tuesday 26 April.

Dr Vivianne Nikou
Principal
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From the Assistant Principal, Head of Primary

The end of Term One 2022 marks the end of our first full term in two years without lockdowns or significant disruptions. While COVID has had an impact on our families and staff, it is something that we are all gradually learning to live with. A huge thank you to our entire school community for their support in this. It hasn’t always been easy, and while the situation can still get frustrating, we are getting through it and will continue to do so by exercising kindness, patience and understanding.  

Our students are benefiting from the consistency and continuity of being at school and are learning to reconnect with their learning, their classmates and with life in general and have enjoyed being able to participate in the many events throughout the term as well as just the simple pleasure of ‘being in class’.

Most recently students in Years 1 to 5 took part in their much-delayed performances, ‘There’s a Sunflower in My Supper’ and ‘Dragon Days’. It really was a very joyous occasion with colourful costumes, fabulous songs and engaging storylines in both productions. Our students, guided ably by their music teachers, Felicity Wallace, Stephanie Atwa and Priya Wilson, and assisted by primary staff, continue to shine in the performing arts. 

We are fortunate that our school offers such a rich program in the arts, and we are committed to maintaining this. The benefits of an education that provides performing arts opportunities are immense. There is a strong relationship between the cognitive capacities developed through learning and communicating in dance, drama, media arts, music and the visual arts, and students’ academic and social skills. Positive effects of young people involved in arts-rich education programs include achievements in reading, language and mathematics development, increased higher order thinking skills and capacities, increased motivation to learn, and improvements in effective social behaviours. For our students it may just seem like ‘fun’, but we know the iceberg of benefits that lie beneath!

As a school, we receive many invitations for students to take part in various competitions and activities. We cannot possibly take part in everything, otherwise there would be no time left for teachers to maintain their normal classroom duties. We take on as much as we feel we can, and open opportunities to students when we are able to. 

Once such opportunity that has recently been launched is the Independent Schools of Victoria Poetry Competition. I urge any poetry minded students to enter. More details can be found on the ISV Parent Website.

So much can be conveyed through words and many of our students do love to write.

I will leave you with some of the apt lyrics from our Dragon Days production:

‘Put on the shoes of another,

Don’t worry how you appear,

Look for the goodness in everyone,

Even when dragons are near.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

Don’t believe all that you hear,

Look for the goodness in everyone,

Even when dragons are near.’

As this term closes, I take this opportunity to wish all our families a Happy Easter and look forward to Term 2 and the opportunities it will bring and any challenges we will successfully face together.

Mrs Tracey Nicholson
Assistant Principal, Head of Primary
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From the Secondary School

High School Musical Production

We are delighted to announce that tickets are now on sale for the upcoming Secondary Production of High School Musical. Alongside our core cast, our full Year 7 cohort will be performing across two nights at the Darebin Arts Centre on Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 May at 7.00pm.

HSMSM

This is a wonderful community event and we look forward to welcoming you all to our fabulous production.

The Cast and Production Team of High School Musical

Purchase tickets here.

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From the Sports Faculty

EISM Swimming Championships – Monday 28 March

On Monday 28 March 2022 14 of Alphington Grammar’s students swam at the EISM Swimming Championships. This is one of the biggest teams we have had qualifying to compete in this event, with students participating across multiple relays and individual events. 

Students who competed at this event were selected based on their times and qualified in the top 9 out of the 3 divisions. To get to this stage is an outstanding achievement in the first place.

The following students need to be congratulated for their commitment to the program and for qualifying for the event.

Johanna COUTIE  – Year 7 

Rory HARTLEY  – Year 7

Esme JOHNSON  – Year 7 

Siena MIRABILE  – Year 7

Ellaina ARABATZIS  – Year 7

Liam MURPHY  – Year 7

Paul SAVOPOULOS – Year 7

Spencer JEWELL – Year 7

Travis LE PACKHAM – Year 8

Jeremy SPITERI  – Year 8

Bowen JIANG – Year 8

Paul KOTSIFAKIS  – Year 8

Angie SONGSUNGKHAN  – Year 9

Cleopatra FAKOS  – Year 11

Special mention to Mr John Savopoulos and Mr Con Papoulis for attending the carnival in the absence of the PE staff.

It was a great event, and we are proud of our school. Alphington Grammar is looking forward to what we can achieve in the coming years with this team.

House Secondary Athletics carnival – Friday 25 March

On the 25th of March was our annual House Athletics carnival.

With the weather being on our side it was truly a fantastic day to compete. Students have been working extremely hard throughout their PE classes and attending the AGS Athletics Enrichment program to do their very best at the carnival. The students did not disappoint. The house spirit from the sidelines was remarkable with everybody cheering for their house and peers adding to the cheerful atmosphere.

Placing 4th was Pericles, which was not a true representation of their grit and dedication. 3rd was Byron with an unlucky run. The battle for first was nail-biting with only 2 relays as the decider. Luckily, true house spirit and camaraderie was awarded, and Aristotle was crowned 1st for the 7th year in a row, ultimately placing Byron at a commendable 2nd. Those who showcased their true house spirit and effort were awarded, namely;

Aristotle – Georgios Tsianakas & Antonia Kuras 

Byron- Chloe Portoglou & Nicholas Filiopoulos

Pericles- Alex Gao & Mia Mazzarella 

Socrates – Sarah Dicker & Balhaar Singh

James Tunchon Award –   Agam Saini (Aristotle)

Amelia Radford Award –  Jasmine Smith (Socrates)

Ms Olivia Rahme 
Head of Sport, PE & Health P-12 
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Year 9 Camp

Whilst we weren’t able to experience the full week at Year 9 camp, our time was still packed with many activities and memories the students can hold onto. The activities included canoeing, mountain biking, high ropes, challenge trail and abseiling. Here are a few snapshots from the week that was.

Mr Blair Runnalls 
Primary Sports and Outdoor Education Coordinator

Online Chess Tournaments

Michael Ooi (Year 8) has been running chess tournaments online for the students and families of AGS. The tournaments are run online using a program called Tornelo.

If you like chess, and have time every fortnight on Wednesdays from 6:30pm to 8:45pm, the next tournament being on April 17th, please register through this link.

If you have any questions, please message Michael at ooimi@ags.vic.edu.au or direct message him via his AGS Teams account. \

Mr Max White
Chess Club Facilitator
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Self Defence

Many girls have enjoyed the Self Defence classes during Friday lunchtimes. This is an initiative to build confidence and strength and to teach girls to protect themselves. This is offered free by Alex from Yoshin Martial arts as part of our enrichment program. It has been lots of fun and we will continue it in term two.

Ms Voula Allimonos
Primary and Secondary Greek Teacher

From the Primary School

Primary Cross Country

The Annual Alphington Grammar School Primary House Cross Country Championships was conducted on the school oval and parts of the Yarra Trail again this year. It was a beautiful afternoon, and it was great to see all students from Prep – Year 6 competing and running for their respective Houses. 

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The order of the events were as follows:

Prep students: 800m

Year 1 + 2 students: 1.2km

Year 3 and Year 4 students (2km) 

Year 5 and Year 6 students (3km)

Individual Winners:

Prep Girls

1st place: Iliana Papadopoulos

2nd place: Harriet Mizen

3rd place: Georgia Louras

Prep Boys

1st place: Ilya Assaran Darban

2nd place: Kosta Theodorakopoulos

3rd place: Rishabh Shankar

Year One + Two Girls

1st place: Mackenzie Haas-Baker

2nd place: Yuti Samadhiya

3rd place: Nikoletta Koljatic

Year One + Two Boys

1st place: Phillip Batsakis

2nd place: Hamish Wilson

3rd place: Finn Hurst & Mason Holdinghausen

Year 3 / 4 Girls

1st place: Victoria Scicluna

2nd place: Juliana Evmorfias

3rd place: Zoe Henricus

Year 3 / 4 Boys

1st place: Owen Mollison

2nd place: Konstantinos Kalathenos

3rd place: Zorian Quintiao

Year Five Girls

1st place: Emmanuel Batsakis 

2nd place: Madelaine Smith

3rd place: Christina Belegrinos

Year Five Boys

1st place: Tom Ellwood

2nd place: Rory Davis

3rd place: Filippos Kalathenos

Year Six Girls

1st place: Indiana Griffiths

2nd place: Sophia Bush

3rd place: Thea Stare

Year Six Boys

1st place: Alekzander Ioannou

2nd place: Alexander Bassett

3rd place: Raife Patel

Mr Blair Runnalls 
Primary Sports Coordinator 
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LOTE News

Greek Easter Activities in the ELC

Students in the ELC took part in a number of Greek Easter activities this week in lead up to Greek Easter in a couple of weeks. The children dyed red eggs and made traditional Greek Easter biscuits (koulourakia).

We also would like to take this opportunity to wish our school community a wonderful Easter.

lotee

Primary Greek Awards 
The following students showed excellence in their Greek studies this term and were acknowledged with an award for their efforts during our Primary Assembly:

Prep

Mira Dhiman – Speaking in Greek

Year 1

Finn Hurst – Reading in Greek

Year 2

Yuti Samadhiya – Amazing Work

Philip Batsakis – Amazing Work

Year 3

Jirapat Songsungkhan – Amazing Work

Anastasia Sousamlis – Speaking in Greek

Year 4

Sofia Varvarigos – Effort

Juliana Evmorfias – Speaking in Greek

Year 5

Jiayi Alexiou – Effort

Anvee Khan – Amazing Work 

Year 6

Marianna Haralabidis – Effort

Yitong Zhou – Effort

Primary Greek Choir Commencing in Term 2

Students in the Primary school have the opportunity to join the Primary Greek choir group commencing term 2. The sessions will take place in the Primary Music room every Friday from 8:15 am until 8:45 am. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to learn to sing traditional Greek songs, while improving their Greek language skills. The group will also have the opportunity to perform at various assemblies and special events. 

Denise Diakodimitriou 
Head of LOTE
 
Effie Bindevis
Primary Greek Coordinator
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Primary Productions

There’s a Sunflower in my Supper and Dragon Days

Congratulations to all the students in Years 1 – 5 who performed enthusiastically last Tuesday night. The students filled the stage with colour, energy and beautiful singing. I commend all the students on their resilience and persistence after beginning these shows online last year!

AGS_Junior_Production_2022_013

We were so grateful to share the students wonderful achievements on stage at long last. Many thanks to the support of the Classroom Teachers, Parents and Music Team in helping bring this night together.

Ms Felicity Wallace
Primary Music Teacher
 
Ms Stephanie Atwa
Primary and Secondary Music Teacher
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Bebras Australia Computational Thinking Challenge Results

This year students in the Primary School were invited to enter the Bebras Australia Computational Thinking Challenge. This was an online competition which required students to solve a variety of problems using their computational thinking skills.

The questions had varying degrees of difficulty and were designed to test students’ creative and critical thinking.

Congratulations to the following students on their round 1 results, you have done us proud:

Payne Lu Year 4         High Distinction

Eric Wang Year 4         High Distinction

Yara Al Asaad Year 6         Credit

Anthony Benci Year 5         Credit

Yitong Zhou Year 6         Merit

Atticus Horn Year 5          Merit 

Hanna Sethi Year 3          Merit

Dustan Roberts               Year 3         Merit

Raphael Gindidis Year 5            Participation

Aston Abela Year 5          Participation

Alex Siomos Year 5          Participation

Rafe Roberts Year 5            Participation

Dianne Downey
Primary Numeracy/ICT Coordinator 
 
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Updates and Reminders

From the Finance Office

The finance team would like to thank all families who have paid their school fees for the semester. If you have not yet paid your school fees, please be reminded that they need to be paid as soon as possible.

Please see below for the CSEF financial assistance program information sheet and application form.

Upcoming Events

2022 Mother's Day Luncheon

High School Musical Secondary Production

The Resilience Project Parent Information Night

We are really looking forward to the Parent / Carer Webinar with Martin Heppell from the resilience project on Monday 9th May, 6.30pm-8.00pm (90 minutes) AEST.

During this presentation, Martin will share his experiences and combine them with practical strategies that can be implemented everyday to improve our overall wellbeing. Parents/ Carers will need to register using this registration link.

**Upon registration, registrants will receive a link to attend the webinar, along with a reminder the day prior. 

Please note that the webinar will include parents from our Partnership Schools. Looking forward in seeing parents from both primary and secondary attend the webinar. 

Ms Olivia Rahme 
Head of PE, Sport and Health 

Pancake Day

Secondary Colour Run

Sporting Minds

Term Dates 2022

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