Beaconhills College

Beaconhills College’s Pakenham Campus Dux Mariam Mostokly achieved an ATAR of 98.05 for her VCE, but was missing in action when results were announced on 14 December.

That’s because she was busy volunteering in Fiji, making meals and helping paint churches as part of her Coptic Orthodox church’s missionary work.

Hard work and determination seem to be two ingredients of Mariam’s success.

Mariam joined Beaconhills College in 2017, leaving her family in northern Egypt to study in Australia and improve her English.

Her Year 12 subjects were English as an Additional Language (EAL), Chemistry, French and Maths Methods. She completed Arabic and Further Maths in Year 11.

Given her Egyptian schooling was in Arabic – which is written from right to left – learning to read, write and speak English was no mean feat.

“It was very hard – I didn’t know what ‘x’ and ‘y’ was in Maths that first year,” she said.

But she was determined to succeed, and in Year 12 she said she made a habit of reading ahead in the coursework, making her own notes, then adding in teacher notes after every class. She also completed 26 practice exams for each subject.

After a long-awaited visit to her family back home in January, Mariam hopes to go to university in Australia and study physiotherapy or a double degree in civil engineering/architectural design.

Not surprisingly, her parents are very proud of her achievements at Beaconhills.

Beaconhills College is celebrating another successful year of VCE results at both its Pakenham and Berwick campuses.

Fourteen students achieved ATARs (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) in the 90s, with College Dux Sonia Lan (Berwick Campus) scoring 98.2. Pakenham Campus Dux was Mariam Mostokly with 98.05. In total, 264 Beaconhills students successfully completed their VCE.

The Beaconhills results continue to reflect success across its extensive subject choice in the senior years, giving students diverse and interesting study options.

The highest achieving students studied subjects such as Maths, Maths Methods, Chemistry and Biology and a range of languages including Japanese, French, Arabic and Chinese Second Language Advanced.

Dux Sonia Lan said she enjoyed every aspect of school, from igniting her interest in science at Year 5, to joining the school band, debating and public speaking teams.

“All the teachers were really supportive and encouraged me to think about what I was passionate about,” said Sonia, who now hopes to study biomedicine at the University of Melbourne.

Excellent scores were recorded across subjects such as Outdoor and Environmental Studies, Music Performance, Software Development, Art, History and Dance.

Year 11 student Sam Sail, one of the 2020 Pakenham Campus captains, had a perfect 50/50 subject score for Unit 3/4 Physics.

Headmaster Tony Sheumack congratulated all students and said he was proud of their achievements.

“Our highlight again is the diversity of subjects undertaken by our top students,” Mr Sheumack said. “We congratulate these students and everyone who has worked hard to achieve such wonderful results, including of course all parents and our team of very dedicated teaching staff.”

The top 14

Sonia Lan – Berwick – 98.2

Mariam Mostokly – Pakenham 98.05

Val Yanovsky – Pakenham – 96.85

Zoe Ellis – Berwick – 95.75

Ethan Sutton – Pakenham – 95.7

Jake Cawfield – Berwick – 94.85

Phoebe Hird – Berwick – 93.7

Darya Izotova – Pakenham – 93.65

Matisse Lazzari – Pakenham – 93.45

Elise Tabensky – Pakenham – 93.45

Kasumi Ogawa – Pakenham – 92.25

Jaimie Triantafillou – Berwick – 92

Sara Vojdani – Berwick – 90.75

Breanna Astle – Pakenham – 90.65

Pictured (l-r) Headmaster Tony Sheumack, Pakenham Campus Principal Sarah Rudiger, College Dux Sonia Lan, Breanna Astle, Matisse Lazzari, Ethan Sutton, Jake Cawfield, Jaimie Triantafillou, Elise Tabensky, Phoebe Hird, and Berwick Campus Principal Jenny Williams.

A portable bar concept created in her Visual Communication Design subject has earned Year 12 graduate Tiffany Johnston a place in an upcoming exhibition at Narre Warren’s Bunjil Place.

She designed the portable bar and brand identity for a company called TRIPLE.

“The idea is that the structures can be rented or hired out for events such as music festivals, weddings and outdoor markets,” Tiffany said. Her brief was to create a contemporary, rustic-styled bar with plenty of greenery and a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Tiffany’s design will be on display in Emergent 2019: VCE Graduate Showcase at Bunjil Place Studio from 29 February to 15 March 2020. She is pictured here with her VCD teacher Leanne Peters.

Year 3 student Caedlin Collins invited her classmates to her birthday party on the weekend – with a special request.

Instead of receiving presents, Caedlin asked her that all gifts be donated to the Beaconhills College Hope for Christmas appeal.

So Caedlin and her generous classmates have proudly delivered to the presents to the empty Christmas tree at the Pakenham Campus foyer, for distribution to local children in need of a brighter Christmas.

Gifts includes toys, stationery, games, food for Christmas hampers, books and sporting goods.

Congratulations to our Future Stars and All Stars basketball teams for their fantastic efforts at yesterday’s Hooptime State Finals. The teams finished in the top 16, and top 20 respectively, out of 4850 that entered the competition.

Year 9 student Moesha Griffin has widened her knowledge of her Samoan heritage after completing her ‘Personal Best’ project at Beaconhills College this term.

Personal Best is a major part of the Year 9 program at Beaconhills and focuses on student-driven projects. Students spend a whole term and many hours creating a significant project that’s their passion.

While some students create artworks, write books, design clothing or even run a marathon, Moesha’s project was to learn a Samoan dance and present a speech in Samoan at the recent Personal Best night.

Now she is inspired to keep learning, to the point where she can have a conversation with her grandpa in Samoan. She is also looking forward to a family reunion in Samoa next year.

Samoan is a first language for Moesha’s mother, but Moesha said her own comprehension had been limited to simple phrases, like “go do the dishes”.

Although she’s not yet fluent, she definitely understands more about the language and culture after finishing her project.

“It makes me feel a little bit more Samoan,” she said.

It’s official. Beaconhills College has largest Scout membership of any school in Victoria.

The November issue of Australian Scout magazine reports that Beaconhills has 94 members, from Joeys through to Rovers, feeding 18 groups in Casey and Cardinia.

The report’s author Bob Taylor AM (Immediate Past Chief Commissioner of Scouts Victoria) said scouting’s adventurous activity program complemented the Victorian school curriculum.

Our Pakenham Campus performing arts department is thrilled to announce that a number of students are nominated for a Youth Lyrebird Award and a Music Theatre Guild of Victoria Award, for their performances in this year’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Put your hands together for Christina Keen, nominated by Music Theatre Guild for ‘female performance in a leading role’ and the following Lyrebird award nominees; Christina Keen – Best Actress, Kody Haynes – Best Solo Song, Alivia Tankard- Best Ensemble Female Performer, Laura McMahon- Best Comedic Performance, Leo Zhou & Shea Li- Best Acting Partnership, Ned Fillingham- Best Cameo Performance, Ron Flavian- Best Cameo Performance, Jaime McIntosh- Outstanding Dancer, Outstanding Stage Crew- Youth Musical Best Lighting- Youth Musical.

Christina has also been invited to perform at the Guild’s awards ceremony at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat on 14 December. The Lyrebird awards are at Ringwood on 8 December.