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30-34 Toomuc Valley Rd, Pakenham VIC 3810
92 Kangan Dr, Berwick VIC 3806
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Learning that Matters
This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Beaconhills French exchange program with our sister school in Laval.
Fifteen students from Laval are visiting the College until 1 March, staying with Beaconhills host families. They have joined classes with local students and visited tourist attractions such as Sovereign Hill and the Great Ocean Road.
The cultural and language enrichment program began when 15 Beaconhills students and two teachers first visited Laval in western France in December 1999. The following year, eight French students reciprocated, stay with host families for three weeks.
Head of French at the Pakenham Campus, Yelena Pinchuk, said “so many strong friendships” had been forged over the past 20 years between the two schools. Many of the French students had returned later to Australia to reunite and even travel with their host families.
College students pictured on the 2004 exchange.
A students from Laval participating in a College Art class, 2019.
A SUPER effort today from our Pakenham Junior School students, ahead of the Cardinia Relay for Life event tomorrow evening.
Year 3 student Daniel Super organised a ‘Beyblades’ tournaments for his classmates, and raised more than $300 for the fight against cancer.
Daniel was rightly proud of his efforts, and is pictured below with his parents who volunteered to help with the fundraiser.
Our updated ‘Green Report’, just released, shows huge steps towards achieving a greener school. We now have a total of 630kW of solar systems across two campuses. Solar electricity generated has surged from 350 MWh in 2017 to 516 MWh in 2018. SCR Group bins saved 2.6 tonnes of clothing and 1.5 tonnes of electrical wasting from going to landfill last year.
Check out some of Beaconhills College’s great green achievements and 2020 targets in the Green Report on the Resources page.
Harrison Pinney, Berwick Middle School Captain, has been awarded the Upper Beaconsfield Young Citizen of the Year for his services to the local community.
Harrison is a very active Scout having completed his Grey Wolf Award and is about to finish his Australian Scout Medallion. He is also a junior CFA member and aside from undertaking firefighter training, he is always assisting with any brigade activities. He has always been involved with sport and assists with coaching the young 6-7 year olds at his basketball club and also umpires junior football. Every year he participates in local community events such as Clean Up Australia Day, National Tree Day, collecting for the Good Friday Appeal and our local Anzac and Remembrance Day services. For the 100th anniversary of Armistice last November, he worked hard to raise $500 in donations from local supermarkets and wholesalers so that he could provide goods for his whole Scout Troop to make 30 care packs to send to Australian Defence Force personnel who were deployed overseas for Christmas.
Harrison was thrilled to be presented his award at the annual Village Festival, coinciding with the commemoration of the Ash Wednesday bush fires.
Well done to a wonderful young member of our community!
I was delighted to hear that our Beaconhills College Board Chairman Noel Martin has received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM).
Noel’s medal recognises his service to the community through charitable organisations Endeavour Ministries Inc, Elevo Institute, The Andrews Foundation and of course his outstanding contribution to the Beaconhills College Board for the past 24 years (he was appointed Chairman in 2011).
At the Andrews Centre, Noel volunteers every day. As just part of his work, he offers free legal advice, supports the administration and drives the van to collect food or furniture for people in need.
Noel is a gracious and generous man who has worked tirelessly for the common good. In his role with our College Board, he is committed to providing affordable, independent, Christian education to the broader community.
This OAM is a well-deserved honour for a person who truly exemplifies the Citizenship and Service pillar of our Beaconhills philosophy.
The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) offers are out! We are delighted to report that 97 per cent of our graduates from the Class of 2018 who applied for a tertiary place have now received an offer.
Once again health sciences and sport were the most popular field of study, appealing to just over 20 per cent of students, followed by business, commerce and management (17 per cent) and society and culture (15 per cent).
Monash University topped the list of tertiary institutions of choice (27 per cent of applicants), followed by Swinburne (20 per cent), and Deakin (19 per cent).
Overall, 77 per cent of students from the Class of 2018 chose a university pathway, three per cent a TAFE, two per cent an independent tertiary institution while 18 per cent preferred workforce/other.
A Year 10 Beaconhills College student has developed a unique app to help thousands of participants in the upcoming Cancer Council’s Casey Relay for Life event.
Aaron Sharpe volunteered his time to develop the app over the past four months. He used Swift coding, teaching himself the developer skills from watching Youtube videos.
The ‘Relay for Life Casey’ app has met Apple’s stringent requirements and is now available for free on the App Store.
Its features include real-time notifications during the event, a button for direct donations, an event schedule, kids section, information on ceremonies, auctions, entertainment and food as well as maps and news.
Aaron, who attends the Pakenham Campus, is delighted to see the app up and running and said it was a “big job over the holidays”.
“It’s been an amazing experience and I’ve learnt many skills from it. I love knowing that my work is going towards something like this,” he said.
The Casey Relay for Life committee has invited Aaron to the 1-2 March event at Berwick’s Akoonah Park where he will help maintain the app.
Beaconhills College’s Head of Citizenship and Service, Clare Tuohy, said she was thrilled to see Aaron’s work recognised.
“His individual work and commitment is an example of why we are so proud of Beaconhills students,” Mrs Tuohy said.
Each year the College is a major contributor to Relay For Life events at Casey and Cardinia. Last year the College raised more than $45,000 to donate to the Cancer Council and earned two research awards.
It’s wonderful to see all of our students back on deck today. We can’t wait to seize the challenges and opportunities that a new year of learning at Beaconhills College brings.
Citizenship and service underpins our ‘Learning That Matters’ philosophy at Beaconhills. Planning is well underway for the first major community service initiative for the year, the two Relay For Life events at Cardinia (22-23 February) and Casey (1-2 March).
Last year we had 444 walkers and many others from our community giving their support to this major fundraiser, helping the vital work of Cancer Council Victoria. What an outstanding effort from our College to help contribute more than $45,000 to the battle against cancer. That money was enough to earn us two Cancer Council Victoria Research Awards. A proud achievement.
Let’s go even bigger and better this year. There are many ways to show your support. Details are forthcoming of our Twilight Picnic and Movie Night on Friday 22 February at the Berwick Campus, along with a number of other fundraising initiatives this term.
If you are interested in donating or joining our ‘Beacon of Hope’ teams, here are the links. City of Casey event 1-2 March
https://secure.fundraising.cancer.org.au/site/TR/RelayforLife/CCVIC?team_id=62181&pg=team&fr_id=5684
..and Shire of Cardinia on 22-23 February
https://secure.fundraising.cancer.org.au/site/TR/RelayforLife/CCVIC?team_id=63233&pg=team&fr_id=5694
A warm welcome to all students who have just joined us in 2019. I hope you make the most of everything our school can offer.
Berwick Prep student April Thrikawala was all smiles on her first day of school.
Huge congratulations to Year 12 students Cael Fisher and Christina Keen whose outstanding drama auditions have earned them a place in Top Class – part of the VCE Season of Excellence awards.
Both will perform on Tuesday 12 March at the Playhouse Theatre in the Arts Centre. Their solo pieces were developed as part of their Unit 3/4 Drama performance exam, with judges giving them a perfect score. Cael performed ‘The Phone’ and Christina ‘The Raven’.
Well done also to Jaime McIntosh, Year 12, who received a perfect score for her solo ‘The Parent’ and was also invited to audition.
Top Class presents 11 concerts by outstanding VCE performing arts students who have completed Drama, Theatre Studies, Music Performance, Music Investigation, Music Style and Composition, Dance and VCE VET Music Industry and Dance.
For tickets go to https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2019/theatre/top-class
Year 7 camp
Early Explorers site sod turned
College Facebook page temporarily unavailable.
Top Class Drama award
Lockdown Information
Headmaster concludes service in 2021
Paige is a Top Class Dancer
Emerging artists
Grant to help build ‘nature’s classroom’
Seetali’s solar farm
Staff Day focuses on renewal
Georgia’s Top Art
Get set for the new Community Arts and Recreation Centre
Vale Neville Clark
World Teachers’ Day
7 key questions to ask when choosing a school
The importance of regular school attendance
Combatting racism starts with education
Get ready for a return to school
Supporting our community through crisis
Term 2, with a difference
Online Learning to continue into term 2
Support for health care workers
From humble beginnings
Celebrating student leadership in 2021
1300 002 225 | Int: +613 5945 3001
reception@beaconhills.vic.edu.au
Pakenham Campus
Berwick Campus
Little Beacons
Gate C, Syme Rd, Pakenham VIC 3810