Beaconhills College

Beaconhills students have won two awards at the Casey Fresh Words Writing Competition ceremony held last night.

Zitong Ren from the Berwick Campus won his poetry and lyrics section and delivered a passionate recital of his poem, ‘We Want Change!, to an audience of more than 200 people. Pakenham Campus student Shae Li won the English as an Additional Language section, also reading her wonderful creative piece titled ‘Life of a piece of paper’, Both students are in Year 8.

Congratulations to other College finalists Sandra Gao, Madeline Turner, Lachlan Taylor and Thomas Nguyen.

Maggie Dent: keynote speaker at the Beaconhills conference

Having a small backyard or living in a flat shouldn’t stop parents from encouraging their children to experience the natural world, says parenting author and educator Maggie Dent.

Ms Dent is a keynote speaker at Beaconhills College’s upcoming Beyond the Boundaries conference for early years’ educators on Saturday 29 June. She is also holding a parent session on the same day.

Ms Dent said while not everyone had a natural play space on their doorstep, parents had to “get creative” to get their children active and outdoors.

“It does make it more difficult for parents to just send the kids outside to play when they don’t have a backyard, or even have a very small backyard. But it’s not impossible,” she said. “Nature is always just outside wherever we live so it’s a matter of stopping to engage with it, to give kids moments of awe and wonder.

“Take them out to see the full moon, or notice the setting sun and how it casts colour in the sky. Stop to look at ants or butterflies… grow flowers or herbs in pots in whatever space you do have.”

Known as the “queen of common sense”, Maggie Dent’s experience includes teaching, counselling, and working in palliative care/funeral services and suicide prevention. She is an advocate for healthy, common-sense raising of children in order to strengthen families and communities.

She believes that in our homes, early childhood settings and schools we should be incorporating nature into activities as much as possible – putting in nature playgrounds, mud kitchens, encouraging loose parts play and getting kids out into nature.

The outdoor classroom

Head of Little Beacons, Vicki Reid said Beaconhills’ Beyond the Boundaries conference for educators, on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 June, would highlight the possibilities of taking children “out of the safety of four walls, to explore nature and connect to the community.”

“Taking risks, building resilience and supporting the capacity of educators to do this will be the focus,” Ms Reid said.

“It’s so easy to stick to what we know, but actually going outside the boundaries creates endless opportunities and endless rewards – for children and staff.”

To book tickets to hear Maggie Dent speak at the educators’ conference, or parent session, go to the College Shop or to find out more email CEAD@beaconhills.vic.edu.au

The conference venue is Beaconhills College’s Pakenham Campus at 30-34 Toomuc Valley Road, Pakenham, Victoria.

Wintry weather didn’t dampen the performance of our teams competing in today’s South Eastern Independent Schools Association (SEISA) junior finals, with Beaconhills claiming five premierships.

Congratulations to the Pakenham boys’ footy team for their convincing win over St Paul’s, as well as the girls who defeated Berwick Campus in the footy. Pakenham’s mixed hockey and girls’ soccer teams were also victorious. Berwick Campus junior boys celebrated their win in the soccer finals.

Give one of our Year 9 students one term to pursue their passion and what do you get? A Personal Best project – representing hours of planning, creation, solving problems, overcoming hurdles and documenting progress.

These are just some of the inspiring results that went on display last week at the Berwick Campus. Congratulations to all students for their incredible efforts.

Our dancers have made the nationals again! Congratulations to the Berwick Campus team who won through the state finals on the weekend of the Dancestar and Glee competition.

Glee Up Tempo – state champions 1st place
Glee Down Tempo – state champions 1st place
Jazz Small Troupe – 3rd place
Lyrical/Contemporary Large Troupe – state champions 1st place
Allie Catrucco – Lyrical Contemporary Solo Senior Amber Section – state champion 1st Place
Ruby Thornton-Mackay – Lyrical Contemporary Solo Junior Red Section – 2nd place

The students are now off to Queensland in August to compete in the national championships.

Beaconhills College is a winner in Sustainability Victoria’s ResourceSmart Schools award (campus infrastructure and operations).

The College’s Business Manager David Young and Sustainability Co-ordinator Jack Donkers were at the awards ceremony today at the MCG with students Alysha Hall, Matthew Kane and Chloe Ward, from our Senior School’s ‘Green Team’.

The College received a cheque for $500 which will fund a student-led sustainability project.

Mr Young said the award recognised the work of the College over several years, “in particular the vision, leadership and support for our environmental sustainability programs made by our College Board, Headmaster Tony Sheumack, staff and students of the College. ”

“The College is very proud of its achievements in this area and we recognise that there is so much more to learn and develop as we move further to enhance the sustainability of our College and community.”

We are proud to announce that The Educator magazine has named Beaconhills College teacher Danielle O’Leary as one of its 20 top ‘Rising Stars’ in education. Danielle is Senior Geography teacher at our Berwick Campus.

Rising Stars recognises future education leaders from across Australia. Danielle was nominated by Macmillan Publishing, which is currently collaborating with her to produce a new textbook series for Humanities.

Danielle is described as an “energetic and passionate teacher” who employs a ‘learn by doing’ approach, empowering students to think critically about our world and to become informed, global citizens.

You can read more about The Educator awards here.

Congratulations Danielle.

Students from Years 2-8 braved wintry conditions to help a clean up the beach at Seaford last weekend in the lead-up to World Environment Day (5 June).

The clean-up was organised by Berwick Campus Wellbeing Counsellor Laura Collins, along with Pakenham Campus counsellor Dylan Redman. For the Year 8 students, the volunteer hours will go towards completing their Year 8 Certificate of Excellence.

Talented artist Callum Warren is bringing superheroes to life in this striking mural at the entrance to the junior art room at the Berwick Campus.

The artist-in-residence is a former Beaconhills Pakenham Campus student (Class of 2012). He has a successful career as a commercial artist and has regular commissions for his art and design work. You may have seen another of his murals at the back of the Daydreamers Café in Beaconsfield.