Message from the President

The Wyvernian Association is continuing to look at ways to provide service to its members and strengthen connections with the College.

A key part of our charter provides for networking and development of our members.  It recent years we have been working on reconnecting with people that we had lost contact with, with some success thanks to the hard work of the College, committee members and Wyvernians.  Work in this area will continue with our primary push being Facebook Groups and Reunions.  I encourage you all to be actively involved in supporting your year level by adding people to your groups and encouraging everyone to come to your year level reunions.  Those that attend, have a great time and I encourage you all to make the most of the opportunity.  We have been listening to feedback from members over the last few years and have continued to respond.  This year’s reunions will be all at the College.  They will all (except for the 1 year Reunion) commence with a College tour for those that are interested.

We now believe that we are at a stage where we can work on assisting with networking opportunities with those from your year, but also from others not only in a social but also a business and mentoring capacity.  We propose to achieve this through development of what we are currently calling ‘The Network’.  In order to further develop The Network we have put together an Expression of Interest (EOI) which provides an outline of the concept and looks to the Wyvernian members to provide input into development of the system.  I encourage you to read the EOI and provide the input that we seek.

Also in this edition we:

• feature the joint duces of 2014 – ATAR 98.5.  Thank you to Melanie and Isobel for an insight into your first year out of the College and giving us a view of your vision for the future;

• recognise the Wyvernian award winners of excellence for 2015; and

• have a look at what is happening around the College.

I hope to see you around this year and encourage you to come to events like Open Day, Bring It On – the 2106 production, your reunion and other key events.  Don’t, be strangers.

2016 Reunion Dates

We'd love to see you at your Reunion.  Please share these details with people you are in contact with and encourage everyone to come along.

Click on the links below to book. Cost is $10 per person and includes finger food. Drinks at bar prices.

Friday 18 March - Class of 2011,  Five Year Reunion

Friday 18 March - Class of 2006, 10 Year Reunion

Friday 18 March - Class of 2001, 15 Year Reunion

Friday 22 July - Classes of 1996 & 1991, 20 & 25 year Reunions - bookings open later in year.

Thursday 18 August - Class of 2015, 1 year Reunion - bookings open later in year.

Friday 9 September - Classes of 1986 & 1981, 30 & 35 year Reunions - bookings open later in year.

Please contact Jacinta Mackay if you require more information on 9896 1700.

PFA International Women's Day Dinner

Our annual International Women's Day Dinner is on Tuesday 8 March with guest speaker Susie Lachal from Teachers Across Borders.

Teachers Across Borders is a not for profit non-government organisation which exists to provide short term workshops for teachers in developing countries. In Australia the focus is in Cambodia.

Susie is a founding member of Teachers Across Borders (TAB) and has volunteered with them since its inception ten years ago. Currently she is TAB Executive Director, and has previously held positions of Secretary and Treasurer.

BOOKINGS

SNAG Night

Thursday 25 February at 7.00pm-9.00pm - SNAG Night

Theatre, Senior School, Kingswood College

$10 per person - book here. Bookings are now open and close Wednesday 24 February.

Positive father/son relationships - it's a two way conversation.

Tim Richardson from Beyond Blue and Adolescent psychologist Simon Kinsella will be on hand to lead a discussion and answer your questions.

Click here to book

ThinkPlus presentation

Bernie Lanyon
ThinkPlus educator
Tuesday 23 February 7.00pm
Senior School, Kingswood College 

ThinkPlus is a revolutionary new teaching methodology that provides students from ELC to Year 12 with positive, practical brain knowledge that helps them learn how to learn more effectively.

The ThinkPlus metacurriculum (a fancy way of saying ‘thinking curriculum’) demonstrates that intelligence isn’t actually fixed but learnable.  ThinkPlus teaches students to harness a growth mindset – wiring and rewiring their brain to get smarter; to increase their intelligence.

ThinkPlus is about the power of a growth mindset and the concept of ‘yet’.

‘I don’t understand…yet!’ The ThinkPlus program is all about taking risks, accepting challenges, learning persistence and building resilience.

Everyone is welcome. For catering purposes please RSVP including your name and
mobile number to reception@kingswoodcollege.vic.edu.au by Friday 19 February 2016.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Click here for more information

Open Day 2016

At Open Day, you’ll find information about ThinkPlus, a revolutionary new teaching methodology that provides students from Prep to Year 12 with positive, practical brain skills that help them learn how to learn more effectively.  You can also find out about our unique LATTICE framework, International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, co-curricular activities, applications, enrolments and meet with our Principal and staff.

Click for more information

Wyvernian profile - Melanie Scott Class of 2014

When a person is described by those who know them best in terms of levels of happiness, you know you’ve stumble upon an interesting life so far. Transitioning through a recent era of the 125-year history at Kingswood College defined by the mantra ‘know yourself, be yourself’ is joint Dux for the Class of 2014, Melanie Scott.

Melanie, having graduated in 2014 is now proudly employed in a cadetship at BDO – a worldwide privately owned accounting firm valuing recruitment of young talent. BDO have recognised in Melanie her strong leadership skills, capacity to communicate well, intelligence and hard-work ethic. These qualities are criterial for the highly sought BDO cadetships. Although Melanie humbly describes her time as joint-dux as simply ‘neat’, her energy and contribution to school life must have gone some way to enabling BDO to recognise something quite special.

We asked Melanie to take a trip through the Kingswood College years and talk about a lasting memory. She recalls, ‘I remember Mr Exon’s Year 10 Humanities class quite fondly, there was just a good aura about it and we had great class discussions and some classic Exon quotes.’ Quotes such as ‘Palm oil is what orangutans live in, you know just swimming in it.’ and ‘This is Humanities, nothing is off topic!…’

Those former students of Mr Exon will be familiar with his down to earth style, his humour and ability to have fun and, as Melanie notes, ‘still provide fantastic teaching’.

With a life-defining transition through her teenage years, a dux of the Kingswood College Class of 2014, a cadetship and the beginnings of a Melbourne University Bachelor of Commerce, it will be interesting to see how Melanie will travel through the coming years. Just a little bit ambitious, describing a goal of the next five years as ‘working up the corporate ladder’, she will be sure to achieve much.

C.S. Lewis said ‘Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.’ Her recipe for happiness? ‘That’s easy, be yourself, do what you love’. Driven, relaxed, interesting… Melanie Scott.

Year 6 Wyvernian Award for Excellence

At Celebration 2015 Year 6 student and Junior School Vice Captain Jamison Eddington was presented with the Year 6 Wyvernian Award for General Excellence.

Congratulations Jamison on your outstanding contribution to College life.

The Network - Expressions of Interest

'The Network' has the potential to provide significant benefit to both the current and past members of the College including:

• advertisement of businesses and services;
• development of business connections across industries and disciplines;
• access to inspiring people and inspiring work;
• strengthening of connections with your old college providing access to broad thinking,
• ethical and values based organisation;
• post school connections to provide access to mentors in related industries for those entering
• the workforce and/or university after leaving the college;
• opportunities for school and university leavers to connect with past students looking to fill
• positions within their organisations – including apprenticeships; cadetships; full time work

In this initial stage we would like assistance from Wyvernians to help form and shape of the business directory.  It has been determined that this would be a web based format.
We would like:

• Advice from experts in web design, programing, database development and management to
• assist with our thinking on the form of the directory and how it could be used; and
• General member input on specific interests and the ways you would like to access and use
• the directory if it were to be developed.

Other inputs would also be of value to broaden the view of 'The Network' and will be gratefully received.
We request that if you can assist or have any ideas that you think should form part of 'The Network' we would be pleased to hear from you.

Could you please make contact or email you inputs to Stuart Castle – President Wyvernian Association by the close of business 15 March 2016
 

Click here to view the flyer

Top Arts success

Congratulations to Class of 2015 students Daniel Ichallalene and Tom Habal who have both been selected for Top Arts!

The exhibition presents outstanding work by students who have completed Art or Studio Arts studies in the VCE and provides insight into young people’s ideas, thinking and creative practices.

StArt Up: Top Arts 2016

Top Arts is an exhibition of photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed media, ceramics, film and printmaking produced by VCE Art and VCE Studio Arts students, held at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

The exhibition will run from Friday 11 March to Sunday 10 July 2016 at the The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square.

Year 10 Wyvernian Award for Excellence

At Celebration 2015 Year 10 student and Middle School Captain Madeline King was presented with the Year 10 Wyvernian Award for General Excellence.

Well done Madeline on a fantastic achievement.

Wyvernian profile - Isobel Cranston Class of 2014

If you happen one day to wander down the path less travelled – and for many that’s outside the comfort zone - you may bump into former student Isobel Cranston. A joint 2014 College Dux and recipient of the Award for General Excellence and Community Contribution, Isobel prefers to play in a world outside the square. A citizen of the Kingswood College community for all of her school years, many teachers and College families would have had the pleasure to witness the emergence of this generous young person to graduate in 2014.

Isobel embodies values such as good manners, being community minded and the idea of hard-work paying off. Interwoven with the school philosophy, she truly practices keeping the mind and body active, taking care of your peers, teamwork and respect, trying new things and comradery. This is why Isobel could only be described by her student pals as such a unique leader.

On the cusp of moving to commence a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle, we asked Izzy what she hopes to achieve during the next five years. ‘Well, I hope to enjoy studying medicine and to be working hard and doing my best.’ She answers with a clear vision adding ‘I would also like to become more involved in certain social causes, hopefully contributing positively and constructively to our society.’

Typically generous, outward looking and conscious of her unique aspect and how she interrelates to the world around her, she comically describes herself as ‘not being great replying to texts’, perhaps a throw-away line, but this reads volumes of her capacity to look out at the world rather than preferring #selfie introspection.
Of her experience as Dux at Kingswood College, Izzy reflects and replies ‘anything is possible if you put your mind to it. You should aim high.’

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