What were your school assemblies like? If they were anything like mine, they were dull, drawn-out affairs, only occasionally broken up by a musical performance if we were lucky. Their only appeal was that you had a chance to get out of class for an hour or so.
That is almost as far away from your average Forest Hill College assembly as you can get. Our assemblies are conducted by students and regularly feature fascinating guest speakers and exciting performances from our talented students. For instance, our Multicultural Assembly last term was a celebration of dance and music as we spent the whole time mesmerised by Korean drummers, Pacific Island dancers and a Bollywood performance.
This assembly was no different from the ones that have gone before and operated under the theme “Love of Learning”. Local member, Kirstie Marshall, visited to inform all students and staff officially of the funding announcement for our fields. We also had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Elicia Lanham from Deakin University as she talked about studying IT and following your passions in your learning adventure.
Is there anything quite as exciting (or impressive) as a giant cheque? We don’t think so, which is why we were so excited (and impressed) when the Parents’ Association presented our Wellbeing Department with a giant cheque. They were followed by Ashlea, Alexia, Olivia and Bridie who talked to us about the 40 Hour Famine and how a very small gesture on our part can make a huge difference to people living in drought, famine and poverty.
We were treated to performances from Jenny and Kris as their Bach “Polinaise and Badinerie” brought a bit of polish to proceedings, followed by Red Tribe reprising their winning dance from Rhythm Nation, as choreographed by talented Year 12 student, Alex. Later, five Year 12 students came together in perfect harmony to sing “Collide”.
Certificates were presented to students who had won prizes in the Science Week Competitions or who had given up their free time during the term holidays to play in the Waverley Netall Championships. All of these achievements were enthusiastically applauded by our students, who never fail to impress with their outstanding behaviour at assemblies.
We finished with Year 11 students, John and Darcy, who presented us with their persuasive speech on why we should love learning: Because learning is… your destiny!
Our next assembly is on the 16th of September and we hope that as many parents and guardians as possible will join us for another celebration of everything that makes Forest Hill College such a fantastic school.
