Volume 1 2024

A huge congratulations to Christopher Serena (pictured here), who is our College Dux for 2023. Christopher achieved an ATAR of 98.5. He did this while being committed to many Rosebank initiatives and contributed in an ongoing way to our wonderful culture. I enjoyed hearing Christopher’s address at our Opening Mass last Friday. His insights were well received by those following in his footsteps.

While the SMH ranking is a very narrow way to measure the overall success of students, it is one indication of achievement. Rosebank was ranked 116th in NSW. Our Mathematics results ranked Mathematics Standard and Mathematics Advanced Ext 1 and 2, respectively, 27 and 44. 99 Year 12 students attained 181 Band 6, our highest number and percentage ever, and we were proud to see a staggering 41 students attain an ATAR over 90. There were 14 nominations for the HSC showcase across Visual Arts, Drama, Dance, Music and TAS. There are many stories of students who doubled their marks from the HSC assessment to exam, who moved several Bands up because they never gave up and to all these champions, a big congratulations from us. If you missed the full HSC report, it is available here.

We will now, as a College, analyse all of our HSC data and identify how, when and where we can continue to build on this success. What makes us most happy is hearing that our graduates got where they wanted to go. We wish them every happiness and success. It was wonderful to see so many at our Opening Mass last Friday. I hope you know you are always welcome back.

While the final result in Year 12 is that trophy snapshot, it masks years of investment made by the students themselves, you as parents and carers and, of course, our staff.

It was wonderful to see so many parents at the Parent Information Session, which focused on Positive Psychology at Home. We give thanks everyday for the wonderful community that is Rosebank, and look forward to working together in 2024.  

Speaking of InspirED, students identified with high potential should be on the lookout for this year’s booklet, including the link to register interest in the opportunities, which will be in your inbox soon.

Future events on the horizon that will proceed before the booklet is published are several outings for students involved with the College Colloquy and a callout for students interested in representing the College in the Metropolitan Secondary Schools Chess Tournament which starts in Term 2 but requires entries before the end of March. If your child is a keen chess player and can compete every Friday after school for the seven weeks from May 10 to June 21, they should contact Ms McArthur to register their interest.  This can be done via email, calling into the Diverse Learning Office or coming along to the Chess Club held during both breaks every Tuesday, in Q103. 

College Colloquy students have received emails about attending the evening events listed below, any student who hasn’t received an email but is interested should contact Ms McArthur via the email below as soon as possible. All events are free but excursions will only go ahead with a minimum of five students.

• The ethical complexities of ancient Egyptian mummified human remains in museums – Dr Melanie Pitkin: Feb 14 @ Newington College
• Gandhi Oration: The Earth transformed – Peter Frankopan (Professor of Global History at Worcester College, Oxford): Feb 28 @ UNSW 
• The Ethics of Beauty – Dr Sam Shpall with Tara Moss: 29 Feb, live stream from The Ethics Centre @ Rosebank College   
• Liberalism against itself – Samuel Moyn (the author, most recently, of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World) & Jessica Whyte: March 5  @ UNSW 
• The Ethics of Power - Dr Gwilym David Blunt: 14 March live stream from The Ethics Centre @ Rosebank College  
• The Ethics of Shame - Dr Tim Dean: 27 March live stream from The Ethics Centre @ Rosebank College

Macquarie University Critical Thinking Course

Over the summer break, three Year 10 students and a Year 11 student completed the Macquarie University Critical Thinking Unit, online, through the Gifted Education Pathway available to them. All students were awarded a Distinction or High Distinction for their work. This counts as a unit credit towards a degree at Macquarie University and is a useful addition to applications for early entry to university, which will be completed in Year 12. Year 10 students can go on to complete an additional first year unit in the next summer break, if they wish. Below is a reflection from their experience:

The Macquarie University Critical Thinking course was extremely stimulating and enjoyable. During the course, we learned how to analyse, deconstruct and construct arguments, a skill we can apply to our learning when writing essays and analysing texts in class, especially as we enter our senior years at Rosebank. Throughout the course, we tuned in weekly to the intriguing lectures of Dr Thomas Corbin and contributed to thought-provoking discussions with peers online about what we learned. Dr Corbin made the lectures engaging through anecdotes and exercises he conducted to help us understand and relate to what we were learning. Because the course was completely online we went through the content at our own pace, this introduced us to the opportunity to be more independent learners and gave us insight into the experience of attending university life.

There were five assessments. The first was an online quiz testing our knowledge and the retention of what we had learned so far. In the second assessment, we had to create our own argument by researching a topic, writing the argument, identifying the premises and conclusions, standardising it then creating a poster for an element of the argument. We had a number of topics to choose from, but most of us chose to argue either for or against the premise that “we should invest in space exploration.” This was the first assessment where we had to not only construct a cohesive argument ourselves but also apply our new knowledge to a visual medium. There was a steep learning curve with learning to write academically for university. Overall it was an enlightening task. The third assessment required us to mark other students’ personal arguments to a standard similar to the university markers, forcing us to evaluate the quality of the arguments and standardisation against the marking criteria, and think like a marker. This caused us to reconsider our own submissions and whether they met the success criteria. It was a great insight into how we should use a marking criteria when constructing any assessment response. Throughout this course, there was an online engagement activity after every lecture which made up 15% of our grade. In this activity, we interacted with first-year, undergraduate students who did not know that we were high school students. The last assessment was the final scenario report where, we had to compare and analyse two arguments, one for and other against whether beach cabanas should be allowed. This was challenging as we had to utilise all our knowledge gathered from the twelve lectures to complete this task. First, we had to standardise the two arguments, then write an analysis about the types of arguments used, commenting on things such as the use of emotive language, the instances of logical fallacies and other language features. Finally, we had to summarise the analysis into a short report and make a recommendation for action based on our evaluation. It was the most difficult task by far, taking much longer than any other task.

"My favourite part of the course was learning about how to treat arguments as language games by identifying the rules of engagement. Overall, the course was a rewarding and worthwhile endeavour."
- Xerinn Biglang-Awa (Year 10)

“I completed some of the course while away on holiday. Despite this challenge, I still managed to complete the work with the help of my peers and Ms McArthur. We had regular Zoom meetings where we could discuss anything we had trouble with and ask any questions we had about an upcoming task. My favourite part of the course was listening to and learning so much from the lectures and being able to develop the skill of constructing an effective argument. A part of the course I really appreciated was being able to complete it with like-minded peers and helping each other along the way. Overall, despite the hours we had to dedicate to working over our summer holidays, I believe it was worth it in the end because I learned a lot and advanced a skill that will be incredibly useful as I progress in my education.”
- Isabella Oakes (Year 10)

“The course wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but was engaging, nonetheless. The lecturer was enjoyable and kept me interested in the content despite the distractions of learning from home. The skills I gained from the course were extremely helpful and allowed me to analyse arguments in more depth, both academically and in my personal life. The collaborative aspect of it was extremely beneficial, as working with like-minded students and with Ms McArthur allowed me to understand the content from lectures more fully and further my understanding.”
- Melanie Modrin (Year 10)

National Youth Science Forum

- Jasmine Azizi (left)

During January, Louis, Jayden and I were fortunate enough to attend the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF), a residential, week-long program aimed at creating plentiful opportunities to inspire and connect over 500 Year 12’s from all over Australia, through learning about diverse science and technology pathways and experiencing some of work involved.

As an aspiring astrophysicist and researcher, not only did this program solidify and further direct and instruct my goals for the future, it also allowed me to connect with professors, lecturers, science communicators and current research scientists on the forefront of innovation in a wide variety of fields. I gained experience and direction from them, learned more about what is entailed in my dream career, and what actions I must proceed with to get where I want to be in the future.

Not only were our sessions informative about our specific subjects, strengths and chosen interests, but they provided a wide range of insight into the future of STEM and the many diverse pathways and areas, from Business and Communications, to ADF, to the emerging careers in fields such as Space Ethics. 

Louis Yan at the Careers Expo

“I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Aquila Constellation Group at the NYSF conference held in Canberra this year, which was a group that enabled us to explore medicine and research, as well as forensics, in places ranging from ANU’s medical research centre, John Curtin, to the Australian Federal Police Forensics Lab and even the ACT Government Analytical Laboratory. My favourite parts were the careers expo and the networking time. The careers expo allowed me to gain an insight into how crucial Science is to a large majority of jobs and what the working environment would be like in a science-based career. The networking/social time we had to spend with new friends allowed me to engage with others who had similar interests and who may be future co-workers. Overall, it was a great eight days which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in Science!” 
- Louis Yan (Year 12) 

Jayden Wong (far left) and the Larawang Constellations group.

“I was lucky enough to attend the NYSF in Brisbane this year, where I was placed in the Larawang constellation group exploring medicine, physics, maths and engineering. I was able to really engage my engineering interests and explore the different pathways to becoming an engineer, and the opportunities I can explore after school. NYSF brought people with different STEM-related interests and united us as a community. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of people who were also fun to be with, as we enjoyed the nine days of the forum. After many days of learning and engaging in our interests, we were all able to celebrate with each other at a disco on the last night.”
- Jayden Wong (Year 12)

"Above all, as Jayden and Louis said, it was an amazing opportunity to meet with a diverse group of like-minded people who we may be studying, working and collaborating with in the future, and - as cliche as it may be - my greatest takeaway from the experience was the lifelong friendships I formed during my stay.

Overall, I’ll never forget all that I learnt, the memories I made or the amazing people I met. For all future Year 12’s interested in any branch of Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths, I urge you to make the effort and take the risk to apply for this program. I know Louis and Jayden agree with me when I say it was one of the greatest decisions I’ve made and was worth every moment."

- Jasmine Azizi (Year 12)
 

This is a rewarding volunteer opportunity for individuals who appreciate the importance of maintaining and celebrating the history of our school. If you are interested in making a meaningful contribution, please contact communications@rosebank.nsw.edu.au, with a copy of your CV/Resume (if available) to express your interest or for more information.

Rosebank College has zero tolerance for child abuse. Rosebank College supports and respects all children. Child safety and well-being are embedded in our practices. Rosebank College is committed to providing students with a safe, healthy environment.

Parent Volunteer Opportunity

This year Rosebank will introduce a micro-volunteering model with regards to parent engagement around College community events. This model will provide a greater number of low-commitment opportunities for parent volunteers, on an event-by-event basis throughout the year, without the need to commit to a role for a full year.

If you are able to assist our team as an event volunteer, please let us know by completing the Parent Volunteer Form by clicking here or contacting pandf@rosebank.nsw.edu.au