The 2024 MSJ Folio Exhibition was held on 15 October and was officially opened by Judith Rossell, a multi-award-winning author-illustrator known for the bestselling Stella Montgomery series and her new illustrated middle-grade novel, The Midwatch.
This year’s exhibition featured over 350 individual artworks, design folios, and videos from more than 60 students across four VCE studies: Art Making and Exhibiting, Media, Product Design and Technologies (Textiles), and Visual Communication Design. It was a wonderful celebration of the students' creative dedication, supported and guided by their passionate teachers.
Special congratulations go to the winners of the Endeavour Awards. These awards honour one student from each Unit, chosen by their teachers for their consistent commitment to their folio throughout the year. Recipients demonstrated significant personal growth in developing their skills, techniques, and conceptual ideas, as well as their ability to effectively incorporate feedback into refining their practice.
Endeavour Award Winners:
Year 11 Unit 1-2
Art Making and Exhibiting: Chloe Vella
Media: Samantha Kakoullis
Visual Communication Design: Evie Lemieszek
Product Design and Technologies (Textiles): Angela Quioc
Year 12 Unit 3-4
Art Making and Exhibiting: Amelia Muscat
Media: Olivia Russell
Visual Communication Design: Ava De Sousa
Product Design and Technologies (Textiles): Angelin Vu
Congratulations to all the students and their teachers for an inspiring and impressive showcase of creative talent!
The MSJ College Board met in September and ratified the 2025 Tuition Fee Schedule. Please refer to the fee schedule below, which can also be found on the College website.
The Victorian State Government is providing a one off $400 School Saving Bonus. Those students who received the Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF) assistance in 2024 and who are expected to be studying in 2025 are eligible for the SSB.
Please note, parents and carers do not need to apply. The funding will be automatically remitted to MSJ and allocated to your tuition account.
If you have any queries or concerns in relation to these matters please contact Mrs Heather Rinaldi (Tel: 8398 2001 / msjfees@msj.vic.edu.au)
Daniel O’Malley - Business Manager
The Learning Resource Centre (LRC) celebrated Banned Books Week in September with a display of children’s and YA books that have been banned in different parts of the world. Did you know Charlotte’s Web was banned because “talking animals are unnatural and blasphemous”; that Where the Wild Things Are was banned for "promoting witchcraft and supernatural events", and that Captain Underpants was banned for “offensive language, racist content and reference to undies and partial nudity”. The Banned Books display was used to highlight the often ridiculous reasons books are banned and to remind everyone of the importance of free and open access to books and information.
Our current display is ‘21 Reasons to Read’. There has been a lot of research done into the benefits of reading and we wanted to make sure students were aware of how good reading is for them. The 21 Reasons include: reading enhances memory, makes you smarter, helps with self-discovery, lowers cholesterol, increases vocabulary, broadens your horizons, reduces stress, boosts creativity, increases brain connections, increases wealth, improves maths, improves sleep, allows you to experience lots of emotions - including falling in love, introduces you to new people, feeds your imagination, helps you to relax, increases empathy, provides world travel and adventure, and is pleasurable.
The 2024 Victorian Premiers Reading Challenge has finished and we had nine students successfully complete the challenge, earning a commemorative badge and certificate. Our challengers had to read 15 books in just under six months - a fantastic effort.
The LRC recently had a student ask if we could purchase more books with Indian characters. So, of course, we did. New books with Indian characters include: Victory City by Salman Rushdie, The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim, Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Choksi, and The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi. If there's a book you'd like to see in our library, speak to LRC staff.
MSJ's Top 10 most borrowed books this year (January 1-September 30) are:
Guts by Raina Telgemeier (25 loans)
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (22)
Drama by Raina Telgemeier (12)
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (12)
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (12)
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (12)
Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier (11)
It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han (11)
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (11)
After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson (10)
Rebecca Green - Librarian
The lunchtime clubs are an important part of the activities provided by the Learning Resource Centre. Year 11 student Ebony Silva has loved the opportunities she has had in MakerSpace and wanted to let other students know more about it.
“I’ve been a part of Makerspace since 2020 and I have truly enjoyed creating every little trinket and craft we have made in these past four years. The items I remember creating when I first joined were a snowman ornament for Christmas that was a sock stuffed with rice and a light box that resembled a beautiful world that has been created by Disney. I’ve always enjoyed crafting and learning all these new skills because it is a beautiful form of art and it's a great feeling to know that you have created such an extraordinary item with your own hands. The items are so well made that we can give them for gifts during special events like Mother’s Day, Christmas and even Birthdays. Makerspace is a fun way to create something hands-on and allow your creativity to flow.”
Ebony Silva - Year 11
Our Victorian Pathways Certificate class is delighted to show off their renovated doll’s house project! The house is occupied by a wooden doll family, consisting of Jean-Pierre and Halula, their two children and their pets.
The house was found in a local hard rubbish collection and was taken in by the class to restore and donate to Vinnies. The class completed a VET placement for their Certificate I in active volunteering at Vinnies, Altona North, and were keen to give back through their Religious Education unit on Faith In Our Community. Following on from that unit, the class began working on a unit of Care For Our Common Home and were able to put waste reduction into action by repurposing a number of objects to make doll’s furniture. A few notable pieces include a bathtub made from a laundry detergent bottle, a toilet made from the lid of a spice jar, a lamp made from a Yakult bottle and a hamper made from an Eclipse mint tin.
The class was able to use Numeracy classes to size up and cut wallpaper and flooring as part of their work on Shape and Measurement.
On Friday 18 October, MSJ's Year 9 and 11 French students braved the torrential rain to venture to the city on a discovery tour of Melbourne narrated in French.
While the downpour did not dampen our spirits, train disruptions almost put our adventure to an end before we started. Thankfully, our friendly maintenance staff came to the rescue and drove us to Newport on the school minibuses where we were able to continue with our day as planned.
Upon arrival at Flinders Street, we had a break in the rain and were able to commence our podcast tour on Princes Bridge. Here, students learned some interesting facts about Melbourne's colonial and Indigenous history. Did you know that the Kulin people divided the year into six seasons which represented a different food eaten at that time of the year? Another interesting fact the students learned is that, in 1867, the biggest food fight in history took place on the banks of the Yarra! Here are the links to the podcast booklet and activities if you are interested in learning more.
MSJ À l'ecoute de melbourne (student booklet)
MSJ À l'ecoute de Melbourne (transcripts)
A highlight of the day was a visit to Le Petit Chateau in the Block Arcade. With its old world atmosphere and mosaic tiles, it's a little slice of Europe in the heart of Melbourne. Students put their language skills to use in an authentic situation and had the opportunity to engage with French speaking staff while placing their crêpe orders.
Back at school, Year 9 students will create a photo journal and Year 11 students will incorporate what they learned in their current unit on tourism.
Luisa Lenger - Languages Domain Leader
Year 12 students are currently moving towards finalising their VTAC applications if they are wishing to study at a TAFE or University in 2025 or beyond.
VTAC is the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre and is responsible for the calculation of the ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) and for the coordination of applications to university and most TAFE institutes. Throughout the year, Year 12 students have been guided through the process of applying for further study and have been encouraged to meet the various deadlines to ensure a smooth application process.
Students in Year 10 and 11 have been introduced to VTAC and are encouraged to continue using the VTAC resources to help them plan for future studies.
The timely application deadline has now passed and students that have not submitted an application will now need to pay a $150 late application fee to be considered. The late application deadline is 1 November 2024 at 5pm. After this date, a Very Late Application can be submitted until 6 December 2024, but it does come with a $195 fee.
Students will receive their VCE results and ATAR on 12 December 2024 from 7am.
Students have until 14 December to change their course preferences, which can be done as many times as they wish. A short change of preference window will occur from 23 December (10am) to 24 December (4pm). Year 12 graduates are encouraged to consult with their preferred institutions to discuss options available to them once they have received their results and ATAR.
More information about change of preferences can be found on the VTAC website here: https://vtac.edu.au/applying/courses/cop
Year 12 Graduates are of course welcome to make contact with myself up until 13 December — I will be overseas after this date — so please ensure they work with the universities or TAFEs to discuss options and pathways.
As always, you can visit the College Pathways Website for lots of resources, information and links to help plan for the future.
Jay McMillan - Pathways Leader
VCE Product Design student Lola Refardt has been named Senior Designer Winner in the prestigious Woolmark Wool4School competition 2024. Taking the initiative to work independently, Lola designed and submitted her entry as an extra project outside of her VCE folio, driven purely by her own passion and ambition. This remarkable young designer put herself out there to represent both herself and Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College (MSJ), showcasing her creative talent and dedication.
Lola's outstanding achievement has earned her a Winner’s Certificate, a $100 voucher from Assembly Label, and the choice between a Bernette 37 sewing machine or a Bernette 64 overlocker, courtesy of BERNINA. Adding to these prizes, she has also secured an internship with Assembly Label, giving her invaluable industry experience with one of Australia’s leading fashion brands.
Lola’s success is a testament to her inspiration and drive, highlighting how determination and initiative can open doors beyond the classroom. By taking on this challenge under her own steam, she sets a powerful example for her peers, proving that with ambition and hard work, young creatives can make a mark in the fashion industry. The MSJ community is incredibly proud and excited to see where her journey leads next.
At the end of Term 2, as a part of the Year 9 BOLD program where we were learning vital teamwork and organisation skills, the 2024 Year 9 cohort had to make their own fundraiser/project to collect money for something they were passionate about. We had to decorate a stall and make our own products to sell for what we were raising money for. This was a very valuable experience as we had to do everything by ourselves and partially in our own time. Over the weeks leading up to this day, we had an outside company come in and teach us about project planning and management. We learnt so many helpful skills as they taught us about our budget, audience and organisational skills. I know many of the students came out after this day with new experiences and skills for their future!
Many of the students collected money for honourable causes such as; RSPCA, St Vincents de Paul's Society, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Australian Palestine Advocacy Network and the Royal Children's Hospital. In total, $2,800 was raised. It was wonderful to see everyone come together and work as teams to do something good and valuable for our community and to help others. I'm sure the lessons they learned will stay with them as they grow.
Manuela Cano Salas - Year 9
