Caught Read Handed book club offers a weekly retreat into books. It’s an opportunity to talk about books, films, TV shows, comics or anything literary related. We talk about alternate endings, sequels, paradoxes, inconsistencies, favourite characters, mythology, fan fiction, canon in literature and more. The latest book club news is that we now have an anime/manga sub group. Book club meets in the library classroom during Friday lunchtimes. For more info please contact Emma Pollock in the library. Students’ book reviews The Carter Kane Series by Rick Riordan Review by Daniel G, Year 7 I’d like to recommend Carter Kane series. They are action-packed book filled with adventure, drama and magic. They are written by Rick Riordan who also wrote the Percy Jackson Series, the Heroes of Olympus Series and the Magnus Chase series. I’d recommend this book to people around 12-16 and people who like magic, comedy and Egyptian mythology. the first book has over 500 pages so I wouldn’t recommend this book to people who don’t read books that long (e.g early readers.) The FCC Library has all three books in the series. Please Read!!! #CarterKane #RickRiordan (Make it a thing)   Secret Army (3rd book in the Henderson’s Boys series) by Robert M Review by Hamish Drummond, Year 8 This an action book, perfect for children, and also really good for getting children interested in reading. The book’s context only makes sense if you read the books before it, as it is the third in a series. The book is about children, in a world of adults, with lots of action, adventure, romance, and even crime. It is about CHERUB’s fight to stay alive from a dismissive government and is a historic, cultural, and human marvel, with everything in the right place. The book explores 1939 France, survival during the Second World War, and how the Germans took over France. I won’t spoil it, but it involves using children as spies. If you read CHERUB, this is just as good (CHERUB may be a bit better, sorry!) and sets up the story line about how CHERUB was built. This book is a little bit of everything with war, crime, violence, love, and action involved in the theme. I recommend this book for anyone in the 11-16 age group who has read CHERUB or likes action books. Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) 2016 We’re very excited about the recently released Melbourne Writers’ Festival program. We look forward to attending in August. The schools’ program can be viewed here We’re happy to report that once again, our library is offering two excursions to the MWF at Federation Square. For just $20 you will receive a whole day of specialist talks from renowned national and international authors. The first will be on Tuesday 30 August. We will be hearing Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff talk about their novel Illuminae in their session “World Building”, Magda Szubanski with “Being Magda : Identity”, Rainbow Rowell and Amie Kaufman speaking about fan fiction in their session “The pleasures of fandom” and then witnessing the Poetry Out Loud grand final hosted by Emilie Zoey Baker. The second excursion on offer is for Wednesday 31 August. We’re booked to hear Bernard Caleo and Nicki Greenberg talking about Graphic Storytelling, David Astle covering the language of Shakespeare, Amie Kaufman’s guide to space, and then reading challenge book club with Simmone Howell, Jay Kristoff and Lili Wilkinson. If you would like to attend one of these days please speak to the library staff as soon as possible. Emma Pollock – Teacher-librarian

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“Bye Bye Birdie” rehearsals in full swing Rehearsals are in full swing with our energetic and enthusiastic cast, on stage, behind the scenes and in our stage band and I have no reservations that this will be one of our best shows to date. At Footscray City College we pride ourselves on producing high quality, polished productions, and this year’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie” is proving to be no exception. As we enter the final weeks of Term 2, opening night looms ever closer. Following the success of “Sweeney Todd – School Edition” in 2015 (which was very close to a complete season sell out) and “The Addams Family Musical” in 2014 (which completely sold out several weeks before opening night) I encourage you to buy your tickets early to avoid missing out! Tickets will be on sale in the coming weeks. A little bit about the Musical… “Bye Bye Birdie” tells the story of rock and roll singer Conrad Birdie, who is about to be inducted into the army. Albert Peterson, his agent, is worried that losing Conrad will mean the end of his company. But Albert’s faithful secretary (and long suffering girlfriend), Rose Alvarez, concocts one final national publicity stunt before Conrad’s induction that will set them up for life. Conrad will bid a typical American teenage girl goodbye with an all-American kiss on live television. When Kim MacAfee from Sweet Apple, Ohio, wins the honour the whole town is turned upside down. Add in Kim’s sweet but pathetic boyfriend Hugo, Albert’s lead-footed, catastrophe-ridden mother Mae, and a range of other colourful characters and anything could happen. But will Conrad leave on that train to the army, or will his wild night out with the local teens be his final escape from a life of service? And will Albert finally settle down with Rosie before she leaves him once and for all? With songs like ‘Put on a Happy Face’ and ‘One Last Kiss’, join us and sing along with this classic rock and roll musical. Tickets on sale soon! Preview Performances (half-price dress rehearsal) – Thursday 28th (7pm) & Friday 29th June (7pm) Opening Night Gala – Thursday 4th August (Nibbles from 5.30pm, show at 7.30pm) Performances – Friday 5th (7pm) , Saturday 6th August (2pm and 7pm) Emily Unt Wan – Director The Year 10 Drama class stage ‘Hamlet 1929’ Over the past few months the Year 10 drama crew have been slaving away at a new take on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Join us in the last week of Term 2 (stay tuned for dates), in the streets of New York (the FCC theatre), and take in the cold harsh air. Betrayal (uncouth!), murder (most foul!) and a man torn between two worlds, we’re proud to present “Hamlet 1929”. Jay C – Year 10 Year 7 Drama The Year 7 Drama classes have been working on some truly gruesome work this term. Along with designing and applying horror makeup, they have been rehearsing a short horror-comedy titled “The Case of the Hidden Head”. Both 7G and 7I will be performing their plays in the last two weeks of term and they should prove to be a lot of fun to watch. Congratulations to both classes for throwing themselves head first into the Drama program here at FCC. Who knows, we may have just discovered our next big star! Emily Unt Wan and Emma Schmidt, Drama and Theatre coordinators

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Congratulations to the Footscray Knights who won the “Zonal School Champion” trophy for chess last Monday. A special congratulations to Year 11 student Rifky Althaf who won the “Star of the Tournament Trophy” by winning 7 out of 7 games. The final results are as follows: Footscray City College – 21.5 Balwyn High School – 19 Werribee Secondary College – 18 Mount Alexander College – 15 Academy of Mary Immaculate – 13.5 Suzanne Cory High – 8.5 Banyule – 6 Well done to all students who participated! Mustafa Eyiam – Chess Club coordinator

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FCC Library has been taking mixed year level groups of students to experience the Melbourne Writers Festival for the past three years and will do so again in 2016. The people who create the program for these festivals decided that it would be a good idea to get some student input for the 2016 and 2017 line-ups and hence the MWF Youth Program Advisory Committee was born. Footscray City College was approached to be one of the two schools involved in the inaugural committee and these 13 keen readers have already contributed their input to the MWF Program Manager, Jo Case. Jo visited the college library for the first Youth PAC meeting in March where she picked the brains of our bookish kids and got some great insights into the interests and reading habits of teenagers. They will have more meetings with her later in the year to provide their feedback on the upcoming festival and in preparation of the 2017 festival program. These students were also invited to contribute their opinions to the MWF blog and Hamish Drummond of Year 8 wrote this great piece called Feminism and Fan Fiction which was published on the site. FCC Library and the Youth PAC look forward to working closely with the Melbourne Writers Festival team in the future to create some fascinating, educational and entertaining programs in the years to come.

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In July 2016, I had the unique opportunity to take part in an eight-day scientific expedition with Earthwatch project Bush Blitz TeachLive to research the plants and animals of the Simpson Desert. Each day, Footscray City College students were able to keep up to date with the results of the scientific surveys we conducted and find out all about the ecology of the Simpson Desert via a daily blog http://bushblitz.teachlive.org.au/index.php/footscray-city-college. During the time the expedition took place, my Year 10 General Science students as well as other Science students and their teachers, were studying Environmental Science and were learning about the earth’s biomes, and the earth’s cycles (Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Lithosphere). They were learning about ecological/species diversity and the threats to biodiversity brought on by climate change. The Simpson Desert became a case study for the students to explore these concepts in the classroom. Each day, I would post questions on the blog page for them to answer back in the classroom. I was accompanied by three other teachers: from Queensland, the ACT and Victoria. We were working alongside cameleers, zoologists, botanists, and archaeologists while carrying out our biodiversity field work in the Munga Thirri National Park, which is a largely unexplored part of the Queensland section of the Simpson Desert. The fieldwork involved travelling by camel train along this transect line to remote parts of the outback that no vehicle can access, and assisting ADE’s scientists to conduct a range of fieldwork techniques that included collecting and documenting botanical specimens, assisting with marsupial trapping surveys, and observing birds and other wildlife. BushBlitz is a national partnership to discover, document and describe the unique flora and fauna of Australia. Last month Bush Blitz joined the not-for-profit organisation Australian Desert Expeditions (ADE) in a project called Project 138, which encompasses a broad research corridor stretching from approximately 65 kilometres north of the Warburton River near Lake Eyre to the Toko Range in Queensland. It was named Project 138 because the biodiversity field work is centred along the 138 degrees meridian. Project 138 is one of the world’s first continent-scale biodiversity surveys, providing the knowledge needed to help us protect Australia’s biodiversity for generations to come. The research will contribute to the Central Australia Transect (CAT), a multi-year project that aims to better understand the biodiversity of the world’s largest parallel sand-ridge desert and Australia’s driest area. In addition to this biological research, the expedition also included documenting archaeological sites. This is particularly significant as the camel train moved between mikiri, or traditional wells, constructed by the Wangkangurru Traditional Owners of the area. While on our expedition, sites were encountered that showed evidence of past human habitation. We were lucky to discover several stone chips of cutting/scraping tools used by the indigenous people who visited this region in the past, as well as a muller which was used as a grinding stone by the Wangkangurra people. These finds were carefully documented, with great care being taken to not disturb this priceless cultural heritage. During the trek, we had to be completely self-sufficient carrying all our water, food, swags and other important camping equipment. The cameleers made use of solar technology to recharge our laptops and we were also able to keep perishables cool in a solar powered fridge. We needed to carry our own laptops so we could write a blog each day which gave an ongoing account of the expedition and described the scientific field work we carried out to our students back at school. This once in a lifetime experience has given me real appreciation of how important it is to protect our biodiversity. We were fortunate to see the Simpson Desert at perhaps the best it has been in a lifetime in terms of species diversity because the recent heavy rainfall in the most arid parts of Australia had allowed the desert to flourish. The flora of the desert was so stunning that it was easy at times to forget that you were actually walking through one of the driest desert regions in the world. The desert nights were so clear and lit up with the full moon, that it was a mystical experience to walk across the white saltpans in the evenings and see the reflection of the moonlight illuminate the entire landscape. The desert landscape evokes these feelings and I could appreciate how it inspires artists like John Olsen and Sidney Nolan. Thanks should go to Bruce Paton the Program Manager at Earthwatch who helped organize the expedition and selected me to take part in this camel trek and to Andre Haas who led the expedition so professionally. Thank you to Aaron Corsaro who covered my classes during my absence and who was able to engage the students with learning activities related to this project. Accompanying this article are a selection of photos taken on the expedition. Michael Hardiker Maths/Science teacher

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Congratulations to the following students who recently ran at the State Cross-Country Finals in Bundoora early this term:   Year 7: Tom Glover   Year 8: Mame Salah Year 9: Jackson Glover   All three finished in the top 20 places in Victoria – a fantastic effort. Also, congratulations to the following teams who have just competed at the Western Metropolitan Regional finals: Girls Badminton, Senior Boys Hockey and Intermediate Boys Badminton. All teams represented the school with distinction. The boys badminton team finished runners up while the girls badminton team were convincing overall winners, defeating Buckley Park, Point Cook, Matthew Flinders and Suzanne Cory Colleges in the early rounds and semi- final, and St Albans SC in the final. They now go onto the State Championships at MSAC soon. Finally, good luck to all students who will represent Footscray City College at the Interschool Athletics at Keilor Park on Tuesday 23 August. Parents and supporters are most welcome to attend. Mark Komp, Sport coordinator

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From 27 July to 2 August, 17 students from our Japanese sister school Tokorozawa Nishi High School visited Footscray City College. During this time, our visitors had the opportunity to stay with a local host family and join in classes with FCC students who are studying Japanese. We enjoyed a combination of language games in both English and Japanese, and FCC students had the opportunity to brush up on their Japanese conversation skills. We also learned some Japanese arts and crafts such as origami and shodo (calligraphy). We enjoyed a BBQ feast for the farewell party on 1 August, where both FCC and Tokorozawa Nishi students performed songs in Japanese. Our students learned a great deal about Japan and intercultural communication from the visit, and I know that the 20 students who are departing on the Japan trip on 12 September are now even more excited about the adventure! Thank you to Will Blakeley, Rob Cust and Adam Taylor for your help, as well as all the students who kindly volunteered to be buddies to the students from Tokorozawa Nishi. Amelia Hawkins, Japanese language teacher

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The Year 9 Camp took place at Camp Wilkin, Anglesea this year and although the month of July is not noted for the best of weather conditions in Victoria, we were lucky to experience three days of mild and sunny conditions. After leaving Footscray City College on Monday morning we headed to the Surf Coast via a stop at the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre near Geelong. Here we learnt more about Indigenous Culture, toured the grounds (meeting emus and other wildlife) and decorated our own individual boomerangs in traditional markings. Upon arrival at camp, we split into groups for our activities program over the next three days. Surfing, Mountain Biking, Rock Climbing, Canoeing and the challenging High Ropes course tested the comfort zones of all of us. The students (and staff!) displayed a great sense of adventure, fortitudinous and resilience in completing these activities. I would like to thank both students and staff for making the Anglesea trip an enjoyable and successful camp for all. Ashley Dawson, Year 7-9 Program Manager

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There will be a special public screening of the 2016 Hot Docs films at the Footscray Community Arts Centre on Friday 26 August. This is an opportunity for students, parents and the school community to view the wonderful films made by the year 9 Hot Docs students, which all feature aspects of sustainability. Topics include efforts to reduce food waste, using kelp for carbon storage, the sustainability of palm oil, fish and concrete, the effects of global warming on sport, and problems with plastic bags. Everyone is invited to come along and enjoy them! Venue: BASEMENT THEATRE Footscray Community Arts Centre 45 Moreland St, Footscray Time: Friday 26 August @ 6.30 – 7.30pm Light supper provided. Sue Dwyer, Hot Docs teacher

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For the past five years, I have had the privilege of directing the school production at Footscray City College. As each year passes, we have become more ambitious, more creative and more professional and I couldn’t be prouder of the productions we now create. With a production team of supportive staff, fantastic parents and eager students, this year we gave wings to “Bye Bye Birdie”, a fun Rock’n’Roll musical that was very close to my heart. For the third year in a row, we enjoyed a sold-out season, which is a testament to the talent of our students. The students worked so hard on this production, giving up hours of time after school, on weekends and on school holidays and I couldn’t have been prouder of their commitment to the production. Of course, this could not have been possible without the support of our parents. Thank you for all your support and assistance over the past few months. We are so blessed to be part of such a supportive school community. I would also like to extend a thank you to our staff, who have dealt with constant interruptions, exhausted students and numerous requests for work extensions. Thank you for being so flexible and supporting our students during this process. This year’s production included over 80 students. Due to the massive increase in student involvement over the past few years, in 2017 we will be producing a senior (August 2017) and junior production (December 2017), which we are very excited about! This years cast, crew and stage band! Cast Abigail Liptrot-Spillane, Alexander Wagstaff, Andrew Price, Angela Velasquez, Ash Trusler, Audrey Page, Belle Clerehan, Britt Botheras, Claire Welch, Darcy Altschwager, Darcy Smith, Eliza Lucid, Esther Younge, Faye Velasquez, Hazel Pigrum, Inge Gevers, Jada Kyle, Jamie Brown, Jasmine Nolan-James, Jasmine Robins, Jasmine Russell, Jack Pardy, James Madsen-Smith, Jay Curtis, Jennifer Nguyen, Kristine Murray-Xenidis, Lainey Drake, Lilu Lacey-Meyers, Ludomyr Kemp-Mykyta, Maddy Hardie, Maxine Palmerson, Mia Anne Brittain, Mieka Torrens, Molly Roberts, Monica Reason, Nadia Harley, Nafiza Agan, Naimo Agan, Nawal Agan, Olivia Hector, Oscar Langford, Petra Hansby, Quincy Davis, Rosa Deverell, Rosy Jones, Samira Reason, Shaun Coupe, Spencer Davis, Tokaya Saunders, Yana Lazaridis Crew Toby Thomas, Darcy Lucid, Alice Hazeldine, Angus Ingram, Ben Booker, Chloe Hildebrand, Edie Beattie, Eliza Lucid, Emma Pook, Ella Taylor, Holly Golz, Isaac Castellano, Jessie Hazledine-Onno, Joel Verth, Leo Reid, Lewis Perso, Maia Persall, Madi Peake, Max Taylor, Roma Bond, Ruby Hennessy, Russia Anne Williams Newman, Sybilla McKeich, Thea Bosco Stage band Archie Beattie, Cassidy Cox, Euan Burke, Hunter Craggs, Liam Hazledine-Onno, Martin Harris, Max Hazeldine, Michael Davis, Nick Dulfer. Reuben Cumming And our amazing staff Emma Schmidt, Margaret Erickson, Jocelyn Jensen, Mark Gusman, Marc Matthews, Paul Dooley, David Borg and Rodney Hales Special thanks to: Kevin Drake, Simon Bainbridge, Amy Macpherson, David Marsh, Clare Madsen, Steven Smith, Stephanie Van Den Hoff (staff), Cheyenne Coad (past student), Madeleine Kerr (past student), Rory Hynan (past student), Adrienne Chisholm, Antoinette Halloran, Ben Giraud, the lovely FCC office staff, Maria Bawden, Robert McLeod, Annette Dulfer, Parents and Friends of Footscray City College, Grant and Atsuko Miles, Jacki Storey, Squid Ink Designs, students of the Specialist Makeup Services course at Victoria University, JS Stevens Real Estate and all the students and parents who helped out in any way! Emily Unt Wan, “Bye Bye Birdie” Director The magic of the theatre experience This year myself and 46 others were fortunate enough to take part in the 2016 school production of “Bye Bye Birdie”, a musical comedy about a pop star drafted into the army. I took on the role of Albert Peterson, his manager, an overwrought thirty something who has given up his dream of becoming an english teacher in order to try and make some money in the music industry, much to the frustration and disappointment of his secretary and love interest, Rose. This was my fifth musical at the school, and once again I was blown away by the talent and professionalism of the entire ensemble, as well as the overwhelming support from the school community and general public over the course of the season. We sold out every show across the weekend, a testament to the hard work of the whole cast in promoting it, as well as the reputation the school has deservedly garnered for mounting high energy, high quality performances. I cannot give enough credit to our incredible director, Emily Unt Wan, who once again put in countless hours to make the production the incredible success it was. “Bye Bye Birdie” embodied all that is wonderful about the arts. The Footscray City College theatre has become a truly special and unique place, and one that serves to remind us all of the importance of strong arts programs in public schools: providing the opportunity to experience the magic of theatre to everyone, with no exceptions. James Madsen-Smith, Year 11 The theatre “family” Before moving to FCC this year, I only had the privilege of watching the amazing school productions from the stalls and from the first minute of my first day here, I’ve wanted to be a part of the magic. Being a part of “Bye Bye Birdie” has helped me form so many friendships and given me the opportunity to find a little family here at FCC, including the family that I actually got to have on stage. All in all, I’m so grateful to have been part of a show filled with so much talent, joy and amazing experiences. Mia Anne Brittain, Year 10  

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Year 11 theatre studies present Summer of The Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler. Year 11 Theatre Studies direct 3 modern theatre styles of the classic Australian 1950’s masterpiece. Artaud, Brecht and Stanislavski. Cruelty Epic Realism Friday 9th Sep FCC Theatre 5.30-7pm

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Friends Of Footscray City College Fundraising Movie Night ‘The Girl On The Train’ Thursday 13th October 7PM Sun Theatre Yarraville 8 Ballarat Street Yarraville Ticket & Drink $25.00 Tickets available here Book Now!

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2016 is our Centenary Year! To celebrate Footscray City College is holding the following upcoming events Art Show & Cocktail Party Tuesday November 8th 6-8pm Guest Speaker – Paul Rovis Entry by gold coin donation (Art Show continues until November 11 3:30-6pm)\ Open House Sunday November 20th 1:30-3:30pm Historical Displays, Music Sausage Sizzle Please pass on to current and former Students, Staff & Community of  Footscray Technical School, Nicholson St, Footscray Secondary Technical School – Ballarat Rd, Footscray High School – Wembley Ave & Footscray City Secondary College – Kinnear Street Drop in and catch up with old friends Hope to see you there!  

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Read our October Newsletter via the link  

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https://inewsletter.co/18ewZx/fcc-newsletter-december-2016/#/0   This issue contains stories about the STEM Program, Art Show, World Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh Camp, Music, Sport, Performing Arts and more

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Footscray City College in collaboration with Maribyrnong City Council is putting on a Pedal-Powered moonlight cinema event in celebration of Earth Hour’s 10th birthday! We’ll be screening the quirky Kiwi comedy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople. To book via EVENTBRITE go to: http://pedalpower2017.eventbrite.com?s=73866075 All friends and family are welcome. We are also asking for volunteers to help out on the night please sign up here if you can help https://www.volunteersignup.org/HJKLM See the attached flyer for more information

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Year 11 Theatre Studies present Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Thursday May 4th at 2pm & 7pm All tickets $5 via TryBooking Buy Tickets Here

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The Friends of Footscray City College Annual Chef’s Dinner is the social highlight of the year. Apart from our Hospitality Students preparing and serving you a three-course meal, the Friends of FCC will be distributing in excess of $12,000 to the successful Small Grants applicants. Thursday June 29th at 6:30pm Tickets are now available from Trybooking. Please click on the link below, to secure your seat. Tickets sell fast, so do not miss out. Dress to impress and make sure you are seen at this gala fine dining Footscray City College event. https://www.trybooking.com/QKQC

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The Brechtfast Club Presents scenes from  COSÌ FCC theatre Monday 23rd October 7:30 – One show only!!! https://www.trybooking.com/SQJE All tickets $5 via trybooking

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FOOTSCRAY LEARNING PRECINCT INFORMATION EVENING Tuesday 5th December 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm at FCC We encourage our community – parents, staff and students – to attend an information evening about the Footscray Learning Precinct this Tuesday December 5th. While Footscray City College is providing the venue for the Information Evening on the proposed Footscray Learning Precinct (FLP), it is being hosted and organised by the Victorian Schools Building Authority (VSBA) of the Department of Education & Training. You need to make an account and register for the event via the link. https://engage.vic.gov.au/flp

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