Next Week @TC

01/03/2024

• Step Outside Week - Open Mic Poetry Sessions

• Permaculture Working Bee

• Animals and permaculture Expo 2024

• WASHI Released

• Photo Day - 7th of March

• Animals Technician Required

• Student Parent Teacher Interviews - Term 1

• TCNEWS - Pool Party

Open Mic Poetry Sessions

To celebrate 'Step Outside Week' the English Department will be hosting  Open Mic Poetry Sessions. Students, teachers and the TC Community are welcome to read their favourite poems or passages in front of an audience. You are free to share your own poetry, your favourite poems or a great piece of descriptive writing that you just love! You will also have the chance to explain the significance of your passage, and what it means to you. This will be a relaxing session for us to come together and celebrate literature.   

If you would like to recite a poem, please contact Michael Allan on Teams and he will sign you up to a slot time. Otherwise, there will be open time on the day for you to sign up on the day! 

Permaculture Working Bee

Join us for a special event: a working bee on Sunday, March 3rd, from 9 am to 12 noon in the permaculture garden. It's an excellent opportunity to learn about permaculture gardening firsthand and immerse yourself in the beauty of our garden oasis. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or just beginning your green journey, there's something for everyone at our working bee. Refreshments including a cuppa and fresh scones will be provided during morning tea. Mark your calendars, roll up your sleeves, and join us in cultivating a brighter, greener future.

WASHI Feedback now available on Compass

The Work and Study Habits Index (WASHI) reports Cycle 1 2024 are now available to view on your students reporting tab in Compass. For those new to TC, the WASHI is released periodically throughout each Semester to give a snapshot of how our students are traveling in their classes.

If your student does have some areas that 'need improvement', we encourage you to reach out to their teachers and see how we can all work together to achieve our best this year. The reports can be difficult to find on the mobile app so we recommend you access them via a web browser. Please contact Wendy Gooley on wgoo@tc.vic.edu.au if you have questions about the WASHI process.

TC Photo Day

TC photo day is this coming Thursday, 7th March. All photos and payments are made via the Compass photo module, managed directly by MSP, our photo provider. 

Full details regarding the photo day are available in the document linked below.

STUDENT PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS SEMESTER 1

The dates of the Student Parent Teacher Interviews for Semester 1 are:

Option 1: Monday 25th March - onsite - 8:30 am - 3.30pm

Option 2: Tuesday 26th Mach - online - 10:30 - 6pm

For those new to this, bookings will be made through Compass. We will let you know when this is available. It is “first in, best dressed”. Semester 1 only meets with subject teachers, not Connect mentors.

Splish Splash! - TC's 2024 Pool Party

On Tuesday, TC's Pool Party for 2024 took place at Aquarena, and it was nothing short of a spectacular event leaving everyone who attended with fun memories and a sense of excitement for the next one. It was a day filled with laughter, sunshine, and good vibes. The teachers and students put in a tremendous amount of work to make this event spectacular so that everyone would look forward to hanging out with their friends on a hot summer's day, and they did not disappoint! 

At the start of the event, TC's grads paraded around the pools, showing off their exotic and creative costumes!

To add to the fun atmosphere, live music was performed by TC's very own bands and performers. Everyone sang along and swayed to the tunes, making the pool party even more enjoyable. It was great to see so many talented individuals showcasing their skills and entertaining the crowd!

One of the many fun stalls was the clothes swap, run by the TC EAG (Environmental Action Group), where they collected pre-loved clothing and accessories from families and students who didn't wear or need them any more. It was a huge hit, and heaps of people found some fantastic new additions to add to their wardrobe. There was also a face painting and henna stall which was also popular too! Another creative activity was portrait painting, where a handful of art students volunteered to draw a portrait of someone else, and a lot of beautiful drawings were created.

The VM students did an incredible job of running their sausage and drinks stall, and everyone appreciated their efforts and enthusiasm!

However, the main attraction of the day was undoubtedly the pool. Everyone got in and enjoyed the cool water, whether it was for Laps for Life, swimming competitions and games, or just a free swim. The slides were open all day, and everyone had a blast trying them out too!

At the end of the day, once all of the competitions had come to an end, the winning community was announced - and it was Gold! 

Gold had earned the most points when competing, therefore they were revealed as the winners!

As the day drew to a close, our principal, Peter, was a good sport and agreed to get a bucket of ice water dumped on his head for the VM Laps for Life fundraiser! It was a fun way to end a perfect day spent with friends and community, and of course, to cool off.

Overall, the TC Pool Party was a huge success, and everyone left with smiles on their faces, looking forward to the next one. It was a great reminder of how important it is to come together as a community and have some fun!

By Mietta Palmer and Ruby Egan-Douglas
TC Jounalists

Last Weeks Announcements

• TC Launch

• Panorama Buses

• Leaving Early Process

• Manningham Youth Services - Songwriting Sessions

• Notice of TC College Council AGM

TC Launch

Over the past two weeks, we have run 2024 TC Launch Assemblies with our four communities. The focus or message of these gatherings has been to celebrate being together for another exciting year of learning and limitless possibilities ahead, both individually and collectively here @ TC. Also, as with any new year, it is important to revisit who and what we are about. Our why, so to speak. This was a big part of our messaging and was celebrated throughout the assemblies.

Below you can find the key video from the launch which we highly recommend watching to reaffirm the purpose of TC for all of our Community.

Panorama Buses

We have recently engaged with Panoroma Buses regarding some disruptions and general servicing issues reported to us by students and families. 

Our priority is that this service is reliable and safe for our students.

If you have any concerns about the Panorama services, please direct them to Aaron Mackinnon at amac@tc.vic.edu.au, who is now the liaison for these matters. 

Leaving Early Process

Students who wish to leave before the end of the school day for an appointment must follow the following process:

1. Student goes to the front office or CET offices sometime in the morning

2. They will need to show that you have approval to leave early:

   • Parent has already approved on Compass

   • Parent has left a voicemail or email with CET

   • The student brings a parent note with them

3. If they don’t have any of these, office staff will ring home to confirm that the student has approval to leave early

4. The student will then receive a pink Early Leavers Pass. This will have their name, the date and time when they need to leave and will be signed and stamped by office staff.

5. Later in the day, when it is time for the student to leave, they will present the Early Leavers Pass to their class teacher.

6. The teacher will then dismiss them from class.

7. They will sign out at the main office via the Compass Kiosk and leave the Early Leavers Pass at reception

If you have any questions about this or other processes to do with attendance please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Katrina Katz – Assistant Principal – Community and Wellbeing
kkat@tc.vic.edu.au 

Manningham Youth Services - Songwriting Sessions

Please complete this form if interested.

Notice of TC College Council AGM

Please take this as the first notice that we will be holding the TC College Council AGM on Thursday 21st March 2024. This will take place online starting at around 6pm.

We will be releasing more information on how to access the meeting and the agenda in next weeks announcements.

Previous Weeks Announcements

• Yan Kondee Yirramboi – ‘Walking to Tomorrow’ - New Sport Centre Mural

• Permaculture/Farm News

• Disability Car Spaces

• Term 1 Dates (reminders)

• Attendance Processes Reminders

• Updating Student Enrolment Details

• Relationships and Sexuality Education at TC  

• Creative VIC Artist in Residence Grant - Introducing Nusra Qureshi

• We’re on Instagram!

• Annual Privacy Statement

• Annual Policy Reminder

• Join Our parent/carers Facebook group

• Traffic Drop Off And Pick Up

• Maths Tutoring

• VCE Attendance Requirements for 2024

• Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) - Apply Now

• Photographing, Filming and Recording students opt out

• Panorama Bus Service

The story of our new sport centre mural

The traditional language of the Wurundjeri People is Woi-Wurrung. In the Woi-Wurrung language, the word Wurundjeri is in two parts. ‘Wurun’, meaning manna gum tree, and ‘djeri’, the white grub that lives beneath the bark of the tree – the witchetty grub. Flowering wattle and gum leaves drape from sky country indicating respect to the traditional custodians of the lands and waterways in which Templestowe College sits – Wurundjeri Country.
Birrarung, the majestic river of mist and shadows weaves gently across country from its birthplace at the southern slopes of the Great Dividing Range to the saltwater of the Bay in Naarm, the place known as Melbourne. This sacred waterway has been a vital food and water source for Wurundjeri for thousands of years and a crucial means of travel on bark canoes. The river is represented by the winding blue waters that meander at the footsteps of the school which once teemed with plentiful wildfowl, freshwater mussels, fish and eels.
Chevron linework edge the banks of the waterways. They represent the abundant River Red Gums and Stringybark Trees that lined the riverbank and the sacred scars of history etched into them – they are scar trees. Bial – River Red Gums, provided hardy timber for bark canoes which enabled clans to travel up and down the river to trade with one another and to hold ceremony. The bark provided shields and ‘platter’ like dishes called coolamons which were used for carrying food and doubled as an infant’s bed. Turnuks were also carved from these trees which were smaller bowl-shaped dishes used for holding water. They were often offered with fresh water to visitors for a small drink once welcomed onto country.
Soft undulating lines frame the earthy red land. They are the mountainous ranges that surround Naarm and symbolise to the east the richly dense rainforests and fern gullies of Corhanwarbul, the Dandenong Ranges – and to the west, the expansive native forests of Geboor, Mt. Macedon. Diamond heads along the linework represent the valleys within.
In the Aboriginal way, community come together and meet for cultural business in a gathering circle, facing one another with respect. This is how we learn from our Elders who are our knowledge holders and teachers. The arced shaped symbols around the gathering circle represent the various campsites and homes of the school community which come to this place of belonging to learn and to embrace education. Pathways extend from each direction of the gathering circle representing the educational journey tracks of the students and their individual paths to success with their chosen passion.
Hilly mounds line the journey tracks. They are the various student communities within the school representing the diverse nature of each group and the inclusive, nurturing and accepting people within. Varied native wildlife trek across the grassy woodlands. Each animal and creature are reflective of the differences amongst the students and symbolises harmony within the community, they are all walking to their futures.
They are all walking to tomorrow – yan kondee yirramboi.

Simone Thomson
Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung / Yorta-Yorta

News from the Permaculture Garden/Farm

In class
The permaculture garden thrived with the holiday rain, and now we're dedicating time to taming the weeds with natural methods and getting the farm/garden into shape. Our students are eagerly delving into the secrets of soil health and discovering the richness beneath our feet.

TC Market
Don't miss our garden market reopening this Friday, from 2 to 3:30 pm at the TC Nursery (adjacent to the tigerturf)! Come and browse/buy plants, firewood, woodchips, compost, biochar, and fresh produce straight from our garden. This week we have succulent nashi pears, juicy roma tomatoes, aromatic garlic, crisp beans, fragrant herbs, and happy hens' eggs. New this week we are introducing a bulk cleaning liquid range. Come and fill up your own  container of kitchen and multi purspose cleaning liquids.

Disability Car Spaces

A reminder to all families that only cars with a displayed Disability Permit can park in our two disability car spaces. We have students who require this accessibility for pick up and drop off and therefore it’s integral that these spaces are available.

Many thanks,
Katrina Katz - Assistant Principal - Community and Wellbeing

Term 1 Dates (reminders)

• Tuesday 27th Feb - TC Pool Party for all students. Consent is needed through Compass

• Monday 4th March - Animals expo. More information above

• Thursday 7th March - Photo day

• Tuesday 12th March - NAPLAN begins

• Monday 18th to Wednesday 20th March - Entry Camp (Red and Green Community)

• Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd March - Entry Camp (Blue and Gold)

• Monday 25th March - Student Parent Teacher Interviews (in person option). Booking instructions released nearer the date.

• Tuesday 26th March - Student Parent Teacher Interviews (online option). Booking instructions released nearer the date.

• Thursday 28th March - last day of term

ATTENDANCE PROCESSES REMINDERS

A reminder about the following processes to do with Attendance @TC:

• Student absence and reason for absence should be recorded via the Compass portal on the day of absence

• If you have not logged a reason for absence you will receive automated text messages and emails from the school - this happens every day

• If you believe your student was in class and has been marked absent incorrectly, please contact the relevant classroom teacher to discuss

Should you have any queries regarding attendance, or if you would like further support from the school, please contact the relevant Community Team.

Yours sincerely,
Katrina Katz - Assistant Principal - Community and Wellbeing

Updating Student Enrolment Details

On Monday 12 February, we will be emailing home Student Enrolment Information for review. It is important that our student records are correct and up-to-date; therefore, we ask that you carefully review the document and, if there are any inaccuracies and/or omissions, please email the changes to connect@tc.vic.edu.au by Friday 23 February 2024.  Please note that separated families only receive the information relevant to their household. We thank you for your assistance.  Should you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the General Office on (03) 9850 6333.

Relationships and Sexuality Education at TC  

The TC Community Integrated Learning team are excited to announce we will be continuing the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) initiative in 2024 for our Flexible Learning Environment cohorts.  

In 2024 a sequence of four RSE lessons will be included in the regular timetable for FLE students. FLE1-FLE3 including MAP students will receive 4 sessions over the year. These will begin with FLE1 on a rotating timetable during cohort based English classes from Term 1 - Week 4. We will be scheduling Entry, International and VM student cohorts into RSE program later in the year. 

Classes have been designed to be developmentally and age appropriate and inclusive of consent education. The term Relationships and Sexuality Education may include topics such as safer sex practices, sexual and reproductive health, respect for others and oneself, consent, diversity, personal rights and responsibilities, love, relationships and friendships, effective communication, abstinence, and decision-making.  

At TC we take a whole school approach and believe that relationships and sexuality education is a shared responsibility. Research shows your child’s sexuality education is most effective when you are also actively involved. We encourage parents/carers to follow up with conversations with your child according to your own values and beliefs. The Victorian Department of Education has great resources to assist parents with these discussions - https://www.vic.gov.au/sexuality-education-parents

The RSE classes will be delivered by TC staff experienced in this teaching area, and we look forward to working with young people to strengthen their skills and understanding of RSE across developmental stages. 

We encourage and strongly recommend that all students attend these important classes. However, if you would prefer your child not to attend these classes, please email your child’s Community Executive Team to opt out by 5pm Friday Feb 17th, 2024. Students who are not participating will go to another supervised space during these sessions.    

BLUE@tc.vic.edu.au  
RED@tc.vic.edu.au  
GOLD@tc.vic.edu.au  
GREEN@tc.vic.edu.au  

Andrea Carydias – TC Health Promotion/RSE/Developmental Learning  

Creative VIC Artist in Residence Grant - Introducing Nusra Qureshi

We are so excited to announce that TC was success in gaining support from Creative VIC for an artist in residence program later this year. Nusra Qureshi will work with MAP and visual art students on a project called

”SELF AND SYMBOLS: Exploring representations of self through personal stories of place and belonging, celebrations of neurodiversity, and pro-active mental health, through arts practice”

Nusra will facilitate a range of workshops during Term 2 exploring painting techniques used in her work which has been internationally exhibited and acclaimed.

Congrats to the CIL, MAP team and Nusra for securing this project funding for TC students.

We’re on Instagram!

Do you follow @official_templestowe_college on the gram? Celebrating TC achievements and sharing with our community it is a great way to learn more about TC on your daily scroll! Follow now - https://www.instagram.com/official_templestowe_college/

If you prefer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/templestowecollege

Annual Privacy Statement

Annual privacy reminder for 2024

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages: Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Gujarati, Mandarin, Somali, Sudanese, Turkish, Urdu ,Vietnamese

Annual Policy Reminder

A reminder that you can find our policies on our website. These can be found by clicking here.

Join our parent/carers facebook group

TC has an active parents/carers Facebook page, run by parents for parents. Promoting a safe space for parents and carers of students at Templestowe College to share information online, the group celebrates school achievements, keeps up to date with school events, and more.

To join please follow this link https://www.facebook.com/groups/templestowecollegeparentcarersgroup/ all members will be confirmed by a school staff member, please ensure you answer the requested questions to join.

Traffic at Drop off and Pick up

We thank everyone for their patience during these times as we have this busy time at the beginning of the year. Please note that our preferred drop off and pick up points at these busy times are at the astroturf area. Cars pulling when there is still space to move into in front of them cause a back log of traffic behind them. Please do keep on moving through the school at these busy times, driving at a safe speed.

Maths Tutoring

Reminder: Maths study club and Nerd Squad run every Friday from 2:10pm

Each Friday afternoon we offer free Maths tutoring to all students @TC as well as the Enrichment program 'Nerd Squad'. Both programs are drop-in and curious students can just come on by for a one-off session or regular weekly attendance. These sessions are supported by TC staff and student tutors. If you are interested, please come down to B-wing. If you have any questions about Nerd Squad, please contact Matt at mvi@tc.vic.edu.au.

VCE Attendance Requirements for 2024

A reminder about the following processes to do with Attendance @ TC:

• Students who are completing a VCE subject must achieve an attendance requirement of 80% or over to pass the subject

• The final date for Unit 1 and 3 is Friday 14th June 2024.

• Student absence and reason for absence should be recorded via the Compass portal on the day of absence

• Any students who miss a VCE class must provide a medical certificate to the school to have that attendance approved under DET guidelines (a Statutory Declaration is not sufficient)

• A reminder that students studying VCE should not be taking holidays during term time as this will severely affect their attendance and ability to complete course work and pass subjects

• The best way to improve attendance is to attend!

• If you believe your student was in class but has been marked absent, please contact the relevant classroom teacher to discuss

Should you have any queries regarding attendance, or if you would like further support from the school, please contact the relevant Community Team.

Katrina Katz
Assistant Principal – Community and Wellbeing

Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) - Apply Now

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors. Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works while sports teach teamwork, discipline, and leadership.  All are a part of a healthy curriculum.
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps, and sporting activities.
If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions, or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $250 for secondary school students.
HOW TO APPLY
Please complete the linked CSEF application form and return it to the General Office with a copy of your concession card.
If you successfully applied for CSEF at Templestowe College last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. 
You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

• new student enrolments; your child has started or changed schools this year.

• changed family circumstances; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing this year.

For more information please visit Help with school costs and fees | Victorian Government (www.vic.gov.au) or contact the Accounts team at Templestowe College on 9850 6333 (option 3) or email accounts@tc.vic.edu.au.

Photographing, Filming and Recording students opt out

During the school year there are many occasions and events where staff may photograph, film or record students participating in school activities and events. We do this for many reasons including to celebrate student participation and achievement, showcase particular learning programs, document a student’s learning journey/camps/excursions/sports events etc, communicate with our parents and school community in newsletters and on classroom blogs/apps etc.

If you would like to Opt OUT of having your child used in media within the school community or in publications/locations that are publicly accessibly please read our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy and complete the Annual Consent Form and return to the general office.

Panorama Bus Service

Please note bus times have not changed from 2023 and can be found here on our website. You may also view their code of conduct and safety and wellbeing policy on our transport page.

Past TCNEWS Articles

Community Debating

Community debating took place this Thursday. Our communities battled it out in the PAC. The first topic was this is the best time in history to be a teenager the Affirmative Team was GOLD and the opposing negative side was GREEN. Gold came out on top and went into the next round.

After that it was affirmative BLUE and negative RED on the topic: Detentions make high schools a better place to be. Red won this debate and got to take part in the final debate head-to-head with Gold with the subject being AI technology should replace high school teachers.

Red came out on top winning the overall competition.

If you don't know much about debating but want to get involved here is some info, tips & tricks!

What is debating?
Debating is when a formal discussion about a topic is held in a public or legislative meeting. To start with each team is to present strong arguments about why they believe the topic is either true or false. They can do this by supporting their claims with evidence, statistics or just logical reasoning. The teams are also allowed to rebuttal (which means addressing the opponent's statements and countering them).
The judge then evaluates both the arguments from the opposing teams and comes to a conclusion based on criteria such as argumentation, presentation, and responsiveness.

Tips & Tricks
1. Understand your topic. - It's always helpful to know what you're arguing about. It helps gain perspective and anticipate potential counterarguments.
2. Use strong language- You know how in primary school you learnt about how to use big words to persuade people well do that it helps engage the audience! But also don't forget to be Clear and Concise when communicating your points.
3. Stay on topic - to avoid being sidetracked by irrelevant issues.
4. Make sure to engage the audience - Use hand gestures and make eye contact (if that makes you nervous picture everyone in their undies when on stage! Just make sure you don't giggle while giving the speech!)

If you want to get involved with debating there is a club on Tuesday lunchtime in A03 where the TC debaters meet and write speeches for going up against other schools. They learn how to write a good speech and become confident in public speaking! So go check it out!

By Ruby Egan-Douglas
TC Journalist

Get to Know our school captains!

What’s the last greatest TV show or movie you watched?
Callista: The Lincoln lawyer.
Lucy: Taylor Swifts concert movie!

If aliens landed on earth tomorrow and offered to take you home with them, would you go?
Callista: yes!
Lucy: Yes, only because I’d be interested in what the deal with space is.

If you could be great at any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Callista: Soccer goalkeeper
Lucy: It would be awesome to be able to be a pro skater. But also soccer so I could hang out with the matilda’s.

What's the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery today?
Callista: I'd give it to charity.
Lucy: I would buy tickets to Europe

If you could attend a dinner with any celebrity, living or dead, who would you choose?
Callista: I'd have dinner with Channing Tatum.
Lucy: I would attend dinner with Taylor Swift, Freddie Mercury and Emily Dickenson.

What was your favourite childhood board game/sport/activity?
Callista: Board game - monopoly, sport - soccer, basketball and hockey, activity - camping and art.
Lucy: My favourite board game was Cluedo. Mainly because I was so good at it I would never lose!

What is your go-to comfort meal?
Callista: My mums lasagne or Eggplant parmigiana.
Lucy: My comfort meal is an enchilada from Guzman Y Gomez

Luna New Year

This Saturday, the tenth of February, is this year’s Lunar New Year! This day is mainly celebrated in China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Mongolia, Malaysia, and Singapore, to mark the start of the Lunar calendar year. This calendar is based on the Moon’s cycles rather than Earth’s rotations around the Sun like the Gregorian calendar. 2024 is the year of the dragon 🐲.

There are many ways this day can be celebrated, and our own students here at TC have provided us with some insight. 

Shirley (Zeshan Li) arrived in Australia from China in January 2023, and has Lunar New Year traditions of putting up decorations, eating dinner with family on New Year’s Eve, distributing red envelopes (Angpow) and other gifts, setting off firecrackers and fireworks, and “stay[ing] up late eat[ing] dumplings”. B Dang arrived in Australia from Vietnam just this January, and has the tradition of buying fireworks and setting them off, and watching a traditional Vietnamese movie called Tao Quan. B added, “we have lots of food, and we also put food on a table next to the door and leave the door open”. Tat, who arrived from Malaysia in January last year, would celebrate by gathering with relatives, playing Mahjong, and eating a big meal while waiting for fireworks. Jonathan, who arrived from China in November last year, described a tradition of big dinners with 15+ dishes, making dumplings, and “as for the kids, they will receive red packets full of money from every relative”. Red is prominent during Lunar New Year celebrations because it symbolises joy and good fortune.

This Lunar New Year, Kayla Lau, who arrived from Singapore a month and a half ago, will be celebrating by eating dinner with family. Danny Tram, who arrived from Vietnam in September 2023, currently lives in a homestay from Taiwan and will be celebrating with them. Sonya (Yuehan Sun), who arrived from China on the 4th of February, will be getting red pockets and visiting relatives.

The day requires some preparation. Niki Cao, who arrived from Vietnam in July last year, said they “prepare on New Year’s Eve [by] cleaning the home, and then gathering with relatives and family”. Sonya prepares by buying different kinds of food and new clothes. Shirley prepares by buying decorations like lanterns, firecrackers, fireworks, and “materials to prepare for the New Year’s dinner”. Hasan, who arrived from China in July last year, said preparation involves “welcom[ing] the New Year with a new look and a positive attitude”.

Lunar New Year can bring lots of good memories, and your fellow students shared some of their favourites. Husayn MA, who arrived from China in July 2023, said “back [in] my hometown, I played [in] the snow and [ate] with all of my relatives.” B’s favourite memory is “fireworks in front of the police officer while he is sleeping.” Kayla said “my favourite part is spending time with family.”

To all those who will be celebrating, I hope you have a wonderful time, and good luck in the year ahead!

By Rory Opie
TC Journalist