Adrian Harrison, Acting Director of Academics
Parent Teacher Interviews Years 7 – 10 Friday 6 June.
Years 7 – 10 families should have received an invitation (from edval.com) to book in for parent teacher interviews. These will be occurring online via Microsoft Teams on Friday 6 June. There will be no classes on this day for Years 7 – 10. Should you have any queries please contact @Anna Andonovski for assistance.
Years 11 and 12
During the parent teacher interviews for Years 7 – 10 , there will be no formal lessons for Years 11 and 12. Both colleges will be open with external tutors available for student’s who wish to use them. In addition, there will be a range of workshops. More information regarding this schedule will be sent in the lead up. Attendance on this day is optional for Years 11 and 12.
Gifted Awareness Week
Next week is Gifted Awareness Week, a time to recognise and celebrate the unique strengths and potential within our school community—especially in students who think, learn, or create in ways that go beyond the expected. But giftedness isn’t only about academic performance. It can show up in creativity, leadership, ethical thinking, or a passion for justice. As an IB school, we strive to develop the whole person, and that means recognising all kinds of giftedness—not just those that appear on a report.
Gifted Awareness Week is a reminder that every learner deserves the chance to be stretched—not stressed—and supported to reach their full potential.
There are many programmes that run throughout the school aimed nurturing these skills. One of these is the Da Vinci Decathalon. This is an academic competition for students, mirroring the Olympic Decathlon, where teams compete in ten disciplines across various subject areas. It challenges students’ abilities in subjects like art, science, engineering, and ideation. The competition emphasizes problem-solving, teamwork, and creativity, with the goal of celebrating the academic strengths of gifted students.
We commend the following students who represented the school in the 2025 competition against 100 other schools!
da Vinci Decathlon Teams (2025)
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 |
| William Holt | Max Khan | Finn Dusseldorp | Brian Nguyen |
| Alex Mano | Moses Lee | Peter Wang | Nic Long |
| George Fyfe | Ian Wu | Seb Koczkar | Angus Baker-Wood |
| Alex Pontifix | Alex Kitto | Ishaan Jeena | Eason Xia |
| Alex Cao | Thomas Altundag | Logan Hsiao | Simon Tesvic |
| Kyran Diec | Julian Gan | Thomas Stillone | Henry Roberts |
| Max Howard | Darren Cai | Andrew Orphanides | Cameron Lu |
| Angus Dawson | Carter McGee | Isaac McIntosh | Rupert Rust |
| James Mitchell | Justin Wang | Juliun Doumit | Kernel He |
| Charles Liang | Miles Murphy | Thomas Boyd |
Congratulations to:
Year 8 for achieving:
- 1st Place – Creative Producers
- 3rd Place – English
Year 7 for achieving:
- 1st Place – Creative Producers
- 1st Place – Engineering
- 3rd Place – Science
- 3rd Place – Mathematics
- 3rd Place Overall (Bronze Medal)
Head’s List
In Assembly this week we also celebrated those students who had made the Head’s list for Outstanding Attitude and Effort (the ‘Head’s List’). This list Is derived from the recent school reports and is not based on academic achievement, but rather upon a student’s attitude and effort. Every student, not matter of their ability is capable of being on this list as it is a reward for consistency and effort. Congratulations to all those who made the list, they will receive their certificates in through their houses.
Year 7 Study Skills Evening
Thank you to those who were able to join us. If you missed the study skills evening this week, or felt there was too much to absorb in one go we have arranged for our families to access a filmed version of Dr Salter’s Year 7 study skills session for the next 3 weeks. Families can review the concepts covered, as well as access lots of useful handouts and planners.
The link to access the session from can be found here
Username: cranbrook7
Password: expires22june
On this page you will find:
- Pre-recorded videos of Steps 1-4 covered at the evening
- Video of Step 5 and how you can watch this step again anytime this year through the ELES website
- A link to the handout and slides so you can download them
- A link to things like term planners, weekly planners and other things recommended in the session
- The login details for the Study Skills Handbook and a page to download so you can keep accessing this site
Please take advantage of this opportunity to embed the strategies to become a more powerful learner before access ends on Sunday 8 June. Extensions will not be possible.
STUDY SKILLS HANDBOOK WEBSITE: Remember too that you have access to the Study Skills Handbook website, where students can target skill development across many areas:
Go to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au click on login:
Username: cranbrook@studysamurai.com
Password: Cranbrook1918
Click on Things to Print, and you will also find Term Planners and Weekly Planners etc. on this page.
You can also access the Study Samurai Library through this link which has additional video lessons on study skills, mindset and wellbeing.
TAKE YOUR TIME: Do not try and implement or absorb everything at once. Once a week or every fortnight, sit down together and work systematically through the booklet and slides again. Each week choose a focus area. Check your action plans and tick off the things you have under control.
Best regards,
Adrian Harrison
Acting Director of Academics