Secondary Workshop – Year 8
Islamic College of Melbourne’s Secondary programs, Junior and Senior, are often described as exemplary; these programs are among some of the most strategic, considered & highly valued in the secondary education category. From the opportunities that we make available for our students to the flexible study arrangements & varied pathways that can be accessed, ICOM is always looking for new ways to improve and build on our Secondary offering.
2022 Secondary Celebrating Eid
During our Annual Eid Festival held last Friday our Secondary students also seized the opportunity to participate in the day’s events, enjoying many of the larger rides specifically brought onto College grounds for our senior students to engage with and enjoy. We also held a Secondary students VS teachers soccer match which was very competitive, an ICOM tradition which takes place each and every year.
2022 Primary Celebrating Eid
On Friday, 13th of May the College’s Annual Eid Festival took place, our biggest celebration to date! Our Primary students were absolutely overjoyed to take part in all of the activities and festivities that were arranged for them, including many rides, attractions and a petting zoo with many different baby animals including alpacas, rabbits & chickens for our students to care for and enjoy.
2022 NAPLAN Test
Over the next two weeks our Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 students along with 1.2 million other students Australia-wide will be sitting their NAPLAN tests. NAPLAN is an assessment program designed to test the literacy and numeracy capabilities of students at various stages of their educational journey. These standardised tests assess students’ reading, writing, language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy and are administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Year 7 Circus Skills
This week, as part of our Secondary Leadership, Careers & Pastoral Care Program, our Year 7 students have been taken out of their comfort zones and are in training for something exciting. All of our Year 7 students are developing their circus skills through a series of physical incursions such as juggling, plate spinning, using hula hoops, performing acrobatics & more.
2022 Senior Debating Round 2
On Wednesday 30th of March our incredible Secondary debating teams headed off to Williamstown High School to compete in Round 2 of Senior Debating for 2022. We had a very successful evening with four debate wins and four best speaker awards, Warresha Akhtar of Year 11, Nosayba Aljibaly and Afifa Khan of Year 10, and Adam Yahia of Year 9 all were awarded best speaker on the night, congratulations to them!
2022 Primary Athletics Carnival
Recently our Annual Primary Athletics Carnival took place over two action-packed days at Wootten Road Reserve. During day 1, all of Junior Primary enjoyed an introduction to athletics with many special activities tailored to younger students while our Senior Primary students were able to compete and rally on their housemates while taking part in all of the traditional athletics events during the second day.
2022 Term 2 Commence
Term 2 at Islamic College of Melbourne has officially commenced, with all of our Primary & Secondary students back on college grounds. Our students are incredibly excited to be reunited with their peers and it shows!
2022 Multicultural Fair
What a great way to end Term 1! Our Multicultural Fair was back this year after it’s initial success last year, developed as an engaging event to run alongside parent teacher interviews. The Palestinian theme was incredibly strong this year with many fundraising efforts being executed throughout the day including the selling of Palestinian olives, badges and pins, lolly bags, a Palestinian Kunafah stall, our Palestinian themed photo booth and lots more.
2022 Multicultural Day Assembly
To mark the last day of Term 1 for 2022, the College held an assembly for both Primary & Secondary schools as part of our Multicultural Day celebrations. Our theme this year is to celebrate Palestine and all that it represents while bringing attention to the atrocities that have taken place there, highlighting ways that we can come together as a community and do our part to help.
2022 Ramadan Man visit
As an extra-special part of our Primary Ramadan celebrations, all of our primary students were visited by Ramadan Man this morning! Ramadan Man made his way to each and every primary classroom to deliver a special gift to all primary students which they safely kept in their school bags to take home with them after school.
2022 Primary Ramadan Assembly
This morning, the College welcomed all of our Primary students and staff with a very special Ramadan assembly. Thanks to the Primary Islamic Studies and Arabic departments, the College gym was well and truly transformed into a Ramadan-themed sanctuary for all to enjoy, with our Primary SRC leading the morning’s program and College Principal Dr Abdul M Kamareddine reading a very special story to all of the students in attendance.
2022 Senior Debating Round 1
On Wednesday, 9th of March, the ICOM Senior Debating Team participated in their first round of debating for 2022 at Williamstown High School. It was a very successful evening with four of our teams coming home with well-deserved wins! Our B Grade Team 1 consisting of Year 11 girls Rahemah Danish, Benazir Shafiz and Sumaiyya Baloch took home a commanding win over Caroline Chisholm Catholic College by four points, arguing for the affirmative on the topic of ‘That artists should be held legally accountable for deaths and injuries that occur at their concerts’. The girls from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College performed extremely well also. Rahemah Danish came away with best speaker for this debate, well done girls!
2022 Multicultural Week – The Amazing Palestine
This year Islamic College of Melbourne’s Annual Multicultural Week is celebrating amazing Palestine and all of its incredibly strong & proud people by running many engaging and educational activities.
Our students will learn many things about Palestine over the course of the week, including learning about Palestinian cuisine, the history of Palestine and their struggles throughout history, traditional Palestinian dress & crafts, how we can support Palestine and its people and much more.
2022 Welcome Ramadan Assembly
To mark the start of our Ramadan events for 2022 our entire Secondary cohort were invited to a special Welcome Ramadan Assembly this morning where they were addressed by the College Principal Dr Abdul M Kamareddine who gave a concise verbal presentation on the importance of Ramadan, it’s spiritual significance and its effect on our students and their wellbeing.
2022 Secondary Athletics Carnival
The Islamic College of Melbourne’s Secondary Athletics Carnival is one of the most anticipated sporting events of the school year and by far the largest, with our entire secondary cohort coming together for a day of physical tests and triumphs. Congratulations to our Green House Najah (Success) for placing first in the total points tally for the day, with Red House Hikmah (Wisdom) coming in 2nd while our Blue House Iman (Faith) placed 3rd overall.
Girls Grappling Self Defense Seminar
Over the last 3 weeks the College held grappling self-defense seminars for Year 9 and 10 students focusing on ground-work and damage avoidance. Some of our female Secondary students were able to experience this unique opportunity first-hand as they were joined by Ms Kimia who helped the girls familiarise themselves with basic self-defense scenarios and tactics to help improve their physical awareness.
Girls Secondary Interschool Basketball
We wish both of our Secondary Interschool Basketball teams the very best of luck today as they proudly head out to represent the College. May they compete to the best of their ability and return only after being truly tested.
Boys Grappling Self Defense Seminar
During week 5 the College held a grappling self defense seminar for Year 9 and 10 students focusing on ground-work and damage avoidance with Siraj Soufi from Complete MMA in Derrimut. The students were shown Brazilian jiu jitsu techniques which they practiced together in groups of 2 while being coached by Mr Soufi.
Mesut Kurtis and Preacher Moss Visit ICOM
The Islamic College of Melbourne hosted two incredible international guests over the weekend with Nasheed artist Mesut Kurtis & stand-up comedian Preacher Moss joining some of our senior secondary students and members of our community at the College for an afternoon of entertainment & enlightenment.
Ridwaan Jadwat visits ICOM
Recently, the Islamic College of Melbourne had a very special guest. Mr Ridwaan Jadwat, the First Assistant Secretary, Southeast Maritime Division Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) attended the Islamic College of Melbourne to address our Senior Secondary Students, discussing with them his professional journey and taking questions from the students. After taking some group photos with our Year 12 students Mr Jadwat accompanied by our College Captains was invited to a morning tea where further conversations were had.
2022 Anti-Bullying Day at ICOM
On Friday, 25th of March, we celebrated our annual Anti-Bullying Day at ICOM! With most of our Primary students dressed in blue to show their unified stance on bullying, this event was incredibly successful with our Primary students all taking part in team-based games and book readings with the Principal, we had donuts and baked treats on sale at lunch time with all proceeds going to charity.
2022 Primary “Meet the Teachers”
As part of our Primary “Meet the Teachers” Information Night held last week we took a moment to publicly announce and acknowledge our Primary SRC representatives for 2022. With our latest cohort of incredible House Captains, Class Captains and Primary School Captains all having their moment on stage, we are super excited to see what new developments, exciting clubs and engaging events will be held in Primary this year!
2022 Secondary “Meet the Teachers”
During our recent Secondary “Meet the Teachers” Information Night the College took the opportunity to publicly announce and commend our 2022 Secondary SRC representatives. This included our 2022 Secondary class and house captains along with our 2022 Debating Captain Layal El Rifai, our 2022 College Captains Hussain Yasir and Maryam Al-Gburi, our 2021 College Dux Ammar Qidwai and our 2021 Year 12 high achievers!
Saving Lil & Archie Primary Incursion
On Wednesday, 16th of February, our Year 5 and Year 6 students were invited to experience an amazing live theatre incursion performed by the talented performers at Brainstorm Productions, titled “Saving Lil & Archie”. Taken from the Brainstorm Productions website: “This exciting live performance shows students how to regulate their emotions and connect with people in a positive way. It explores strategies for the safe use of technology, dealing with bullying and getting the right balance between screen time, sleep, exercise and face-to-face communication.”
2022 Growing is Knowing Incursion
On Friday, 4th of February, to coincide with ICOM’s Hijab Day, the Islamic College of Melbourne held an educational information session for all Year 5 students where mature-age topics relating to the hijab, faith and Islam are explained and discussed. This extensive, one-off session provides our students with a greater understanding of what expectations lie ahead for them in life and why these expectations are so important. This information session is held for Year 5 students every year and is an integral part of their developmental studies.
2022 Hijab Day
On Friday the 4th of February we celebrated World Hijab Day here at ICOM, with all students from our Primary and Secondary schools taking part in this amazing annual event where students and staff come together to celebrate the beauty of the Hijab and all that it stands for. The events of the day included an outdoor Hijab Styling Booth where female students could try on different colours and styles of hijab, henna stalls and a Hijab Design Competition which was ran exclusively for Secondary students.
2022 Foundation First Day
On Wednesday the 2nd of February our 2022 Foundation students took their very first steps onto college grounds as official ICOM students! Accompanied by their parents and siblings, our Foundation cohort were lively and eager to begin their lessons, with the rush to their classrooms only being halted by a quick stop at one of our two photo booths to take a photo and commemorate this very special occasion.
2022 First Day of School
Tuesday the 1st of February marked the very first day for Year 1 to 12 students’ attendance at ICOM.
Along with understandable apprehensions and day 1 nerves, our students arrived in good spirits and are absolutely thrilled to be at school for a wonderful 2022 academic year inshallah. Our superstar staff are onsite and ready to assist, support and comfort our students throughout their learning journey.
ICOMTalks Podcast #4 – Basma Alo, Layal El Rifai, Nosayba Aljibaly
Episode #4 of our ICOMTalks podcast has just been released in anticipation of ICOM’s Hijab Day celebrations being held this Friday, 4th of February! Our 2021 College Captain Basma Alo is joined by Year 12 student Layal El Rifai and Year 10 student Nosayba Aljibaly to discuss all things Hijab during this special edition of the podcast filmed especially for Hijab Day.
2021 Year 12 University Offers
The Islamic College of Melbourne is incredibly excited to announce that 100% of our Year 12 students who graduated with us in 2021 have been offered University offers in the field of their choice for 2022. May they follow their dreams and career aspirations and continue to make their teachers and families proud.
2021 VCE Dux and High Achievers
The Islamic College of Melbourne is extremely proud to announce our VCE 2021 Dux & High Achievers. Our Year 12 students attained impressively high results across the board with our College Dux, Ammar Qidwai achieving an impressive ATAR score of 97.50! With an incredibly bright future ahead for all of our class of 2021, we wish them all the very best in everything they aim to achieve in the future In sha’Allah.
2021 Secondary Teachers Appreciation Day
During our recent Secondary Awards Night, the College had the opportunity to showcase some of the amazing work coming out of our Visual Communication and Design students and IB Diploma TOK and CAS exhibitions in Secondary. To coincide with this, we also acknowledged ICOM’s Teacher Appreciation Day during the night’s celebrations, surprising our valued superstar Secondary teachers with a small gift to commend their efforts. Thank you to all our ICOM teachers for your contributions, dedication, passion and commitment.
ICOM Insider: Issue 8, 2021
The final ICOM Newsletter for 2021, our XL edition, has just been released! Full of news, photos, articles and important information for parents & students including updated enrolment information.
IN THIS ISSUE: Primary & Secondary Graduations, Term 4 Incursions & Excursions, Primary Arabic Week, Pyjama Day, 2021 Principal’s Lunch & much more!
2021 Secondary Awards Night
To mark the end of the 2021 academic year for our Secondary students the College held it’s annual Secondary Awards Night where many of our Secondary students received awards, praise and acknowledgement for their tireless effort and invariably high results in their subject of choice for 2021. Alongside our internal academic awards and scholarships our Secondary students were also awarded the 2021 Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholar’s Award and the 2021 ADF Long Tan Leadership & Teamwork awards.
2021 Year 12 Graduation
Join us in congratulating our Class of 2021 Year 12 students on their recent Year 12 Graduation! Despite the adversities that our Year 12 students have faced, they have shown perseverance and great tenacity throughout their VCE studies, all graduating with great success, with some even receiving awards in their selected field of specialization. Once again, the College wishes our Year 12 graduates all the very best in all that they pursue, and we ask Allah SWT to bless them and their families in this life and the hereafter.
2021 Year 6 Graduation
This year our Year 6 Graduation Ceremony was one to remember, with our 2021 Year 6 Students making their long awaited transition into Secondary schooling with excitement and optimism for what 2022 will bring.
2021 Principal’s Lunch
On the 30th of November, the College held a very special Principal’s Lunch for all of our Primary students who earned the highest amount of ClassDojo points this year. ClassDojo points are awarded based on work ethic, behavior, leadership skills and more. For our students who reached the platinum level, the Principal’s Lunch was a great way to truly reward our Primary students for their hard work and efforts this year.
School Dental Initiative
Continuing this week at ICOM, we have the School Dental Initiative on-site thanks to our partnership with Australian Dental Health Victoria. This initiative provides a complimentary full dental examination and two small diagnostic x-rays, remineralisation of teeth and fissure seals if required for our ICOM Foundation-Year 8 students. Along with a written treatment plan, if further treatment is required this can also be arranged after parents have been contacted. We encourage all of our students to always take good care of their teeth, health and wellbeing.
2021 Debating Lunch
On Tuesday 23rd November, the ICOM Senior Debating Team were treated to a celebratory lunch to say thank you and congratulations on their incredible debating and public speaking efforts over the course of 2021.
Participation awards were handed out to all teams across Years 9, 10 and 11 and each student had their photo taken with Principal Dr Abdul M. Kamareddine and our Debating Coordinator Mr Carrington.
2021 Pyjama Day
Today at ICOM we are celebrating Pyjama Day with our Primary students wearing their favourite comfy pyjamas to school while making a gold coin donation to an incredibly worthy cause, The Pyjama Foundation who train Pyjama Angels. Pyjama Angels are volunteers from the community who are screened, trained and supported to create positive relationships with children in care; empowering them with learning, life skills and confidence.
Junior Debating Update
On Wednesday 24th November, our undefeated Junior Debating Team consisting of girls from 8C again performed spectacularly, defeating Bacchus Marsh Grammar Team 5. Debating the topic ‘that we prefer children playing team sports to individual sports’, our team argued for the negative, and this time it was Maariya Shaikh, Iraj Rizvi and Khadija Kamran who stepped up to the plate to represent ICOM with incredible results to retain their undefeated status.
2021 Ramadan Fundraising
As part of ICOM’s annual Ramadan fundraising efforts, this year through Human Appeal Australia our Primary departments have raised enough funds to build five water wells for the disadvantaged. Two wells in Pakistan, two in Bangladesh and one in Afghanistan. We would like to thank all of our Primary students and their families for making donations and helping us in achieving this amazing act of charity and generosity. May Allah (SWT) accept your act of charity and reward you all.
Secondary Village Upgrade
As part of the college’s expansion to better facilitate our growing student base, our newly constructed Secondary Village and assembly area has undergone a transformation over the course of Term 3, bringing this new space to life with both colour and creativity. Large format signage has been installed to showcase our newly redesigned college house mascots along with complementary signage to give our Secondary Village a sense of identity.
Debating: Swannie Award WInners
This year, ICOM Secondary Students won two incredible awards in the category of debating and public speaking.
Ali Ali of Year 12 won the top A grade debater, and Nosayba Aljibaly won the top D grade debater for our region under the guidance of ICOM Debating Coordinator Mr Carrington. This is a great honour for our students and the college, and we are incredibly proud of their efforts.
ICOMTalks Podcast #3 – Ali Ali, Imaad Abdul Hafeez, Nawaz Ali Khan
Our College Captain Amir Hussien is joined by fellow Year 12 classmates Ali Ali, Imaad Abdul Hafeez and Nawaz Ali Khan to discuss the topic of Self Progression.
Junior Debating Success
Congratulations to Iraj Rizvi, Mashhuda Ali and Khadija Kamran of Year 8 who came away with an incredible debating win against Bacchus Marsh Grammar in the first round of junior debating which took place on Zoom on Wednesday, 20th of October.
ICOM Live Khutbah Series
Join us tomorrow, Friday the 15th of October, for an ICOM Live Khutbah hosted by College Principal Dr Abdul Kamareddine. Zoom links will be sent to Primary parents via Parent Portal (Seqta Engage) and to Secondary students via email.
New College Air Purifiers
The Islamic College of Melbourne have installed Samsung AX90T air purifiers in every classroom in both our Primary and Secondary Schools. These air purifiers assist in improving ventilation, maintaining a safe environment for our students, and will enable the College to move forward with the state’s plan to have students returning to onsite learning during Term 4 of 2021.