OUR MISSION - al-taqwa.vic.edu.au

I S S U E 1 2 4 / / O C T O B E R / / A L - H I D A Y A H

N O V E M B E R2 Melbourne Cup Public Holiday3 Foundation Students return 4 Years 1 & 2 Students return

Important Dates

Principal’s MessageA S S A L A M U A L A I K U M W A R A H M A T U L L A H I W A B A R A K A T U

V C A A E X A M SWell the end of the year is looming with the VCAA exams currently underway. We would like to wish the students all the very best of luck with their exams.

Ensure that you are taking breaks and looking after your health inbetween your study sessions. Don’t forget to rest your mind, get out and exercise and talk to someone if you need help. Our staff are always here if you require assistance.

We look forward to celebrating your results.

R E T U R N I N G T O S H O O LWe are so excited to have our students return to school in November. The return dates are listed above and they are also posted on the Parent Schoolbox page.

There are many protocols for us to follow so we need you to follow the rules set out to ensure that all of our community are kept safe.

Here is a snippit of what is expected when students return to school.

9 Years 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11 & VCAL students return 11 Years 5, 6 & 10 students return 12 Y7 Immunisations12 Secondary Art Exhibition Launch

29 Transition CommencesD E C E M B E R 10 Last day of Term 4 16 Administration Office closes for holidays

• AM DROP OFF We request that all parents remain in their cars when dropping off their children at school. We always have our staff on car park duty to ensure the safety of your children.

• MASKS All students in Years 3 and over MUST wear a mask whilst at school. Students in Foundation to Year 2 may wear a mask if they wish.

• SOCIAL DISTANCING Everyone on the College grounds must ensure they continue to distance 1.5 metres away from others at all times.

• HEALTH All staff and students will have their temperatures taken upon arrival and sanitise their hands going in and out of rooms.

• FEELING UNWELL To ensure the safety of all and to prevent further lockdowns, please STAY HOME if your child is feeling unwell. I cannot stress enough how important this is. We have had so many days in lockdown and want to prevent this in the future so I ask that you stay home for the slightest of symptoms to keep us all safe.

• VACCINATIONS Anyone over the age of 12 can get vaccinated. This is not compulsory, but if you want to help our community, get vaccinated!

We look forward to seeing you all in the coming weeks, look after yourselves and stay safe. Wassalam

OM A R H A L L A KPrincipal

A L - H I D A Y A H

A L- TA QWA C O L L E G E

C O N TA C T D E TA I L S

[email protected]

tel (03) 9269 5000fax (03) 9269 5070

201 Sayers RdTruganina VIC 3029

OUR MISSIONAl-Taqwa College aims to produce good reflective self-directed learners who have

problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities.

It aims to be a place where the individuality of each person is recognised, and where that recognition is reflected in the College’s curriculum diversity and flexibility, diverse teaching strategies and student centered processes. The College aims to create a school

environment that instills in students love and obedience to Allah (swt) in accordance with the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and enables them to benefit from

the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh).

Quality Education for Quality Life

I S S U E 1 2 4 / / O C T O B E R / / A L - H I D A Y A H 2

a d m i n n e w s

55S I C K S T U D E N T S If your child shows any of the symptoms listed below, please organise a Covid test and keep them home until advised by DHHS.• fever • chills or sweats• cough • sore throat• shortness of breath • runny nose• loss of sense of smell or taste

Before your child can return to school, please send through the final Covid results to [email protected] to ensure the safety of all the ATC community.

L U N C H E S / B O O K S / H O M E W O R K E T CDue to the continuing Covid situation, we will not be accepting your child’s lunch, forgotten homework, books, uniform etc. Please ensure that your child has a healthy packed lunch in their school bag, a full water bottle and all their required items before leaving home in the morning to avoid being turned away at the Administration Office. Alternatively, keep some spare change in your child’s bag in the event they forget lunch at home.

E X T E R N A L A P P O I N T M E N T SWe are unable to accommodate early dismissals for parents who have made external appointments for students. Therefore if your child has an appointment throughout the school day, keep your child at home for the day so there are no disructions to learning and advise the Administration Office staff via email [email protected]. We request that medical or other appointments for your children are made outside of school hours.

C A R P A R K When dropping children off in the morning, all parents/carers are to remain in their cars to avoid large groups congregating on the school grounds. There are more than enough staff on duty to ensure the safety of all students.

If you must get out of the car when collecting students in the afternoon, ensure that you adhere to the current rules, social distance and wear a mask.

Have patience and wait to park safely prior to allowing students exit cars. This is extemely dangerous as students are walking between cars and not on the designated crossings.

Each day we see many parents speeding in the car parks. As you can imagine this is extremely dangerous especially when smaller children pop out between cars or have cars stop in the middle of the driveways to let their children in/out of their cars. Please follow the direction of our staff on duty and keep in line with the speed on the school grounds at all times.

Many parents are also seen driving without their children restrainined in their cars. Even in the carpark, children must wear their seatbelts. Serious accidents can happen at only 5km per hour so please ensure your children are restrained correctly prior to you driving off.

R E - E N R O L M E N TRe-enrolment Forms have been sent home as well as reminders sent to those yet to return their forms. If you are yet to send in your Re-enrolment Form, email it to [email protected] as soon as possible.

N E W E N R O L M E N T SWe still have a few spots available for 2022. If you are planning or know someone who wishes to enrol their child at ATC, click on the Enrol Now link on our website or click here to go directly to the page.

S C H O O L B O XSchoolbox has been and will continue to be our main source of communication between parents and the College. You can download the App to ensure you are kept up to date with news and important inforamation.

You can click here to go directly to the Schoolbox page. If you have misplaced your log in details, they are the same as the Parent Portal. You can click on the Support and Feedback link on the Schoolbox page to obtain your log in details.

T H A N K Y O UWe wish to thank all our ATC families for their ongoing support and best wishes during these tough times. We are eagerly awaiting a normal 2022 educational year!


f i r s t a i d d e pa r t m e n t

BreatheSometimes we forget to take a few deep breathes and clear our minds. Practicing breathing techniques and mindfulness with your children is a great way to cope with stress and anxiety. PositivityRemember to stay positive and encourage your children to see their strength in everything they have coped with thus far and continue to do.

Reach out for supportReach out for support from family, friends and the school community. We are all here to help each other make it through these difficult times. Talking to your child’s teacher, the school counsellor or the nurses about your child’s situation will help get your child the support they need. You could also seek professional help if you feel you, or a family member, need it.

And lastly, we have all been through another very challenging year, remember to be kind to yourself and each other.

R AYA N H A O U L ISchool Nurse

Returning back to onsite learning may be a scary, and stressful time for many students. Spending so much time at home during the lockdown period and continuous remote learning may cause students to feel anxious about returning to onsite learning. Many students may begin to feel anti-social and not interested in doing activities at home or returning to face-to-face learning. Recognising these cues is a significant step to supporting a student’s overall health and wellbeing.

As a parent or guardian, it is important to acknowledge theses feeling and mixed emotions and talk with your children about returning to school.

Things you can do: Listen and supportDiscuss with your child about how they are feeling. Listen to their concerns and reassure them that feeling scared, overwhelmed or anxious is a normal thing. Talk to them about positives of returning back to school and what they like to do at school that they could not do at home.

Limit the amount of informationKeep a check on the amount of information you and your family are absorbing about the global pandemic. Too much exposure to news updates could impact your overall health and wellbeing and cause further stress to your children.


y e a r 3 - 5 n e w s

Our wonderful Year 4 students got up to some amazing adventures all from the comfort of their homes. Year 4s did an incursion with Zoos Victoria’s Virtual session, which was run live by a Zoo teacher. The students really enjoyed it and wished to be there in person, but unfortunately, they couldn’t be due to lockdown. Overall, the students enjoyed the question-and-answer session and benefited with an insight knowledge.

As term 4 begins, we are beyond excited that we will all be returning to school this term, Insha’Allah, which is great and excited as remote learning is finally coming to an end.

G R A D E 4 T E A M

Y E A R 3Dear Al-Taqwa Community, welcome back for the final term of the year!

To re-cap the end of Term 3, our lovely Year 3 teachers organised a movie session for the students after school hours via Zoom. We got our popcorn and snacks and watched ‘Finding Dory’. The students (and teachers!) really enjoyed themselves with almost the entire cohort in attendance.

As we move along through Term 4, teachers and students are excited to come back to school for the last few weeks of the year. Students are looking forward to spending these short few weeks with their peers and teachers. We hope and pray this will be the last of the many lockdowns we have endured.

Looking forward to meeting all students on-site soon.

G R A D E 3 T E A M

Y E A R 4The students have been continuing their learning tasks and zoom sessions online for most of this term with an almost perfect attendance rate. A big thanks to all the parents for their ongoing support throughout remote learning period. Well, done Year 4s!

To promote well-being among the Year 4s, they celebrated with a movie with their year level. The students have longed for some fun time. Due to restrictions and constantly being in lockdown, the students have missed out on many great things, even though our teachers worked extremely hard to ensure remote learning was still enjoyable and exciting. Cont’d on the next page


y e a r 3 - 5 n e w s c o n t ’ d

Y E A R 5We welcomed Term 4 and in week 2 our SEEP students managed to complete their ICAS Tests which was a challenge on its own as these tests were conducted online through several zoom sessions.

All Y5 students have worked hard this year and have come a long way facing many challenges both emotionally and academically. Insha’Allah they look forward to completing this year with their Graduation Ceremony.

We would like to share some poems written by our Y5 students during remote learning.

Haiku by Samarah Emam 5CAutumn leaves fallingWelcomed to earth’s atmosphereIn many colours

Cinquain by Eimaan Fatima Mehmood 5CThe Sun, Hot, brightOrbiting, moving, giving lifeBeautiful in every wayLight

Haiku by Nawal Mussarat 5CSummer breezes flyIn the warm, sunny blue skyBirds chirp happily.

Acrostic poem by Zoya Ali 5CMy heart to MathsAh, it is great stress reliever for meThe best of all subjectsHow I love Maths….though I got it genetically’See the beauty of maths and its puzzlingyet exciting puzzles.

Haiku by Haider Waqas 5CThe Universe so bigStars shining so brightlyPlanets orbiting

The Mighty Moon by Nailah Hassan 5CThe moonSo mightyThere will always be roomFor its light, so shiny.

This light is so brightThat it can heal your negative emotionsIt can give you Sun in the nightAnd give you forever devotion.

Its craters so bigIts meaning so smallIts land too hard to digAnd its crescent form so tall.

The moon will always be itself.Its smaller than a planetBigger than an elfIt’s the best thing you’ll ever get.

Cinquain by Sarah Naz 5CThe OceanDeep blueSilent, singing, dancingA cloak of something newThe Sea

G R A D E 5 T E A M


y e a r 6 - 9 n e w s

Assalamu alaikum dear parents and students

To say the least, this year has been a rollercoaster. Finally we are to return to face to face learning shortly in week 6 of this term. Although a late return, we are very much looking forward to seeing all our students and engaging with them again. Our students have been extremely resilient and adapted well to remote learning again. Visiting some of the Zoom classes over the last few weeks was extremely satisfying. Online learning is a mode that all schools are endeavouring to perfect, though this a working progress for all schools. We are blessed that at Al-Taqwa we have an ever improving and evolving learning platform. This has allowed students to thrive and teachers to provide a sustainable and wholesome continuation of our curriculum!

At this stage we understand that having your children learning from home has been an extremely challenging experience for you as parents, ensuring that you are constantly supporting each child and establishing a sense

of routine. Please ensure a sense of routine is established as this will help your child settle in to returning to school with ease.

Returning to school during these times may be a concern, however if we all work together and follow the guidelines and policies we have in place, we will ensure that the return to school will be as smooth as possible.

Please keep up to date with the Schoolbox communications that are sent out on a regular basis. The return to school plan is a safe plan which allows for a smooth transition to face to face. We will be strict on uniform and being prepared with resources for all lessons so please understand and support this process. We looking forward to seeing everyone back!

B E H I J E C U R AHead of Year 6-9

S T E FA N O S C H R I S O U L I SY6-9 Coordinator

REMINDERYear 7 students will be having their HPV immunisations on Friday 12 November.

All students must note that they are unable to get their immunisation if they have had or booked a Covid Vaccine within 7 days of 12 November.

The Immunisation 7 Day Interval form was posted on Schoolbox for Year 7s to complete and return to [email protected] before the immunisation day.

If you are yet to submit your form, your parent can download the form from the parent Schoolbox page under the Y6-9 tab.


y e a r s 1 0 - 1 2

F A R E W E L L T O O U R Y E A R 1 2 S T U D E N T SThe Year 12 students completed formal classes last week, unfortunately due to the current pandemic restrictions we were unable to provide a number of College organised activities aimed at celebrating the conclusion of their secondary education. Pending further government advice the College is investigating how some form end of year celebrations and graduation can be offered after the conclusions of the formal VCAA examinations. Information regarding the format and date will be provided to students and families via Schoolbox.

Unfortunately we again have had another year having to constantly revert from face to face and remote learning. This has been a year like no other in the history of the College. Over the course of this year, the College has tried to provide students with the support, encouragement and opportunity to achieve the best results possible. Creating such as environment can only be achieved by the hard work and dedication of many teachers and support staff. The Year 12 VCE and VCAL programs have also been well managed by the respective Level Coordinators, Yarra Bakri and Stefanos Chrisoulis. On behave of the College community and Year 12 students, I wish to thank staff for their tieless work.

Finally we wish all Year 12 students best wishes in their final examinations, and we look forward to celebrating their success at the Year 12 Graduation later in the year.

Y E A R S 1 0 & 1 1Term 4 is also an extremely busy period for our Year 10 and 11 students. Over the coming weeks students will be concluding their curriculum and final assessments. The final year examination period will commence in week 7 and conclude during week 8.

Students will then commence their Step Up Program for the final two weeks of this term (weeks 8 & 10). The Step Up Program is designed to orientate students towards their 2022 studies. This ensures that students are able to immediately commence their respective studies at the start of the 2022. Details regarding the final year examinations and the Step Up Program will be released to students via Schoolbox in the very near future.

G U S N A P O L IHead of Senior School.

Debating AwardOur very own Muneeba Aamir from Year 12 has won the very prestigious Swannies Award for debating in the Western Region. It is an award that every student participating in debates hopes to win. We first won this award in 2009 and then in 2011 (both by Emina Hajdaravic) so it has been a long time coming. Ten years later we have won it again! Congratulations Muneeba a well deserved award.

This is what Muneeba had to say:Oh my this is such great news! Thank you so much for being such a great system of support not for only me but for everybody included in the teams this year. Being part of the debating team has been so fulfilling and I’m glad I’ve made such memories along the way. May God bless teachers Lorraine Paul and Farween Munaff for the amazing work they’ve done!


1 9 t h a n n ua l q u r a n c o m p e t i t i o n - p r i m a ry d i v i s i o n

P R I M A R Y C O M P E T I T I O NA warm welcome from the Primary Islamic Department for all parents and students to the final term of the year. The first few weeks of this term witnessed two successful events within our Department. These events were the 19th Annual Quran Competition Primary Division and the Primary ATC Masterchef Competition.

This year our Department ran a Primary School Masterchef Competition as part of our Islamic Corner. The aim was to encourage students to appreciate the blessings of the food Allah has given us as well as the act of charity in helping parents at home. We were overwhelmed with the amount of entries and the eagerness of the students to take part in this Competition. Judges struggled to choose the winners and were amazed with the outstanding talents of our students. May Allah (swt) bless them and protect them from any harm. Winners of this Competition will be announced in a live Zoom session on Wednesday 3 November. Stay tuned!

We can’t go past our highlight of the year which was the 19th Annual Quran Competition Primary Division that was held on the 26 October via Zoom. The program started with a beautiful recitation of a few verses from the holy Quran by our student Saad Mohamad from 3D. After a touching speech by our Principal, Omar Hallak, followed a by speech by our Dawah student Mohamad Nasir from 5E. Students competed in the following Quran memorisation categories: 1/2 Juzu, 1 Juzu, 2 Juzu, 4 Juzu, and Hifz (Al Imran, Al Baqarah) program. Other categories included Khutba presentation and Adhan recitation. A huge congratulations to all our participants who will be awarded with prizes and certificates for their efforts on this successful event.

A special thanks to all of our dedicated and hardworking staff who trained our students throughout the year and to our students who showed outstanding skills in their memorisation and Tajweed skills and shined during this event. May Allah (swt) reward our teachers and parents for supporting and guiding our dear children through this valuable journey.

The winners of the 19th Annual Quran Competition Primary Division are as follows.

Category Rank Name1/2 Juzu First Sumaiya Amin

Second Aisha AhmedThird Aliyah Aden

1 Juzu First Yemen BarakatSecond Tooba ShaikhThird Mohamed Abdul Salam

2 Juzu First Syed AlviSecond Badr AhmedThird Asad Attari Mohammed

4 Juzu First Abdul Ahad MohamedSecond Mysha BavazeerThird Isra Fatima

Al-Baqarah =First =First

Abdullah RashidMuhammad Abshir

Third Nusaybah Nadeem MohamedAl-Imran First Wajih Abdo

Second Abdulla ShaikhThird Mushahid Mohamed

Dawah First Nameer RushanSecond Abdulaziz MohammedThird Abdullah Riyaz

Athan First Mohammed Youssef NasirSecond Syed AlviThird Abdullah Shaikh

P R I M A R Y I S L A M I C D E PA R T M E N T


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1 9 t h a n n ua l q u r a n c o m p e t i t i o n - s e c o n da ry d i v i s i o n

Assalamu alaikumThe Secondary Department held its Internal 19th Annual Qur’an Competition on 20 October. This event was held via zoom for the second year in a row. Though this year, it has been more challenging due to the fact that we are all in lockdown including the team running the show. For that purpose, we had held several meetings and rehearsals to ensure all went according to plan. With the Grace of Allah it went perfectly well. The event was very successful.

Our students as usual made us very proud. They were trained well and their performance was impressive.

Our panel of judges for the internal event were: Br AbuBakr Jalloh, Sis Salwa Gabr-Zayed and Sis Salwa Hussein.

This year we had six levels for Hifth, Maqamat, Khutbah and Athan.

From all the contestants, three finalists from each category and level made their way to the finals. Students who did not make it through, were awarded with medals, certificates and gift vouchers.

We wished our finalists all the best for the 28th October and we made du’a to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala which made the event successful, Ameen.

The winners of the Quran Competition held on 28 October will be advertised in the 2021 Yearbook. The Yearbook will be posted on the College website at the end of the year. You can access the Yearbook under the Media Tab from the front page of the website. Links will also be sent to parents through the Schoolbox portal.

Hifth - Level 3

Maryam Bavazeer 6A

Safa Fatima 6A Khizar Khatri 6I

Students who will be awarded with Medals for participation are as follows.

Hifth - Level 1

Zarif Khan 9G Abdul Ahad Mohammed 8G

Maqamat

Musaab Mohammed 6I

Khutbah

Zarif Khan 9G

W A FA T E B E I L E HHead of Secondary AIQ Department


Enrolment Officers Enas Ali

Fatima EliaIbtissam Shahino

Parent Liaison OfficerFatima Elia

Transport CoordinatorSameh Aghbash

Accounts ReceivableFadile JekaAdil Shaikh

Accounts PayableEmmy Eribsyantie

A DM I N ISTR ATION PERSON N E L

The Islamic Schools of Victoria (Werribee College) Trading as Al-Taqwa College ABN 32 079 146 958

Enrol Now for 2022Various enrolments for 2022 are still available in various levels. If you wish to enrol your child for 2022, download the enrolment form from our website. The form must be completed, scanned and emailed with the accompanying documents to [email protected].

Photographed documents will not be accepted, they must be scanned documents.

Wishing our Year 12 students all the very best with their examinations

and their future endeavours.

Documents

OUR MISSION - al-taqwa.vic.edu.au