SCHOOL NEWS
ANZAC DAY SERVICE AT BENTLEIGH MEMORIAL GARDENS
On Saturday 25 April 2026, McKinnon's own senior singers and senior brass ensemble had the privilege of attending the ANZAC Day service at Bentleigh Memorial Gardens.
Early on in the ceremony the senior singers performed a moving ANZAC version of the piece, “We are Australian”. The acapella rendition featured soloists; Spencer Wu (Year 12), Jessica Sweeney (Year 12), Joshua Golembo (Year 12) and Jane Wang (Year 10), who performed with sincerity and emotion. This heartfelt display then set the tone for the rest of the service. Our senior brass ensemble paired with our talented singers would then go on to provide a moving musical tribute of the New Zealand National Anthem “God save New Zealand" followed by the National Anthem. Two verses of God save the king were performed as Sophie Yu (Year 12) delivered the first verse in Maori, representing culture and language in our community.
McKinnon was able to provide an earnest and heartfelt performance resonating with many members of our community. We would like to thank Ms West, Ms Todd and Mr Serebrianik for rehearsing and organising this important event for us.
ANZAC day is a very important day for our community as we acknowledge those who have suffered and fallen, allowing us to have such a thoughtful, privileged life and education. It’s a time to honour and reflect on the past - grieving those who were lost to time and war, expressing our gratitude to the veterans with us today, who provide wisdom and stories, and also allowing us to carve a future in which no one should suffer the way our great ANZACs once did.
We are very grateful for the opportunity to be part of Bentleigh’s ANZAC Day service each year. It is a privilege to contribute to such a meaningful commemoration and to help foster a sense of unity and remembrance within the community. We would also like to sincerely thank Ms West, Ms Todd, and Mr Serebrianik for their time and dedication in rehearsing and organising this important opportunity.
Lucy Green & Joshua Golembo
Year 12 Music Captains
GUEST SPEAKER – KAREN COMER
Identity and Belonging. Violinist and Artist. In her verse novel, Grace Notes, award-winning Melbourne author Karen Comer explores identity and belonging through the lenses of her two protagonists. Grace dreams of being a violinist but struggles to figure out her place in her overachieving family. And while Crux’s street art serves as a way of expressing himself, it causes conflict in his family. In this novel, Karen Comer has done a fantastic job relating to a lot of teenagers, including myself.
That is why we felt lucky on Tuesday 21 April, to have Karen visit the East campus to talk to the Year 8 cohort. During this talk, she spoke about a range of topics, mainly related to Grace Notes. She spoke about her writing process and how she worked through the ideas in the novel. For example, her novel was supposed to be only about Crux, but she ended up including another protagonist. She also explained how she spent a lot of time trying spray painting and also learning the violin, so she would not disappoint any readers who were violinists or street artists and shared an equally hilarious and horrifying story about her Year 8 camp.
Overall, it was a pleasure to have her visit us and talk to us about her novel.
Aliya Misra
Year 8 Student