Maham Qumer with Mr Blaikie – It was a magical night, even without glass slippers!
Marcus Chen with Mr Blaikie – They didn’t choose the glam life; the glam life chose them!
Phone: 9547 6822
Email: wellington.sc@education.vic.gov.au
Attendance: 9562 4762 or 0484 009 562
IT Helpdesk: helpdesk@wellingtonsc.vic.gov.au
Year 12 Formal
We broke with tradition this year by moving the Year 12 Formal from the post exams end of year time slot to a mid-year winter setting. The event was held at Leonda last Friday and I am pleased to report that it was a night of fun, glamour and collegiality amongst staff and students alike. The trick for the students will be to put this key event behind them now and renew focus on their studies as they face the last stretch of their final year at school. Thanks to Mr Coles, Ms Glentis and Mr Wallace, the Senior School Team, the Formal Committee and all staff who attended for organising and making this Wellington’s night of nights!
Production
Rehearsals for our annual production ‘Frozen’ are certainly ramping up and I know cast and crew are really looking forward to opening night on Wednesday August 30. For this year, we are introducing a new online ticketing process via Compass Tix. Please click here to secure a seat for this fabulous show or scan the QR code on the Frozen poster later in the Journal.
Our Community Voice Team have been working behind the scenes to organise the now-famous nightly raffle. The prizes I can guarantee will not disappoint!! If you would like to join or support the Community Voice Team or would like to know more about it, please call the General Office on 9547 6822 and you will be pointed in the right direction.
Staff Professional Learning Day
I again remind parents that Friday, August 11 is a student free day, where we will conduct our major Semester Two Professional Learning Day for all staff at the college. Students will not be required to attend – with no Charter Bus or Canteen service available on the day. For staff we are undertaking a variety of activities related to individual and collective wellbeing. For students, it can be a chance to ‘take a breath’ with no formal classes scheduled, or it may be an opportunity to informally catch up on set work.
NAPLAN
As indicated in a newsfeed last week, NAPLAN results for Year 7 and 9 students were mailed out last week. If you have not received them by now, please contact the school. We have received the next round of NAPLAN comparative data – and I am delighted that our results are outstanding when compared to the State, the Network and our Similar School’s grouping. Below is a quick snapshot of two measures that illustrate this:
Subject Selections
I wish to thank everyone involved in the subject selection process as we continue to plan our program for 2024. An enormous amount of work goes on behind the scenes with ultimate student success usually depending on wise and sensible choices from Year 9 all the way to Year 12. Ms Huffer and the Counselling Panel have spent hours working with students and families unpacking these decisions. It does not matter if students do not have a complete picture of their ultimate pathway at this point. However, if they choose subjects based on interest, ability and keeping potential future pathway options open, then they will have set themselves up for the best possible chance of future success.
Volleyball and Sport
Our volleyball program continues to flourish with a number of our teams collecting medals at the latest round of the Victorian Schools Volleyball Cup. Participation and success in this sport has developed from a niche program to becoming front and centre in our sporting program. It shows what interest, dedication and support can do in building success in any given endeavour. Well done to Mr Durrant, the coaches and the students in their achievements thus far.
As a heads up, the whole school House Athletics Sports Day will be held later this month on Tuesday August 22. Please make sure your child has permission to attend this event via Compass.
Hugh Blaikie
Principal
Wellington Secondary College had 8 different teams (4 boy’s teams and 4 girl’s teams), 7 coaches and 70 student’s competing at the 2023 Volleyball Victoria Schools Cup. The competition lasted for five days in total with two separate competitions running.
Wellington had 3 team’s playoff for medals, with two of the teams winning bronze. Our student’s effort and behaviour both during games and in between was exceptional and consistently displayed the Wellington Way at all times. The Year 7 teams, in particular, enjoyed the tournament so much they were always seen hitting around in between games and looking for free courts to practice on with their team-mates!
Overall results:
| Team | Result | Coached by |
| Year 12 Boy’s Honours | 11th place | Mr Argus Stagg |
| Year 12 Girl’s Division 1 | 6th place | Alisha So, Dylan Din and Dylan Chhit |
| Year 10 Boy’s Honours | 6th place | Danny Ho |
| Year 10 Girl’s Division 1 | 4th place | Pauline Xie & Dylan Chhit |
| Year 8 Boy’s Honours | 3rd place (Bronze Medal) | Phutan Nguyen & Mr Argus Stagg |
| Year 8 Girl’s Division 2 | 3rd place (Bronze Medal) | Mr Kim Durrant & Daniel Truong |
| Year 7 Boy’s Division 1 | 9th place | Toan Nguyen |
| Year 7 Girl’s Division 1 | 5th place | Daniel Truong & Mr Kim Durrant |
We had some fantastic results in the 2023 Schools’ Cup with the highlights being three teams playing off in the medal rounds. The year 8 girls division 2 team played exceptionally well all tournament and narrowly missed out on playing for Gold or Silver by percentage only. They finished third in their pool, narrowly losing to Upwey High School in the final pool game and had to play them again in the Bronze Medal game the following day. It was a very close match with Wellington losing a close first set 21-25. The second set was another tight battle and Wellington at one stage were five points behind but rallied late to take the set 25-22. The third and final set was close until Annie Dao stepped up to serve and turned the game in Wellington’s favour and we ran away with the set 15-9 to win the Bronze Medal and our first ever female volleyball medal.
Our second bronze medal later the same day was the Year 8 Boy’s Honours Team who finished 4th after their pool matches and played against Kew for the bronze medal. The boys’ started out very strongly and dominated the first set 25-21. However, a big momentum swing by Kew and several errors cost the boys’ in the second set going down 15-25. The third set was a very close affair but again Wellington lost in 23-25 and were suddenly down 2 sets to 1 in a best of five scenario. The boy’s coaches, Phutan and Mr Argus Stagg, kept the boy’s spirits up and reminded them that although they lost the third set they were still playing high quality volleyball and they only needed to change a few minor things. The pep talk worked and the Wellington boy’s absolutely dominated Kew in the fourth set to win it easily 25-18. The fifth and final set was an absolute demolition job with Wellington at one stage leading 10-1 with the set only up to 15 points. Wellington finished off the match easily and won 15-5 to win the bronze medal. Out of all the other year 8 boys who played in the year 8 boys honours tournament, Justin Vo was voted the MVP (most valuable player) which is voted by the duty scoring team for every game.
It was also fantastic to see a number of Wellington students coming down after school to support and cheer on their friends!
Mr Kim Durrant
Coordinator of Interschool Sports
Our new international students are settling well into our community. This semester, we are welcoming more than 20 International Students to our college, arriving from Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Sri Lanka. Some are living with a parent, some with relatives or family friends and others with a host family.
Although it might seem exciting moving to a new country and starting school, it can be quite stressful and overwhelming. Moving away from your home country, making new friends, and adapting to a new culture and learning environment is not a simple thing to do. Well done on your resilience and I hope that you will have a great time at Wellington.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Ms Connie Tzelepis, Ms Catherine Reinhardt and their team for all their hard work on Orientation Day. Also to the following international students who assisted – Reina Lim (11E), Dany Sen (10J) and Nisa Kosal (11E). Orientation Day is always quite busy with so many new students, host parents, parents, guardians, and relatives attending on the day.
I was privileged to attend the International Student Voice Forum with Manith Seng, Sern Yeap and Hern Yeap and Ms Reinhardt where we participated in discussions with representatives from other schools around the topic of improving International student voice.
As a result of this we asked the SRC to join us in hosting the Wellington International Chess Tournament which is running over 6 weeks and involves international and local students.
It was great to see international students participating in other College events such as school sporting teams, busking and the Model UN Conference. Now we are working on encouraging all Wellington students to participate in our Annual Multicultural Concert taking place in the evening of 7th September. Stay tuned for more details.
Chris DOAN
10C, International Executive
This year we were privileged to be able to participate in the Victorian Young Leaders to China Virtual Program. In the past this program was a 6-week immersion program where students would travel to China. However, the program has evolved, at least for the time being, to be a virtual program.
We had 13 Year 9 students participate in this program – Emily Chau, Gabriel Cheng, Sak Chorn, Piseypich (Porpor) Heang, Elaine Hoang, Julie Kok, Patrick Lim, Jerry Meas, Kevin Quach, Jimmy Sreng, Lara Tran, April Wang and Jordan Xie. All students were highly dedicated to this program, as it ran every morning between 9am to 12pm for two weeks. Not only that, but the students also had homework tasks that they needed to complete for this program in addition to all the class work they were missing out on in their regular classes. I commend all the students for their participation and commitment.
The mornings started off with study sessions with the Teacher Assistants, then a language class where they learnt new vocabulary and sentence structures. The final session was usually a culture immersion – there was a virtual excursion to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China, gymnastics, kung fu, a culture quest game and Chinese painting and calligraphy.
Students were awarded with virtual certificates of completion at the closing ceremony. Additionally, some students were awarded some extra awards:
Most notably, one of our students, Jordan Xie, was nominated by their Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) teacher to present a speech about their time throughout the program. Jordan did a fantastic job at representing his language class, as well as us here at Wellington during the closing ceremony. He spoke eloquently and confidently to summarise his experiences. Well done to everyone and I hope it was an enriching experience for all.
Ms Teresa La
Director of STEM Education
Biology and General Science Teacher
Student reflections
I look back at the incredible experiences we have shared during the VYL China program. Undoubtedly, the highlight of this journey has been witnessing the growth and unity within our class. From my personal experience, my linguistic skills from this learning experience have far surpassed my expectations. I have gained not only linguistic proficiency but also a profound appreciation for the richness and beauty of the Chinese language and culture.
The experience that the VYLC team provided us with, will be a once in a lifetime opportunity that we shall take with gratitude and appreciation. We as a class have all enjoyed the kung fu program, as this allowed us to do it together even though we were in separate classes. This program has help not only me but my fellow classmates. They have informed me about their Chinese learning journey with this program. I can see that they have not only grown in their Chinese ability but also in their confidence in their everyday lives.
Jordan Xie
9I
The VYLC program was a great opportunity for students to not only learn Chinese and its culture, but also gave students the chance to learn about how to be a global citizen. VYLC gave participating students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow their Chinese and global citizenship skills.
Lara Tran
9I
On Thursday and Friday, Room A5 became a crime scene with the assistance of members from the Victoria Police – Monash Crime Scene Services. These are specialist police trained in the collection of evidence from crime scenes. The Year 9 Forensic Science elective classes watched demonstrations of fingerprint collection, DNA sampling and forensic photography. The students were able to ask questions from the experts in their field and gain valuable firsthand knowledge. We hope to make this an ongoing part of the Forensic Science elective at Wellington.
Ms Rachel Newberry & Mr Peter Jarvis
Year 9 Forensic Science Teachers
All advice is general, for more information please see your GP.
For more information about Allergies:
Ms Danielle Delaney & Ms Olivia Thompson
First Aid Officers
On the latest issue of the Wellington Podcast (Ep.13), Vincent Lam, James Danh and myself (Zakeem Imran) discuss the Push-Up Challenge, namely inspiration behind organising and participating in it. Through this podcast, we discussed the challenges we encountered throughout the initiative, and the satisfactions (for some) in participating.
After this, we move onto our challenges that we face as Year 12 VCE Students, that we believe will be beneficial to the upcoming peers. With our final year as high school students, there is a lot of focus around what it is you want to achieve. On the podcast, we discuss about what we found is helpful to us, that you can take on potentially. We spoke about the levels of effort needed in year 12 and how to cope with the year to achieve your goals.
Have a go at recording a podcast of your own, and discuss your own topic – you can make better ‘jokes’ than James did!
Zakeem Imran
12C
