Awards Night The Wellington Secondary College Awards Night is the highlight of the School year, and what a remarkable year it was! Beneath the formalities, the essence of the Wellington Way continues to shine; where we celebrate our commitment to ‘Caring, Striving and Learning’.
Celebration nights are quintessential events that encapsulate the spirit and culture of a school. These evenings are more than mere ceremonies; they’re vibrant expressions of collective pride and achievement. The Awards night highlight students’ talents and hard work, nurturing a profound sense of belonging and pride in achievement.
Life at Wellington Secondary College is vibrant and multifaceted. From Junior School to Senior School, our calendar is filled with diverse opportunities catering to various student interests. As any journey reaches its conclusion, it’s a time for reflection, acknowledging the highs, the challenges, and taking pleasure from the achievements. Awards Night is the ideal occasion to commend our students, spotlight their talents, and celebrate the past year across the School.
Our student speakers spoke with poise and confidence; which underscored the tremendous work by the teachers in nurturing students’ skills.
Awards nights are a powerful reminder of the collective journey and the individual milestones that help in cultivating a positive school identity. They also provide a platform to recognise and reward accomplishments, fostering a culture of excellence and motivation. Furthermore, the shared experiences during these nights build memories and traditions that students carry with them long after they leave our great school.
Hearty congratulations are extended to the performers and the prize winners, who were celebrated for their hard work and dedication. Best wishes go to the Year 12 cohort as they leave our school into the next phase of their life.
The AM Fogarty Award This award is the highlight of every Awards Night, as it is the highest Award the school can bestow, to a student who has demonstrated excellence in their academic, sport and service over their 6 six years at Wellington. It is named after the foundation Principal the late AM (Gus) Fogarty. I could not have been more delighted to present the 2024 AM Fogarty Award to Hemita Chandramoorthy. I sincerely congratulate Hemita, and indeed every other student who performed or received an individual certificate or award on the night.
Early Commencement Program With the exams and final assessments for 2024 now completed we are into the new academic school year for all year levels. The Early Commencement Program started on November 18 with students of each year level progressing into the next year. Students will meet their new teachers (in most cases these people won’t change) and learn more about what they are going be learning in the new year. In some cases, especially in VCE, students will be given homework or tasks to complete prior to 2025; this will allow students to get a head start and be better prepared with their learning. I strongly encourage any student who has not been able to attend the commencement program to access the class resources via Compass as soon as possible.
World Teachers’ Day On Friday October 25 we celebrated our passionate and hardworking teaching workforce. Teachers received lovely messages from students as a token of appreciation.
Last week the Year 9 students planned and participated in an expo which highlighted ways in which we can ‘Make a Difference’.
Students spent the term researching charities in Global Citizenship and came up with ways to either raise funds or raise awareness for their assortment of worthy charities. Some ways in which funds were raised included selling cupcakes, stickers, bubble tea, crochet flowers and assorted lolly cups, as well as having competitions to guess the number of lollies in jars and even an escape room. Some students also presented posters of their charities to raise awareness about the good work they do to help various aspects of our lives.
It was great to see so many staff and students come to support this inaugural Global Citizenship expo – whether they supported by offering their ears to hear about these worthy causes, or whether they supported with monetary donations. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who came to the expo (even amidst the adverse weather conditions!) on behalf of the whole Global Citizenship cohort. It made the experience very special and meaningful.
Not only did the students learn a lot about planning an event and learning about the hard work that charities do, they managed to raise a lot of money. It is my pleasure to announce that as a cohort we raised approximately $1000 for an assortment of charities, which include the Australian Red Cross, Leukemia Foundation, Fight MND, Foodbank Victoria, UNICEF and Cancer Council, just to name a few. Well done, Year 9s – thank you for a very successful end of the year.
Ms Teresa La Director of STEM Education | Biology and General Science Teacher
On Friday, November 15, our Year 7 Boys’ and Girls’ teams competed in the State Tournament. Both teams performed exceptionally well. The boys’ team reached the semifinals but narrowly lost in three close sets to Eltham, who ultimately won the final.
Meanwhile, the girls’ team won all three pool games before defeating Keysborough 2-0 in the semifinals, setting up another epic match against The Grange P-12 College in the final—a déjà vu moment reminiscent of the 3-Day Cup final earlier this year!
Wellington took the first set 20-16, but our girls grew nervous, allowing The Grange to make their move. We lost the second set 20-15, leading to a thrilling final set. The last set was a true battle of endurance, with both teams having already played four games. Wellington trailed for most of the set but staged a late comeback, fueled by the loud and passionate support of around 50 Wellington students who had come to cheer on their school. The girls were down 9-12 in the final set, but managed to win six of the last seven points, securing the gold medal with a final score of 15-13 and becoming State Champions!
Overall, it was a fantastic day, and both teams’ incredible results this year would not have been possible without the support of Pauline Xie, Cat Nguyen, Breanna Doyle, as well as student coaches Ian Chow, Boramey Khieu, Tim Doan, Jeffrey Kaing, and Phuong Nguyen. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to our students!
Congratulations to Dianella for winning the 2024 House Cup!!
It has been an immensely competitive year across all areas of the school. Different houses would excel in different areas within the school, with the winner only taking the lead by 39 points! Here is a breakdown of the points earned:
Total points earned in 2024 (Term 1-3):
Dianella
6853
Acacia
6814
Eucalyptus
6398
Waratah
6276
How do students win points?
To further break this down, here is how these points were earned across the school, measured by green chronicles awarded to students throughout the year.
Caring Points – 2347 Students were awarded Caring points if the they had shown a significant (or constant) instance of caring, for example: helping staff, caring for students, or the environment. Acacia won the most CARING POINTS total, with 642 Points.
Striving Points – 5390 Students were awarded Striving points if they had shown a significant (or constant) instance of striving, for example: Participating in events, coming to class prepared, working collaboratively with peers. Dianella won the most STRIVING POINTS total, with 1380 Points.
Learning Points – 2501 Students were awarded Learning points if they had shown a significant (or constant) instance of Learning, for example: Achieving an outstanding academic achievement, improving in ones learning level, showing agency in learning. Eucalyptus won the most Learning Points total, with 674 Points.
General Event Points – 7977 Students were awarded General Event points if they had participated in a special event (such as a fundraiser), or completed something significant in class (such as winning a quiz). Dianella won the most General Points total, with 2125 Points.
Minor Event Points – 4905 Students were awarded Minor Event points if they participated in a small to medium school event (such as the chess tournament, curriculum competitions, flexible learning activities). Dianella won the most Minor Points total, with 1306 Points.
Major Event Points – 3307 Major Event points were awarded to whole houses, who had earned points in a large, whole school event (such as Athletics, Swimming Sports, etc). Acacia won the most Major Points total, with 982 Points.
The form groups in 2024 which earned the most points are:
1st
7J
2nd
8E
3rd
9D
4th
8F
5th
10J
There are a few minor tweaks to the way House Points will be accumulated in 2025 to increase the impact of regular Caring/Striving/Learning occurrences within the classroom! Get out there and earn those points!
On Friday October 11 the Sustainability Champions, led by Ms Amaral, held another Bake Sale at school. We baked a variety of goods including cookies, cupcakes, brownies, cheese sticks and mango smoothies.
I’m pleased to say that this was yet another successful event as the majority of the items were sold out. From this, we were able to make an impressive $490 profit. The main goal of this Bake Sale was to raise funds for sustainability projects at our school such as maybe installing a bike shed and if we raise enough, investing in solar panels.
The Bake Sale gave us a fun chance to put our teamwork and leadership to the test by managing the whole process by ourselves and making sure everything ran smoothly. It also provided us with valuable opportunities to improve our communication and organisational skills. Another highlight was that we were able to educate students about the environmental impacts of Fast Fashion and the importance of re-wearing clothes or buying from thrift stores as a way to reduce waste.
Divyanjali Vinai 10M
What’s on the Menu
During last Term, Ms. Millsom took her Year 8 class for a Medieval Europe roleplay to teach Humanities in the community garden. They planted different crops like onions, potatoes and carrots. Fast forward a few months, and the carrots planted in Medieval times were used to prepare soup in modern times. Thank you again to Miss Hill, who instructed the Year 8E and 8A classes to produce that nutritious dish using organic produce from our garden!
Ms Bruna Amaral Science Teacher / Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainable Fashion Sale and Repair
According to Clean Up Australia, every Australian buys on average 56 items of clothing per year making Australia the second highest consumer of textiles per person in the world. This is really bad news for the environment because the fashion industry is one of the highest polluting industries and responsible for an estimated 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
If we are to halve our carbon emissions before 2030, we need to be part of the solution. Sustainability Champions organised the repair and sale of second-hand clothes in the A-Block today. More than raising funds, this event was aimed to educate our school community about Fast Fashion and the need to reuse/swap existing clothes.
Ms Bruna Amaral Science Teacher / Sustainability Coordinator
Just Bin It!
A large group of students have been working on producing a music video that aims to provide education about the problems of littering and the need to dispose of waste in the correct bin. The ‘Just Bin It’ video will be released in Term 1 2025, so all Year levels can start the academic year learning and remembering the ‘Wellington Way’ of Sustainability.
Ms Bruna Amaral Science Teacher / Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainability Champions Reflections for 2024
This year, our focus on sustainability has been both impactful and rewarding. Through activities like the Bake Sale and other initiatives, we not only raised awareness but also actively contributed to promoting environmentally-friendly practices. The bake sale was particularly significant, as it emphasized the themes of Biodiversity and Fast Fashion. These experiences taught me the importance of collective action in tackling environmental challenges. I realized that even small efforts, like organizing events or spreading awareness, can create meaningful change when done consistently and collaboratively. Overall, this year strengthened my commitment to sustainability and inspired me to continue these efforts in the future.
Aaqilah Nabeel 10H
This year, the Sustainability Champions managed to run successful events like three Bake Sales, Biodiversity audit, Waste audit, Tree planting and two Sustainable Fashion Sale and Repair. These events have helped improve and promote sustainability at Wellington Secondary bringing about change. In 2025, we will continue on promoting sustainability using these events and combat Wellington’s problem of littering on school grounds.
John Modouris 10G
This year was a rather successful and eventful time for the Sustainability Champions. We did enjoyable activities like the bake sale, many audits and planting a bunch of trees, which didn’t only help the environment, but shape the mind of those who had not a huge knowledge about how important it is to be sustainable.
