College Principals congratulating our 2024 College Captains,
Hemita Chandramoorthy and Paris Tong
Phone: 9547 6822
Email: wellington.sc@education.vic.gov.au
Attendance: 9562 4762 or 0484 009 562
IT Helpdesk: helpdesk@wellingtonsc.vic.gov.au
College Council Results
I am delighted to announce the results of our recent Council selection process. As the number of nominations did not exceed the number of positions an election was not necessary. The College Council members are:
Parent Representatives
Cindy Pilepich, Jol Alexander, Charni Pilkington, Manpreet Kaur, Sinon Sil, Dianne Rickard
DET Representatives
Simon Coles, Eric Du, Jackson Keat and Jessica Wallis
Student Representatives
Roe Mam and An Quyen (Mia) Pham
I thank new and returning members of Council for supporting our school. The new Council will meet in early March, where elections for Office Bearers will take place.
Remembering Kye Duclos
Last week our school community was rocked by the news of the death of one of our students Kye Duclos. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathy are with his family and friends. Kye will be missed.
Honours Assembly
It was a pleasure to have our first whole school assembly on Friday March 23. Our guest of honour was former Principal Hugh Blaikie. The focus of the assembly was to honour our highest achieving students from the class of 2023 as we welcomed them into the 90+ club (students who achieved an ATAR of 90 or higher). It was a highlight to hear the school’s Dux, Joanne Dao speaking with such passion as she spoke on behalf of the class of 2023. She defined what Wellington meant for her and how she views the Wellington community: ‘Wellington will always be more than just a place of education. It’s a place of connection and belonging where I established meaningful bonds with both my peers and my teachers. It’s a place of safety and inspiration, as with each person I talked to, I only found myself more committed to do my best.’
Joanne praised the staff for their efforts and continued support for all the students over the years as well as providing a motivating message to the current Year 12 students, and for all of our students. Joanne’s parting words were ‘School is what you choose to make it. It can be your second home where you are nurtured, challenged, and supported to be the best version of yourselves. All you need is a little courage, some perseverance and determination.’ Congratulations to the class of 2023.
Leadership Announcement
The second part of the assembly was announcing the 2024 student leadership positions.
The following students have been appointed to the following leadership positions:
| Position | Name |
| College Captains | Paris Tong, Hemita Chandramoorthy |
| College Vice Captains | Arushi Tandon, Manith Seng |
| Middle School Captains | John Modouris, Stefan Battista |
| Middle School Vice Captains | Nurali Seyit, Kanish Kapoor |
| Junior School Captains | Saanvi Vijay, Lisara Hewage |
| Junior School Vice Captains | Jack Procter, Leah Cheung |
| Student Representative Council (SRC) Presidents | Dorothy Cai, Chris Doan |
| Student Representative Council (SRC) Vice Presidents | Ajuni Ghai, Shavin Sivabalaseelan |
| Student Representative Council (SRC) Executives | Tanishka Srivatsan, Annie Nguyen, Natharie Gunatissa, Maika Giang, Katherine Eap, Thenuki Manchanayakage |
| College House Captain | Sonita So |
| College House Sport Executive | Juile Trinh |
| Senior House Captains | Acacia – Ashleigh Puar Dianella – Deeksha Anil Eucalyptus – Jessica Lam Waratah – Shereen Wang |
| Middle House Captains | Acacia – Harkiran Ghai Dianella – Jayden Mcewan Eucalyptus – Mary Matar Waratah – Sorth Phala |
| Junior House Captains | Acacia – Isabelle Huynh Dianella – Benjamin You Eucalyptus – Anagha Bhandari Waratah – Aryan Narendra |
| Performing Arts Captain | Dan Tran, Tayla Galluccio |
| Performing Arts Vice Captains | Lara Bui, April Han |
Congratulations to the above students. I look forward to working with you all to service and improve our community.
The final part of the assembly was the announcement of this year’s Production.
The production will be SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical. I can’t wait to see our students performing on the big stage.
Three Way Conferences – Tuesday 26 March
Planning for Three Way Conferences on Tuesday 26 March is now underway. Just like previous years we will be using the Microsoft Teams platform to conduct the conferences. When meeting with your child’s teacher I encourage you to acknowledge what is going well as well as identify strategies for focussed improvement. Times and booking information will be released shortly.
Mr Chris Knight
Principal
So much has happened already this term in our area. We continued with our Lunar New Year celebrations with performances by Mr Tran and the Lion Dance Group (Springvale Neighbourhood House) which started with a colourful musical parade including lion and dragon representation, led by our Principal, Mr Chris Knight. The group entertained students with a variety of acts.
We were excited to see students participating in the Swimming Carnival and congratulate our place getters, especially Ponleu Kosal who has just commenced in our English Language Class (WIELC).
We were proud to see our 2023 High Achievers, now members of the 90+ club acknowledged at the Honours Assembly.
Ms Reinhardt had an excellent response to the lunchtime badminton activity she organized.
Yesterday afternoon we held our first International Student Assembly for 2024 with our leaders doing a fantastic job running the assembly and keeping students engaged throughout the whole time. Students were excited to sing-a- long with Taylor Swift as a warm up to the House Singing Competition which was won by Acacia.
Overseas parents visited the college and we look forward to welcoming more as the year progresses.
We are happy that our new international students are adjusting to their new home and school environment and encourage them to fully participate in the life of the college to make their time here a most positive experience.
Ms Connie Tzelepis
Director of International Programs
Members of the Monash Crime Desk (Victoria Police) attended the College to again share their experience and knowledge with the Year 9 Forensic Science Elective students. The 3 classes were able to observe the techniques used in forensic photography as well as latent fingerprint collection and DNA sampling.
This incursion has become a regular event and the College is fortunate to have cultivated an ongoing relationship with the local Crime Desk. Students were able to ask specific questions relating to crime scenes and forensic techniques as well as more general questions about the member’s experience in Victoria Police.
Mr Peter Jarvis
Forensic Science Teacher
On Wednesday February 21, Year 11s came together for their first House challenge. The entire cohort divided into Houses and competed in a massive rock-paper-scissors competition, with eliminated students forming a cheer squad for their House colleagues – the match ended with a closely fought duel between Dianella and Acacia, with Dianella taking the points in a thrilling conclusion.
House volunteers then competed in boys’ and girls’ ‘Keepy Uppy’ (to use its Bluey name!), with Dianella emerging victorious in the girls’ competition, and Eucalyptus stealing a victory in the boys’. The matches were very closely fought, with students displaying considerable athletic prowess.
There was a brief staff challenge which displayed significantly lower levels of athletic talent, but the energy and enthusiasm was appreciated all the same. Mr Feenane used extreme cunning to defeat Mr Wallace in the final just as the bell rang!
As Head of Senior School, it was wonderful to see the cohort cheering for their friends and houses throughout the afternoon. Year 11 can be a stressful time, especially at the start of the year, and it was excellent to see some collective stress relief and competition! We look forward to the next instalment later this term!
Mr Simon Coles
Head of Senior School
The Unit 3 Art Making and Exhibiting class visited the National Victoria Gallery (NGV) and Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) on February 27 as part of their coursework studies into exhibition spaces and the role of the Curator, Exhibition Designer and Conservator. Students viewed contemporary artworks as part of the ‘Triennial’ at the NGV and ‘From the other side’ at the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art.
Students considered the physical and spatial characteristics of the exhibitions as well as the curatorial intention and connections between artworks on display.
Mrs Fiona Szabo
Art Making and Exhibiting teacher/Visual Arts Leader
During Assembly, Lyheng Sou (10K), Su-Keira Sara (10J), Jinston Moses (8E) and Henry Wang (8E) presented the findings of the Waste Audit that the Sustainability Champions conducted on February 8. They created a slideshow to inform the Year 11s and Junior School on what type of waste should be disposed into landfill (red bins) or that can be recycled (yellow bins). The materials that we recycle can be used in the Circular Economy to manufacture goods such as the benches used in the school grounds.
Leah Cheung (8I) and Saanvi Shaker (8J) wrote a letter to Bunnings Springvale asking for a few items to be donated to our school. On February 23, a Bunnings representative came to our college in person to deliver these materials.
We received two 220L composting bins, ten bags of 25L potting mix and ten gardening gloves. The potting mix will be used during our tree planting event taking place at the end of June. We look forward to having the composting bins being regularly used by everyone in the school, but only when the food waste cannot be avoided.
Ms Bruna Amaral
Science Teacher / Sustainability Coordinator
With misplaced trash becoming more common, we, as part of the Sustainability Champions Team, conducted a waste audit to assess the students’ knowledge on misplaced rubbish, and further educate them on this matter.
We are extremely pleased to report that the majority of the students were very well educated on this topic, and they were also rewarded with house points for getting their answers right. However, just knowing what’s right is not enough, doing what’s right is even more important. We hope to see that one day, everyone will have a better understanding of proper waste disposal, and above all, execute their knowledge in everyday lives. Overall, the audit gave the students a great opportunity to be educated on waste sorting and proper disposal.
Amara Nuth
Year 10
We also had some of our colleagues raise awareness about Clean Up Australia Day, which is coming up on March 3, through chalk drawing. This both alerts the student about that significant day, and also serves as a reminder for us to make sure our environment is clean – not only on Clean Up Australia Day, but every day!
In celebration of this year’s Valentine’s Day, our Student Representative Council (SRC) got together to organise the annual Valentines Day Rose Sale for Wellington Secondary College. From February 6 – 9, the SRC worked efficiently in front of Makerspace to sell many roses ($4 Per Rose) and a kind message to students wishing to spread love to both friends and their special ones.
Once all orders had been taken in, the SRC worked extra hard on February 13 to prepare, de-thorn and pack roses but even more effectively on February 14 to deliver the roses to all of the recipients. This year’s Valentines event ran well, with all remaining roses being sent out to teachers accompanied with a message of appreciation to avoid wastage of roses and to spread gratitude.
A big thank you to everyone who bought roses this year and to those who helped alongside the SRC with selling, preparing and delivering roses!
