Assistant Principal, Ms Marina Stergiou with Year 12 girls at the International Women’s Day Morning Tea
Assistant Principal, Ms Marina Stergiou with College Captains, Ben Wellman and Victoria Nikolaou giving their speech at the International Women’s Day Morning Tea
End of term reflection I wrote a similar reflection this time last year as we consciously acknowledged the impact of returning to an on-site environment at school after the disruptions of the previous two years. One year further on, I invite all members of the community to continue reflecting on how we adapt to the new challenges of the post-COVID world.
In Term 1, we have again taken the opportunity to explicitly refresh our understanding of ‘The Wellington Way’ in guiding us about how we should think and behave at school. In particular, I believe 2023 has heralded a ‘visible’ increase in the ‘calmness’ across the school – with students and staff collaborating in a positive and purposeful way. It is possibly too early to tell, but for the teachers, I can only speculate that the new EBA conditions of one less hour teaching per week may have had an impact on staff workload and wellbeing. For the students, I sense they are genuinely happy to be back amongst friends and the tried-and-true structures of our ‘Wellington Way’.
In particular, this term we have prioritised:
Uniform (and I commend the Year 12s regarding their commitment to the wearing of uniform when receiving their ‘hoodies’)
Attendance (our data continues to be amongst the best in the state)
Respectfulconversations between students and with staff
I thank everyone who has supported us in these conversations – there is still some work to be done, but slowly we are returning to a new sense of normality.
Regarding uniform, I remind everyone that we are now moving into the ‘winter term’ and request that parents work with their children so that all students have all the appropriate items for whichever winter uniform option they choose. There are many options available (see the Student Planner/Diary for details). Our aim is for consistency in appearance, and students need to make sure that they are not mixing and matching different uniform options or, indeed, non-uniform items. The Sub School teams will be focusing on this in the early weeks of Term 2. If you need support in providing school uniform, please do not hesitate to contact Business Manager, Mrs Sharon Graham or Director of Wellbeing and Student Services, Ms Jess Birrell.
Harmony Week There has been a fantastic array of activities held as part of Harmony Week. This has been another event that we have been able to host on-site again and celebrate the diverse nature of our community. To reinforce the point, I have included the table below which is but a snapshot of our rich and culturally diverse community.
I know Ms Connie Tzelepis (Director of International Programs) has a more detailed report in another part of the Journal. There are some great photos for you to enjoy as well.
Open Night The 2023 College Open Night was held earlier this week on Wednesday evening. It was great to host this event on-site again, with the Southern Gymnasium well and truly filled. As well as the keynote speeches from staff and students, parents had the opportunity to meet key school leaders in the Senior School precinct for more precise and detailed information about life at Wellington. The slideshow of the event has been placed on the website for those who may have missed it. If you have friends who may be considering Wellington as an option for 2024, you may wish to direct them there. It does appear that our future families are still putting significant value on live tours, with numbers well up on last year. The feedback has been very positive as we present our school in real time. School Tours will continue up until the end of term – again, please direct any interested friends to the General Office to make appointments for tours.
NAPLAN 2023 NAPLAN is different in two ways this year. Firstly, it was held earlier in the year (March) so that parents and the school can get data more quickly, and secondly, ACARA made a unilateral decision to recalibrate the performance indicators from 10 levels to 4, starting from this year.
When you receive your NAPLAN Report, in each of the assessments, it will show one of:
Exceeding
Strong
Developing
Needs Additional Support
We will see how this plays out as the year progresses. Notwithstanding these changes, an extraordinary amount of thought and planning has gone into the preparation and support of over 600 Year 7 and 9 students with the online digital experience in completing the test. I thank Assistant Principal Marina Stergiou, Director of Curriculum Jackson Keat, Manager of IT James Heng, and the Student Managers for their planning and supervision of the tests. The students were exemplary in their approach and behaviour. Well done to everyone.
3-Way Conferences This is a reminder that our 3-Way Conferences are scheduled for Tuesday April 4, and that reports will be available on Compass from Friday March 31. I encourage you to make appointments with teachers as soon as possible, as I know the interview times will fill up very quickly. All interviews are online using Microsoft Teams. More specific instructions will be available via Compass Newsfeeds.
Harmony Day is celebrated around Australia on March 21 each year. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values. This year’s theme is Living in Harmony. Wellington is a truly multicultural College representing many different cultures and we are proud everyday to see our students living in harmony.
Our celebrations this year included international music over the PA and a wonderful spectacular by Chinese and Vietnamese performers from the Springvale Neighbourhood House.
There was loud music, drums being played, colourful costumes, and dragons and lions dancing across the quadrangle. Staff and students gathered to see the procession, which included our Principal class team leading the parade. We listened to Chinese songs, were mesmerised by the tai chi performance and ladies dancing, and enjoyed hearing Waltzing Matilda being played on a variety of instruments. The photos sum the event up perfectly. I would like to thank the performers for their wonderful entertainment.
Connie Tzelepis Director of International Programs
Senior interschool sport involved over 100 students in six different sports on Monday February 20: Volleyball, baseball, tennis, lawn bowls and table tennis. The senior students all had a fantastic day competing against Brentwood Secondary College, South Oakleigh College, Wheelers Hill Secondary College and John Monash Science School. Congratulations to all the senior Wellington students for trying their best and consistently demonstrating the ‘Wellington Way’ and our school values of ‘Caring, Striving and Learning’ throughout the day.
The senior boys Volleyball A Team progressed to regionals on March 27 without losing a single game. The team consisted of Lucas Bui, Anthony Nguyen, Kim Someth, Yasin Khoiri, Aaron Pich, Phutan Nguyen, Dylan Chhit, Eden Kean, Dylan Din, Ethan Nguyen and Charlie Sung, with coaches Argus Stagg and Danny Ho.
Intermediates
Intermediate interschool sport involved over 100 students in four different sports on Friday March 3: Volleyball, baseball and tennis. The intermediate students all tried their best and consistently demonstrated our school values of ‘Caring, Striving and Learning’ whilst competing against local schools, Brentwood Secondary College, South Oakleigh College, Wheelers Hill Secondary College and John Monash Science School.
The intermediate boys Volleyball A Team progressed to regionals on March 27 without losing a single game or set. The team consisted of Jeffrey Kaing, Ammar Haq, Teo Miljanic, Isaac Huynh, Ian Chow, Jamie Kol, Justin Cai, Heng Ear, Robinson Im, Christopher Ngov, Truong Nguyen, Andy Nguyen and Cayden Chhit (absent), with coaches Nicholas Villegas and Winston Som.
The intermediate girls Volleyball A Team progressed to regionals on March 27 without losing a single game or set, either. The team consisted of Ines Mujakovic, Mary Matar, Milica Dordic, Sophea Sroh, Madeline Vongdachit, Phuong Nguyen, Ashley Tran, Tammy Chan and Boramey Khieu, with coaches Dylan Din, Dylan Chhit, Maryam Touch (absent) and Miss Xie.
The intermediate boys Volleyball B Team also won their pool without dropping any games. The intermediate girls Volleyball B Team played fantastically well and only lost one game to Brentwood SC and finished second overall.
