Teacher Ms Christina Yuan staged a traditional Chinese Guzheng
performance on Thursday March 21 as part of Cultural Diversity Week.
Guzheng is a famous folk/palace art with a long history in China.
It was a great opportunity for students to embrace the
multiculturalism of the Wellington Community.
The performance featured three traditional Guzheng melodies
and one Chinese folklore song performed with acoustic guitar.
Phone: 9547 6822
Email: wellington.sc@education.vic.gov.au
Attendance: 9562 4762 or 0484 009 562
IT Helpdesk: helpdesk@wellingtonsc.vic.gov.au
End of term reflection
Wow, how time flies when you are having fun. I can’t believe we are at the end of Term 1 already. It’s been a busy term, yet a term I have thoroughly enjoyed. It’s been a highlight going into classrooms and seeing how the students are engaging in their learning. I have been impressed with the calmness and collegiality across the school, with students and staff collaborating in a positive and purposeful way.
In Term 1 we introduced the Wellington Teaching and Learning Model (WTLM). We have also been working with students on the pride they should have in the fact that they are fortunate to be a student at Wellington. We have spoken to students about the importance of representing themselves and others by wearing their uniform correctly and behaving in line with the Wellington Way.
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, please refer to the Student Planner/Diary for details, or to our website.
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 focussing on this in the early weeks of Term 2. If you need support in providing school uniform, please do not hesitate to contact our Business Manager, Ms Sharon Graham or Director of Wellbeing and Student Services, Ms Harveen Khera.
I thank everyone who has made me feel welcomed in the Wellington community and wish you all a happy and safe holiday break.
Cultural Diversity Week
There has been a fantastic array of activities held as part of Cultural Diversity Week. This has been another event where we celebrate the diverse nature of our community. It was a highlight to see so many students dressed in their cultural dress and representing their cultural heritage with such pride.
The staff and students were invited to a cultural performance from one of our wonderful teachers, Ms Christina Yuan performing a traditional Chinese musical instrument – Guzheng.
School Performance Report
We received our Annual Performance Rating in early March, and I am pleased to report that our school continues to perform at a consistently strong level across all indicators. This data will be part of the Annual Report to the Community which will be released later in Term 2.
3 Way Conferences
Our 3 Way Conferences occurred on Tuesday 26 March, and I trust that all conversations were informative and productive. These conferences are a great opportunity to for families to connect with child’s teachers about how their child is progressing and what all of us can do to support them. I encourage students and families to consider the feedback provided by the teachers and look to incorporate any strategies for focussed improvement.
Mr Chris Knight
Principal
Throughout the year, the Year 12 VCE VM students are taking part in extended projects relating to a variety of community issues. With the focus on sustainability and the Wellington Community Garden, the students assisted the school’s Sustainability program and helped maintain the garden beds and built two new compost bins that will be used to promote Sustainable gardening.
Ms Jaclyn Jacobs
Learning Specialist: Vocational Education and Pathways
In Work Related Skills, the students are learning about Occupational Health and Safety in the workplace. To enhance their understanding of their rights and responsibilities in the labour force, they went on an excursion to the Victorian Trades Hall in Carlton. On the tour they learnt about the rich history of Trades Hall and the significance of Unions. They also took part in a seminar that focused on workplace bullying and harassment where they were given strategies on how to overcome conflict in the workplace.
Ms Jaclyn Jacobs and Ms Rachel Biggin
(VCE VM WRS and PDS Teachers)
“What really intrigued me was the quote Zelda D’Aprano states “no more male and female rates – one rate only”. I believe what she said was so true particularly because a pay rate should be equal despite gender, race religion and ethnicity.”
Noraysha Be
V2A
“I learnt about the significance of the numbers ‘8-8-8’ relating to the workforce: 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation and 8 hours of rest.”
Jai Leeson
V2B
Six Year 12 Physics students from Wellington attended the ‘Girls in Physics Breakfast’ at the Banquet Rooms, Monash University (Clayton). They were seated with students from other schools and shared a table with one or two women who were either pursuing careers in physics or engineering, or were at university as undergraduates or postgraduates. The students had the chance to ask questions about their careers and what studying at university is like.
The breakfast was addressed by a prominent scientist, Assistant Professor Kaye Morgan from Monash University, who talked about her area of interest, Playing with Light: X-ray Imaging at the Synchrotron.
Mr Ary Lyimo
Science, Mathematics & Physics Teacher
On Wednesday March 20, our Year 11 Art Making and Exhibiting students went on an excursion to MUMA (Monash University Museum of Art).
The excursion involved participating in a guided tour to learn about how the artists and curators worked together to create the exhibition. We were also very fortunate to experience an artist-led painting workshop to learn about the artist’s innovative ways of handling colour and presenting each of our paintings as a collaborative installation.
Mr Seijiro Nishioka
Arts Curriculum Leader
On Thursday March 14, our Senior Boys Basketball squad headed to Nunawading Basketball Stadium to compete in the ‘3 on 3’ Region Tournament Day, where they took on some of the top Basketball schools in the state. We had one division 1 team and two division 2 teams.
Unlike normal Basketball, these matches were played in the half court with 3 players per team and 12 minutes to score more than the opponent, or first to 21! It was fast paced and an extremely high skill level all day long. The WSC boys gave it their all and played their absolute hearts out.
A special mention to the Div 1 boys team of Jordan, Kilmer, Teo & Boris who won 7 games in a row and went down to Haileybury in the Grand Final 15-21. After finishing top 2 overall, that team has most likely booked their place at the ‘3 on 3’ State Finals in April!
Mr Cory Smithett
Health & PE Teacher
My name is Ines Mujakovic and I am in Year 11. Recently, I have been helping coach the Junior Boys Tennis team alongside Mr Smithett in a sports coaching and leadership program. This has been a great experience for me in terms of building my confidence and improving my leadership and coaching abilities.
I’ve been able to learn how to be a good leader, a role model and a coach to younger students at Wellington Secondary College. I have really enjoyed being able to step out of my comfort zone and build my confidence by providing guidance and advice about tennis to other students. I hope to continue building on these qualities throughout this program in 2024 and beyond.
Ines Mujakovic
11G, Junior Boys Tennis Coach
We thank Ms Jaclyn Jacobs and the Year 12 VCE VM students for the amazing work they have done for our school community garden. In addition to weeding, they assembled the two compost bins that were donated by Bunnings. I highly encourage some teachers to use that as a potential learning space. How are we going to use those bins?
At the start of term 2, a few Sustainability Champions will be volunteering to dispose the food waste from their Food technology classes. We welcome any suggestions on how we can divert more food waste generated in the school from going into landfill. But, remember that we should first avoid the food waste.
The Sustainability Champions will be organising a Cake Sale on April 23. We aim to raise funds that will be directed towards our long-term sustainability goals for the school. We hope you can support this event.
Ms Bruna Amaral
Sustainability Coordinator
On the 25th March, Monash City Council conducted an incursion for 18 Sustainability Champions to help us better understand the concepts of a linear economy and how we, as a community should strive to achieve a Circular Economy, including the importance of incorporating the 6 R’s in our daily routines (rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle).
During the incursion, we did another audit to inspect the litter situation around the school. During the audit, students split up into 3 groups and each got assigned a specific place to separate general waste from recyclable waste.
At the end, we found out that the most picked up litter was nothing other than soft plastic, which goes to landfill!
How can you help?
Aaqilah Nabeel
10H
