Principal Class On Monday of this week, I returned to work following a five week long service break to travel to Japan and Thailand with my family. It was an action packed and thoroughly enjoyable break and has prepared me well for the challenges of the second half of 2023. I sincerely acknowledge and thank Mr Brendan Dwyer in his Acting Principal role and the rest of the Principal Class Team (Ms Stergiou, Mr Butler and Mr Coles) for ensuring that the Wellington ship was navigated safely and securely whilst I was away. Director of International Programs, Ms Connie Tzelepis, has also returned this week from some leave, and I thank Ms Catherine Reinhardt for stepping up and carrying out Connie’s role in her absence.
Vaping detector trial As people are aware the volume of young people vaping has been a hot topic of discussion for the past few weeks in the media. In line with the broader community’s efforts to reduce the trend of vaping we are starting a trial of vaping detectors in a couple of our toilet areas in the College. They use technology that can detect the use of vapes and this sends a message to nominated staff members, who can then utilise our cameras to work out who has used the facilities at the time of the vaping. Should the trial prove effective we will be looking at installing more around the toilet facilities throughout the College. Students were notified of this trial during assemblies this week.
New Flag poles It was great to see the new flag poles installed when I returned to school this week – they certainly add a further class and style to the appearance of the Police Rd frontage. In the “post building project world”, we are working through some smaller projects that will continue to enhance the functionality and aesthetics of the College. Watch this space for updates on the Middle School Locker Bays, resurfaced Volleyball Courts and the glass archival cabinets that will display some of our 50 Year History memorabilia.
Year 7 Enrolments 2024 Our Open Night was held back onsite last term – and Mr Brendan Dwyer and Ms Jess Wallis have been conducting local tours and visiting our main feeder primary schools in the meantime. We should start to get indicative numbers from the Government Primary Schools over the next couple of weeks to assist us with planning for 2024. This is the second cohort bound by our DET imposed cap at Year 7. We will monitor the impact of this policy as numbers from the primary schools come in.
Annual Report To The Community, 2022 – Annual Public Meeting The final draft of this report was endorsed and approved by Council at the end of last term and has satisfied the DET quality assurance process. The Public Meeting was held prior to Council this week, with the report uploaded onto the school website for your information. The data continues to show Wellington as a successful, high performing school. It is little wonder that many families still see Wellington as the “school of choice” in our immediate area.
Attitudes to School Survey 2023 The Annual Student Survey will also be in an “online” format again this year with individual year levels completing the survey at different times over the next four-week period in term 2. This significant managerial operation will again be the responsibility of Mr Brendan Dwyer and the Student Programs Team. We certainly look forward to receiving feedback from our student body to help inform us of our future planning.
NAPLAN I read with some interest in the media that our 2023 NAPLAN results will be available sometime in July. Given that the testing this year was held 6 weeks earlier than normal – I am not sure that we are getting much benefit from the “earlier” release of results that schools and parents were promised. I will keep the community informed with updates as they come to hand later in the year.
Year 8 Camp Capping off a very busy week, nearly one hundred and twenty students attended the annual Year 8 Camp at Phillip Island. The weather was very kind, and reports and photos received suggest a great time was had by all. I particularly thank Ms Bree Doyle and Ms Jess Wallis and their team for putting in the hard yards throughout the week to ensure that the students were safe and happy. I thank the other staff who attended for giving up their own time to ensure that our Year 8’s would have a memorable experience away from school. Well done.
Camps Coming Up In keeping with the “happy healthy kids” theme, the Annual Performing Arts Camp was held this week at Rutherford Country Retreat near Ballarat. Later in the term, a couple of Year 9 Future Leaders Camp’s will be happening at Boar Gully in the Brisbane Ranges. Reports on these activities will also appear in future editions of the Journal.
My classmates and I learnt a lot of new things about Australia, and we visited many landmarks. We went on an excursion on the 15th of March to the city and some of us thought the travel was one hour, but it was only thirty minutes! The weather was cool and nice, and it was also very sunny, but not as sunny as Vietnam.
We all met up at Springvale station at 8.20am and stopped at Melbourne Central Station. This was the first time we were in the city in the morning, and it was very busy. We first went to the Melbourne Museum where we explored how Melbourne developed throughout the years. In the museum, we also saw the models of animals and how large they were before the existence of humans. In addition to this, there were also models of old motels, planes and a paper maker machine. In the city, we got to ride on trams and in the museum, we saw pictures of trams in the past where there were no windows and it reminded us of riding the tuk tuk in Cambodia.
After that, we visited Federation Square, ACMI and made our way to the Shrine of Remembrance. The architecture of the Shrine of Remembrance was marvellous, and it was inspiring to see that people can build a monument like the Shrine. Lastly, we explored the rest of Melbourne Central and ate lunch before heading home. At the end of the day, we were all very tired but happy. Some of us took a nap on the ride home to Springvale Station. This was our first school excursion and we had so much fun. We are looking forward to our next excursion.
The Wellington Secondary College Cross Country Carnival was held at Karkarook Park on Thursday March 30. Over 200 students signed up to compete, and 35 staff attended to supervise. This included the year 7 students as well as competitors from years 8-12 who signed up to run in 3km and 5km events. On behalf of all staff, I would like to congratulate the students on their fantastic behaviour and attitude which clearly exemplified ‘The Wellington Way’.
The year 7 students who did not compete in the 3km competitive event arrived after recess. Half of these students participated in giant games and novelty events while the other half walked or jogged the 3km course to see how many laps they could complete for their house. They then had a break for a sausage sizzle lunch before swapping over activities – the students who were playing some giant games and novelty events then walked or jogged the 3km course and the other half participated in the giant games.
Overall Results of the Cross Country Carnival
1st place
Acacia
306 points
2nd place
Waratah
250 points
Equal 3rd place
Dianella
244 points
Equal 3rd place
Eucalyptus
244 points
Congratulations to Acacia for taking out first place in the 2023 Wellington Cross Country Carnival! There were a number of outstanding performances on the day and the overall winners for each age group were:
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia IDAHOBIT 2023 Theme: “TOGETHER ALWAYS: UNITED IN DIVERSITY”
It is important for all students to feel included and have a supportive learning environment. Wellington supports this by celebrating IDAHOBIT and promoting LGBTIQ+ inclusion all year-round. Our Wellbeing Department runs Pride Club, a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ individuals and allies to meet, share perspectives and encourage understanding and tolerace across the College.
IDAHOBIT stands for International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia. The purpose of the day is to spread awareness, promote inclusiveness in our businesses and schools and to celebrate the LGBTQI+ community. IDAHOBIT is celebrated in over 130 countries around the world and is held yearly on May 17th. It was chosen to be on May 17th because this day was when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the international classification of diseases and related health problems in 1993. A great way to celebrate this day is to wear something rainbow such as a Pride badge or ribbon.
Roslyn Sadler (11I) Pride Club
How to be an Ally:
Be a visible ally by wearing a rainbow pin on May 17
Promote a safe, respectful and inclusive environment by using LGBTIQ+ inclusive and trans-affirming language.
Respect privacy, avoid assumptions and use correct pronouns.
Join Wellington’s Pride Club
Be an Active Listener – listen to the experiences of your friends and family, even if they are difficult to hear.
Follow or engage in LGBTQIA+ social media and websites (we have provided some links below)
Last week, 117 eager Year 8 students ventured to Phillip Island Adventure Resort for School Camp. There was a sense of excitement in the air on Monday morning as the students carried their luggage onto the buses. Not even the rain could dampen the mood as they waved goodbye with big smiles on their faces. We had lunch at San Remo where we were entertained by the daily Pelican Feeding session. We learnt about their diet, lifestyle and how we can protect these Australian icons.
Upon arrival at Phillip Island Adventure Resort, the students were greeted by the friendly camp staff and were assigned their cabins for the week. During the afternoon, they began participating in camp activities such as the giant swing, high ropes, twin flying fox, archery, disc golf, beach games and team rescue. Throughout the allocated free time on camp, students were able to play basketball, soccer, table tennis, gaga ball, board games or relax in their cabins.
A duty roster was developed at the start of the week. This meant the activity groups assisted with setting up and cleaning up after breakfast, lunch and dinner. By the end of the week, they were all experts in this field.
At nighttime, the teachers organised some fun and engaging activities. The theme for night one was games night. The night consisted of many card and board games that sent the room into a buzz. Mr. Keat conducted a trivia night on the second night. The most popular round included photos of the teachers being adapted by artificial intelligence into other characters. The students were still talking about these photos the next day! The talented voices of Wellington Year 8 students were heard across The Island as we sang songs for Karaoke night. The teachers, led my Mr. Driscoll, performed the Backstreet Boys over the loud cheers from the students. For the last night, Ms Antoniou planned a movie night with popcorn and a hot chocolate.
Some golden memories were made
A huge thank you to all the staff that assisted with planning and organising Year 8 Camp. In particular, a special mention to the teaching staff that attended camp and ensured the students enjoyed themselves. The students have had a fantastic week away making new friends and building strong connections with their peers. They demonstrated the ‘Wellington Way’ in all that they set out to achieve. Hopefully, they have positive memories of their experience on camp and will look back at photos and their time on camp fondly.
Ms. Breanna Doyle Year 8 Coordinator
Last Monday the 8th of May, the Year Eights and I set out to Phillip Island Adventure Resort for five days of fun. Some of the activities we participated at the camp were team rescue, 9 square in the air, giant swing, canoeing, twin flying fox, raft making and lots of gaga ball. My favourite memory of camp was the giant swing which was 18m high! I went to the top and it was really fun. From this wonderful experience, I learnt that you should always try new things even if you’re nervous or afraid. Overall, I really enjoyed it, and it is definitely my favourite camp ever!
On Monday May 10, Year 9 students doing the Forensic Science elective heard from an expert in the field.
Caroline de Koning is a former Forensic Technician from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and has experience in investigation into the causes of death in both Australia and overseas. The author of various articles on causes of death, she explained to the students the role of the State Coroner and how coronial investigations have resulted in not only prosecutions but changes as simple as the requirement to wear high visibility clothing in the workplace and the design change to the humble pen lid that now requires a hole at the end following a coronial inquest. She also dispelled many of the myths about forensic science produced by shows like NCIS and CSI.
Thursday May 4, was our Year 12 Theme Day! Students were asked to come to school dress as the first letter of their name. Can you guess the first name of some of these students?
Wellington Year 9 students participate in the My Career Insights Program giving them access to the Morrisby online Careers education tool.
All Year 9 students have been given the opportunity to complete their Morrisby profile by answering a series of online questions accessed through the Morrisby website.
Students will be able to discuss their results with a Morrisby Certified Careers Consultant in a 30-minute interview later on in the year. This discussion may be face to face or through Webex.
My Career Insights will help the students discover, develop, and drive their career planning. It is a unique opportunity for students to learn more about their strengths and abilities while exploring potential career options, giving them the confidence to start taking control of their future
Students are encouraged to re visit their Morrisby profile to make informed choices about Senior Secondary school pathways, transition to employment, apprenticeships and/or further study.
2023 Community Voice at Wellington Secondary College
Any member of the College Community is welcome to join and participate – Parent, Staff, Students (Past or Present) or Community members. To support the College and its students through:
Public Events
Fund Raising
Access and provide feedback to the Principal Class and College Staff
Expression of Parent Voice
Expression of Student Voice
Expression of Community Voice
Periodically, this group may also meet with the Principal for conversations about current school issues. If interested in joining this group, please contact the College by email wellington.sc@education.vic.gov.au
