Wellington Journal. Athletics Carnival. Term 2 Resumes. Wise Words

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1 Wellington Journal News from Wellington Secondary College Edition: 5-4 April 2014 Wise Words Term 2 Resumes Tuesday 22 April Athletics Carnival It is a kingly action, believe me, to come to the help of those who are fallen. - Ovid On Monday March 24, Wellington s staff and students decamped to the Knox Athletics Track. The day saw many students contributing throughout the day. These ranged from competing in one of the many events held, assisting staff in officiating, or working hard behind the scenes to ensure that the day ran smoothly. The Year 12s in particular, with their colourful costumes lent a theatrical air to proceedings! Overall, staff and students, competitors and spectators, officials and observers, put in a tremendous amount of effort to make the day a success, and the dedication and talent of Wellington s students was very much on display. Well done to all!

2 Principal s Report College Council I am delighted to announce the election of Merih Acar as the new Council President for the year. Alex Kubsch was elected Vice President and Brendan Dwyer was re-elected Treasurer. I look forward to a very productive year with Council under Merih' s leadership. Annual Report The 2013 Annual Report and 2014 Annual Implementation Plan were ratified by School Council on Tuesday night this week. These documents will be uploaded to our College website. School Review This year we are preparing for our school review a plan that sets out the school's goals and targets for the next four years. All school reviews conducted in Victorian Government schools will now include a registration check, based on the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). We are currently collating all our documents for this part of the process. 3 Way Conferences It was pleasing to see the large numbers of parents and students taking the time to discuss progress with teachers at our 3 Way Conferences on Wednesday of this week. Whilst these reports only reflect student progress over the first eight weeks of the year, they often provide clear indications of student strengths and weaknesses and emergent patterns of student attitudes to study. It is crucial that signals are recognised and measures are taken to rectify problems before it is too late. Mr Grayden informs me that the electronic booking system introduced through the Compass has helped maximise teacher bookings. Well done to everyone involved here. If parents were not able to attend on Wednesday, they can contact the College next term to discuss their child's progress with Coordinators and teachers. Attitudes To School Survey Our annual Student Survey will be conducted by Mrs Commons and her team in the second week back of term 2. This survey is a great opportunity for students to express their opinions about life at Wellington and how things might be improved. Results usually come out in Term 3 and they will be used for planning for 2015 and beyond. Big Futures I had the pleasure of last week attending the launch of Big Futures a community mentoring program for young people at the Clayton Community Centre. Ten of our Year 8 and 9 students attended and we were informed (and entertained) by Richmond footballer Daniel Jackson and comedian Sammy J. Of special interest was meeting former College Captain Dylan Benis (2009) who has volunteered to act as a mentor for our students. Dylan commented on the influence Wellington (and it's teachers) had on him making some serious and sensible life decisions during his time at school. I thank Mr Peter O'Bree for driving this excellent initiative. Open Night Open Night is coming up on Wednesday 30 April and in preparation for this Mrs Roberts and Mrs Commons have been very busy with our annual round of Primary School visits. The Junior School leaders also have demonstrated great public speaking skills in presenting a picture to Year 6 students of life at Wellington. We also have taken a Year 7 student from each of the primary schools visited and it is fantastic to see the spontaneous welcome from teachers, office staff and students given to each student in their former primary school. Tours can be booked through the General Office in the lead up to Open Night. Accelerated Program and Scholarships We will again be offering an accelerated program in Year Academic Scholarship and Accelerated Program Entrance examinations will be held on Saturday 10 May at 9.00am in M Block. If you have friends who may be interested in these examinations, please note that applications MUST be made online. Further details are on our website. Winter Uniform A reminder to all parents and students is that Term 2 is a Winter Uniform Term. For boys, this simply means adding a tie to the summer uniform. For girls, the tie must be worn with either the approved College blue slacks or the winter skirt. Socks must be white and above the ankle, but below the knee. Tights must be navy or black when worn with the skirt. Tights must not be worn as a substitute for the blue slacks. All these items are available at the Uniform Shop which is open each Monday and Friday from noon to 1.30pm. Please ensure that by the end of week 1 in Term 2 that winter uniform is complete. Parking Around the School I remind parents again of the growing concern I have about traffic congestion around the school during peak drop off and pick up times. Monash Council have introduced a roving car surveillance program, whereby cars parking illegally or dropping off of picking up students in the wrong place will be photographed and fined. I urge parents who are dropping off or picking up their children from school to follow all traffic and parking signs. Safe Holiday Finally, to everyone, I wish you all a happy and safe Easter and holiday break. Students, reflect on what you have achieved and learnt this term, and return to school fully prepared for the increased demands of Term 2. Because of the Easter holiday I remind everyone that Term 2 begins on Tuesday April 22. Hugh Blaikie Principal 2

3 Year Nine Easter Feast The Year 9 'Food Around the World ' and 'Kids In The Kitchen' classes were busy at work making Easter eggs. The students were required to produce the Easter eggs using milk and white chocolate. The students really enjoyed colouring and flavouring their white chocolate to produce personalised Easter eggs. Decorating the Easter eggs was equally as much fun. 'Our Year 9 class had the opportunity to design something for a special occasion. We designed Easter eggs and had the opportunity to be creative and it was an enjoyable experience.' Anh (Andy) Nguyen 9E 'I enjoyed this lesson because we were able to experiment with the properties of white and milk chocolate. We also experimented with different flavour essences and fillings for our chocolate.' Allan Yuok 9I 'Making the Easter eggs was really fun and challenging too. It was something I hadn't done before so it was great to do. I am glad I got the chance to make them.' Lauren Pedersen-Hor 9J Ms. Rivans Year 8 3 on 3 Basketball On Monday 17 March four Year 8 boys competed in a State wide 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna. Ethan Le 8A, Jack Scott-Smith 8C, Ashraf Ally 8K, and Rustem Ameti 8K formed a wonderful team that worked really well together in this modified version of Basketball. The boys breezed through the 5 qualifying games, with some quick ball handling skills from Rustem, tough moves under the basket from Ashraf, tight defence from Jack and confident driving from Ethan. The boys then lost by the narrowest of margins in their Semi-Final, however easily won in the Bronze medal play off to come third overall. The boys did the College very proud. Also thanks to Nhien Nguyen of 8K for coming along to help us out on the day. Miss Michelle Newey (Coach) March 31 - Busking Day at Wellington 23

4 Athletics Carnival 24

5 Athletics Carnival Wellington's Athletes In Action 25

6 Mentoring at Wellington Year 8 Mentoring Wellington has joined with 6 other Monash schools in piloting the 'Big Futures Mentoring in Schools Program' facilitated by the Big Brothers Big Sisters organisation. Nine students went with Mr O'Bree and Mr Blaikie to a launch of the program at the Clayton Community Centre on Wednesday of last week. Students were entertained by guest speakers Daniel Jackson from Richmond Football Club and comedian Sammy J, and heard about the benefits of a mentoring program on confidence, motivation and achievement. We hope the program will start early in Term 2 when each student will be matched with a mentor. Peter O Bree Years 11 and 12 Mentoring This year thirteen of our Years 11 and 12 students will be mentored by Monash University students as part of the Access Monash Mentoring program. The program provides intensive support to selected Years 11 and 12 students who aspire to university study. It aims to support their decision making and preparation for university and careers by matching them with successful Monash University students to work in one-to-one mentoring relationships. Our selected students attended an induction day at the Monash University Caulfield Campus on February 12 and met their mentors for the first time at our school launch last week. Students will meet with their mentors fortnightly usually at the school and will also have opportunities to attend the university and other events together. They will explore tertiary study options and career pathways, gain great academic advice and study tips, and learn how to get the most out of their VCE experience. To find out more about the Access Monash Mentoring program visit monash.edu/access Sport and Houses Term 1 Update Over the past month there have been many sporting pursuits available to students at Wellington SC, with some resulting success stories to celebrate. Intermediate Girls Tennis played at EMR level coming a gallant second. We had the Wellington Swim Team compete in the Monash Division Swimming Competition with some very strong performances. The school took home 37 medals (14x st nd rd 1, 11x 2 & 12x 3 ) and two records on the day - a fantastic effort! Eight students who won their events at the Monash Swim Competition competed at EMR st nd rd Swimming on Monday to bring home nine medals (3x 1, 2x 2, 3x 3 )and 3 first places. These first place results now allow Mulitha Dewasurendra to compete in the State Swimming Championships at MSAC early next term in the 14yr male 50m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly. Mulitha is also joined by Nilesh Vaheesan, Kenneth Benjamin and Kieren Chau in the 14yr male 4 x 50m Medley Relay. We wish all four boys well in this highest level of competition. There were also other success stories with Kelson Nguyen and Stuart Tennison to represent the College in EMR Senior Boys Golf early next term, Intermediate Boys Cricket, Year 8 Girls Volleyball and Year 8 Boys Tennis to represent the College at EMR competitions later in the year. Four Boys competed in the Basketball Victoria State Junior Boys Basketball 3 on 3 Championships where Rustem Ameti, Ashraf Ally, Jack Scott-Smith, Ethan Le and Nhien rd Nguyen finished a gallant 3 place - another great performance at a very high level. The House Athletics Carnival was held recently at Knox Athletics Track with high levels of participation with a number of records broken throughout the day. The final results will be kept secret until a College Assembly in Term two, but I can share that the final points are the closest they have ever been between all four Houses over the previous five years, so it's anyone's race. Have a great term break and see you all interm 2. Greg Whyte Director, Sport and Houses 26

7 Year 10 Food Technology The Year 10s have been busy this week designing a creative Easter Hamper in preparation for the forthcoming Easter celebrations. Coloured and flavoured Easter eggs were designed alongside a decorated hamper. The students thoroughly enjoyed this new experience and look forward to sharing their Easter treats with their family and friends. Ms. Rivans Food Technology Teacher Student Engagement and Leadership GRIP Leadership is an organisation that trains and develops student leaders. Three of our student leaders had the opportunity to attend the Leadership Conference on 7 March. This is what Jin Mei Jiang of 11D has to say about the Conference. Mrs Rangarajan On 7 March, Annabelle Sayaphet of 11H, Tyler Pederson-Hor of 10I and Nicholas Mitsopoulos of 9K and I travelled by train with Mrs Rangarajan to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre to attend the GRIP leadership conference. Once there, we joined over 1000 other high school students from all around Victoria and learnt about how to be an effective leader. We started off the day with a game of 'Simon Says' where we learnt that 'Simon' is a leader who we all naturally follow. We then had a chance to get up and interact with others to play a game of 'Guess Who?' In this first session, called 'Being a Leadership Group of Influence', we learnt that being a student leader is not about earning a position but rather an opportunity to work with others, and have a significant influence on the students and the broader community. The second session was broken up into two parts. The first was called 'Leadership Everest' and that was where we were taught that the leadership journey is both rewarding and challenging. The second part of the session was an elective with two options and Annabelle and I chose the 'How to Maximise Fun from Fundraisers'. We learnt in this session that fundraising is not all about the money which is raised but it is also organised with a huge element of FUN. The third and last session was also an elective and I attended the 'Creating House Spirit Lessons from Cathy Freeman option. During this we were taught how to create a positive and effective house spirit. After this we ended off the day with a dance party. Overall, the day was very practical, interactive, engaging and enjoyable. On behalf of Annabelle, Nicholas and Tyler, I would like to thank Mrs Rangarajan for giving us the opportunity to attend the conference. We all definitely learnt many new skills which we could bring back to the school. Jin Mei Jiang of 11D 27

8 Year 12 Heroes and Villains Day Wellington Journal - Fortnightly Newsletter of Wellington Secondary College - Designed & Edited by Mr Simon Coles. Editorial Support by Mrs Dianne Schneider. Printing and Technical Support by Mr Brian Foster and Mr David Kerrisk. 2528