Junior School Report
Message from the
Director of Learning - Ms Alice Paget
A warm welcome to all Year 7 and 8 students, parents and guardians to the new school year at Westall Secondary College! The students have settled into the school year seamlessly, displaying great maturity, work ethic and growth in their ICT skills. We are extremely proud of how the students have started the new school year and the way in which both the students and staff handled the snap lockdown recently.
To all the new parents at the College, we endeavour to make your child’s transition into secondary schooling a smooth and positive experience! We hope that the transition program during the end of 2020 and the first few weeks of the school year has helped your child to feel comfortable, supported and excited about the year ahead. Over the upcoming 2 terms, all Year 7 students will be taking part in a Peer Support Program run by our Year 10 Peer Support Leaders. They will be running workshops on a range of important topics, such as secondary school tips, self-care, respectful relationships, and cyber-safety.
Pictured above: Year 7 students taking part in their Transition Program at the start of 2021.
We have a range of exciting opportunities coming up in the Junior School, including an onsite Junior School Camp at the end of Term 2. More information will be released to students and parents/guardians very shortly. All students will study a range of semester elective subjects in Year 7 and 8 to allow the students to explore their passions and interests, including Music, Digital Technology, Food Technology, Dance/Drama, and Woodwork, as well as Weekly Sport and our iCreate elective every Wednesday afternoon.
Your involvement in your child’s education can have a great impact on their schooling. Please support the Junior School team by staying informed through regularly checking your child’s diary and Compass. Please make sure you have bought all the required uniforms, textbooks, exercise books, and stationary to ensure your child has the best learning opportunities throughout the year. Please don’t hesitate to contact the Year Level Coordinators if you are having any issues with this, we are always here to support you. The Junior School team would like to wish everyone a successful year ahead!
Ms Alice Paget
Director of Learning (Junior School)
Junior School Team Leaders
Ms Alice Paget
Director of Learning (Junior School)
Email: Alice.Paget@education.vic.gov.au
Mr Jarrod Johnstone
Year 7 Coordinator
Email: Jarrod.Johnstone@education.vic.gov.au
Ms Rebecca Tomkins
Year 8 Coordinator
Email: Rebecca.Tomkins@education.vic.gov.au
Year 7 Adventure Day
On the 12th of February, Year 7 students set out to the Enchanted Adventure Gardens in Arthurs Seat for our Adventure Day. It was a great opportunity for the Year 7s to meet new students, build a rapport with their teachers and also step outside of their comfort zone!
Students had a ball tackling the many different challenges for the day, including tube sliding, tree surfing, initiative, and team building activities, zip lining, and the mazes.
Adventure Day Report by Ishi Grewal - Year 7 student
As some of you may know, the Year 7s had an adventure day a few weeks ago, all the 7s enjoyed their trip to Arthur’s seat as they went on tree surfing and mini activities. There were 5 levels, and a recently built area called the sky scramble which is massive. As well as amusements, they also had massive mazes, which was terrifying.
In my experience, my favourite level was 5 but I got to admit, I didn’t like level 4, at the beginning, it started with wooden stairs that were frustrating. The mazes were nice, but I didn’t like the tyre maze, the reason, I chipped my nail. I only went in the ball pit in the sky scramble but when I went in the slide, I was screaming because it was pitch black. But other than that, everyone had an excellent experience, and we were exhausted after all that fun; we all probably needed a good rest when we came back.
Year 7 and 8 Weekly Sport
Year 7 and 8 students have been tirelessly preparing for the start of their weekly sport competition that begins on the 26th of February for the Year 8s, and the 2nd of March for the Year 7s, against McKinnon Secondary School. Students have been given the choice of sports from Volleyball, Tennis, and Softball/baseball.
The format of the weekly inter-school sport has continued from last year for Term 1. Instead of playing every school each term, as per previously, the 8 schools have been divided into two pools of 4 based on proximity. We have been placed in pool ‘B’ alongside McKinnon, Bentleigh, and Brighton. Following the three pool games, a final will then be played between the winner of pool A and the winner of pool B, to find the Kingston champion to represent the division at regionals.
We are excited to get back into inter-school sports as most sporting events were cancelled last year due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding COVID-19. Students are eagerly looking to get out and compete against the other schools.
Good luck to all teams for your upcoming games!
Mr Tynan Samason
Sports Assistant
Kiss FM's Teachers Swimming Carnival
On Thursday 11th of February, Westall Secondary College’s Year 7 Coordinator, Mr. Jarrod Johnstone participated in Kiss Fm’s teacher's swimming carnival at Harold Holt memorial pool. He received an invite to this event after being nominated by several students due to his athletic prowess, particularly within the triathlon disciplines. Mr. Johnstone arrived nervous but excited as he was joined by 31 other teachers from schools all over the state to win their school $10,000.
The excitement was building as the pool surrounds filled with radio crew, presenters, and an Olympic Athlete in James Magnusson, all watching on. The time came for Mr. Johnstone’s race as he climbed the blocks, the gun went and he sped down the pool. Mr. Johnstone set a new personal best for 50 meters freestyle with a time of 31 seconds, finishing 4th in his heat.
Unfortunately, as the other heats progressed Mr. Johnstone’s time was half a second off that required to progress into the final. Although we missed out on the $10,000, Kiss Fm put on a great day and Mr. Johnstone swam brilliantly on behalf of the school. Well done Mr. Jarrod Johnstone and thank you!
Mr Hugh Robertson
Health, Physical Education & Sport Coordinator
Year 7 Science: Bunsen Burner Licence
Year 7 students have spent the last few weeks learning about the different types of lab equipment, lab safety rules, and the parts of the Bunsen burner in preparation for obtaining their Bunsen burner licenses. In the lead-up to license day, students were experiencing a range of emotions including excitement, nervousness, and some fear as many had not lit matches before. On license day students were keen to show what they had learned but still a little hesitant. However, once they got started and practised lighting the Bunsen burner, their fears disappeared and they passed the first time. They are now excited to complete lots of practical lessons to make use of their licenses and explore the exciting world of high school Science.
Student Reflections:
Ms Naomi Walkley
Maths/Science Teacher
Design and Technologies: Woodwork Year 7
Year 7 students have been working on cutting board designs. They developed a design brief for the end-user and produced two design options before completing their final design.
The students developed their skills in using the Drill Press, and the Belt and Disc Sander.
A range of timbers was selected for the cutting boards; these included pine, plywood and hardwood. The cutting boards were finished with olive oil. The students were excited to take these home, hang them in the kitchen, and put them to use.
Ms Helen Ifandis
Arts Coordinator
Westall Primary & Secondary
Accelerated Maths Program
Back in 2019, we started this program to challenge and extend the high-achieving primary students by introducing them to our Maths classes. This year we have the opportunity to restart this program with 4 x Grade 6 Westall Primary students attending the regular classes and meeting their “wobble” zone with their learning. A big thanks to Ms Naomi Walkley and Ms Lucy Chieng for taking in these students in their Maths class.
Ms Loan Luong-Nguyen
Learning Specialist: Numeracy & STEM