Middle School

Me You Us Day  

Our first Middle School Me You Us Day is coming up on Thursday 10th September. 

Me, You, Us Wellbeing Day is a Middle School initiative designed to provide students with intentional opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and understandings that support their wellbeing, relationships and sense of belonging. 

Through engaging, experiential and developmentally appropriate learning experiences, students do not simply learn about wellbeing; they actively experience it through connection, reflection, collaboration and participation. 

Me You Us Day isn’t just a one-off. It’s part of a bigger commitment we’ve made to help students grow into healthy, happy, and confident people, supported by the College and family community. 

Throughout the day, students will take part in sessions that cover important topics:  

• Respectful Relationships – how to treat others, and oneself, with kindness and fairness. 

• Stress Management and Positive Coping – simple ways to handle big feelings or tough days. 

• Internet Safety – how to be smart and safe online. 

• Emotional Wellbeing – understanding our feelings and learning how to talk about them. 

• And even Elephant Education – where students learn about growing up, bodies, boundaries, and respectful choices. 

   

All of these sessions are designed just for our Middle School students. They’re age-appropriate, safe, and led by trained educators and guests. And most importantly, they're about making sure students feel heard, understood, supported and empowered.

In addition to all of this, there’ll be fun activities planned during recess and lunch such as: 

• Recess SRC dance party 

• Recess Friendship bracelet station  

• Recess and Lunchtime Art Activity 

• Lunchtime Staff Race 

• Lunchtime Staff vs Student Downball competition 

   

Me You Us Day is all about the students, making connections, and how we can all look after ourselves - and each other - a little better. It’s a chance to take a step back from our usual classes and put the spotlight on something just as important: student wellbeing. 

We are sure students will take something meaningful from the experience. 

Elephant Education Parent Webinar 

Message from Halide La Rocca, Deputy Head of Middle School

Dear Parents, 

Please see below for an invitation to a webinar presented by Elephant Ed on Online Safety. 

Topic 

Online Safety: Pornography & Sexualised Media + Influencers & Respectful Relationships 

When

Thursday 27th August, 6:30pm - 7:45pm 

Elephant Ed is a leading sexuality education provider to hundreds of schools around Australia. Elephant Ed's workshops are evidence-based, age-appropriate and mapped to State and National curriculum guidelines. Elephant Ed is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider. Please click here for more information about Elephant Ed. 

In advance of Elephant Ed's workshops with Overnewton Anglican Community College students, this webinar will include the following key discussion points: 

Pornography & Sexualised Media 

• Statistics and prevalence of exposure to pornography amongst young people 

• Distortions between pornography and reality 

• The impact these distortions can have on relationships 

• Strategies to foster productive conversations with young people 

Online Influencers & Respectful Relationships 

• Defining ‘respectful relationship’ 

• Examining the ‘manosphere’ and why manosphere influencers attract young people 

• Exploring how online influencers impact real-life relationships, behaviour and wellbeing 

• The need for prevention and education 

• Strategies to foster productive conversations 

You are required to register in advance for this webinar. Please use the link here to register. 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Please note, this webinar will not be recorded. 

We look forward to seeing you online! 

CLTAV Year 7 Chinese Reading Awards

Article by Sunny Huang, Head of Languages

It was my great pleasure to celebrate our language students' outstanding achievements at the 2026 CLTAV Year 7 Chinese Reading Awards Competition, held at the University of Melbourne last night. Earlier this year, our Year 8 and Year 9 Chinese learners had also achieved excellent results. Our family expressed heartfelt gratitude for the College's support of their children’s learning at Overnewton.

Norah A and Elliot S, who have no Chinese language background, represented Overnewton at the state-wide Competition after being selected through an internal audition. Norah was awarded Third Prize, while Elliot received a Certificate of Achievement. According to the event organiser, this year's competition was exceptionally challenging, making Overnewton's outstanding results a significant achievement. We competed against approximately 80 students from over 30 schools across Victoria. 

A special thank you goes to Heather Dent and Zoe Zhao, who worked tirelessly to organise the recess and lunchtime practice sessions with the students, and to Jiaqi Li, who coordinated the internal competition and communication with our parent community. 

No Oliver! without Middle School 

Article by Carolyn Hernandez, Head of Performing Arts

Middle School students are making an invaluable contribution to the College production of Oliver!. Whether performing in the ensemble, taking on lead roles, or working behind the scenes, Middle School students play an integral part in bringing the musical to life. 

Under the direction of Mrs Cailin McCarthy and her dedicated staff team, students have been rehearsing since February. The 63-member cast and crew have worked tirelessly to master the music, choreography and script, while the backstage team has been busy creating the props and scenery that will transform the stage into Victorian England. 

With so much talent, hard work and enthusiasm on display, audiences are sure to be asking for “more, please!” when the curtain falls. 

Ticket information can be found on the Performing Arts page in this edition of Whispers.