PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Principal’s Newsletter Report 27/10/23

Almost halfway through the term and this term is flying. It’s been another fantastic fortnight of learning at WHC.

Thanks to Warwick Lamb and Ricki O’Shannessy for Acting Principal during my absence recovering from the Kokoda Track and some long service leave. 

Year 12 Farewell

Last week we farewelled our Year 12 students with a lovely full school assembly were our student community heard from our college captains and our year 12 learning community leader Brett Bullock. The next day our Year 12’s celebrated their last day of their secondary schooling with a breakfast with staff, fancy dress, and a day of fun at the Curlewis golf driving range. A big thank-you to the Year 12 staff who coordinated this day alongside the Year 12 students. On Tuesday 24 October, our students completed their first English exam. Exams will continue until November 15 with our Year 12 Graduation evening this year being conducted on Thursday 16 November at GMHBA stadium.

Year 10 Celebration Tonight

Our Year 10 student cohort will tonight have a chance to enjoy themselves at their formal celebration at Capri Function Centre, Newtown. Led by Lu Temelkovski and Rachel Daly, the students will enjoy a night of food, fun and dancing to some DJ beats. I am looking forward to joining them.

Early Commencement Program (ECP 2024)

On Monday 27 November, all students in Year 11 and 12 (and 2024 Year 10 students studying a VCE subject) will commence 1 weeks of early commencement program to enable the students an opportunity to obtain a head start with their learning 2024. A timetable will be released shortly for students for this program. It is imperative that all students attend this program until its completion on Friday 1 December which will be the last day of 2023 for current Year 10 and 11 students.

End of Year Dates for 2023 

•          Year 12 Graduation GMHBA Stadium – Thursday 16 November

Assessment and Reporting Day (Pupil Free Day) – Friday 17 November

•          Last day of classes for 2023 Year 10 and 11 students – Friday 1 December

•          College Awards Evening Thursday 14 December (GMHBA Stadium)

•          2023 Report Feedback by appointment only – Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20 December.

Active Schools Extra Curricular Boost for 2023

I recently met with the Active Schools Australia Program grant to acquit our special grant of 2023 of $14000 to our budget to enhance students to be active in their community.

The funds in 2023 have this year been spent of the installation of casual shooting basketball rings, down balls and down ball line markings, a weekly martial arts class on a Monday after-school and bicycle racks to encourage students to use active transport to get to school.

Term 4 AIP Assessments and Planning for 2023

Term 4 will of course also see AIP self-assessments, as well as planning for 2024 AIPs.  The 2024 AIP will continue to focus on student learning – with an increased focus on numeracy – and wellbeing through the 2024 Priorities Goal. We have recently seen the release of some of our key annual data sets, including NAPLAN and the Attitudes to School Survey. These are critical inputs to our planning cycle and the leadership team will work hard to continue unpacking these. At a regional level, the focus will be on continuing our focus on supporting numeracy improvement in Geelong schools with a particular focus on reducing the disadvantage gap and looking at ways to improve the experience of schooling for many of our students through a focus on positive climates and behaviour.

Reporting and Assessment

End of Year reports will be available to students and parents/carers on Monday 18 December

Appointment of Architects and Design Consultants for School Masterplan and Gym

Workshop Architecture have been recently appointed as our Project Manager and Design Consultants for this project. They have commenced work on our master plan and are looking to gather feedback from our community Thursday 7 November. This will include workshops with students, staff, parents, and community groups. Any interested parents involved in the consultation can be involved by contacting Fiona Taylor at the college.

SSV State Athletics Championships

Last week we were so proud of our group of students who represented our college at the SSV State Athletics Championships. A big congratulations to Jackson Unthank for his first placing in the U16 800m final and to Joshua Unthank for a first place and Jackson a third place in the 1500m U16 State Final. Congratulations to all students and thank-you to their parents for transporting them to the event at Lakeside Stadium in South Melbourne.

State Champions

Congratulations to our U17 Boys Basketball Team for winning the Basketball Victoria Elite Cup Grand Final Vs Rowville SC in extra overtime. A big congratulations to the students and staff and coaches involved. We are very proud of them all.

Enjoy the next fortnight,

Fiona Taylor

Principal

Child Safety at WHC

Western Heights College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy. 

1.       Commitment to Child Safety

2.       Child Safety Policy

3.       Child Safety Code of Conduct

4.       Child Protection Policy and Procedures

Annual privacy policy reminder for 2023

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.(found on the college's webpage)

Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents and carers on the webpage. This information is also available in 10 community languages:

* Amharic

* Arabic

* Dari

* Gujarati

* Mandarin

* Somali

* Sudanese

* Turkish

* Urdu

* Vietnamese.