Senior School News 

Year 12 Farewell and Celebration Day

Our Year 12 students are to be congratulated, having completed formal classes early this term and completing high school!  Our traditional whole-school assembly was held, where staff created a guard of honour for the graduating class to exit assembly for the final time.

We then moved into Celebration Day, where the fancy dress was only outdone by the fun of the Colour Run – students and teachers alike finishing the day covered in colour and enjoying a treat from the Mr Whippy van.  

To finish off a busy week of celebrations, Valedictory Evening was held on Friday 25th October and our Year 12 students, staff and families headed to Frankston Arts Centre to celebrate the milestone of completing secondary school. Our Year 12s, dressed in their finest, graced the stage to receive their VCE and VCE-VM completion certificates. We were also able to acknowledge some very prestigious achievements amongst the cohort, celebrating not only outstanding results but also wonderful examples of our College Values at work. Thank you to the Senior Band, including Year 12 students Jess H, Len H and Jade B who provided entertainment to add to the celebration. A heartfelt thank you to all of our Year 12 students’ guests who came along to help us celebrate. This was a week to remember and a fine way to acknowledge our wonderful class of 2024! Congratulations again – we wish you all the best for the future.

World Challenge

Last term a group of 16 of us, as well as Ms Riddle and Ms Blackburne, were lucky enough to go on a World Challenge trip to Cambodia. World Challenge aims to provide young people with opportunities to develop leadership, become global citizens by contributing to a community and challenging us via trekking and leading the trip. Our journey started in the capital of Cambodia - Phnom Pehn, we later travelled all around the country to the city of Siem Reap and to a wildlife sanctuary just outside of there.  

Getting to work with rescued Sun bears and Elephants was such a magical experience. We helped all around the sanctuary in the scorching sun, preparing food, planting trees, feeding the animals, raking enclosures and much more. Despite the heat and what seemed like a never-ending trail of bugs, we made sure to make the most of our once in a lifetime experience there and completed these tasks willingly and enthusiastically. It was nothing short of rewarding knowing we were helping these beautiful animals and the volunteers that work tirelessly every day to better their futures.  

Seeing Cambodian culture up close was amazing. It was so fun exploring the city and participating in activities such as a cooking class, river cruise, night markets and more. It allowed us to all get closer as a team and fully immerse ourselves in their incredible culture. We were also fortunate enough to get to see and go into a couple of local schools. We had a blast interacting with the kids and learning how to play their games, it was fascinating to observe the differences between their school and ours.  

The trek phase was challenging on a variety of levels. Whilst we were there, it was the wet season which meant that it rained every day. This made the first day of the trek extremely wet and muddy. Using ropes to get up the steep inclines and our guide literally cutting the way through was something we will never forget. The first night provided us with an interesting dilemma as our tents flooded.  However, this became a blessing in disguise as it meant the following night we stayed in a monastery which gave us an up-close experience of how monks live. With a 4am wake up call to drums, gongs and roosters, it was a night we will definitely remember. We finished the trek at a breathtaking waterfall which made the sweat, bugs and rain all worth it. 

Along with this, it was beneficial to learn about Cambodia’s dark history, visiting places such as the genocide museum and killing fields in Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap. It allowed us to have a full understanding of the country we were in and shined a light on how fortunate we are here in Australia. We visited many not-for-profit cafes who are trying to provide education and resources for young girls and women to break the cycle. This enabled us to learn about the locals and their stories. We felt privileged that we could contribute to their cause and support the Cambodian community. 

We could share our stories and experience for hours as we jam packed the 15 days with as much as we could. We would recommend this journey of World Challenge to anyone who wants to grow and develop as a person. It is one of the best things we have ever done in our lives and we will never forget all the amazing memories and laughs we shared as a team. If the opportunity comes your way, step out of your comfort zone and apply. You will have the time of your life and you don’t know what you are missing out on.  

Abbie CW and Tessa L