SSP NEWS

News

Year 7 Parent-Carer Information Evening (Class of 2025)

We had a wonderful turn out to our recent Year 7 Class of 2025 Welcome evening. Although it was an incredibly hot night, it was great to see so many families support Western Heights College and The Specialist Sports Program. Please find attached the content from our power point presentation on the night.

Behaviour on Public Transport

We have unfortunately received multiple complaints from members of the community regarding our Specialist Sports Program student-athletes behaviour when travelling to and from school. We have had ongoing reports of poor behaviour particularly from the Tarneit, Wyndham, Lara, Corio direction. Behaviour that has so far been reported, involves;

• Touching the train whilst moving

• Keeping the train doors open when they are automatically trying to close – causing train delays of 20+ minutes to other commuters

• Pushing other students on or off trains

• Setting off the emergency button 

• Older students pushing younger students off a connecting bus from North Geelong train station to WHC

• Not tapping MyKi cards

• Loud group behaviour that can be intimidating to members of the public

The majority of our travelling student-athletes do the right thing daily and we thank you for that. However, this shouldn’t be the exception, it should be the norm. A number of students unfortunately continue to be involved in disrespectful behaviours that tarnish both our school’s reputation and our programs reputation.

I am asking for all of our student-athletes to be better. I am asking all of our families to please support us in having a conversation with your child regarding behaviour when travelling to and from WHC. It is a privilege to be a part of our program. Every day we wear our uniform, it should be with pride and integrity.

There will be some follow up interventions in this space moving forwards, including, but not limited to;

• Police

• V/Line removal for student-athletes from public transport

• Removal of student-athletes from the Specialist Sports Program 

• WHC Lunchtime meeting/s with all travelling student-athletes 

Meeting #1: Monday 24th February, 12.40pm-1pm

Where? PAF

Attendance: Please see compass for event details, rolls will be taken and attendance is compulsory for all travellers from the Tarneit direction, including all stops along the way (Wyndham, Lara, Corio, North Geelong)

Uniform

I firmly believe that we have the best uniform in the whole entire state/country! Please don’t let non-uniform items slip into daily usage. There are a plethora of items to choose from to ensure that all our of our student-athletes can be in full SSP uniform daily.

Key Contacts for the Specialist Sports Program

Renee Lane – SSP Leader Renee.Lane@education.vic.gov.au

Nick Richardson – High Performance Manager Nicholas.Richardson2@education.vic.gov.au

Cate Johnson – Operations Manager Cate.Johnson@education.vic.gov.au

Please contact the appropriate staff / coaches at each of the Year Levels below if you have any concerns regarding your child’s athletic performance;

AFL Program:

Thomas Hunter (Yr 7-9): Thomas.Hunter@education.vic.gov.au

Will Sexton (Yr 10-12): William.Sexton@education.vic.gov.au

Basketball Program:

Ashley Arnott (Yr 7 - 8): Ashley.Arnott@education.vic.gov.au

Kaleb Sclater (Yr 9-10): Kaleb.Sclater@education.vic.gov.au

Kris Blicavs (Yr 11-12): Kris.Blicavs@education.vic.gov.au

Netball Program:

Ainsley Corrigan (Yr 7-8): Ainsley.Corrigan@education.vic.gov.au

Stacey Dodds (Yr 9-10): Stacey.Dodds@education.vic.gov.au

Susan Meaney (Yr 11-12): Susan.Meaney@education.vic.gov.au

Seth Tomlinson: Seth.Tomlinson@education.vic.gov.au

Soccer Program:

Joseph Didulica: Joseph.Didulica@education.vic.gov.au

Sean Mahon: Sean.Mahon@education.vic.gov.au

Please note: Any mainstream concerns are via the relevant Sub-School Leader or Learning Community Leader through Compass

Link to Purchase Sport Uniform

* For SSP and AAP students only

https://indigowolf.com.au/whcssp

AFL

Basketball

Netball

There has been a lot happening in the netball program, particularly with some recent individual achievements.

Nevaeh Peta has been away in Western Australia over the last week representing Victoria U/16 at the Australian lndoor Netball Championships. Vic Storm have come up against some strong competition; as it currently stands they have won one game, lost three games and have drawn one game. From all reports Nevaeh has been strong in defence and is thoroughly enjoying this experience representing Victoria at the Indoor Championships. Well done Nevaeh, we are very proud of the commitment you have shown to your netball.

Also to note, Levi Tubailagi recently competed in the National Obstacle Course Racing event and came 5th in the 14–17year division for the 3k event. On the weekend just gone, he competed in the Victorian Modern Pentathlon State Championships in Ballarat and came 2nd in U17 males. This event included a 200m swim, 2.4km laser run, fencing (which went for 2.5 hours) and an obstacle run. Congratulations Levi!

Back in the SSP Netball Program we have been focusing on defensive concepts in our court sessions. Primarily, 1 on 1 defence and all the phases included in this. We then look to continue this focus in our match play, making sure the athletes are applying the defensive skills taught and practised in the session into their game. In education, students have completed an Individual Weekly Planner to assist with time management and we have started to introduce Goal Setting which will be continued over the next few weeks.

Out of school, many of our students have been training hard with their Representative Netball Teams. Those that live locally have also been competing in the Barwon Junior Netball Championships with their respective representative teams. It is great to see so many WHC SSP Netball students playing at representative level and building towards Association Championships in May.

We also have some students from our program that have been selected in Regional Teams that are currently training hard and will compete at the State Titles on the long weekend in March. We love seeing our netball students taking these opportunities and thriving in pathway programs.

Just a reminder about the camps coming up in early March, please make sure you have read, consented and paid via Compass.

We are also looking forward to the WHC 2026 Open Night next Wednesday 26th February. It is a great opportunity to meet and showcase our school and the SSP programs with prospective families that are looking to join WHC next year.

Soccer