Wantirna College Newsletter

Principal Team Editorial

It’s a busy time at school with the end of the year fast approaching and lots of events happening for all year levels. On Wednesday night, we farewelled our Year 12 students at the Valedictory, next Monday we will recognise the outstanding achievements of students at Awards Night and the following week, we will welcome new Year 7 families and students at Transition evening and Orientation Day.  

 

At school, we are planning and preparing for next year with our Year 11 into 12 Step Up program and Transition Days for all other year levels as we reflect on this year, and prepare students for the following one; what they need to know and what they can do to achieve their best. These Transition Days are very significant days on our school calendar and staff put in a lot of effort to ensure they are engaging and meaningful.

 

Valedictory

We formally farewelled our Year 12 students for the very last time on Wednesday night at the spectacular Palladium Room at Crown. This is the first year we have held this special evening at Crown and the prestige of the venue added to the magnitude of the occasion as our Year 12s graduated in style. 

 

They honoured our new tradition of opening the dance floor with the parent/student dance and donned graduation gowns to receive their VCE certificates and sashes, which they were given as mementos.  It was a special night and I thank our Senior Team for their time and effort in making this a night to remember and one that our younger students will aspire to.

 

Exams

At Wantirna College, we are committed to supporting students to achieve learning growth, regardless of their starting point. Throughout each unit of learning, teachers are responsive to student learning needs and design their teaching to support students to move to the next level on the learning continuum. 

 

We do, however, understand that exams and assessment tasks are useful in measuring performance and to see if the learning throughout the unit has ‘stuck.’ Our Year 11 and 12 students have just completed their final exams while our 7-10 students are in the final phases of the RAF (review, assessment, feedback) period. Families will have access to their child’s learning growth (during a unit) data through Maestro and their performance achievement (end of unit) of our students when reports are released on Wednesday 18 December.

 

Exam Assessors

A special shout out to the 21 Year 12 teachers who have volunteered to be VCAA assessors this year. It’s a massive undertaking and I appreciate their dedication and commitment. This invaluable professional learning not only builds their knowledge and expertise but has a significant impact on developing other staff and most importantly has a significant impact in improving student outcomes and VCE results.

  • English – Ben Karwan, Caitlin Scholefield
  • Business Management – Luke Mason
  • Maths – Tamara Gavazis, Surya Ganeson
  • Accounting – Danielle Brotto
  • Environmental Science – Elise Roper, Tim Pearson
  • Dance – Evie Ball
  • Health – Stuart Horner, Lucy Mclennan
  • History – Douglas Wu
  • Geography – Sherry White
  • Psychology – Kat Fonda
  • Food – Hannah Blackmore
  • Music – Danny Van Bergen
  • Software Development – Mel Zulfic
  • Physics – Paul McGlynn
  • Biology – Peter Kos
  • Theatre – Beryl Birrel
  • Art – Qingyang Qin

Moroop Centre – Artworks 

Our double court basketball stadium and performing arts space is well underway and on schedule for completion in Term 2 next year. It’s a beautiful space with clever architecture that will make the space not only highly practical but look spectacular too. 

Part of the scope of the project includes an indigenous artwork to reflect the purpose of the space in cultivating community and Country and giving our students the opportunity to gather and strengthen connections. Given our school’s geographical footprint is so big, we are commissioning another indigenous mural at the front of our school to strengthen the link between the two ends of our school and reinforce the significance of connection to community and Country.

 

This week, local indigenous artist Amanda Wright (who did our indigenous library mural) was involved in a workshop with our indigenous students to get their thoughts and ideas for the artwork. She then met with our PE and Performing Arts staff to listen to their ideas, and we look forward to sharing the evolution of our artworks with the school community as the Moroop Centre nears completion in Term 2 next year. 

 

Chinese Delegation

On Tuesday 19 November, we had the great privilege to host a delegation of 20 Principals from Jiangsu in China. Jiangsu is at the forefront of modern education in China and their visit to Victoria was to focus on critical and creative thinking, STEM and digital education, as well as build networks and exchanging ideas to improve student outcomes. Our Leading Teachers, Elise Roper (Science) and Vicky Rumble (Art & Technology), gave an insightful presentation into how we teach STEM at Wantirna College. This was followed with a tour through the Art & Tech Showcase and a visit to our Technology facilities and classrooms. It was a great afternoon and we received lots of positive affirmations from our visitors.

 

Parent Forums 2025

Following our final parent forum for the year last Tuesday, we are excited to announce the dates for next year and encourage families to put them in their 2025 calendar. Parent Forums are a great opportunity to meet other parents and be part of the conversation in improving our school, so our students can have the outstanding educational opportunities they deserve. 

 

Term One – Tue 4 March (Week 6)

Term Two – Tue 20 May (Week 5)

Term Three – Tue 2 September (Week 7)

Term Four – Tue 21 October (Week 3)

 

DTRT Winners

Congratulations to the Year 11 Captains who were the winners of our Do The Right Thing video competition with their entry 'Go Ahead, DTRT, Make My Day'. They each received a $50 voucher and chose the school bell for this week.

 

Honourable mention to the 90's RAP video who came a close second. And special shout out to Mr Doble for his Oscar winning performance in the Prin video. Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry and brought some fun to the campaign.

 

We launched the campaign with some fun animations and a video competition that centred around the highly successful 1980's campaign. We've loved seeing the creative and clever videos that students and staff have made and today our judging panel met to decide the winner. Thanks to the 7 panellists (comprised of students and staff) who chose the winning video.

 

Carrie Wallis

Principal