From the Principal's Desk

Thank you for a Wonderful Start to 2026

Dear School Community,

We have officially completed our first term together! The speed at which this term has passed is a testament to how fulfilling and engaging the daily routine has been.

The strength of our school lies in active involvement and our partnership in learning. I want to express my sincere thanks to the parents and caregivers who have helped to ensure our students, your children, are always ‘ready to learn’.  Our classrooms, sporting events and our incursions and excursions have brought us together, and your dedication is helping students achieve and succeed each day, which is deeply appreciated.

I am proud of the resilience and hard work our students have shown as they’ve engaged with new routines and challenging rigorous curriculum, and we have celebrated their many achievements and supported them to engage in lots of opportunities. After meeting our new year 7 students and their families we have held our annual Open Evening and presentation to our future students (grade 5/6), including school tours highlighting the amazing programs and opportunities the College offers our community. The college tours have been exceptionally well attended therefore we will be hosting a few more tours to end the term and early next term and are including our ‘day in the life’ grade 6 days once again this year.  I am asking our current parents and carers to communicate these opportunities to new families who you believe would like to attend our school and would benefit from a school tour.  Families who are not within our designated neighbourhood zone (DNA) are also most welcome to tour the College in 2026 for a 2027- 2028 enrolment.  The College is able to support the important decisions that families make about children’s ongoing educational journey.

Within this newsletter you will find many examples of our term one activities that have supported our student’s learning, their wellbeing and engagement in their classrooms and within the school community. In this newsletter we are providing our community updates about our sporting carnivals, harmony week, YLead student leadership training and our Holi festival celebrations to name only a few memorable activities this term. We invite you to take time to read your child’s year level report prepared by our Assistant Principals and our Year Level leaders, and our Teaching and Learning report, our special Program leader reports and importantly to hear from  students who have written about the school wide and community activities they have led and been involved in during this term via our Community Hub – The Link Centre. 

Such a positive beginning will surely bring another successful year for the College!

Introduction of new School Council Elected Members 2026-2027

School councils comprise parents, staff, and students along with community membership. The College has held our 2026 school council elections in Feb/March for this year to fill the two-year tenure vacancies. 

Congratulations to the following elected members.

Our school parent newly elected representatives, Shuana Zafar Nasir and Ashlee Elkins, who will join our current and returning parent members, Stewart Greig, Slobodan Kasabasic, Swapnil Goyal and Jasmine Allen. We thank them for their nominations and look forward to their contribution to the school as your parent voice and school council voting representatives. 

We thank our outgoing parent members, Prem Sadineedi for his service to our School Council, and  for his input and commitment to council over the past two-year role and multiple past tenures.

Our new school staff representative for this year includes newly elected member Claudia Esquivel   who has joined our Assistant Principals, Connie Faranda, Rebecca Sandlant and Ashley Rowe, as we farewell and thank Alex De Leon for his time as staff representative over the past two years.

We thank our Community Representative Matthew Rasmussen for his renomination working alongside Anthony Monaghan. And we thank our student representatives School Captain Pam Vichittavong and School Vice-Captain Manning Bricknell who will continue in their roles for another year. 

Our school representatives continue to work alongside our Department of Education school council observers, Assistant Principal Megan Talyor and our secretary Business Manager, Michelle Guse. 

Announcing our 2026 leadership including School Council President; Mr Anthony Monaghan, Vice President; Stewart Greig Treasurer; Matthew Rasmussen and secretary; Michelle Guse.

All members of school council welcome your input and feedback. Please find all school council member email addresses on Compass, or you can contact any council members via the Wyndham Central College email address, or by calling the school administration office. 

Parent Teacher interviews Thursday  23rd April

Our invitation to all families to attend.

The College invites our parents/carers to our school to meet your child’s 2026 teachers and their support staff.  

All term one reports have been completed and have been posted electronically to Compass. A printed copy has been made available to all students and their families for our Parent/Teacher interviews and has been distributed to students along with a report reflection activity on Wednesday 1st April. 

A reminder that all parent/carers can make an interview time with our staff via Compass. If you have any difficulties do not hesitate to contact our ICT support team or your child’s tutor teacher. 

During these interviews we will provide a snapshot of how students have started and are progressing with their 2026 learning as well as supporting the student’s reflection and goal setting as they progress through term 2.  This is also an opportunity for parents and carers to contribute to the writing of Individual learning plans and learning goals for students. 

We look forward to meeting once again and re-establishing these important parent/school partnerships. 

I remind all parents/carers that at all other times you can communicate with the school via Compass email or by phone with our classroom teachers, tutor teachers or year level leaders. The student planner provided to every student at the beginning of the year can also be a valuable tool. Each student has this planner in their AVID binder, and this should be bought to each class along with a fully charged laptop and/or specific subject textbooks.  The planner can provide a way to communicate by writing messages, notes and comments for your child’s teachers and leaders. 

Preparing for term 2

A reminder that as all students return on Monday 20th of April to start term two and all students are expected to be in our college winter uniform. I ask parents/carers to check the uniform policy to support your child to be in full school winter uniform without them wearing the incorrect shoes, hoodies, and jackets. A new winter jacket is currently available via our uniform shop. To support students to be ready to learn ensure that they are at school on time, every day, with their binders and a fully charged laptop or their textbooks.  A reminder in 2026 that the college has both a managed school and BYOD laptop program. Therefore, students can ensure they have the appropriate electronic tools to be able to enhance their learning at all times. 

Attendance at school every day is compulsory. Students cannot learn if they are not at school or attending their classes. Parents/carers receive notifications each day for student absences and are contacted by the tutor teachers, attendance officers and leadership team members if absences are not meeting the State Government requirements. It is important that parents communicate with the school in the same week about student absences so that we can support all students to be ‘at school, on time and ready to learn’.

Again, we remind parents/carers that the State Government have banned mobile phones from being used at school by students and I ask all parents/carers to support your child in adhering to this government law and school rule by leaving mobile phones at home or locked away in their school supplied lockers between 8.50am and 3.00pm. Students should refrain from brining headphones to school as this indicates the inappropriate use of their phones. Our students who are under 16 are also reminded of the social media ban. If parents and carers need any support our student services team and our work with the e-safety commissioner can be of immediate assistance. 

It is timely and always important to revisit our school expectations for all Wyndham Central College community members and stakeholders. Our school values and positive behaviour statements (see posters below) provide the framework for our interactions and how we create a positive, supportive, and happy learning and work environment. I ask parents/carers to take some time to speak to your child/ren about how their behaviours and engagement in their learning can ensure they excel and meet their full potential.  To create and continue to be a great school we need all stakeholders to understand the important role they play in ensuring that we work together ‘creating a community of high expectations’ and meeting the College vision for each of our students. 

Our Shared Vision Statement

Wyndham Central College fosters a love of learning. We respect diversity and Indigenous heritage. We aim for continuous improvement in all our students as they grow into adulthood. Our objective is to nurture empathetic, creative, and confident young people who embrace opportunities and accept the challenges of a complex and globalised world. 

Wyndham Central College provides the environment that creates the high expectations for all members of our community and inspires each individual to achieve their potential by developing their skills for post-secondary education or to be work–ready. 

The action of ‘creating a community of high expectations’ holds all members of the community accountable to the highest standards, providing both academic and social standards and setting the expectation for strong respectful professional relationships, so that all students emerge as resilient, productive, and cooperative members of a contemporary world. 

Our Shared Values Statements 

Our Shared Positive Community and Environment behaviour Statements 

New for 2026  

We have updated and refined our student statements below. Our Schoolwide Positive Behaviours Team have worked with the school community to support the explicit teaching of each of the behaviours within this matrix. As we continue to build upon and improve our positive behaviours and environment  further updates will be communicated by the team during term 2, including an updated matrix.

As we wrap up Term 1, I’d like to congratulate our students on their exceptional achievements so far this year. We have seen outstanding dedication across all year levels and we also thank our dedicated staff for their unwavering commitment to student success.

I hope that this upcoming holiday is filled with moments of joy and rest, sharing time with your loved ones. I wish you a happy and safe holiday break and a fantastic Easter period.

We look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 20th April for the start of Term 2.

Warm regards,

Leanne Gagatsis - Principal

Creating a Community of High Expectations 

Respect, Cooperation and Excellence

Key Reminders:

Uniforms: As the weather cools, please ensure students are adhering to the school uniform dress code. Our new winter coat is available at our uniform shop.

Arrival Times: A reminder that students should not arrive before 8:30 AM to ensure safe supervision.

Reports: Keep an eye out for initial progress reports/feedback via parent/carer meetings early next term.