Secondary School News

Chess Tournament | Years 7-12

As we move through the first half of Term 2, the cooler weather has certainly arrived. Despite the colder mornings, there has been no shortage of energy, involvement and opportunity for our students, with the term already filled with experiences that have strengthened both our community and school spirit.

We started our term off with our Colours Assembly, where we formally recognised students for their contributions and involvement across a range of areas. It was particularly special to hold this assembly utilising our brand new stage for the first time. We are incredibly grateful to our P&F for their generous contribution towards this wonderful addition for our school, which will no doubt support many important occasions and celebrations for years to come.

Our Year 11 students recently enjoyed their Dinner Dance at Araluen, an evening that provided an opportunity for students to come together socially and celebrate this important stage of their Secondary School journey. It was wonderful to see students enjoying the occasion and representing themselves and the School so positively.

For our Year 12 students, the arrival of their Leavers’ Jackets was another significant milestone. While there had been some anticipation surrounding their delivery, it was fantastic to finally see students proudly wearing them around the School, marking their final year in our community.

House spirit has also been on full display throughout the term. Our Inter-House Cross Country and Inter-House Games created plenty of enthusiasm, participation and friendly competition, while House Connection activities have continued to provide valuable opportunities for students across year groups to connect and build relationships within their House.

Inter-House Uno, Chess and Bingo Tournament

These opportunities for connection have extended beyond our Houses as well. It has been pleasing to see our younger and older students coming together in meaningful ways throughout the term, whether through our Peer Support Leaders working alongside Year 8 students, Year 12 students connecting with our Year 7 cohort, or our Primary Captains meeting with our School Prefects. These moments help strengthen the sense of belonging and community that is such an important part of school life.

Earlier this term, we also celebrated our 2026 Veterans with a special morning tea hosted by the Principal. This was a valuable opportunity to acknowledge and thank those students who have been part of our school community for many years and who continue to contribute positively to the life of the School.

Our student leaders have continued to play an active role across the school community. Alongside a number of our Prefects attending the WAASA Student Leaders Reunion, our Student Councils have continued to meet regularly and plan initiatives designed to support connection and wellbeing within the School. This has included mentoring opportunities for our senior students, mindful colouring activities during lunch, installing a mindfulness board in the Library, finding ways to have more students actively involved in our House Chapels and fundraising efforts in support of All Saints’ School in Samoa. It has been encouraging to see our student leaders looking for meaningful ways to positively contribute to our school and wider community.

The new volleyball courts have also quickly become a very popular addition during break times, with students enthusiastically making use of the space each day. While the students may be gaining confidence with every breaktime, staff remain very assured of a strong victory in our staff versus student matches in the near future!

Finally, students in Years 7–10 recently attended a presentation from Paul Litherland, who spoke with students about navigating the online world safely and responsibly. His presentation provided important and practical insights to support students’ digital wellbeing and decision-making online.

Surf Online Safe by Paul Litherland | Years 7-10

As we head into the second half of the term, I thank our students and staff for the positive way they have embraced the many opportunities already provided this term. We look forward to another busy and rewarding few weeks ahead.

Kylie Virgo

Head of Secondary School

Sports Department Wrap

Secondary Inter-House Cross Country Carnival

Monday of Week 3 saw our Secondary students participate in the Inter-House Cross Country Carnival at Champion Lakes. The weather was excellent and student participation was outstanding, making for an exciting day and a very close finish in the overall results.

Overall Placings:

1st Place – Hale – 343 Points

2nd Place – Scott – 340 Points

3rd Place – Charter – 247 Points

4th Place – Ramsden – 224 Points

Congratulations to all students who set new records this year, including all first-place Year 7 and 8 students, as these year groups ran the new 4km distance to align with the Inter-School Carnival.

Students who set new records:

U/13 Boys – Lachlan Brown – 17:39:59
U/13 Girls – Jamie Ng – 18:59:36
U/14 Boys – Jack McCarthy – 16:46:47
U/14 Girls – Chloe McDavitt – 20:53:00
U/15 Boys – Riley Kerr – 14:07:61
U/15 Girls – Lauren Abeleira – 16:57:00

We would also like to congratulate the following students who have been selected as Cross Country Captains to represent John Wollaston at the Inter-School Carnival:

Cross Country Captains:

Jackson Flockhart (Year 12)
Eva Anning (Year 12)
Levi Mills (Year 10)
Lauren Abeleira (Year 9)

Congratulations to all students who participated. Thank you to the parents and family members who attended to support the students and to the staff whose efforts ensured the day ran smoothly. We look forward to seeing our 2026 Cross Country Team represent the School at the Inter-School Carnival in Week 6.

House Reveal - Inter-School Cross Country

SAS One-Day Carnival

On Tuesday of Week 4, students from Years 10-12 participated in the SAS One-Day Carnival, engaging in a full schedule of matches across their chosen sports. Throughout the day all teams demonstrated determination, teamwork and a positive attitude in every game.

Our students competed in a variety of sports, achieving the following results:

Boys Touch Rugby – 1 win, 3 losses, 2 draws (5th place)
Girls Touch Rugby – 0 wins, 6 losses (7th place)
Girls Basketball – 0 wins, 6 losses (6th place)
Indoor Cricket – 2 wins, 4 losses (5th place)
Year 10 Boys Basketball – 0 wins, 4 losses (5th place)
Year 10 Girls Netball – 2 wins, 3 losses (3rd place)

Although the final scores were not always in our favour, it was inspiring to witness students encouraging their teammates and representing the School with enthusiasm and integrity. We are proud of the effort and commitment shown by all students and look forward to seeing further development and success at the next SAS Carnival early in Term 3!

Keys4Life Parent Evening

On Tuesday 21 April, Parents and Carers were invited to attend the Keys4Life Parent Information Session in the Chapel. The session was delivered by Emily from the Road Safety and Drug Education team and provided an informative overview of the Keys4Life program, which will be delivered to Year 10 students during their Health classes in Term 2.

The Keys4Life program educates young people about safe road use and provides students with the opportunity to sit their Learner’s Permit Theory Test at school. During the session, Emily outlined the program content, explained the process for obtaining a Learner’s Permit and offered guidance on supervised driving requirements. Parents also received helpful information to support their children as they begin their driving journey.

The session was well attended and provided a valuable opportunity for parents to ask questions and learn how they can best support their child’s road safety education. Thank you to all who attended and contributed to the success of this event.

Ryan Poole

Head of Health and Physical Education

WAASA Student Leaders Reunion

The WAASA Student Leaders Reunion was an excellent way for us to learn different styles of leadership as well as putting these strategies into practice. I found the workshop by Swan Valley Anglican Community School Principal, Ms Powell, really helpful and insightful. We were given a questionnaire about different scenarios and what our responses would be in these situations. Each answer was assigned a symbol and after tallying how many of each symbol we had acquired, we were assigned a leadership style. I was assigned the East or Visionary Leadership style. This style of leadership was described as creative and idea orientated. I liked being able to be introspective toward my own leadership qualities so that I could apply this to real situations in the future.

Lila

Year 12 Academic Prefect