From the Principal's Desk

As we come to the end of term one, we once again have celebrated many achievements and engaged in many opportunities for our school community – staff, students, and parents. After meeting our new year 7’s students and their parents, held our welcome college assembly and enjoyed extra curricula days at the house swimming and Harmony Week activities, we completed a memorable term one. This year our new Hindi Beacon School added to our activities calendar by organising a colour run for our year 7’s to celebrate the Holi festival and you will find their report and pictures later in this edition of the newsletter.

We held our annual Open Evening and presentation to our future students (grade 5/6), including many 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 next week and early next term. I ask our current parents and carers to communicate this opportunity to 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 2025 for a 2026/7 enrolment.    

Within this newsletter we have provided many examples of our term one activities that have supported our student’s learning, their wellbeing and engagement in their classrooms and the school community. The newsletter also provides community updates. 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.

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

Introduction of new School Council Elected Members 2025-2026

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

Congratulations to the following elected members.

Our school parent newly elected representatives, Festus Okotie, Slobodan Kasabasic and Stewart Greig who will join our current parent members Prem Sadineedi, Jasmine Allen and Swapnil Goyal.  We thank them for their nominations and look forward to their contribution to the school as your parent voice and voting representative. 

We thank our outgoing parent members, Darren Clifford for his 10 years of service to our School Council, and to Jade Gonzalez and Veerappan Veerasekaren for their input and commitment to council over the two-year role. 

Our new school staff representative for this year includes newly elected member Louise Walter, who has joined our Assistant Principals Ashley Rowe and Bryan Woollard (re-elected), and staff representative Alex DeLeon. Our school representatives continue to work alongside our Department of Education school council observers, Assistant Principals Connie Faranda, Rebecca Sandlant and Megan Talyor and our secretary Business Manager, Michelle Guse. We thank our outgoing voting staff representative Connie Faranda for her input and commitment to the role.

We have also welcomed our new student representatives to council and look forward to hearing our students voice represented by newly elected members Manning Bricknell (Yr11) and Pam Vichittavong (Yr11).

We thank our community representatives, Mr Anthony Monaghan and Mr Matthew Rasmussen for continuing to support the college in the many roles they have undertaken. 

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

Parent Teacher interviews Tuesday 1st April

Our invitation to all families to attend.

I am constantly reminded of the significance of it taking a village to raise a child. And the reminder that all adults need to remain vigilant and do all we can to be ever present in the lives of our children.  Understanding this makes the building of relationships between parents/carers and the school very important and then building of a partnership between parents/carers, students, and teachers that continue to support children’s learning journeys and wellbeing needs. The College invites our parents/carers to our school to meet your child’s 2025 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 Friday 28th March.  

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 2025 learning as well as supporting the student’s reflection and goal setting as they progress into 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 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 Tuesday 22nd 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. To support them 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 2025 that the college has embarked on a BYOD laptop program. Therefore, students can ensure they have the appropriate electronic tools to be able to enhance their learning. 

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. 

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 and Wyndham school community 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 

I hope that you enjoy the first term school holidays and Easter break and find the time to rest, rejuvenate and spend time with family and friends. We look forward to seeing you all back on Tuesday 22nd April for the start of Term 2.

Leanne Gagatsis -  Principal

Creating a Community of High Expectations 

Respect, Cooperation and Excellence